The Wrath of the Lizard Lord (15 page)

Dakkar glanced at Bonaparte, who shrugged and nodded as if to say, ‘
What have you got to lose?
’

Stefan led Dakkar out of the cell and into the passage. The two guards from before flanked Dakkar, clutching their rifles warily. They passed cell doors on either side of them. Dakkar wrinkled his nose. A foul smell of rotten meat and excrement filled the corridor. The smell grew stronger as the passage opened into a large room.

In the dim light, Dakkar could barely make out any detail. Gradually as his eyes became accustomed to the gloom, he made out the edges of a pit that filled the centre of the room. A narrow walkway of stone ran round the edges of the pit but there were no rails to prevent them from tumbling over. Stakes dotted the sides of the pit and Dakkar shuddered as he realised that each wooden pole had a human skull sitting on its top. Deep below them, Dakkar heard hissing and snapping. The stink from the darkness nearly knocked Dakkar off his feet.

‘My death pit. Full of lizards from the jungle,’ Stefan said. He stopped and ran a finger over one of the skulls. ‘Some of Kazmer’s men managed to escape when you destroyed his island.’ He stopped and held the skull close to Dakkar. ‘They brought news of his demise.’

‘You killed them?’ Dakkar gasped, staring into the skull’s empty eye sockets.

‘I detest failure,’ Stefan said, planting the skull back on the pole. ‘It is infectious. My men know not to come back to me if they have failed a mission. They succeed or die trying.’

A flight of stairs led them to a cleaner, busier corridor. Men marched past, saluting Stefan. Light flooded in through the tall windows, dazzling Dakkar at first. He looked out over a wide space dotted with huts and buildings. A line of soldiers mounted on lizards paraded across a drill square in formation, wheeling and turning as the lead rider barked commands.

‘Can you imagine the horror of the British, the Dutch and the Prussian soldiers when they encounter my lizard cavalry?’ Stefan said, his voice hoarse with excitement. ‘They’ll tear any conventional army to pieces.’

‘You intend to fight the armies of Europe?’ Dakkar said. ‘I thought Cryptos liked to be unknown and mysterious.’

‘Unknown until the moment we strike! It will be Napoleon’s armies that do the bulk of the fighting, but when the time is right my lizard legions will be unleashed,’ Stefan said, grinning. ‘The time and place has been decided. With France victorious and under our control, the rest of the continent will fall.’

‘And then what?’ Dakkar said, watching a gigantic lizard with a body bigger than an elephant and a huge long neck thunder past, dragging a load of sawn logs behind it. ‘You will rule in the place of kings?’

‘I will revenge myself on those who destroyed my inheritance and my family,’ Stefan said, gripping Dakkar’s shoulder with whitened knuckles. ‘I will plunge the nations of Europe into anarchy and carve a new empire for Cryptos from the ruins.’ Dakkar remembered the story of the Brothers Oginski. They were noblemen who had vied for the affections of the beautiful peasant girl Celina. They each went on a quest in order to decide who was worthy of her hand. But when they returned, they found their land plundered by Russian soldiers, their parents slain and Celina gone. In their grief they pledged vengeance on the tsar and, ultimately, on all empires of the world.

The tower shook a little and the deep rumbling sound echoed through the tunnels. Dakkar looked at the stone walls nervously.

‘Don’t worry, Prince Dakkar,’ Stefan said, snapping out of his manic stare and laughing. ‘What you hear is the harnessed power of the earth itself. Come.’

He led Dakkar through another set of doors and into a metal cage with a thick cork mat.
This is like the cage we came down here in
, Dakkar observed. It was almost identical – metal runners up the side of the shaft wall housed greased wheels.

‘I call this my Ascender Cage,’ the count said, grinning.

He turned a red wheel that stuck out of a copper pipe. Steam hissed beneath them and then, suddenly, Dakkar’s stomach lurched. He nearly fell over as the cage shot upward.

‘We are powered by pressured steam,’ Stefan shouted above the clatter of the cage and the hiss of vapour. ‘It’s heated by the earth itself – no coal needed. Mother Nature provides the heat and the water.’

Dakkar gripped the side of the cage as it flew past floor after floor. Nausea twisted his gut and he stared down at his feet.

