The Flight of the Griffin (33 page)

‘Guardian, guardian, please stop!’
wailed the princess, sobbing at the madness erupting around her.

Pardigan threw a knife at the guardian but it was turned aside as the flail came up to strike again, the snakes renewed and five fresh poisonous heads came flashing down towards them. Loras stepped forward and held out a hand forming a solid wall of air, momentarily stopping the forward motion of the snakes. The guardian shrieked in anger, the cry echoing back into the caves.

The flail was pulled back and then struck down once more sending Loras crashing to the floor with the force of it, yet somehow, he still managed to maintain the defensive wall.

Seeing that different measures were called for, Pardigan scanned the dim shadows behind the guardian and with a shimmer was gone, place-shifting to where the skull lay.

The skull pulsed a deep blue. ‘About time, young man. I knew one of you would have this ability. Now shift us back and out of here before my old friend hurts somebody.’ Pardigan picked up the softly glowing skull and shifted back to behind his friends.

‘We have what we came for, let’s get out of here,’ he shouted and Mahra limped out whimpering, followed by the princess. Quint was edging back towards the door, his face a mask of agony while Loras held the guardian at bay, but the young magician was weakening. Each crackling strike of the flail was draining him as the red Chaos energy of the guardian met the blue Order energy of Loras’s wall of air in a shower of light and sparks. Tarent stood at his side ready to defend his friend if he possibly could.

‘The roof,’ the skull muttered from the confines of Pardigan’s cloak. ‘The roof is weak.’ Pardigan looked up to see that the roof was indeed fragile, a series of cracks running all over it. ‘The largest crack,’ came the muffled voice of the skull.

As Tarent and Loras made it to the entrance of the tunnel, Pardigan sent a knife flying underhand at the largest crack with all the force he could muster. A load groan echoed round the chamber and several large pieces of rock came crashing down - but the roof held. Seeing what his friend had done, Quint strung an arrow and sighting as best he could through burning eyes, let it fly at the same spot. Several more large pieces of rock came crashing down, smashing onto the cave’s floor causing the guardian to spin round, fear and uncertainty now etched upon his monstrous face. Another knife from Pardigan and a large slab of rock fell crashing down, pinning the guardian to the floor. He writhed there unable to move, the snakes hissing and spitting, dragging themselves towards the group, eyes glowing red and poisonous venom dribbling from their mouths. Loras dropped the wall of air and sent a bolt of blue energy at the roof and a large section exploded with a crash. There was a heartbeat of hesitation, and then the whole roof, carrying the weight of the mountain above it groaned and then dropped with a
‘whump!’
sending dust billowing out into the tunnel, ending the guardian for good.

Now in the total darkness of the tunnel, they were choking on dust until Loras lit two glowing blue globes and sent a crackle of energy into the air. The energy bolt caused the dust to drop to the floor, and they were at last able to breathe again, all of them noisily sucking air into aching burning lungs.

Bending over Quint, Tarent poured healing energy into his friend who lay, eyes closed with relief, as his burns were slowly healed. Loras moved over to Mahra and tried to do the same for her but the Black Panther bared her teeth at him and growled. He stepped back in shock.

‘Don’t be such a baby, Mahra! I’m going to heal you, it won’t hurt.’ The panther shimmered and Mahra the girl stared up at him, teeth gritted in agony, tears running paths down her dusty face.

‘Just heal me, boy! And hurry, cats don’t like pain.’  She held out her hand and soon her face relaxed and her scorn turned to thanks.

It took them quite some time to get to the top of the tunnel. Slowly helping each other retrace their earlier steps, as they sought out the signs left by Loras. They smelt the fresh air before seeing any light and when they did finally emerge it was to a star-filled sky and chilly night air. They sat down to rest while Mahra shimmered into an owl and did a fast circuit of their surroundings to see if anybody else was up on the mountain. She was soon back, allowing herself to drop down exhausted besides the others.

‘We’re quite alone up here; we can rest safely until morning.’

‘I cannot believe I have been such a fool,’ sobbed the princess. ‘The guardian deceived me. I thought he was such a sweet old man, yet he turned into…into...a monster!’

‘You were not deceived,’ said the Skull, pulsing a deep blue from the rock where Pardigan had set it.

‘It was written in the annals of history, that you would do exactly what you did. You fulfilled your task beautifully, my dear. The guardian was indeed a sweet old man and a great friend to me as well during all these years. We spoke many times of how the final events would play out, and towards the end, I believe he had no wish for victory at all. His mentors misguided him many years ago and set him on a path that he had no way of leaving, at least not before today. Now he is finally at peace. Be happy for him, child, remember him as the kind old man that he was, not the monster that his destiny forced him to become.’

‘Wasn’t so kind when he was flinging that whip thing about, was he!’ muttered Pardigan.

‘No he wasn’t, but that wasn’t the man, that was the guardian, and he fulfilled his role in things admirably, the same as did you all. And now we must go on to finally complete the great spell. Rest now, heroes, in the morning you may read your book and see the final pages.’ The Skull became silent and the blue glow faded away.

They managed to start a fire and set an order of watch before turning in. Pardigan, who had drawn the first guard duty, sat contemplating the valley below and the silent city of Dhurban, with its twinkling lights still showing across the desert.

I wonder what Bartholomew is doing down there right now, he mused.

