Chasing Evil (9 page)

The cave echoed with another screech that was piercingly high, then thundered so low that Tanner felt it vibrate through his ribs. He grabbed onto the wall to steady himself as the cavern shuddered.

“We have to get out,” said Gwen.

Rocks began to fall from the ceiling, and a long stalactite broke free above the Troiden's pit, smashing down onto the Beast, who writhed in anger and snapped his mouths. The whole mountain shook and groaned.

Geffen pulled away from his sister's embrace. “I know the way out,” he said. “I remember from when Vendrake brought me here.”

Vendrake! Where was he? Tanner hadn't seen Derthsin's servant since he'd followed Gor and the other guards.

“You're sure?” said Gwen, interrupting Tanner's thoughts.

Geffen nodded bravely. “Follow me.”

Gwen's brother led them back through the falling debris. In some places, the walls had already given way, crumbling into piles of rock they had to jump over. With each of Nera's calls, the thunder of falling rocks grew louder.

They passed the junction where Gor had ridden down his own soldier. The body was now half-covered in fallen rocks. Geffen turned up the tunnel where they'd fought the three guards. Tanner hesitated.

“Are you certain?” he shouted, pointing. “The general went that way?”

Geffen looked in the direction Tanner was indicating. “I'm positive,” he said.

“We have to trust him,” Gwen added.

They went after her brother. There was a groan, and one of the tunnel walls ahead came down in a wave of rushing rock and black dust. Tanner ran, his legs pumping, boots slipping over the uneven ground. He rolled under a falling stone, then dodged left as a piece of the wall came off. Black dust washed over Tanner from behind. The world became solid darkness, and his ears were filled with the roar of the mountain collapsing. He sprinted faster, his lungs burning. The tunnels seemed to be heading upward.

Another piercing shriek from Nera made Tanner fall to his knees. He scrambled up, seeing a long chunk of the ceiling come away in a crash that almost flattened Gwen.

“Nearly there!” called Geffen.

The boy stumbled as a rock clipped his shoulder, knocking him off balance. Blood streaked down his shoulder.

Tanner passed a familiar archway and realized where he was. The chamber where Derthsin had spoken with Gor, Vendrake, and Captain Brutus. Close to the armories.

“Geffen's right!” shouted Tanner over the roar of the mountain. They reached the armories and Tanner caught a glimpse of the destruction. Stalactites were crashing onto the forges and fires blazed all about. A black torrent of rocks came down onto the cages, crushing them completely.

Then the whole cavern fell in a whooshing rush, like a gigantic waterfall. The ground and walls were shaking so violently that Tanner couldn't focus on them clearly. They didn't have much time. He had a vague sense of Firepos calling to him, reminding him to be brave.

A square of light came into view ahead, but the support beams that held up the entranceway were cracking. Its ceiling was already falling in showers of sharp stone that tore at Tanner's face and peppered his back. The others were just shadows ahead. He stumbled through the dust, feeling his way.

A hand snatched at his chest and tugged him aside. “No!” said Gwen.

Tanner caught his breath and froze. He was standing on the edge of a sheer drop, hundreds of feet up, with the ground shaking violently beneath his feet. The route by which they'd entered had almost fallen away. Rockfalls cascaded all over the side of the mountain, and clouds of dust rose like mist across the peaks. Far below, he saw Nera stalking the rocks ahead of a convoy of children.

“It wasn't supposed to be like this!” said Geffen.

Tanner's foot slipped as the ledge crumbled farther, and he gripped the rock face, heart thumping in his throat. There was no way out.

The mountain shook once more, and Geffen grabbed his arm. “We're going to die!” he cried.

Tanner heard a howl, and two shapes soared through the clouds of dust. His heart lifted. “It's Gulkien and Firepos!” he shouted.

The flame bird cut through the air with powerful strokes of her wings, her beak glinting and her eyes fixed on Tanner. In the darkness of the caves, Tanner could see the tiny flames that flickered at the tips of her feathers. Gulkien howled once more, his fur rippling as his leathery wings cut through the air.

