Darke Academy 4: Lost Spirits (18 page)

‘Are you ready, Cassie?’

‘As I’ll ever be.’ She smiled at him, and suddenly the fear was gone. Her blood stirred hot inside her, and it wasn’t only the proximity of Ranjit. There were enemies to crush, she thought; a theft to repay, revenge to be taken. Her fingertips tingled in his hand, and he squeezed them slightly, his mouth crooking at one corner.

Yes, he felt it too.

Like old times! came the voice from inside her. We’re in it together!

Leaning forward recklessly, Cassie kissed Ranjit’s lips. He tightened his grip on her hand, drew her closer, returned her kiss. Blood stirred in her veins, her nerves crackled, and her heart leaped, suddenly too big for her all-too-human ribcage.

Reluctantly pulling away, she turned back to the gap in the rock-face. They were still holding hands as she shouldered her way through the slender opening and was swallowed by blackness.

‘I don’t want to use the torch if we can help it,’ came Jake’s murmur in the black coldness.

‘I don’t think we’ll have to,’ was Ranjit’s whispered reply. ‘Wait a bit. There’s some light up ahead.’

Cassie realised he was right; her Few-sharpened eyes were already registering shapes and edges and the faintest phosphorescent glow. She, Richard and Ranjit were the first to notice it; Jake and Isabella took a little longer to adjust, but at last they were advancing into the tunnels with reasonable confidence, given the uncertainty of what they were heading towards …

Sensing something moving above her, Cassie halted. The roof of the tunnel was not high, but even in the faintest of light she could make out things that were stirring, writhing. At her side Richard followed her stare.

‘It’s like …’ he whispered.

‘… the Arc de Triomphe temple,’ Cassie finished for him, remembering with a shiver her initiation in the bowels of that underground cavern below the busiest roundabout in Paris. If such a secret could exist there, what might they find below the primordial geology of Mount Kenya? Deliberately Cassie averted her gaze from the eerily moving rock above her, and focused ahead.

She couldn’t even guess at how far they’d come beneath the rock; distance and time were impossible to estimate in this enclosed lightless place. She could feel her heart thumping in her chest with tense anticipation. When would this tunnel end? But at last Ranjit put a hand on her shoulder to bring her to a sudden halt.

‘Up ahead,’ he murmured, barely audibly. ‘I feel them.’

Cassie waited for a tremor of fear, but it didn’t materialise. Instead she felt her lip curl with contempt, all her muscles tensing in anticipation. She clenched and flexed her fists.

Ranjit was right. The light was growing far stronger here; and at its heart was a sinister greenish glow. Backing up against the walls, Cassie waited as the others caught up. She jerked her thumb to indicate the unseen space beyond the next corner, and then quickly pressed a finger to her lips. Surprise was one of their only advantages.

The faint ethereal light pulsated as she crept up silently and peered around the corner. Her breath caught in her throat, and behind her Ranjit gave her shoulder a quick, questioning squeeze. She turned back to him, her eyes wide with anger.

‘Look,’ she whispered through gritted teeth.

He peered past her, and took a horrified breath.

In a cave-like opening, they could see four figures – Sir Alric was down on the ground struggling, lashing out, but Brigitte and Katerina were savagely tightening chains around his wrists; Cassie thought the gleaming metal looked familiar, and realised they were like the chains that had held her during her own initiation. In a dark corner, Cassie could make out the stocky figure of Marat, standing off to the side, observing his employer dispassionately. Sir Alric’s movements were slow and ineffectual; he looked groggy, bruised and bloodied, and the Svensson women were clearly in command as they hoisted him to his feet and began fastening him to some bolts in the cave wall using the chains.

Impulsively, Cassie began to lunge forward, only to feel Ranjit’s hand grip her arm tightly. He pulled her back.

‘Cassie, wait!’ he hissed, pointing towards the dark glow beyond them.

She stared. The Urn was set in an elaborately carved alcove behind and above Sir Alric’s head, and on either side of it lay the Pendant and the Knife. The Urn’s translucent jade throbbed with that intense, brilliant glow Cassie had seen before, but around it hovered something else, a hideous light that seemed to emanate from it. It roiled and swirled, making twisted monstrous shapes of elusive smoke that regularly dissipated then coalesced into a single serpentine coil.

With a last yank on the chains binding Sir Alric, Brigitte turned and gazed up at the light with a kind of adoration.

‘So close, Katerina. So close! He will be free!’

