The Coldstone Conflict (3 page)

The crowd didn’t move; it was as if they’d been frozen to the spot with fear. Dragons were a rarity in Illmoor, but obsidian dragons of this size were thought to be no more than the stuff of legend.

However, reality reasserted itself in their minds when both creatures looked skyward in order to belch two colossal jets of flame into the air.

There was a scream from the crowd … and several citizens fainted. Then, as if coming out of a trance, the people of Dullitch turned … and ran.

All except the remaining members of the secret army. Nazz, Obegarde and Jimmy Quickstint were staring in frank astonishment at Effigy Spatula.

The freedom fighter, far from retreating, had marched straight into the courtyard and was once again raising both hands to his lips. He seemed completely oblivious to his sudden lack of support.

“You really think a bunch of illusionary guff is going to keep you and your new master on the throne of the greatest city in Illmoor?” he screamed. “It’s LAUGHABLE! Come out and face your destiny, you and the sorcerous wretch you now serve!”

The dragons both watched Effigy carefully, but neither moved to attack him. Obegarde glared at Jimmy.

“Didn’t you warn him?” the vampire screamed. “We’ve got no idea what we’re dealing with here!”

“I didn’t get a
chance
to tell him,” Jimmy yelled back. “He was too intent on storming the palace.”

“He’s going to get us all killed,” Nazz bellowed, thundering toward the courtyard.

Vanquish had now appeared on the balcony, a red cloak draped over Groan’s broad shoulders. Gordo Goldeaxe and Gape Teethgrit had staggered awkwardly to stand on either side of him.

“Gordo!” Jimmy whispered to Obegarde. “We saw him cut down … what’s going
on
here? Do you think Diveal raised him?”

“And the brother, by the look of him,” Obegarde replied. “They’re both just standing there, like trained zombies!”

“You!” Effigy screamed again, raising his voice to an even greater level. “Come down here and face the PEOPLE!”

Up on the balcony, the shadow extended its arms.

“Interesting,”
the dark voice boomed. The red eyes closed for a moment, as if in concentrated thought.
“And you are Effigy Spatula … freedom fighter. How amusing. Yet your friends don’t seem to share your confidence. They cower behind you … the grave-digging thief, even the ogre and the vampire … whose names will come to me in just a moment. Ah yes—we have Obegarde … Jimmy Quickstint and Nazz. YOU THREE WOULD DO WELL TO TURN AND WALK AWAY FROM THIS INSOLENT WRETCH, BEFORE YOU JOIN HIM IN MY DISPLEASURE.”

Effigy peered up at the great form, but he didn’t flinch.

“So you come to rely on the minor magic of a cowardly impostor? Am I supposed to turn and flee at the mere mention of a few names? Ha! Your efforts to deter us from our cause are laughable. We speak as one! You, Groan Teethgrit, are nothing more than a savage: step down from the balcony, and bring your tainted master with you!”

“I have no master, fool. I am Vanquish; hear me roar.”

A network of lightning stretched from the sky. Vanquish threw up a hand … and absorbed it.

Effigy grinned at the display.

“More illusions!” he cried, as Nazz arrived, panting, beside him. “What’s next, I wonder? A rabbit out of a hat? Vanquish, indeed! The people will—”

“The people of Dullitch will do nothing, for they will encounter nothing that troubles them. They will see what I want them to see, hear what I want them to hear … and forget whatever I wish them to forget.”

“What, like two dragons? Ha! I’ve never heard such nons—”

Vanquish held aloft a gloved hand, and then brought it down in a sweeping motion. The dragons fell like two stones dropped down a well, unfurling their wings at the last second and swooping low over the cobbles. Rising aloft once more, they breathed a combined shower of flame at the space where Effigy
had
been standing.

But the freedom fighter was gone, struggling in Nazz’s mighty arms as the small group retreated into the shadowy streets of Dullitch.

Vanquish turned to his undead assistants.

“Go now,”
he growled.
“Kill
all
of these fools … along with anyone who gets in your way. The dragons will assist you … as will I.”

“T
HAT WAS FIRE!” EFFIGY
screamed, as the group thundered around Oval Square. “Actual, real, genuine, burning flames! I felt the heat on my face.”

“That’s because it wasn’t an illusion,” Obegarde yelled. “The dragons were REAL … and Groan Teethgrit has become something … terrible.”

“You think so?”