“There's nowhere for them to land,” said Gwen.

A crunch overhead made Tanner press himself back farther against the rock face as boulders the size of cart wheels thundered past, smashing to smithereens hundreds of feet down. They weren't safe yet.

The Beasts moved closer, thumping the air and hovering just below Tanner and Gwen. Fist-sized rocks bounced off their bodies, but they held firm.

“We have to jump!” said Tanner.

Firepos shifted in the air, ten feet below. If Tanner misjudged his jump, there wouldn't be any chance of her catching him.

“You go first,” said Geffen, looking down.

Gwen steadied her feet, then launched herself off the ledge, her cloak rippling. She landed horizontally across Gulkien's torso. She gripped his fur and pulled herself upright, swinging her leg over his back. Her Beast gave a low growl of pleasure. Tanner took a deep breath. He had to do this. He thought of Esme and how proud she'd always been of him. Then he jumped. He thought he'd overshot, but Firepos jerked sideways, and he clenched both fists in her thick feathers. It had never felt so good to be on his Beast, and for a moment he hid his face in her feathers.

“Thanks, Firepos,” he murmured. He felt his Beast send warmth out of her body, encasing him. Tanner looked up in time to see Firepos bank away from the cliff face so that Gulkien could maneuver closer still. Below, Tanner saw that Castor and the others were watching.

“Your turn!” shouted Gwen. “Jump!”

To the left of the tunnel entrance a shower of blue-black rocks crashed down as a huge chunk of the mountain disintegrated. Geffen clung to the rock at the end of the tunnel. His whole body was trembling. He looked down at Gulkien, then back into the cavern, as if unsure what to do.

“That way is death!” shouted Tanner. “You have to be strong, Geffen!”

But Geffen was shaking his head over and over, mumbling something under his breath. “I can't do it!” he yelled. “It's too far.”

Gwen tried to take Gulkien nearer, until the tips of his leathery wings were brushing the cliff face. “No, Geffen. I can't come closer.”

Suddenly, the mountain groaned, and Geffen stumbled. He fell backward and scrambled to his knees, staring with wide eyes at his sister on Gulkien's back. He reached out a trembling hand.

“Help me!” He was crying openly now, not caring who saw. The air seemed to shift, and a roar sounded from above like a thousand waves crashing on a beach. Gwen tried to steer Gulkien closer to her brother, but he wheeled away, sending out a breeze that flattened Geffen's hair against his scalp.

“No, Gulkien! Come on!” Gwen cried out desperately. Gulkien sent out a warning snarl that let her know he had no intention of flying them both closer to their deaths. There was an almighty groan, and a huge section of the peak collapsed in on itself; a slab of rock, fifty paces across, slid off.

Geffen was still on his knees when the shower of rock descended. He was flattened to the ground, dust piling around him, rocks the size of his skull pounding the boy's body. Firepos cried with distress as they watched Gwen's brother roll onto his back, his head tipping over the ledge. His eyes rolled back in his head, his hair matted white with dust. Blood ran from the corner of his mouth, dripping into the depths below. Then a final rockfall buried him.

 

Gwen sat wrapped in a blanket, staring into the flames of the kitchen fire. They were back in Castor's village, in the house he'd once shared with his family. Tanner brought a bowl of broth to her, and she took it without looking up. Tear tracks stained her cheeks.

Tanner looked out the window to where Firepos, Gulkien, and Nera lay together in the ruins of Castor's garden. The flame bird blinked slowly, the moonlight reflecting off her feathers. She caught his eye and sent out a call to him.
Take heart. This, too, will pass.
Tanner shook himself; he didn't know if he could believe in what his Beast was telling him. Gulkien's ears twitched, as if he were struggling to hear Gwen's thoughts. Tanner settled himself beside Castor, who was sharpening his dagger with a whetting stone.

