Blood and Fire (Book 3)

by Marcus Alexander

  ‘Get me to Torn Moon!’ shouted Charlie. ‘I can tell her what to expect. She needs to know that flames won’t work!’

  But it was too late for that. Growling and snarling, the two sides came together. Horrific sounds cut the air, enraged screams mixed with hisses of agony and deep barks of challenge blended with squeals of shock. Great torrents of flame exploded overhead, claws ripped at wings and teeth tore at muscle. The soldiers below, both Treman and Stoman, looked on with open mouths and wide eyes.

  They’d never seen anything like it.

  Bellania had never seen anything like it.

  The Winged Ones were larger and undoubtedly more powerful than the Stowyrms but their foes were numerous. At this stage in the sudden conflict it was impossible to tell which way the battle would go. One of the Stoman warriors, realizing that the Stowyrms had come from the direction of the Western Mountains, licked his lips uncertainly. Retrieving his bow, he nocked an arrow, aimed at a Winged One and let fly. With the turbulent chaos boiling overhead it was impossible to tell if the arrow had found its mark but the message was clear. With a shout of defiance, the Stomen scrambled for their fallen weapons and, buoyed by the sudden appearance of their mysterious allies, they rampaged forward.

  Horrified, the Tremen were forced to defend themselves again.

  Pandemonium reigned.

  Charlie couldn’t believe her eyes. The sound, the sights and the sudden scent of blood were an attack upon her senses. Her shell-shocked mind tried to work out how they had gone from certain victory to this. Uncertain what to do or how to respond, she grabbed hold of her Will and … did nothing. What should she do? Try to get to the ground and do her best to find her friends? Or should she try to help the Winged Ones?

  The decision was taken from her as a Stowyrm collided with Hotstepper. The force from the blow almost dislodged Charlie. Fighting to regain her seat, she was knocked again as its tail coiled round and thumped against Hotstepper’s flank. She acted without thinking and unleashed a whip of Will, striking the beast in the face. It shrieked and fell back. Hotstepper, taking advantage of the moment, ripped its glassy wings from its back but before they could watch it fall to the ground a second and a third slammed into them.

  Charlie yelped when a set of teeth snapped inches away from her face. Slashing at the thing with a torrent of Will, she tried to slide further down Hotstepper’s back but found herself dislodged and suddenly caught in freefall. Eyes bulging, she windmilled her arms and, unable to stop herself, she screamed and screamed and –

  ‘Oof!’ She landed on a passing Stowyrm. Her fingers scrabbled for purchase on its stony skin but failed and once again she found herself dropping. Horror magnified, she screamed as she landed on top of a behemoth, bounced as her Will cushioned her impact, then slipped down its shoulders and landed flat on her back.

  Winded, she stared up at the Winged Ones and Stowyrms churning through the sky. A fierce face loomed over her, blocking her view. She glimpsed the flash of a blade and was surprised as her own Will-clad hand snapped upward to catch it with a burst of sparks. Instinct taking over, she flipped to her feet, kneed her opponent in the groin, turned to flee and was shocked to find herself in the middle of the Stoman army.

  ‘What have we got here –’

  Charlie didn’t plan on hanging around to hear the rest of that sentence. Tearing open a Portal back to the Jade Tower, she jumped through. She caught a glimpse of tired-looking councillors and felt a thrill of delight when she saw Jensen and Lady Dridif.

  ‘Charlie –’ began Jensen, but she didn’t hear the rest. A strong arm grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and hauled her back through the Portal.

  ‘Going somewhere, little girlie?’ scowled a hulking soldier. In his other hand he held a warhammer aloft.

  ‘Lass!’ squawked Jensen. ‘I’m com–’

  His voice was cut short as Charlie was forced to release the Portal and defend herself. Deflecting the warhammer so it slammed into its wielder’s foot, she backflicked, only to stumble into a Stonesinger.

  ‘Eep!’

  Dancing to the side, she bumped into another.

  ‘Not good,’ she mumbled and scrambled back on hands and feet to avoid his flaming hands.

  She managed to regain her feet and tried to run the other way but quickly realized that she was completely surrounded. She tried the Portal again but a flung mace put an end to that idea. Heart pounding, Charlie raised her hands and, attempting to look in every direction at once, prepared to defend herself.