Something told Cassie they weren’t talking about Sir Alric.

‘Yes,’ Katerina intoned. She turned and glared contemptuously at Sir Alric. ‘Soon your spirit will be the Eldest’s first good meal in centuries. And soon your body will be his
host
,’ she spat. ‘You should feel honoured.’

‘Prepare the artefacts,’ Brigitte told her daughter. Grimly, Cassie followed their gaze towards their altar of artefacts, and her eyes were drawn to the Knife beside it. Its carved creatures were alive, twisting, and it seemed to radiate a light all of its own, drawing her, calling to her, wanting her …

Unable to bear it a moment longer, Cassie tore her arm free of Ranjit’s grasp and dived around the corner, heading straight towards the glowing alcove and the Knife. Brigitte spun on her heel, gaping.

‘NO! Cassie!’

Ranjit’s cry of warning was drowned out by a shriek of rage. Katerina hurtled towards Cassie, slamming into her and flinging her backwards. Cassie crashed hard into the solid rock wall, pain shooting through her shoulders and head, but she staggered back to her feet, snarling, and focused. Drawing up all her strength, she began to project her unusual power out beyond herself. The cave turned ruby-red in her vision, and she drew a triumphant breath to hurl the full force of it towards Katerina—

‘Cassie! DON’T DO THAT!’

But Sir Alric’s yell of horror was cut off abruptly; Marat stepped from the shadows and snapped his head back with a vicious punch. Still, his brief shout was enough to make Cassie pause, and she rocked back on her heels, surprised and confused.

Beyond Katerina, the Urn was brightening, its light focusing into a single dazzling beam that lanced out towards Cassie like a laser. Shocked, Cassie tried to refocus her power against it, but instead of combating the strange light, she found herself frozen, rooted to the spot. The Urn’s green light enveloped her.

‘Don’t … !’ mumbled Sir Alric again. But it was too late.

Katerina stalked over to stand before Cassie, but she didn’t launch a new attack. She didn’t have to. The girl was grinning with horrible delight, fists clenched as she gazed at the immobilised Cassie.

‘Oh, yes, Cassie Bell!’ she howled. ‘Yes! By all means do!’

C
assie wanted to scream with futile rage, but she couldn’t even do that. Horror swamped her as she stared down at her own chest.

She’d projected her spirit beyond her body – her special power, her unique power – and now it was going to be the death of her. The Urn’s light was almost unbearably bright now; with a sinking realisation, Cassie deduced that the Eldest was consuming her projected spirit, absorbing its energy. She was growing weaker by the minute.

‘Cassie!’ She heard Ranjit’s howl as if from a great distance.

No … came the echo from inside her own head. No … !

But she was powerless as her friends rushed forward. Yelling with fury, Ranjit, Richard, Jake and Isabella were suddenly all around her. They were trying to protect her, she knew – to stop this from happening. But it seemed hopeless, and she could do nothing to help, nothing to save herself. Slowly, inexorably, her power was draining away into the Urn. She let out a growl of pure frustration but could still say nothing, could not move.

She watched helplessly as Marat whacked his fist into the side of Isabella’s head and she went stumbling down. Jake flew at Marat, trying to protect her, but the stocky little man turned with shocking fluidity, ducked and then slammed his fist into Jake’s jaw. The American boy went down like a stone, and Marat smirked. A few metres away Richard was doing his damnedest to lash out at Katerina, but she and her mother, fierce with joy, overwhelmed him with blows.

Ranjit gripped Cassie’s arms, trying to wrench her free from the Eldest’s hold; his hands hissed with green smoke where they touched her skin, and at last he gave a cry of pain and fell back. Cassie’s eyes met his, and he shook his head in despair. Beside him Richard had been struck to the ground, and Ranjit rolled over and sprang up to defend him just as Brigitte moved in for a killing blow.

I … don’t want … to die, Cassandra!

Me either, Estelle.

And she didn’t want her friends to die, either. All the power inside her, and she couldn’t save her friends. All that power …

Not all, my dear!

Estelle …

Oh, my darling Cassandra! You haven’t got a choice any more. We haven’t got a choice! It’s the end if you don’t. For all of us
.

Cassie shut her eyes tight, then, gritting her teeth, she blinked back the despair that had threatened to overwhelm her. She knew what she had to do – had to try, it was the only way…

Come on then, Estelle. COME IN!

For … once and for … all, my dear?

YES!

