The Wrath of the Lizard Lord (10 page)

The grenade whirled across the clearing and cracked one of the guards on the back of the head. Another turned as the bomb exploded with an ear-shattering bang. Shards of hot metal peppered the next guard, sending him flying from his saddle. The lizard he had been riding gave a shriek and fell on top of him, lashing its tail into a third rider.

Dakkar dropped to the ground and fired the first rifle. He grinned as his shot clipped the fourth rider, who fell. Dakkar snatched up the second gun.

The confusion had stunned the guards but also some of the giants, who cowered as the last roar of the grenade faded. But Gog had recovered and swung his huge club at the fifth Cryptos guard, sending him spinning from his mount. The guard landed on his back with a loud thud and didn’t get up. Two female giants stabbed their spears into the lizard’s throat, knocking it backward off its feet.

The final guard pulled out a pistol and pointed it straight into Gog’s face. Everyone froze. The women held their spears level and Gog braced himself to die.

Dakkar gritted his teeth and squeezed the trigger.

The rifle jerked in his grip, numbing his shoulder and making him think he’d missed. A spurt of red in the man’s arm told him he hadn’t, and the pistol fell from his useless hand. Dakkar winced and looked away as the giants fell upon the wounded man, stabbing with spears and pounding with clubs.

Gog stood still and stared over at Dakkar. The giant’s eyes burned with anger. Dakkar glanced around for the powder horn but saw only scattered ashes and the dead Cryptos guards.
He’s going to kill me
, Dakkar thought as the giant turned and stamped towards him.

Dakkar stood, gripping his empty rifle in trembling hands.
Maybe I can use it as a club
, he thought hope­­­­lessly.

Gog towered over him now, staring down and frowning. Dakkar stiffened and met Gog’s gaze.
At least I’ll die with dignity
, he thought,
as a prince should!

Then, to his surprise, Gog squatted down and brought his face close to Dakkar’s.

‘You hate Rohaga too,’ he said, pointing at the fallen rider. It was a statement, not a question. ‘You save Gog’s life.’ He bowed his head and thumped a fist to his chest. ‘
Bukkah
!
’

Dakkar bowed back. ‘My pleasure,’ he said. He tried not to think of the riders. Although he’d only wounded them, some had already died at the hands of the giants and the other riders would too. There was nothing he could do about that.

‘W-el-come.’ Gog rolled the word around in his mouth. Then he glanced at the bodies scattered about them.

Dakkar felt a pang of sadness at the carnage. About twenty giants remained. Dakkar counted six men, eight or so children and six women. Dakkar could hardly bear to look but estimated that around thirty giants had fallen. The survivors of the attack hurried from body to body, hoping to find life. Women wept and sometimes a giant would cry out in rage, beating the ground with his fists. Some huts blazed and cooking fires lay scattered across the clearing.

‘Cryptos hunts your people?’ Dakkar said. ‘The Rohaga – they try to kill you?’

Gog paused for a moment, then nodded. ‘Always. They kill the Sarba tribe. They kill all. We
.
.
.’ Gog searched for the word. ‘We hide.’ He wandered off, pausing at the body of a friend.

Mary stood at the door of the prison hut, her face pale and drawn. The pistol hung in her fist. Dakkar walked over to her and prised the gun from her grip.

‘It’s terrible,’ she whispered.

‘This is what Cryptos does,’ Dakkar said, almost to himself. He’d seen the ruthlessness of Oginski’s brother and his own father, the Rajah of Bundelkhand, taking life, but this went beyond anything Dakkar had ever experienced. He thought of Oginski.
Was he this ruthless once?

‘We not stay,’ Gog shouted over to him, whirling his club over his head. ‘Rohaga have found us. To caves!’ He pointed a blackened fingernail to a distant rocky outcrop that poked above the treeline. ‘
Samblaya
!
A Khav Suum
! More Rohaga be here soon. You come with us.’

Dakkar stood, uncertain for a moment, and glanced at Mary.

‘Well, I’m not waitin’ ’ere to be killed!’ Mary snorted, hitching up her skirts and stamping over to Gog’s side.