  ‘Aw, got nowhere to run to?’ sneered a Stonesinger. Pulling a huge club from the ground, he stepped forward … and was crushed as a shattered Stowyrm fell out of the sky. Amazed, Charlie and the other Stonesingers looked hesitantly upward, wondering if they should expect anything else to fall from above.

  Something did.

  There was a flutter of wings and a flash of lightning, then Nibbler was standing next to her, blue eyes blazing and flickers of flame gusting from his nostrils. ‘Back off!’ he roared. His young voice cracked but his message was clear.

  Several of the Stonesingers skittered away, only to be pushed forward by angry comrades.

  ‘There’s only one!’ shouted a soldier.

  ‘He’s only a Hatchling!’ goaded another.

  Hotstepper landed on them.

  A moment of silence followed as those nearby checked the heavens again. When they looked back down they were greeted by a wave of fire from Hotstepper, a jet of lightning from Nibbler and a torrent of Will from Charlie.

  There was a scramble as those still capable of running did so. The three companions suddenly, and thankfully, found themselves in a shallow of calm amidst the battle.

  ‘Get on,’ said Hotstepper. Ducking his neck low, he waited for Charlie to clamber on. He looked to Nibbler. ‘Ready, little brother?’

  ‘You bet.’

  They sprang back into the war-torn sky.

  50

  Black Orchids

  Charlie stared at the battlefield with eyes full of shock. She simply couldn’t believe it – everything had gone wrong. Victory had been snatched out of her hands and now she was confronted with an uncertain future. She felt a coil of anger writhe in her heart and beneath this a flicker of fear. She had thought she could count on fate and the Winged Ones to see things through but she should have known better. Clenching her teeth, she wracked her brains to find some way to reclaim her future. After all that she had endured and after all that she had overcome, there was no way she could allow it to end like this. Not when she was so close.

  An image of Fo Fum rearing over the city, smoke cascading from his eyes, flashed through her mind. Remembering how she had defeated him, she leaned forward to shout in Hotstepper’s ears.

  ‘Take me higher!’

  Hotstepper waited until he had dodged past a Stowyrm before replying, ‘Why?’

  ‘I know a quick way to take out the Stowyrms!’

  Charlie felt touched when he didn’t question her. Taking her at her word, he grunted and flapped his way upward. Nibbler zigzagged after.

  They didn’t stop until the air grew thin and the temperature plummeted. When Charlie leaned out she could see that Deepforest, Sylvaris and the two battlefields, heavenly and earthly, were laid out beneath them in one breathtaking view. There were layers upon layers of detail. Fire and lightning blossomed in the sky while Winged Ones and Stowyrms wrestled, careened and flew through the carnage. Beneath them, behemoths flung rocks and Stonesingers threw craggy missiles at their adversaries. Shades lashed at Tremen and soldiers rained arrows in all directions.

  ‘What do you have in mind?’ asked Hotstepper.

  ‘I’m going to open a Portal to the Western Mountains,’ said Charlie.

  ‘What will that achieve?’

  ‘Hopefully a lot,’ admitted Charlie. ‘I can use Bane’s barrier to travelling as a weapon. A really, really impressive weapon.’

  ‘I have not heard of this,’ said Hotstepper. ‘I
s it as powerful as it sounds?’

  ‘It stopped Fo Fum so I figure it should see an end to the Stowyrms,’ replied Charlie. ‘Let’s just find somewhere that I can use it.’

  ‘Why not here?’

  ‘Er … no.’ Charlie thinned her lips. ‘It’s not too precise. I don’t want to risk hitting any Winged Ones.’ She paused as she gave thought to what she was about to unleash. ‘Or Stomen,’ she said. She didn’t want to add war crimes to her list of life’s failures.

  ‘How about there?’ Hotstepper pointed to the west where a wave of fresh Stowyrms were speeding across the Great Plains to bolster the ranks of their siblings.

  ‘That’ll do. Get me over them and I’ll do the rest.’

  Hotstepper worked his way towards them while Nibbler flitted by his side.

  ‘All right, this’ll do,’ said Charlie. ‘Just watch out, OK? Last time we tried this it wasn’t too stable.’