Stefan had closed his eyes, and stood with his hands clasped in front of him.

Seizing his chance, Dakkar leapt forward and snagged the lever down, making the cage stop with a jerk. The count gave a shout but Dakkar wrenched the cage door open and ran out into a dark passage.

Dakkar’s feet slapped on the stone floor and he panted for breath. The sudden stop had made him feel sick and running didn’t help. The corridor curved round the outside of the tower. Spotting a door, Dakkar swung it open and dived through.

The heat hit Dakkar first, a dry warmth that enveloped him. He found himself in a dimly lit, musty-smelling room lined with shelves. Straw filled each shelf and row upon row of eggs rested on the straw. Large eggs.

‘You can’t hide up here for long,’ Stefan called down the passage.

Dakkar pressed his ear to the door. He could hear the count’s footsteps coming closer, then another noise behind him caught his attention. A sharp crack.

He turned to face the rows of eggs. His heart pounded as, to his horror, a jagged line appeared in the shell of the egg directly in front of him. Fascinated but wary, Dakkar backed away until he bumped into the door. A claw picked at the splintering shell from inside the egg. Then another, ripping frantically at the brittle casing.

With a yell, Dakkar covered his head with his arms as the egg exploded and the thing inside burst out, throwing itself at him.

Chapter Twenty-two

Gweek

Something fluttered and flapped around Dakkar’s head and then moved away to the shelf close to him. Peering between his fingers, Dakkar could see what looked like a miniature Gacheela, preening itself with its long beak. It stretched its wings and gave them a flap.

Dakkar watched warily. The creature was a perfect copy of the huge monster that had nearly killed him at the caves. He edged forward. It fluttered its wings, sending Dakkar scurrying back two paces.
It’s so smooth. It looks harmless
.

‘Hello there,’ he said in a gentle voice.

The creature made a tiny squeak and turned its head to fix a beady eye on Dakkar. A long crest sprouted from the back of its head. Dakkar extended a finger and the lizard hopped forward.

Swallowing hard, Dakkar resisted the urge to pull his finger back as the creature crept clumsily towards him.

‘Don’t be afraid,’ Dakkar whispered, and made some gentle clicking noises.

‘Gweek!’ squeaked the lizard, and launched itself forward.

Dakkar gave a cry as it landed on his head. Tiny claws scratched his scalp and tangled in his hair and he swatted at the thing.

‘Gweek!’ it croaked again, and landed on his shoulder.

Dakkar raised his fist, his left eye closed and his head tilted away from the beast, expecting it to peck at his face. He froze and gradually opened his eye. The creature trembled on Dakkar’s shoulder.

Slowly, Dakkar lowered his hand to the lizard and it hopped on to his thumb. Then, with a flap and a bounce, it jumped on to his head again. Its claws prickled Dakkar’s scalp and he laughed as it ran its beak-like jaw through his hair.

‘Gweek,’ it said, and flapped its wings.

‘Gweek,’ Dakkar repeated. ‘As good a name as any. I call you Gweek then.’

The door swung open and Stefan peered in. ‘That was a foolish thing to do,’ he said. ‘Ah, I see you’ve found our incubation room. The reptile has bonded with you.’

‘Bonded?’ Dakkar said, narrowing his eyes at the count.

‘The lizard will bond with the first creature it sees after hatching. This is how our riders control their beasts. At first we used wild lizards and tried to break them like horses. It worked to a degree but when the giants showed us how to create the bond we realised it was a much better way to control them.’

‘Ruling through fear and cruelty rarely works,’ Dakkar said, hardening his face. ‘But then I suppose you wouldn’t understand that.’

‘Your flying pet will follow you unto death now,’ the count said, ignoring Dakkar’s jibe and pulling a pistol from his belt. ‘He will grow no bigger than he is now. We use them for messages as they have an uncanny knack of finding their masters. It is quite magical. Come, I have one more thing to show you. Please don’t try to run away again or I will shoot you where you stand.’

Dakkar followed the count back into the passageway, Gweek fluttering behind them.

‘Can you feel the slightest sensation of movement?’ Stefan said.

