by J. R. Castle
‘Too cold for my tastes.’ Ulric laughed, but then turned serious. ‘Although it’s not exactly paradise here on Keriss. Things have been bad, Ignus. Since I’ve had this manacle round my ankle, it’s been tough to get by. The Black Guard has things controlled pretty tightly, particularly in Astria. I’ve had to survive any way I could.’
‘By robbing people?’ Quinn demanded. ‘That’s what the Dragon Knights have been reduced to? Common thieves?’
Ulric straightened and patted down his clothes. ‘Not common thieves. A very uncommon one, actually. Anyway, it’s not like I keep all the money for myself, and I only rob the rich. I give the money to locals. There’s no way they can make a living with the Black Guard and the Stone Trolls making trade almost impossible. And I never actually hurt anyone, I just scare them.’
‘So it is true,’ Maria gasped. ‘I’ve heard of the Horned Highwayman. Not everyone is best pleased …’
‘Well, the rich wouldn’t be,’ Ulric laughed cheerily. With his face creasing, it looked like his moustache had a life of its own.
‘It’s not just that,’ Maria continued, seriously. ‘I’ve heard people blame you for the disappearances in the marshes.’
Ulric looked grave, but dismissed the suggestion airily. ‘But everyone knows that’s those hideous Stone Trolls, surely?’
‘That doesn’t matter to the Guard. They’ll blame anyone rather than do something about the trolls.’
Quinn frowned. There was one thing that had been bugging him. ‘I thought you lost your dragon powers when you were bound. How were you able to change shape like that?’
‘Ah,’ Ulric sighed. ‘I lost my dragon powers when Vayn put these manacles on my ankle, yes, but I still have a small remnant of my shadow abilities in my human form. Although, what you saw was just a weak echo. You should have seen me before I was bound.’
‘That’s right,’ Ignus continued. ‘As a human I, too, can use my flame powers in a small way, to light fires and such. But it’s when I’m in my dragonform that I can really harness my abilities.’
‘I get it,’ Thea said. ‘You have an ability, but your dragonform enhances it.’
‘That’s it,’ Ignus replied. ‘So, shadow dragons like Ulric can project images into people’s minds. Like the fear of what lurks in dark corners at night, they can make themselves appear as something completely different to what they are – at least until someone like Quinn breaks the illusion with a sword. Once, when the old Emperor Marek had only just united the islands, Ulric appeared as Lord Vayn in a jester’s outfit for a whole week.’
‘And I’m not sure he ever forgave me,’ Ulric said, with a dark smile.
Ignus guffawed and clapped Ulric on the shoulder, almost knocking the scrawny man into the pool of black water. ‘Ulric, my friend, things are going to change. You have had the enormous good fortune of attempting to rob the son of the Emperor Marek himself. This is Quinn, the lost Emperor of the Twelve Islands of Alariss, and the boy who’s going to send Vayn back down to the demonic plains. Isn’t that right, Quinn?’
Ulric squinted suspiciously. ‘Are you trying to trick me again, Ignus? You know you can’t trick a shadow dragon.’
‘He’s telling the truth,’ Thea said.
‘Look!’ Ignus said, rolling up his trousers. Where his manacles had once bound him, there were nothing but faint scars around his ankles. ‘He knighted me again and freed me from Vayn’s bonds. He is the true Emperor. He’s going to free us all and we’ll take back our kingdom. You’re going to be free again, my man.’
Quinn glared at the scrawny Dragon Knight who had tried to rob him only minutes earlier.
‘Yeah,’ he said, gruffly. ‘I wouldn’t be too sure about that if I were you …’
CHAPTER 6
THE STONE WOMAN
Ignus flashed a hard stare in Quinn’s direction, his black eyes like burning coals.
‘What are you talking about?’ he demanded. ‘Free him. He’s one of your knights.’
‘Yeah, Quinn,’ Thea said. ‘We need him.’
‘He tried to rob me!’ Quinn shook his head angrily. ‘He didn’t know who I was, but that didn’t stop him. How am I supposed to trust him?’