****

Chapter 22

Tipping
The Balance

Loras and Quint took the princess back to the palace in the early hours of the morning. She was still upset at the death of the guardian, but the Skull had spoken kindly of him and the long years they had spent together.

‘He was a good man given a bad duty. For hundreds of years I was his only company, the very object that he had been told to defend the world against. When you started to visit him it was the happiest he had been for centuries. You must try to understand that death was a blessing to him, a long-awaited release from the task in which he had lost all belief. You both played your parts in the events splendidly.’

As
The
Griffin
landed on the roof of the palace, the princess wrapped her arms around Loras’s neck and planted a huge kiss on his lips. Taken by surprise, Loras’s hands went up and, with a
pop,
two blue bolts of energy shot off into the air. Smiling, the princess scampered away before turning back to wave.

‘Don’t forget me, Loras. I’ll always remember you. Come back for me, won’t you?’ She blew him a kiss and with that she was gone, leaving Loras quite unable to move. Quint had to slide down off
The
Griffin’s
back and nudge him for Loras to respond in any way.

‘Got a bit excited there eh, Loras,’ said Quint with a grin. ‘Come on; let’s get out of here before the guards come.’ He helped the still dazed Loras onto
The
Griffin’s
back and they soared aloft on silent wings, back into the star-filled night, a thoughtful Loras gazing back at the twinkling city already far below.

****

‘That sounds fairly simple,’ said Pardigan, leaning over Tarent’s shoulder.

‘It tells us where to go, if that’s what you mean,’ replied Tarent, ‘but I don’t much like the sound of
the Source’s Priest a choice will make,
that’s me, and as for a final battle, that last one was nearly the end of us.’

‘It was not,’ snorted Pardigan. ‘He wasn’t so tough after we dropped half a mountain on his head, was he?’ He glanced around at his friends.

‘Pardigan, please don’t make light of someone’s death. Besides, if we hadn’t been able to drop the roof on him, have you any idea how we could have beaten him?’ said Tarent with a frown.

‘I’m sure Loras would have thought of something,’ said Pardigan, ‘and whatever choice you have to make, I’m sure it will be the right one. I wonder what you’re going to have to choose? Well whatever it is, there’s no point in us all getting down about it is there?’

Mahra decided to step between the two friends when she saw Tarent was about to lose control. ‘I think we’ll have to go to Sterling to find out what Tarent's choice is and then end this thing at the same time. Maybe when all this is over we should take a break and go fishing back at that reef at Minster Island, what do you think?’ The change of subject to something other than the Quest worked and they discussed what they would do when everything was complete. A fishing trip to Minster was firm favourite and they spent some time discussing the best way to trick the fish.

****

Belial stood high upon a rock observing the heaving mass before him, the gathered army of demons truly magnificent to behold. Rank upon rank of demon warriors of every cast stood ready, the red and gold of the demon dawn glinting dully off heavy black armour.

Clouds of yellow sulphurous gases wafted by spewed forth from bubbling pits of lava; offering their own special flavour and colour to the event. Belial drew a deep breath, savouring the pleasure of command.

‘My people, my brothers, it gladdens my heart and pounds the blood throughout my body with pride, to see you, the greatest army ever assembled.’ He gazed about and saw the rapt attention upon every face within sight.

‘The time is now fast approaching when we shall cross into the realm of man once again and feed upon them as they feed upon their cattle, fattening themselves for our table.’ The warriors pounded their feet and beat weapons against shields in salute to the words of their king.

‘Sharpen your swords, find an edge for your hunger, for soon I shall breach the curtain that divides us and take you into the Promised Land.’
The army responded with a mighty roar that would have deafened mortal ears.

‘Belial, Belial, Belial, Belial...
’
Belial raised his arms and accepted their praise as his captains attempted in vain to hold some semblance of order among the writhing ranks of hungered beings.

****

The journey back to Sterling was broken by a visit to the Moorings; the flight was uneventful, if not a little cramped with five of them on
The
Griffin’s
back. Mahra who had transformed into the cat and curled up inside Quint’s Cloak for the journey, was the only happy passenger. It took them all of two days and half of the next to get back and it was with great excitement that they finally sighted their home port far below, set amongst the twinkling waters of the river system.
The
Griffin
spiralled downwards before gently gliding in and allowing her tired passengers to drop gratefully to the ground. She peered around at them and let out a soft cry. Large golden eyes regarded the group and she dropped her head for Loras to scratch her beak. They all stroked and petted the wonderful creature, thanking her and saying their good-byes before Loras changed her back into their beloved boat and home.

They spent the remainder of the day relaxing and recuperating from their ordeals. Quint especially needed to rest after the burns he’d received. Energy of Order could heal the physical wounds; the mental wounds and exhaustion they’d caused would take longer.

It was a full five days after leaving Dhurban that the little boat made the overnight trip from the Moorings, and crept into Sterling Port in as inconspicuous a way as it always had. The sea journey had done them all good, the wind and salt spray cleansing them of any remaining desert sand. The sailing had been fun and the night watch had been entertaining with porpoises and phosphorescent waters making it a special trip for all of them.

Quint had recovered enough to enjoy his own game of riding the bowsprit, and managed to rid himself of a lot of his frustrations by once more screaming, yelling and cursing at the sea.