Sebastian Darke: Prince of Explorers (26 page)

'Cal, it's me, Galt. I'm all right, but you must come down and open the door for me before those things come back!'

Suddenly there was the sound of footsteps on the landing and Cal went racing past the doorway, closely followed by a frantic Phelan.

'Wait!' he yelled. 'Cal, hang on a moment!'

Cornelius and Sebastian exchanged glances and then went in pursuit.

'Wait for me!' yelled Max, but his hooves slipped on the stone floor and he went over onto his side with a grunt of surprise. Sebastian and Cornelius didn't hesitate. As they started down the first staircase, Phelan looked back at them over his shoulder.

'It's a trick,' he said. 'They always try this. I told your friend but he won't listen to me.'

'Cal!' shouted Sebastian. 'Wait, don't go down there!'

But Cal ignored them. He was racing down the steps three at a time, already nearly a whole flight ahead of them.

'Is there a lock on the main door?' shouted Cornelius.

Phelan shook his head. 'Only bolts,' he said.

'Right,' said Cornelius. He seemed to concentrate for a moment, then threw himself up into the air and went somersaulting over Phelan's head. He landed lightly on the next level, flung himself round the corner and whirled down the staircase in a blur of motion. Cal didn't have a chance. The little warrior's boots hit him square in the back, flinging him off balance, and he went down the last few steps on his chest like a human toboggan. He crashed into some railings at the end and lay still.

When Sebastian and Phelan reached them, Cornelius was turning the warrior over onto his back. Cal looked dazed and a trail of blood trickled from a gash on his forehead. He sat up and glared at Cornelius.

'Let me go,' he snarled. 'I heard Galt out there – he needs help.'

Phelan shook his head. 'I know that's how it seems to you – but I have seen this so many times before. Countless Night Runners lie in wait for you should you open that door. If only one of them gets in here, we would all be doomed.'

Cal shook his head. 'But his voice sounds the same!'

Phelan sighed. 'I already told you. It takes time for them to turn fully. In the passing of one moon, he will be like all the others. He will look and sound as they do. In the meantime, the Night Runners are cunning – they make use of the fact that your friend's appearance has not changed much. He is bait, nothing more.'

Phelan sat down on the steps and his expression became troubled. 'It was like this with my parents when they were first taken,' he said. 'For many nights they stood under the window calling out my name. I was just a little boy – what did I know? I wanted to go to them and open the doors, and had to be restrained by those around me.' He reached out a hand and placed it on Cal's shoulder. 'Take it from me, the man you knew is gone. There is no way anybody comes back once they have been bitten. He is a Night Runner now, doomed to wander the streets of this city for eternity. Come.' He stood up and helped Cal to his feet, then began to guide him back up the steps. 'You need sleep, my friend. In the end that's the best medicine of all.'

Cal didn't protest. He trudged back up, head bowed, all the fight gone out of him. Sebastian gazed up after him, sorry for the warrior despite himself. Cal had taken every opportunity to be mean to him, but it was evident that he carried a terrible burden of guilt for what had happened to his friend.

Sebastian looked at Cornelius. 'Perhaps Max is right,' he said. 'Perhaps we should just get away from this place the first chance we get.'

Cornelius frowned. 'That would be foolish,' he said. 'The hard work is done now. Against all the odds we have found the lost city. Now all we need is proof of its existence and Thaddeus Peel will pay us a small fortune for it. Enough to finance another trip to the treasure island of Captain Callinestra!'

Sebastian stared at him in surprise. He had quite forgotten why they taken this job in the first place – to finance another trip to the island where they had found an incredible treasure hoard, only to lose what they had taken shortly afterwards.

'Oh, yes, the treasure. I knew there had to be a reason why we were putting ourselves through all this.' Sebastian gazed at his friend for a moment. 'But ask yourself, Cornelius: is it worth it? Even if we do eventually end up rich beyond our wildest dreams, will the price we have to pay for it outweigh the rewards? Three good men have already died on this trip. Karl and Samuel, back before we found the village, and now Galt. Tomorrow it could be one of us.'

'But that's the risk any adventurer takes,' Cornelius assured him. 'If adventuring were easy, everyone would be doing it, wouldn't they?'

Sebastian looked down at him, baffled by this logic.

'Come on,' said Cornelius. 'Let's get some sleep – it's too late to be doing so much soul-searching.'

They returned to their chamber and found a comical sight awaiting them. Max was trying to get back to his feet, but his hooves kept slipping on the stone floor, sending him sprawling again. A few of the younger children were doing their best to help him up, without much success. He glared at Sebastian and Cornelius.

'Well, don't just stand there,' he said. 'Come and give me a hand.'

Sebastian smiled. 'On one condition,' he said.

'What's that?'

'That you promise to stop talking and let us sleep.'

Max grunted, clearly not happy with the deal, but reluctant to spend the night on a cold stone floor. 'Oh, very well,' he said. 'I'm wasting my breath talking to you two idiots anyway. In the end you'll do exactly what you want. You generally do.'

Sebastian was woken from a deep sleep. He had been dreaming that he was creeping through the deserted city at night, making as little noise as possible because he knew that, out there in the shadows, the Night Runners were stalking him. He had never been so grateful to be shaken awake.