It didn’t help that he was soaked to the bone and covered in freezing marsh water. It didn’t help that he couldn’t control his dragonform when he needed to most. It didn’t help that someone like Ulric could potentially turn into a dragon when he couldn’t. And for all Quinn knew, Ulric had been stealing from people for a long time. That made him as bad as the Black Guard.
The others looked at him in frustration.
‘I’m sorry,’ Ulric said, with a flourish. ‘But you don’t know what it’s been like on Keriss. The people have suffered.’
Quinn looked Ulric up and down with suspicion. On the one hand he was a Dragon Knight, one of his sworn protectors, but right now, he looked like nothing but a common thief, his once red, dirty rags dragging on the ground behind him. As the others looked on, Quinn made his decision.
‘You can join us,’ he said stiffly, shoving his sword back in his scabbard and stalking away across the marshes. ‘But you’ll have to prove you’re worthy. Only then will I free you …’
As darkness fell across the marshes, they faced spending the night under the stars. Maria scoured the landscape for a safe, dry place to camp, eventually finding a grassy mound that jutted a few feet above the marsh. Ulric tagged along with them, caught between the desire to be free and the shame of being shunned by Quinn. He wore a weary expression, trying to remain proud and cheery, but underneath it all, frustrated. The five of them huddled together in the shelter of a few stunted trees that clung to life in the middle of the barren bogs.
‘I used to camp here with my cousin,’ Maria said sadly, as she huddled down, peering into the mist that surrounded them.
‘We’ll find her,’ Thea said, sounding more confident than she looked.
Ignus built a fire with branches from the dead trees, igniting it with his breath – Quinn used the heat to dry his sodden clothes.
Beyond the light of the campfire, all was darkness. The marshes were even more eerie than in the day. Creatures shrieked and called across the water and unknown things splashed heavily into pools just yards away from them. Quinn barely slept, thinking long into the night about Ulric and wondering if he’d done the right thing. His thoughts fell back to his Aunt Marta – she always had good judgement – and the parents he never knew: Marek, his father, and Isaria, his mother. What would they have done? What had happened to them, really? What was the Empire like when they ruled?
When the grey light of dawn finally climbed over the horizon, the mist rolled across the land, as thick and cold ever. It seemed like it never moved; maybe it would bathe the land in its ghostly light forever. After a quick breakfast of dry biscuits and a thin porridge Maria had supplied, they set off across the marshes once more.
‘This part of the swamp doesn’t change much,’ Maria said. ‘The ground’s firmer. We’re through the worst of it.’
Quinn strode out ahead, not wanting to be near Ulric. He felt embarrassed by how easily he’d been taken in by a mirage. He was supposed to be a dragonblood and an emperor! He’d been as scared as a little boy.
But I sent you flying in the end, he thought.
‘I think you’re being too hard on him,’ Thea called. Quinn looked around to see that Thea had come to walk alongside him. He’d been so wrapped up in his thoughts he hadn’t even noticed.
‘No I’m not!’ Quinn snapped. ‘He’s a thief, isn’t he? I have to be able to trust the Dragon Knights. If you want to trust him, that’s up to you, but you’re not the Emperor and you don’t have to take responsibility.’
‘You’re not the Emperor, either!’ Thea cried. ‘Not yet anyway.’
Quinn felt his cheeks burning as he realised how arrogant he’d sounded.
‘Maybe you should stop acting like you’re the only one who matters here. We’re all in this together,
and we’re doing it for you!’
‘Sorry,’ Quinn mumbled. He cleared his throat awkwardly. He hadn’t meant to take it out on Thea. Ever since the garrison back on Yaross she’d been by his side. She hadn’t known her parents either and she was just as determined to stop the Black Guard.
‘You’re right,’ he said, brushing back the hair that had fallen into his face. ‘But we have to be sure.’
‘I hope he proves “worthy” soon,’ she said. ‘We’ll need all the help we can get.’
Quinn charged on, changing the subject. ‘I’ve been thinking about that – maybe my Aunt Marta would know what to do.’ His aunt had been one of Empress Isaria’s ladies-in-waiting. She’d raised Quinn as her own child, and when the Black Guard had taken Quinn she’d tried to help him escape.
‘I never even got a chance to find out what happened to her. And I never got a chance to ask her about my parents. I know their ship went down’ – he shuddered, thinking of those heaving, rocky seas around Keriss Island.