They'd looked for Geffen's body until nightfall, but long before they found anything the horizon had become streaked with orange and fireball red, and the Northern Mountains had turned yellow and pink below them, Tanner had known it was pointless. The light cast long shadows on the uneven rock.

“Come on,” he'd said to the others, eventually. “We need to go. Geffen's buried and there's nothing we can do about it.” He'd placed a hand on Gwen's shoulder, and she'd climbed stiffly to her feet, her hands bloodied from searching among the rocks. She'd nodded once, her admission that the search was without hope.

They'd returned to Colton with the boys they'd rescued. The mood had been somber and quiet as they'd ridden home on the backs of Firepos, Gulkien, and Nera.

“Geffen's gone, isn't he?” said Gwen, breaking into Tanner's thoughts. “He saved my life and I couldn't do anything for him.”

“He'd understand,” said Tanner.
Now we've all lost someone close to us.

Outside, Nera stood up and stretched, her great muscles heaving and rippling under her golden fur. Castor put his dagger in his belt and strode out of the house into the darkness.

“Is he all right?” Gwen asked.

“I'm not sure.” Tanner thought back to the flash of pain he thought he'd seen in Castor before they went into the armory. There was still a secret hiding there. “Let's leave him be.”

Tanner went over and sat beside his friend. “Geffen saved all our lives, you know,” he said. “After everything he did wrong, he guided us out of the tunnels to safety. You should remember that.”

Tanner put his arm around Gwen and stared into the flames. Despair clawed at his heart. Now that Derthsin had two pieces of the mask, his powers would be greater than ever. Tanner had already seen that, through Vendrake, he had some kind of hold over Firepos. Vendrake had disappeared — was he still alive?
If we come up against him again, what will be the cost?
And General Gor was out there, working for his dark master. At least Tanner and his friends had the map. But he was beginning to wonder what difference that made. If Gor knew roughly where the pieces were, then they would have to face him again, and he might find the other two pieces long before Tanner and his friends could travel the kingdom. And once all the pieces were reunited, Anoret could be summoned — the first ever Beast of Avantia. And the most powerful. That was how the legends had it. If he came back, could Anoret be made into Derthsin's creature? Tanner wasn't prepared to find out — he had to get the pieces of the mask back, whatever it took.

“He's probably already on his way to the next piece,” he muttered.

“What? What are you talking about?” Gwen said, pulling away. Her face froze over. “You're not still thinking about that Mask of Death, are you? That's exactly what it is — a bringer of death! Look at everything that's happened!” She stood up and walked out of the cottage. Tanner watched her leave.

Through the window, he saw Castor stroking Nera's flank, his head resting in her fur. Gwen went to stand beside him, and Tanner watched them talking quietly. When Tanner had first met Castor, the arrogant bully in the village square, he never would have dreamed they might one day fight together, but then, Fate had taken all sorts of strange turns since the day his parents had died. Would Gwen be willing to fight by their side, too?

Tanner closed his eyes but could still see flames burning through his eyelids and a face hovering in the fire. The face of Derthsin. It was as though the destruction and devastation haunted him still.

One day,
he promised himself,
the fires will stop.
Despite the exhaustion that seeped into his body, he knew he had to carry on. He imagined he could hear Derthsin laughing at him — mocking him. His hands balled into fists, resting on his knees.

“This isn't the end of it, Derthsin,” he said. “Not even close.” As he spoke, a blinding pain filled his head and he squeezed his eyes tightly shut. He could hear Firepos cawing with concern. A vision plunged behind his eyelids — a twisting scar, snaking down a man's throat. Derthsin's servant. Vendrake's permanent smirk widened into a grin.

“We're waiting for you,” the man said. Beyond his shoulder, Tanner could glimpse the vulture that pulled his chariot.

Tanner snapped his eyes open. Gwen and Castor had come back inside. He hadn't even heard them. Gwen stared at him, concern creasing her brow. Even Castor looked worried.