He blinked at the person who was crouched over him. It was Phelan, and he was looking down at him with an urgent expression on his face.

'Aaron wishes to see you,' he said.

Sebastian looked around and realized he had been lying with his head pillowed against Max's shaggy flank. He shook his head to try and dispel the last shreds of sleep.

'What,
now
?' he asked. 'What time is it?'

'The sun is just rising,' Phelan told him. 'You are to come with me, you and the little warrior . . .' He glanced at Cornelius, who was already sitting up and taking notice. 'He wishes to speak to both of you. And the comical talking creature. I have told Aaron all about him and he wishes to see him for himself.'

'All right.' Sebastian elbowed Max unceremoniously in the rump.

'Oh well, perhaps just another star fruit,' said Max. 'I'm watching my figure.'

Sebastian stared at him. 'What are you blathering about?'

Max directed his bleary gaze at him. 'Sorry,' he said. 'I was dreaming I was at a buffalope restaurant.'

'I've been to one like that in Golmira,' Cornelius told him, blinking the sleep from his eyes. 'Very tasty it was too. I had roast buffalope in hot pepper sauce, with a side order of suckling rusa. Dee-licious!'

'That's nothing to boast about,' said Max. 'And you misunderstand me. This place was run by humans, but the buffalope weren't on the menu, they were the
customers
. It was called Buffalopia. There were really smart candlelit troughs, and every so often a waiter would come by and throw in another bucket of fruit; and there were these giant tankards filled with ale and—'

'I'm sure this is fascinating,' interrupted Sebastian, 'but we have to go and meet Aaron now.'

'What?' Max looked apprehensive. 'Well, good luck to you, that's all I can say. Let's hope he doesn't bite your heads off.'

'What are you talking about?' asked Sebastian, getting to his feet. 'You're coming with us, you ninny – he's asked to see you.'

'Me? He doesn't need to see me. Why should he want to see me?'

'Because I have told him all about you,' said Phelan. 'I have said what a funny old thing you are.'

'Oh, well, thanks for that, I'm sure,' said Max, finding his feet with great difficulty on the slippery stone floor. 'I suppose you told him that I had a good bit of meat on my bones, did you? Yes, he's probably woken up hungry. That'll be it.'

Phelan looked at Sebastian. 'What's he on about?' he asked.

'Good question. Max seems to have got it into his head that Aaron is some kind of flesh-eating monster.'

Phelan laughed. 'He's been called many things in his time, but never that!' He turned to look at Max. 'There's no need to worry,' he said. 'Aaron isn't going to hurt you. He's kind and generous. Come along, you'll see.'

He led the way out of the room and the others followed, Max with visible reluctance.

'Why do I have to go?' he complained.

'Because he's heard about you and probably thinks he'll be entertained,' said Cornelius. 'Most people are,
the first time
.'

Max looked at him dolefully. 'What's that supposed to mean?' he muttered.

'Only that the novelty soon wears off.'

At the end of the landing Phelan turned to climb the next flight of steps to a level they had not yet visited.

'Oh yes, go on, insult me,' Max told Cornelius. 'You may as well, everyone else does! But if we get up these stairs and this Aaron character turns out to be some kind of unspeakable monster, don't expect me to help you out.'

'For goodness' sake, Max,' whispered Sebastian. 'Why are you so convinced he's going to be something awful?'

'Because that's what always happens,' said Max. 'Haven't you worked that out yet? We meet somebody and they seem all right, but in reality they're crafty and evil or they turn into wild animals or they've been plotting to murder you, or eat you or something even worse. Why do we never meet any nice people?'

'We
do
meet nice people,' protested Sebastian. 'Jenna Swift . . . Princess Kerin . . . Garth Bracegirdle, the landlord of the Brigand's Arms . . .'

'Peg o' the Hills,' said Cornelius. 'The Kid and his father.'

'Lemuel,' offered Sebastian, 'Cassius and the rest of the crew of the
Sea Witch
.' He thought for a moment. 'Osbert,' he added.

'Oh yes, well, now we're really scraping the barrel, aren't we? As I recall Osbert was a rather thick mule who could barely string a sentence together. All I'm saying is, if I had to start listing all the nasty scumbags we've encountered, I'd be here till doomsday.'

They came to a set of ornate metal doors, which Phelan pushed open with a flourish. He led the three friends into the room beyond and Sebastian stared around in amazement. Unlike the bare rooms they had seen so far, this one boasted fine furniture, gold drapes and handsome ornaments. The walls were hung with huge oil paintings – mostly portraits of stately-looking men and women; and the room was lit by a gigantic glass chandelier, upon which scores of candles burned brightly. Sebastian was reminded of the treasure trove of Captain Callinestra because so many fine objects had been crammed higgledy-piggledy into the room.

Along one entire wall stood a gigantic bookcase crammed with handsome leather-bound volumes like those Sebastian had once seen in the palace of King Septimus. But there were so many other things to catch the eye – furniture and statues and goblets and weapons and jewels and things that Sebastian could not even put a name to.