‘I’ve been thinking the same thing,’ Thea said, softening. ‘Whatever it was, it could have something to do with Bewick and the Lord of Keriss. We’ll find a way to contact Aunt Marta.’
Quinn nodded, but he wasn’t sure if Thea was just saying it. After all, what was she going to do? Even if Marta wasn’t in a dungeon somewhere, she could be anywhere on the Twelve Islands.
Suddenly, there was a call behind them.
Quinn whirled around, his hand dropping again to his sword, but he couldn’t see anything in the thick mist. Thea peered about, her hands held ready, as though she was about to cast a spell.
‘Come on!’ Quinn said, dashing away into the mist. They’d become separated from Ignus, Maria and Ulric.
Quinn leapt over a small puddle, his feet splashing the edge of the stagnant water, then sprinted across the sodden grass. With every step, the ground threatened to give way and send him tumbling into the marsh again. He wasn’t even sure he was running in the right direction because of the thickness of the mist.
He burst out of the fog in time to see Ignus, Ulric and Maria staring at something half submerged in the water. It looked human, but it wasn’t moving, and as far as Quinn could see, it was made of stone.
Quinn’s heart jumped as he saw it. ‘A troll?’ he demanded, as Thea came up beside him.
Maria shook her head. ‘No. They’re bigger. Much bigger …’
Quinn frowned. It looked like a statue, desperately trying to haul itself out of the mire.
‘… and that,’ she continued, ‘is what happens when a Stone Troll catches you.’
Quinn peered closer. The figure’s eyes were wide and his mouth was open as though he’d been screaming for his life. Quinn reached a hand forward. Instead of colourful robes there was dull, lifeless grey. Instead of warm skin, there was only rough stone beneath his fingertips. Hair, clothes, skin, everything, had been turned to dull, solid stone. As he pulled his fingers away, a small fragment of rock from the man’s cloak crumbled away.
‘Agh!’ he cried.
‘Get back!’ Maria called … ‘You’ll break him.’
Quinn flinched away, leaving the poor man trapped. He wondered if there was still part of him that knew what was happening …
‘We must tread carefully, friends,’ Ulric whispered solemnly. ‘The trolls could be close.’
Cautiously, the group crept through the marshes, peering into the freezing mist at every dark shape that loomed out at them. Here and there, they saw other petrified people, turned to stone by the touch of the Stone Trolls. No wonder no one wanted to cross the marshes. Get robbed on the road by the Black Guard – or Ulric – or take your chances with the Stone Trolls. Quinn clenched his fists. This is Vayn’s fault. All of it.
The path they were on turned sharply to the left, leading between a couple of thick, stunted trees, before emerging on the edge of a wide pond. Around it more stone figures loomed out of the mist: what looked like a travelling party, ambushed …
Maria rushed across to the group and screamed as her worst fears were confirmed. ‘No,’ she gasped, as she passed between the trees and came out by the pool. She dropped to her knees.
‘What is it?’ Ignus said, crossing over to her.
Maria pointed with one shaking hand. Near the edge of the pool was another stone figure, this time of a young woman. Quinn didn’t recognise the woman, but he knew instinctively who it was.
‘My cousin,’ Maria sobbed. ‘That’s Anna.’
CHAPTER 7
SHADOW AT THE GATE
Quinn gawped in horror at the figure in the water. Anna must have leapt from the path to escape the Stone Troll. She was reaching out with one arm, as though to swim away out of reach, but she’d been too late. It must have grabbed her and instantly turned her to stone.
Maria bent over her, weeping. ‘This is my fault,’ she whispered between wracking sobs. ‘I sent her to Astria. We needed to deliver our cargo. We’d done the trip together before, but I had to … I had to wait for a new delivery.’ She reached out a hand towards her cousin.
‘Here,’ Ignus said. ‘Let me lift her out of there. Ulric, help me.’
Together, Ignus and Ulric gently heaved the stone body out of the marsh and laid it on the path. Maria bent over her cousin, her hand brushing Anna’s lifeless stone cheeks.