  Breathing deeply, Charlie summoned her concentration. She pulled deeply on her Will and, holding her glowing hands aloft, tore open a Portal to the Western Mountains. Almost immediately it began to shake from side to side and Charlie was forced to fight it. Gritting her teeth, she kept it open. A wind picked up and with it came a sharp whooshing noise that grated at their ears.

  ‘What’s going on?’ hollered Hotstepper. He struggled to keep them aloft. ‘Why does it sound so chaotic?’

  ‘Don’t worry,’ replied Charlie. Her voice was iron-like and crisp with the knowledge that she was doing the right thing. She shouted so Hotstepper could hear her over the commotion, ‘THIS IS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!’

  As she channelled even more power, the whooshing noise reached unbearable levels, the shaking increased and, just as it seemed as though everything was at risk of exploding, an inky torrent of blackness burst from the Portal.

  ‘YES!’ hollered Charlie and punched her fist into the air. But as she stared at the dark waterfall her sense of certainty vanished. ‘Er … OK, so that isn’t supposed to happen.’

  The Portal was not delivering, as she had expected, a wave of lava but instead was vomiting forth an endless torrent of black flowers. As Hotstepper flew closer she could see that they were orchids. Perfect black orchids. Shocked, she allowed the Portal to iris shut. Nibbler, Hotstepper and Charlie watched the flowers tumble out of sight.

  ‘Not much of a weapon,’ grunted Hotstepper, delivering the understatement of the year.

  ‘But-but-but …’ stammered Charlie – she couldn’t believe what had just happened – ‘someone changed it.’

  Nibbler, pulling close to them, was as shocked as Charlie. ‘Looks like Bane got wind of you using his barrier as a weapon.’

  ‘But black flowers?’ said Charlie, still dismayed.

  ‘Well, at least we know that evil tyrants have not lost their sense of style,’ grunted Hotstepper. ‘Charlie of the Keepers, it was a good plan and though it failed to bear fruit I congratulate you on your spirit. But we have wasted enough time. We must return to the fray!’

  He prepared to dive only to be stopped when Charlie pounded on his shoulders. ‘Stop! Wait a minute, Hotstepper!’

  ‘What is it, Charlie of the Keepers?’

  ‘Look at those!’

  Charlie pointed to the line of Stowyrms that continued to pour from the Western Mountains.

  ‘What about them?’ asked Hotstepper.

  ‘They’re reinforcements,’ she explained.

  ‘I can see that,’ grumbled Hotstepper. ‘All the more reason to return to aid my brethren.’

  He tucked his wings in but Charlie protested. Banging on his shoulders yet again, she demanded to be heard. ‘Think about it! Are we winning?’

  They looked down at the combat. The battlefield was littered with the shattered remains of Stowyrms. As more and more were torn apart they began to form mounds and heaps over which the enraged Stoman armies clambered like a carpet of ants. There were fallen dragons too. Death had robbed them of their majesty; their bodies lay limp, their mouths hung open and the wind tugged mournfully at their wings. And yet for all the dead and the chaos, the battle still raged.

  Hotstepper growled and his tail lashed at the sky. ‘We might not be winning yet, but we will! By Fire and Realm, we will tear these upstarts from the sky!’

  Spitting out a jet of flame, he reared and pawed at the air.

  ‘For Bellania!’ he roared. Teeth bared, flames whisking from the sides of his mouth, he tucked his wings in and dived. Nibbler, following the lead of his larger sibling, sped after them.

  ‘Oh, for crying out loud …’ Charlie groaned to herself. Blocking out the stomach-clenching view of Bellania jumping up to meet them, she slid down Hotstepper’s neck and rapped her knuckles on his skull. ‘Come on! Stop with that barbarian mentality and use your head for a minute!’ Seeing that she wasn’t getting through to him, she grabbed his ears and pulled. ‘Stop!’

  Hotstepper snarled and barrel-rolled through the air, then splayed his wings to bring them to a sudden stop. ‘Charlie of the Keepers, your ways are too forthright! My people are dying down there and you wish to talk me out of joining them? Where is your honour?’

  ‘I’m trying to think like a Keeper!’ retorted Charlie. The shard of determination blazed in her chest. ‘And you should be trying to think like Rumbling Hunger, so just listen to me for a minute! If you disagree with what I’ve got to say, then I’ll gladly follow you and we’ll fight the Stowyrms together. Please, Hotstepper, just a minute, that’s all.’