“We all do! He’s become Vanquish.”

“Yes! That’s the name he used …”

The group ran on, Effigy still struggling to free himself from Nazz’s grip. “But who, or what,
is
Vanquish?”

“Somebody who commands dragons,” Jimmy panted. “We probably don’t
need
to know any more than that.”

“Vanquish is a god,” Nazz managed, lowering the freedom fighter on to his feet as he continued to pound the cobbles. “My people in the hills used to speak of him on cold winter nights. He’s very old; possibly as old as Illmoor itself. The good news is that, as I recall from the legends, at that time he took the form of an immense, multi-tentacled mutation. So let’s look on the bright side here: at least he’s not totally manifest at the moment!”

“
That
is the bright side?” Obegarde panted. “Terrific. Absolutely terrific.”

“Can today actually get any worse?” Jimmy screamed. “We’ve got two dragons after us, possibly controlled by a dark god, both Groan’s companions have been turned into demon zombies
and
there’s an impostor sitting on the throne.”

“Doubt that,” said Nazz, mockingly. “If what
I’ve
heard about Vanquish is true, it’s probably already
eaten
him.”

“Where can we go?” Effigy blurted. “The sewers?”

Jimmy shook his head.

“No. The sewers in Illmoor are all linked to the streets: we can’t use them to get
out
of the city.”

“Where, then?”

“I don’t know!”

The group ran on, particularly aware of the shadows rising in the skies behind them.

Vanquish returned to the throne room, his new face set in a grim smile. Concentrating hard, he raised one hand and snapped his fingers: a ball of energy formed on the air, twisting and turning until it shaped itself into a cone of light.

The dark god took a breath. Then he spoke into it:

“People of Dullitch, hear me now. Your ears do not deceive you: I speak directly into every mind within the city walls. CLEAR THE STREETS: YOU WILL ALL RETURN TO YOUR HOMES AND AWAIT MY INSTRUCTIONS. DO NOT STRUGGLE, FOR TO DO SO AGAINST MY MIGHT IS FUTILE.”

Vanquish smiled. Of course, he wouldn’t get
all
of them to obey, not immediately … but the weak and feeble-minded would bend to his will like thin-stemmed florets in the wind.

The dragons swooped and soared over the empty streets of Dullitch, belching flames at every quarter in order to underline the threat. Far below, Gape and Gordo stalked the streets around the palace, kicking down doors and hunting through any houses that looked like convenient hiding places. The inhabitants of these unlucky dwellings sat, mesmerized—entire families of the chosen possessed, awaiting new orders from the voice that had so terrified their souls …

Soon, the streets of Dullitch were deserted and the city was gripped in an icy fist of terror.

The secret army had sensibly decided to split up in an effort to leave the city undetected. Nazz and Effigy had gone west, choosing to negotiate the tree-lined walks of Sack Avenue instead of heading directly for the North Gate. Jimmy and Obegarde had moved in the opposite direction, picking their way toward the Rotting Ferret and, ultimately, the Market Gate.

Unfortunately, they found that route barred.

“It’s one of the dragons!” Obegarde whispered, peering from the mouth of an alley that ran alongside Finlayzzon’s. “It’s landed on the gate tower: we can’t get out!”

Jimmy rubbed his chin with a trembling hand. “Do you think the other one’s on the North Gate?”

“Of course it is! Gods damn it! They’ve closed us in …”

“Where do you think that zombified duo are?”

“Who knows?” Obegarde shrugged. “They could be
anywhere.
We need to move.”

“But where?”

“The harbor: it’s our only choice. Even if they
are
blocking the gates, we might still be able to get out on a ship.”

Jimmy looked doubtful. “You reckon?”

“What other options are there?”

“None.”

“Exactly. Mind you, I’m not sure quite how we’re going to get out of this alley. That dragon can probably spot a cockroach from half a mile away …”

Jimmy grinned.

“Leave that to me,” he said and, jumping to his feet, began to sidle carefully along the alley.

“Psst … Oi!”

The thief glanced over his shoulder. “What?”

“Where are you going?”

“Through the door over there!” Jimmy pointed at a small wooden portal which opened on to the alley.

“Why, where does it go?”

“To number thirteen, Market Street.”

“And?”

The thief rolled his eyes. “And the window in the top back room of Thirteen Market Street can get us on to the roof walkway to number Nine. When we get to number Nine, there is a beam connecting the roof with the roof of the big green house on The Goodwalk. Then we go along the city wall, over Crest Hill and straight into the harbor.”