The remaining giants gathered food, pots, skins and weapons on to their backs. Dakkar hurried from one fallen rider to the next, salvaging rifles, pistols, powder and musket balls. The giants had smashed most of them but he managed to gather two pistols and two rifles and plenty of ammunition. In addition, he found a sharp knife and a machete for hacking down thick foliage. He passed a rifle to Mary, who slung it over her shoulder.

While Dakkar was searching for weapons, the giants lay the bodies of their dead in rows in the clearing. Dakkar rejoined the giants and watched Gog’s people hurl the bodies of the Cryptos guards unceremoniously into the bushes.

Dakkar looked puzzled and Gog joined his thumbs together, flapping his fingers so that they looked like the wings of a bird. ‘Gacheela take ours,’ he said solemnly. He pointed to the pile of dead Cryptos guards. ‘Rohaga. Saranda have them.’

‘Sounds like being eaten by the lizards isn’t good,’ Mary said, pulling a face.

‘Would you like to be?’ Dakkar replied.

‘If I was dead then it wouldn’t matter,’ she said, shrugging.

‘I wonder what Gacheela is,’ Dakkar murmured.

‘A flying lizard is my guess,’ Mary said, shivering. ‘I saw one once. A horrible thing with a long pointy beak full of teeth. Looked like the devil, all claws and batwings!’

Weeping, the party moved out of the clearing, their steps leaden. Dakkar and Mary followed in silence.

Time dragged on again and weariness weighed Dakkar’s feet down. Mary looked exhausted too. She tripped over a root, bumping into Dakkar and waking him from a stumbling doze. In his waking dream, Oginski had been calling to him from his deathbed. Dakkar could see his mentor’s pale face and pleading eyes.
Is he still alive?
Dakkar wondered.
How long have we been down here?

Gog raised a hand and the party stopped so suddenly that Dakkar staggered into the legs of the giant in front of him. They had come to a cliff face with huge steps worn into the stone. High above them, Dakkar could see cave mouths dotting the rock.

Gog weaved in and out among his fellow giants and crouched down to talk to Dakkar. ‘Cave is high,’ Gog said. ‘Climb on back. Gog will carry.’

Dakkar felt a flush of embarrassment but looked at the steps. Each one would require him to pull himself up using both arms and legs. It would be exhausting. Dakkar looked at Mary, who shrugged.

‘Thank you, Gog,’ Dakkar said.

Gog turned and Dakkar put his arms round the giant’s thick neck. Gog’s skin felt rough and bristly as the giant stood up, supporting Dakkar’s legs.

Dakkar looked up at the caves as they climbed, desperate not to show his fear. Gog moved swiftly, almost leaping from step to step, and Dakkar had to keep tightening his grip. Glancing back, Dakkar saw Mary clinging to the back of another giant. Behind her, the jungle spread out like a green sea. In the distance, Dakkar saw the canopy of trees shivering and moving where giant lizards made their deadly way. Then he glimpsed something else far off. It looked like a pillar of rock reaching up into the clouds.

‘Here!’ Gog announced, leaping into a cave mouth.

Dakkar found himself inside a large cavern with a sandy floor. A few ancient stalagmites poked up to the ceiling. Somewhere water trickled over pebbles but the cave looked dry.

Gog stooped again to allow Dakkar down. Dakkar stood, his head spinning for a second.

Mary wandered over to him as the rest of the tribe began spreading furs and stashing food in carved-out alcoves in the cave wall. One of the women clashed flints together over a ready-built fire, filling the cave with flashing sparks. Soon the smell of woodsmoke tickled their nostrils.

Dakkar looked up and blinked, transfixed by what he saw.

‘What’re you lookin’ at?’ Mary said.

‘That,’ Dakkar whispered, pointing up into the shadows of the ceiling. ‘How did that get there?’

Dangling from the ceiling, by dried-out vines and creepers, hung a familiar shape. It looked huge in this enclosed space, like a small whale hung up on display after being caught. Brass rivets gleamed in the newly kindled firelight; polished boards reflected the dance of the flames.

‘What is it?’ Mary said, clutching Dakkar’s shoulder.

‘It’s a submersible,’ Dakkar said quietly. ‘Designed by my mentor and his friend. She is called the
Liberty
.’

Chapter Fifteen

The Whale in the Cave

‘A boat that sails
under
the water?’ Mary snorted. ‘That’s unbelievable.’

‘Says the girl standing in an underground world full of monsters and giants,’ Dakkar replied, folding his arms.