  Nibbler, keen to support his friend, looked Hotstepper in the eye. ‘Charlie’s always worth listening to,’ he said.

  Hotstepper growled as his blood ran with the urge to battle but his head won out. Allowing his passion to settle, he nodded to show he was willing to talk.

  Charlie leaped on the opportunity to get her point across. ‘The Stowyrms are new to Bellania, aren’t they?’

  Too full of passion to speak, Hotstepper merely nodded.

  ‘So it’s safe to assume that Bane is manufacturing them,’ said Charlie.

  Hotstepper nodded a second time.

  ‘One last point,’ she added. ‘Would you consider that –’ she pointed at the carnage unfolding below – ‘a stalemate, or are we winning?’

  ‘For now, I would call it a stalemate,’ acknowledged Hotstepper. ‘But if we can arrange an organized front and a flanking manoeuvre, we can yet win this.’

  ‘Maybe you can,’ said Charlie, ‘but you’ve got to remember there’s a limited amount of dragons –’

  ‘Will you get it right?’ growled Hotstepper. ‘We’re not dragons, we’re Winged Ones!’

  ‘Dragons, Winged Ones, whatever,’ snapped Charlie. ‘Look! There’s only so many of you Winged Ones, but if Bane is using his god like Darkmount used his, then he could produce a limitless number of Stowyrms! Edge Darkmount made tens of thousands of gargorillas! Imagine if Bane does the same! Do you really think you’ll be able to stop that many Stowyrms? Do you?’

  Hotstepper fell silent as he digested her argument.

  ‘I know not of these “gargorillas”,’ he said, ‘but your logic is valid. Charlie of the Keepers, you have a point.’ He was quiet as he studied the turbulent events below. ‘It is possible –’ he paused as though unable to believe what he was about to admit – ‘that we could yet lose this fight. Bane … might defeat us.’ Suddenly he growled and let loose another burst of fire. ‘But win or lose, victory or defeat, I will not sit idly by. So unless you have a better idea we will join my brothers and sisters and we will make a stand against this new threat.’

  Hotstepper and Nibbler waited for Charlie’s reply.

  51

  A Division of Forces

  In that moment, riding on Hotstepper’s back, with the battle raging beneath them and with the scent of Sylvaris burning in her nostrils, Charlie felt something heave inside her. Something that wanted to rise above her exhaustion, something that wanted to climb above the doubt and soar over her fear and anger. Feeling
it lurch inside her chest, Charlie realized it was something that could not be pushed aside or ignored. It was something that had to be listened to, something that had to be obeyed.

  Determination.

  Rumbling Hunger had been right: it was her one constant, the only thing that had not abandoned her throughout her adventures in Bellania. It had kept her going; it had allowed her to beat Constantina, had pushed her forward to find the secret of the pendant and it had kept her on the path to find her parents. When Stotch, Azariah and Marsila had died and all she had wanted to do was scream and stamp at the heavens, it had been her stubborn resolve that had propelled her forward. And now, right at this moment, she was determined not to lose. After all that she had been through, after all she had endured, she had come too far to give up now. She was going to succeed no matter what.

  ‘You want to know if I’ve got a better idea than going out in a blaze of glory? Too right I’ve got a better idea!’ said Charlie. ‘Let’s go and take out the source of all our trouble. Let’s go and take down Bane.’

  ‘What?’ squawked Nibbler.

  ‘What?’ echoed Hotstepper.

  ‘I’m serious!’ retorted Charlie. ‘He’s the root of the problem. He always has been! But if we don’t do it, and do it soon, we’re going to be pinned down. The Winged Ones will lose and he will win. So let’s do it! Let’s go squash him once and for all!’

  There was a long moment of silence, broken only by the sound of the rushing wind and the clamour of battle.

  ‘All right,’ agreed Hotstepper, his green eyes ablaze with purpose. ‘Your plan has merit. But we will need reinforcements and Torn Moon must be informed.’

  Without waiting for a reply, he descended to a lower altitude. They found Torn Moon not, as Charlie had thought, in the thick of things, but flying over the battlefield, looking down on it with a careful eye. Two large Winged Ones, acting as guardians, flew by her side. From time to time others would fly up from below, carrying news or requesting fresh orders.