The Fire King (32 page)

She didn't hear it land.

She stood up and brushed off her hands. “Over to you, William,” she said, handing him the journal.

William slowly pushed himself up and took the book from Emily's hands. He opened it to the relevant page and nervously cleared his throat.

“Acht'in segara. Betan mie alora ti. Vitaj'kel, amata yi.”

He closed the book.

“That's it?” asked Emily. “What does it mean?”

“I've no idea,” said William.

At first there was nothing, but then Emily thought she heard a dry, whispering sound, like sand coursing through a funnel. She peered into the pit. The noise was coming from far below, but also off into the distance, as if the pit was wide as well as deep.

The sound grew louder—a scraping, rasping sound. Then she heard a fierce huff, as if something was drawing breath. She glanced at William, alarmed. His features were set in a determined look. He wouldn't back away now. Not after going through so much to get them here.

The dry rasping grew closer, and Emily heard something else, too. The scraping of stone, then the fall of pebbles. As they stood there listening, the noises fell into a pattern. First the scrape, then the fall of pebbles, then the dry rasping sound.

It took Emily a while to realize the sounds were that of a creature climbing up the wall of the pit, gripping the stone with claws before pulling itself up, scraping its stomach on the stone as it climbed. This time she did take a step back. Whatever was coming sounded incredibly big.

Emily caught a glimpse of something, a brief hint of dark blue and green, sliding into the light for the briefest second before moving into the darkness again. It reminded her of something, but she couldn't think what. She saw it again, a flash of blue and green sliding through the dark, rasping against the stone.

That was when she realized what it reminded her of. A snake, coiling and twining as it moved. And the dry rasping sound had to be the scales rubbing against the wall of the pit.

She grabbed hold of Will's arm and pulled him backward. He was about to complain, but at that moment a massive reptilian head heaved up above the lip of the dark pit and gazed down at them.

Emily's mouth fell open.

It was a dragon. She was staring at a dragon. There was no possible way she could deny it. No chance of saying it was something else.

It was a dragon.

Its head was easily half as tall as the White Tower. It filled the space, almost touching the distant roof. It pointed its blunt, pockmarked snout downward until it was no more than five paces away. Heat wafted out of nostrils the size of doors. Ruby-colored eyes stared at them.

The dragon sniffed, almost pulling them both off their feet. Then it exhaled, knocking them both onto their backsides.

Who speaks the ancient tongue? Who summons the Pendragon from her sleep? Have I not earned my rest?

The voice echoed inside Emily's head. She scrambled to her feet. “Uh … I, that is,
we
do. Summon you.”

On whose authority?

Emily thought for a moment. “Merlin's? Britain is in danger. The Fire King has been summoned, and he is burning the city to the ground. He will destroy the whole of Britain unless he is stopped.”

The dragon paused as if in thought.
You wish to summon the power of the Pendragon?

“Yes! Please. Before it's too late.”

Does the Pendragon bloodline still live on?

“We … we don't know. We weren't sure how this worked.”

So be it. It is done.

The dragon's head lowered slowly back into the pit. They heard the sound of it climbing back down the walls. Emily drew a shaky breath and looked at William. He was pale, his eyes wide as he stepped forward and stared down into the darkness.

Then he turned to her with a huge grin on his face. “Did we just summon a dragon?”

Emily couldn't help but grin back. “I think we did. Come on. Let's get back to the others.”

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY-NINE

The Final Battle

T
he battle was not going in Katerina's favor. It had started off well, but that was because they'd had the advantage of surprise. But now the Tuatha guards had split up, taking charge of small groups of fey, leading them into the fight. They were keeping the fey organized, making sure they didn't scatter.

Katerina wasn't sure how many had died on her side. Lots. She knew that. But what was she supposed to do? Sit back while Will and the others fought Kelindria on their own? This was as much her fight as it was William's and Emily's.
More
, as this wasn't even their time. If they were willing to die for the cause, then so was she.

Katerina had always felt she was destined for something like this. All her life she had looked out for the little person.

Had spoken for those who didn't have a voice. It was why all the street children had flocked to her. They trusted her. Believed she wouldn't let them down. And she wouldn't. If they could somehow stop the fey from destroying London, then the sacrifice would be worth it. Think how many lives would be saved.

“To me!” she shouted. Her beleaguered followers, scattered around the field of battle, turned and ran in her direction. Her heart thudded painfully when she saw how few they were. Only about thirty or so out of how many? Over a hundred. Puck was there, urging everyone back to her. She had to admit, it had been a surprise to see him fighting by her side. After the stories she had heard from Corrigan, she wasn't sure what to think of him. But it seemed he was still loyal to the cause.

She caught sight of Jack and Wren. Even Corrigan. They must have heard the battle and come out to help. The three of them hurried toward her.

“Have you seen Emily and Will?” asked Jack. His face was covered in a spatter of blood. She wasn't sure if it was his or someone else's. Even Wren had picked up a weapon. It wasn't hard to find one. They were all over, dropped by her fallen comrades.

“They went that way,” she said, pointing to the north.

Jack and Wren exchanged grim looks.

“What?”

“We think they've gone to wake the Raven King.”

Katerina's eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Really? Then all that stuff is true?”

“According to Merlin, yes.”

“Merlin? Ah, the old man,” said Katerina. “So Emily was successful in her quest as well.”

Her followers had all gathered around her. “Form a line,” she shouted. They obeyed her instantly, forming into a neat line that was nowhere near as long as she wanted it to be. The fey gathered before her, their numbers disheartening to see. It had all started off so well!