‘Where did it come from, then?’ Mary said, mimicking Dakkar’s stance. ‘And why is it hanging up in a cave all the way down here?’

‘A friend of mine sailed her,’ Dakkar muttered. His stomach churned. ‘Georgia Fulton, an American girl, the niece of the inventor.’ Dakkar ran over to Gog and pointed at the
Liberty
. ‘Gog, where did you find this?’

Gog frowned. ‘Girl came,’ he replied. ‘Said to keep safe.’

‘A girl,’ Dakkar said, his heart racing. ‘With red hair?’

Gog nodded then a look of sadness crossed his face. ‘She good, kind. She went to the Rohaga.’

‘What do you mean?’ Dakkar said.

Gog went to the cave mouth and motioned for Dakkar to follow. The giant pointed across the top of the jungle to the distant column of rock.

‘Rohaga live there,’ Gog said, a hint of awe in his voice. ‘Many of my people go there. Never come back. She go there. Never come back.’

‘It must be a Cryptos fortress,’ Dakkar murmured. He turned and looked up at Gog. ‘When did she leave?’

Gog shrugged. ‘Long time,’ he said. ‘Many Rohaga hunt us when she go.’

Mary appeared at Dakkar’s side. ‘You can’t be thinkin’ of goin’ to that place?’ she said, staring at him in disbelief.

‘She’s my friend,’ Dakkar said, running his fingers through his black hair. ‘I can’t just leave her there. I’ve got to find her.’

‘But we need to find a way to get back to Lyme,’ Mary said, gripping his elbow.

‘That’s true, and I must get back to Oginski,’ Dakkar said, his voice barely a whisper. ‘But I can’t walk away from Georgia. Anyway, she must have got here somehow – perhaps she knows another way out. You don’t have to come – I wouldn’t expect you to help.’

Mary scowled at Dakkar and put her hands on her hips. ‘Then what are we waiting for?’

‘It’ll be dangerous,’ Dakkar replied. ‘Maybe we should wait here.’

‘I know most of the creatures round these parts,’ Mary said. ‘I can guide you –’

‘You guided me right up a tree last time,’ Dakkar muttered, shaking his head.

‘
You
wrecked our only way home!’ Mary snapped, the colour rising in her cheeks. ‘If you don’t let me come, I’ll just follow you.’

‘But why would you want to come along?’ Dakkar frowned.

‘I bet whoever lives in that built the cage in the shaft,’ Mary said with a shrug. ‘Finding them is my best chance of getting out.’

‘That’s true,’ Dakkar sighed. He could see that Mary wouldn’t give up. He craned his neck and scanned the horizon. A thin ribbon of silver glistened among the trees. ‘It’s a river,’ he said to himself, an idea forming. ‘Gog,’ he called to the giant and pointed at the
Liberty
. ‘Can you bring that down for me?’

A flicker of indecision crossed Gog’s face. Dakkar could read it with ease. Georgia had told him to keep it safe and now Dakkar was asking to look at it.

‘You can trust me,’ Dakkar pleaded. ‘Georgia, the girl, she was my friend too. We’ve fought Cryptos – the Rohaga – before together.’

Gog paused for a moment more, then strode over to the stones that anchored the ropes holding the
Liberty
up above them. He called two other giants over and together they lowered the craft gently on to the ground. Dakkar marvelled at the giants’ strength.

Soon, the
Liberty
sat, dusty and tilted to one side on her rounded hull. Dakkar clambered up and opened the front hatch. It smelt fusty. The light of the fire filtered through the portholes, casting long shadows as Dakkar slipped inside.

It all looked so familiar – a copy of his own
Makara
, the prototype small submersible. There was just a cabin below and the smaller captain’s cabin above, which housed all the controls. Georgia’s uncle, Robert Fulton, had built this craft at the same time as Oginski built the
Makara
, each helping the other as they came across problems or difficulties.

The floor sloped but Dakkar managed to clamber along. He swept his fingers through strands of cobwebs that stretched between the chairs and tables. He lifted the lids of the boxes at either side of the cabin. Empty. Normally these held Sea Arrows, projectiles with explosive tips that were fired by a powerful spring – with deadly effect.
Did Georgie have to use them?
Dakkar wondered.