Dakkar nodded. ‘It feels as if the tower is swaying,’ he said, trying not to show his alarm.

‘It is,’ the count said, giving a grin. ‘Even though it was built by giants, at this height the structure moves in the breeze.’

‘Why does it have to be so high?’ Dakkar said, scowling at Stefan. ‘To match your soaring ego?’

‘Oh! Very good, my princeling!’ The count laughed, clapping his hands. ‘A trip to the very top of the tower will reveal all.’

Dakkar looked out of the window and down on the ranks of riders massing below. They looked tiny. The count stopped by the Ascender Cage again.

‘My armies gather,’ Stefan said, grinning and rubbing his hands. ‘The first squadrons will soon be on the surface awaiting my orders. And I will choose the right moment!’ He opened the door to the cage and stepped in.

Dakkar followed reluctantly. The cage sped upward, making Dakkar’s head swirl. He shivered as the air cooled.

‘The tower goes through the gas cloud here,’ the count explained. ‘Most of the upper tower is empty apart from the pipes and mechanisms that power the lifts. The cloud is quite poisonous. Many of my workers died building this section.’

‘Slaves, you mean,’ Dakkar said, watching the walls flash by.

Stefan pursed his lips and slammed the stop lever down so that the cage rattled to an abrupt halt. Dakkar stumbled forward against the metalwork, making Gweek squawk with alarm.

‘Out here,’ the count murmured, opening the door. ‘We have reached the top.’

Dakkar’s eyes widened as he stared through the door. A brisk wind plucked at Dakkar’s hair even inside the cage. The flat top of the tower stretched around for hundreds of feet in all directions. No fence or railing marked the edge. Ranks of guards stood on this flat rooftop with their muzzled lizards at their sides. Row upon row stood waiting to enter another, larger cage at the end of the flat roof of the tower. This cage led up into solid rock.

‘That is the bedrock of the upper world – our ceiling down here, hidden by cloud,’ Stefan said, dragging Dakkar out of the cage by the arm. ‘A final Ascender Cage takes them up to the surface. I believe you’re familiar with the Mole Machines that were developed by my late brother – we used them to dig the tunnel to the surface.’

Two cylindrical machines with huge pointed drills at their noses stood to one side of the lines of cavalry. Dakkar’s head spun; the sheer height made his stomach rise to his throat. The wind whipped at his hair and buffeted his ears. The count pulled him to the edge of the tower. Dakkar swallowed hard and tried to control his breathing.

‘Look around you,’ the count shouted above the wind. ‘I already rule this inner world. I would have killed you when I found you unconscious in my pits but Georgia said you had potential. I’m giving you one chance.’

‘You want me to join you?’ Dakkar shouted back.

‘I would never make the same mistake my brother made,’ the count said, pushing his thick, black hair from his face. ‘You would be guarded night and day. The men who watched you would have orders to kill you at the slightest suspicion. But, yes, I see something in you – a spark of genius and energy that it would be a shame to snuff out.’

‘I’d never join you,’ Dakkar spat. ‘I’d rather be dead.’

‘As you wish,’ Stefan said with a shrug.

Dakkar felt the man’s large hand hit his chest and then the world spun. Dakkar’s stomach lurched. He found himself falling backward, looking at his feet and beyond that the count’s leering face as it vanished above him.

He pushed me off
, Dakkar thought, not quite believing it.
He just pushed me off the tower!

Time slowed down. Dakkar watched the stone blocks of the wall pass him by. He picked out every detail despite the real speed at which they flew past. Moss filled the crevices between each block; cracks crept across some stones, while others were smooth and unblemished. The air roared in Dakkar’s ears and pulled at his hair and clothes. He panted, desperately catching breaths of air as he fell. Dakkar was dimly aware of Gweek’s frantic squeaks and cries. The little creature flapped around him, trying to rest on his twisting and turning body. Below Dakkar, the bank of cloud grew closer, lightning flashing inside its rolling mass.

A dark shadow passed underneath Dakkar, making him blink. Gweek’s cries grew shriller as they tumbled on. Dakkar squinted, trying to see as the rushing wind pressed at his eyeballs. Gweek circled again and then a deafening cry cut above the howl of the air.