The fey line parted to allow an old crone and the Crimson Knight to move forward.

“Who is that?” she whispered to Jack.

“Kelindria. The new Faerie Queen.”

“Titania's gone?” asked Katerina, surprised.

“
Deposed
, I think, is the correct term,” said Wren.

“Lay down your weapons,” called Kelindria. “And no harm will befall you.”

Katerina chuckled. She couldn't help it. “You hear that, people? No harm will befall us. What do you say? Should we lay down our arms?”

A roar of anger swept through their line. Katerina smiled at Kelindria. “There's your answer,” she called.

“Surely you know you are all dead if you do not? The Fire King will sweep through here and reduce your bones to ashes.”

The Faerie Queen seemed to notice something for the first time. Her eyes swept along the line. “Where are the girl and her brother?” She stepped forward, the Crimson Knight keeping pace to protect her. In the background, Katerina could see the shadowy forms of two of his hounds. They would be hard to kill. She was sure she still had her witchbane dagger stashed somewhere about her person. Her hands slid to her belt. Better to have it at hand.

“They're not here!” screamed the Queen. She whirled around to the knight. “Find them!”

The Crimson Knight swept away from Kelindria's side, heading toward the White Tower. The two hounds padded after him. At least that put them out of the fight, thought Katerina. Made things easier on them.

The dogs loped ahead of the knight, muzzles close to the ground. As they drew close to the tower, they stopped and erupted into a frenzy of barking, running off in the direction Emily and William had taken.

Kelindria smiled as she turned back to face them. “There we go. They will not escape. Not this time.” She fished something from her pocket and dropped it to the ground. Katerina craned her neck forward to see. It looked like some kind of stone. But as she watched, it cracked open and a fiery lizard crawled out of it. Not a stone. An egg.

“Attend me,” said Kelindria.

Katerina's attention was drawn to the flames that had been burning steadily along the west wall of the tower enclosure. The fire flared even higher, and then a figure stepped out of the flames, a figure well over twenty feet tall. It climbed easily over the walls and stalked toward them, leaving flaming footprints in its wake.

The Fire King approached.

Kelindria turned and hurried toward the terrible creature. As it drew near, it shrank down until it was the size of a tall man. He and Kelindria spoke briefly, then the Fire King turned and followed the Crimson Knight.

Kelindria returned to her line and smiled, a terrible, cruel smile in an ancient, withered face.

“As soon as your little friends turn up, the key will be mine. And then …Well, and then the Fire King will embrace them both.” She studied their faces. “Oh, don't look so upset. You won't even know about it. Because you'll all be kissing the mud. Tuatha! Attack!”

On her command, the lines of fey started running toward them. Katerina and her gang were outnumbered almost four to one, but still she raised her sword into the air.

Her comrades did the same. “For London!” she screamed.

“For London!”
came the reply.

And then they ran forward to meet the fey in the final battle.

Emily and William were huffing with exertion by the time they arrived at the exit to the tunnel. Their first sight of the city was the orange-tinged smoke that blanketed the London sky. It was a depressing sight, but at least it meant they would soon be able to see what their summoning had wrought.

They stepped out of the tunnel. Everything seemed the same. The line of fire still wavered and burned to the south. They could still hear the sounds of fighting coming from inside the enclosure.

Emily and Will exchanged puzzled looks. They'd done it, hadn't they? They had summoned the Raven King. So why was the battle still going on? Why hadn't it stopped?

A dull
crump
caught Emily's attention, echoing through the night. Her eyes shifted to the thick wall of the tower enclosure at the bottom of Tower Hill. She stared, but couldn't see anything that could have made the noise.

She heard it again. But this time she saw some stones falling to the ground. There was a brief pause, and then the wall burst outward in a huge explosion of bricks and flame. Smoke billowed from the hole, writhing up into the sky. Loose earth and shards of stone pattered to the ground all around them, even reaching Emily and William at the top of the hill.

A figure appeared through the smoke, emerging from the flame. It ducked through the hole, then stopped and surveyed its surroundings. Emily's breath caught in her throat.

It was the Crimson Knight.

He looked up the hill and spotted them. He started running, his armor not slowing him down in the slightest.

His hounds burst out of the hole behind him, silent and deadly. They followed the knight as he hit the bottom of the hill, their long, powerful legs pushing them ahead of their master.

And if that wasn't enough, a figure of flame stooped through the hole in the wall, illuminating the thick smoke like lightning flickering inside a cloud. Brick and stone melted beneath his touch. He straightened up and walked purposefully toward them.

Katerina was trying her best to fight her way through the fey so she could follow the Crimson Knight. Jack and the others were doing the same, everyone focusing on one thing— protecting Emily and William.

But there were just too many fey. Reinforcements had arrived, streaming through the gate to join the fight. Katerina's followers were being cut to shreds. She sobbed in frustration, watching as the Fire King sent fireballs into the distant wall of the fort. One, two, and then a third that punched through the stones like a fist through paper.

She had to get to them. Had to stop the Fire King from succeeding. The fate of everything hung in the balance.

And then Katerina started to feel strange.

Something was washing through her, filling her with a crackling energy. She shuddered, taking a deep breath. She dropped her sword, raised her hands to her eyes. Blue lightning flickered across her skin, raised the hair on her arms. The energy pushed into her, pushed up against her skin, her bones, filling every crevice of her being until she felt as though she would explode. And still it kept coming. More and more. She was aware of people and fey stumbling back, staring at her in horror. Lightning crackled between her hands, penetrating the ground, dancing across the grass, leaving scorched trails in its wake.