Obegarde was silent for a moment. Then he said: “I’ve just realized how glad I am that I didn’t go with Nazz or Effigy.”

Jimmy winked back at him.

“They don’t call me Quickstint for nothing,” he said.

On the other side of town, Effigy Spatula and Nazz were looking out from beneath a battered-up carriage on the south end of Tanner Street. Neither of them had spoken in quite some time, and it wasn’t because they had nothing to say to each other. They weren’t speaking because the situation in the street had them both holding their breath and praying for a miracle.

One of the obsidian dragons had landed atop the North Gate, and was carefully scrutinizing the street … in particular a young girl who was standing, frozen to the spot with fear, in the middle of it.

Nobody moved.

“It’s seen her! We’ve got to
do
something, Effigy; we can’t just leave her there to die! She looks about twelve!”

“Stay where you are,” Effigy snapped. “Don’t be a fool.”

“But she’s not moving!”

“Neither is the dragon.”

“Yeah, but—”

“Shhh!”

The girl was of medium height, with a pale, pretty face and curly brown hair. Her black robes betrayed her as a pupil of Candleford’s new preparatory school for girls.

Effigy squinted up at the dragon; the great beast was beginning to unfurl its wings.

“Effigy!”

“I see it, I see it!”

“What’re we going to do? It’s taking off.”

“Just stay put, damn it!”

“No!”

Nazz swung out from beneath the carriage and bolted toward the girl, just as the dragon took off from its gate-perch.

“Nazz! Come baaaaack!”

The ogre was oblivious of Effigy’s cries; he dashed over to the girl, scooped her into his arms and bolted for the sanctuary of a nearby alley. Effigy could see that he wasn’t going to make it: the dragon had already taken flight and was about to dive.

“Arrrgghghghghghghhhhh!” Effigy screamed, rolling out from under the carriage and leaping to his feet. “IT’S ME YOUR MASTERS WANT, YOU GREAT NOTHING! MEEEEEEEEEE!”

The freedom fighter turned on his heel and ran, the black shadow rising over him with remarkable speed.

He tried to run in an unpredictable zigzag, reasoning that the beast wouldn’t be able to use its molten breath if it couldn’t focus on a target. He was wrong.

A jet of flame erupted just behind and to the left of him. There were screams as the upper floors of several buildings caught alight. Effigy ran on, but he knew he was done for; the flames had been so close … and he couldn’t keep up his current pace for long.

“OOOOOOOOOIIIIIIIIII! DRAGON FILTH! TAKE MEEE!”

The booming roar had come from Nazz, who’d appeared at the mouth of the alley, and was waving a heavy-looking length of timber. He swung the wood over his shoulder, then turned and made straight for the North Gate. The dragon soared and turned on the air; unfortunately for Nazz, it was upon him before he got halfway toward the gate tower.

Effigy, holding back both tears and anger, made a determined effort not to watch the confrontation; instead, he made for the alley Nazz had emerged from … and found the girl cowering behind a stack of dustbins.

“On your feet! Quick!”

The girl peered up through streaming eyes. “He saved me!” she said, in what Effigy couldn’t help recognizing was a remarkably well-spoken voice. “He saved my life and now he’s going to die!”

Effigy grabbed the girl by the hand and dragged her to her feet.

“Yes, and if you don’t keep up with me now, it will all have been for nothing. What’s your name?”

“Vanya.”

“Right, Vanya; I’m Effigy Spatula. C’mon!”

The girl rushed along beside him. Soon they emerged onto Laker Street, where Effigy quickly snatched hold of Vanya’s arm and dragged her in the direction of the palace.

“Where do you live?”

“I—my family are from Spittle.”

“Well? Where do you live when you’re
here?
”

The girl shook her head and tried to get her bearings.

“At a boarding house on Stainer Street,” she said. “B-but I’ve finished for the term; I need to get to my father’s ship!”

Effigy almost breathed a sigh of relief. “Perfect!” he managed. “Maybe I can leave with you. Now stay close to the walls. If that dragon catches up with us, we’re both finished.”

Back at the gate, Nazz staggered. He’d put up a valiant fight, but he was no match for an obsidian dragon. The beast had been toying with him, striking terrible wounds with claws and teeth, but not using its fiery exhalations.