‘We’ll destroy the Stone Trolls,’ Thea said, fiercely. ‘We’ll find a way to help your cousin and all the others. Magic made the trolls and magic can stop them. Somehow.’
‘I promise you,’ Quinn said. His voice didn’t sound quite like his own. It sounded deeper and older. Maybe it was because his throat felt so tight. Maria looked up at him gratefully.
‘We should get out of the marshes,’ Ulric said, glancing around. ‘We won’t be able to help anyone if we’re turned into statues ourselves. Come on! It’s not far to Astria.’
‘I can’t leave her,’ Maria protested, still staring down at her petrified cousin. ‘Not like this.’
‘We can’t take her. You saw what happened to the other stone figure … You said it yourself. If we take her with us she risks –’ But Ignus didn’t finish his sentence; the look on Maria’s face stopped him. Quinn knew what he was about to say. She risks crumbling to pieces.
Reluctantly, Maria got to her feet and looked into her cousin’s eyes. ‘All right. But we will come back here.’
‘We will,’ Quinn said. ‘No matter what.’
With a last long look back at her cousin, Maria led the way quietly through the marshes, but the sombre mood permeated the entire group.
Ulric was right; Astria wasn’t far ahead. After another hour or so of walking through the marshes, the path began to rise and the boggy ground fell behind. The mist finally thinned then cleared, and up ahead, Quinn saw the walls of the town rise above him.
Set on a plain leading back down to the sea on one side and up into the rocky, uneven hills on the other, Astria balanced in the middle like a lazy cat. A fortified wall stretched across the whole front of the valley, cutting the town off from the marshes and, Quinn reckoned, from anyone who might want to attack it.
It also meant that there was no way in except via the enormous wooden gates that stood at the end of the main road. The gates were studded with iron to strengthen them against assault, and the black fist of Emperor Vayn had been crudely hammered onto the wood. Quinn could still see where the symbol of the blazing sun of his father had been ripped away, leaving a fading scar. Vayn’s flags fluttered over the gatehouse.
There were half a dozen sentries at the gate, staring out over the marsh.
‘Great,’ Maria whispered. ‘Just what we need.’
‘How are we going to get past?’ Quinn whispered.
‘Just follow my lead,’ Maria said. ‘And do as I say.’
The group pulled their shawls about them and tried to look as inconspicuous as possible – that wasn’t exactly easy because they were the only people approaching.
As they c
ame nearer the guards drew to attention. Their burly leader, too fat for the armour that was desperately trying to contain his gut, called a halt on the group. ‘Stop right there,’ he cried. ‘State your business!’
Maria stepped forward. ‘We’ve come from Port Keriss. I’m a trader in fine spices. I’ve brought samples.’ She pulled out a pouch and opened it, showing several small packets.
The fat guard grumbled and leaned over to inspect them. His eyes watered as he sniffed up the powerful mixtures. Quinn tried not to snigger as the guard let out a giant sneeze.
‘Pfft!’ he spluttered. ‘Gods! Who wants that muck? Do you think anyone in Astria will pay for those?’
A second guardsman shouldered forward, pushing Maria out of the way. He towered over the others. Quinn prayed to the gods Ignus would contain his rage, as the tall, spindly guardsman looked them up and down.
Maria wouldn’t be intimidated. ‘Lord Lorimer seems to like them,’ she huffed.
Quinn had no idea if Lord Lorimer was a fan of pungent spices or not, but at the mention of his name, the guard’s attitude soon changed. He suddenly turned to attention, tucking another fold of flab into his armour and looking nervously round to his fellow guards.
‘V-very well,’ he snorted. ‘I suppose if it’s for Lorimer, then—’
‘Wait!’ the second guard cried.
Uh oh. Quinn’s mind went into overdrive.
The lanky guard moved through the crowd until he stopped directly in front of Quinn. He glared down and peered into his amber eyes. Quinn tried to dodge his gaze, but there was no escaping it.
‘What have we got here?’ hissed the guard. ‘I think I recognise this one …’
Vayn, Quinn thought. He must be on to them. Maybe there were posters round the island: WANTED posters. His image was probably at every checkpoint in the Twelve Islands by now – he was stupid to think he could defeat the Guard on Yaross and for there not to be any consequences.