Cassie’s head was flung back with the impact of the spirit entering her. Eyes wide, she stared at the writhing cavern ceiling, feeling the blissful power of the whole spirit slamming into her veins, racing like a fizzing tide.

Yes!

Cassie gave a howl of ecstasy, realising that she was free, able to move again, able to shout. Energy poured back into her limbs, and the pain was gone as if Estelle had turned a switch. Cassie’s mind felt bright and clear and piercing, and power pulsed in her chest. Around and inside her there was a horrible screeching, but she knew it wasn’t coming from her. It was coming from the eldritch green glow, the light of the Eldest.

‘GET AWAY FROM US!’ she screamed.

Then, abruptly, the beam of light snapped, twitching and vanishing from around her. Cassie felt a single piercing explosion of relief and triumph.

And then she crumpled to the floor.

Ranjit saw her fall. With one last savage slash at Katerina, he turned and rushed to Cassie’s side. Despite her feeling of utter strength just moments ago, it was clearly short-lived. Estelle’s spirit-power was hugely drained, and now Cassie’s breath was coming in ragged gasps, her muscles now as weak as a month-old kitten’s, but she managed to croak, ‘No, Ranjit. Stop her—’

Too late. Katerina had darted to Sir Alric and now she gripped his hair and yanked his head back. His eyes were filmy and blurred, and blood trickled thickly from his nostrils.

There was too much blood on Ranjit’s face, too, and though his teeth were bared in fury, the scarlet taint of his eyes was fading with exhaustion. He managed to get his arms around Cassie and help her stumble on to all fours.

‘No,’ she gasped.

The swirling light around the Urn was intensifying again. There was a roaring in her ears now, from the strange pulsating light above them all and from her own brain. Under its intense dazzle, Brigitte kicked the defeated Richard aside and paced to Sir Alric’s chained form. She slammed her fist into his face, and blood spattered her.

‘And now,’ she said with a hiss of contempt, turning to Katerina but still gripping Sir Alric’s hair. ‘Now, my daughter. We’ll finish this.’

‘Don’t do it!’ yelled Ranjit. ‘You don’t know what you’re doing!’

‘Of course we do! You stupid, weak fools!’ Brigitte’s voice seared Cassie’s brain. ‘There’s nothing you can do! The Eldest will feed on you
all
! Give in to him now and maybe it won’t be such utter torture!’

Her daughter screamed with laughter. ‘Mother! He’ll like it more if it hurts them!’

Brigitte joined in the howls of hilarity, and even Marat behind them was cracking a smile. Viciously, the older woman grinned at Cassie and Ranjit, and grabbed Sir Alric’s hair as Katerina let it go.

‘You haven’t got away with it, Bell. Fear not, once Darke’s spirit is consumed and the Eldest has his body as a host, you will be next. I’m so glad we didn’t kill you at Gedi!’

‘Leave him alone!’ yelled Cassie.

‘Oh? Leave him alone?’ Katerina shrieked, almost hysterical now. ‘He’s the most powerful Few we could get our hands on, you stupid bitch! When he’s fed on Darke’s spirit, the Eldest will be unbeatable! Of course we’re not going to leave him alone!’ The blonde girl doubled over with crazed laughter, then reached up and whipped the Pendant from its place beside the Urn.

It swung from Katerina’s hand, glinting with a brilliance that jade shouldn’t possess. As it steadied and stilled, Katerina brandished the Pendant above Sir Alric’s wrenched-back head. His mouth opened in a scream that never sounded. Cassie watched in horror as a faint white light began to spiral out from between his lips – they were drawing his spirit out using the ancient artefact. It drifted, grew denser, curled up into the dank air towards the intensifying light of the Eldest hovering above the Urn. Sir Alric began to struggle, but Brigitte held firm.

‘Do not resist,’ hissed Brigitte, shaking Darke’s head as she tightened her grip on his hair. ‘I’ll be happy to submit to your authority once you host the Eldest, though.’ She giggled, almost girlishly. ‘I’ve always rather liked your body …’

She tailed off, and with a flourish she reached over and drew the Knife. The coil of white light was extended now to a thin and despairing tendril curling around the Pendant, and it was beginning to pull Sir Alric’s body with it. His throat stretched, his back arched, and Brigitte grinned, raising the blade high to sever his spirit from his body.

‘Ranjit, we have to DO SOMETHING!’ Cassie cried, half-stumbling as she tried to get to Sir Alric herself.