by Lorna Reid
Movement in a doorway behind the creature caught their attention: Kennan and the scarred man staggered through and spotted them at the same moment Thom did. Thom opened his mouth to say something to them when a shout from Kennan ripped his attention toward their erstwhile pursuers.
Kennan unleashed a ball of spitting red flame at them, which Thom deflected, taking out part of an elaborate ceiling rose. In return, Thom hurled a howling ribbon of energy that Kennan barely blocked, and which sent him sprawling at the sheer force of the magic. The scarred man, plastered in blood, hauled him up, and the men ran to join the group around the Reaper.
A low alarm sounded and the Darklanders abandoned the fight and struggled to reach the group around the creature, while others clustered as close as they could to the scattered cloaked mages.
Poppy and Danny raced to Thom’s side. Through the magical haze hanging over the room, he was staring at Kennan; Poppy had never seen such pure hatred in someone’s eyes. His crackling energy ball crashed into the men just as they, and the Reaper, were swallowed by an inrush of orange magic that sent an aftershock rippling across the room, knocking everyone from their feet.
Chapter 27
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DANNY OPENED HIS EYES and tried to take stock of whether or not he was still alive. His body was aching all over, but all his limbs seemed to be there – he knew because they all hurt.
He pulled himself to his feet and, after a quick look to see if Poppy was alright, limped over to his father, who dragged himself from the floor, nursing a bloody gash on his arm in addition to his injured shoulder. His top was dirty and torn and he was sporting cuts on his cheek and head among other minor grazes and bruises, but he was safe. A surge of emotion swept through Danny, and he flung his arms around him.
‘Dad.’ Danny buried his face in his father’s shoulder, unable to speak. He wanted to go home. He wanted to be curled up on the sofa with his dad, watching television, laughing at stupid programmes and eating crisps, or just laying back and listening to his father play piano or guitar for hours.
Everyone was being comforted and reassured; they all looked drained. Russell looked worse than anyone, and Jack was speaking quietly to him.
*
‘You okay? If you’re not, Josie will beat me black and blue,’ Thom said, trying to raise a smile from Poppy, who had cuddled, exhausted, into his arms.
‘Yeah. Who was that man? The one with white hair – Kennan.’
‘How do you know him?’ Thom’s voice lost its softness.
‘He caught us. He was going to kill us,’ she said. ‘Because I took that fragment.’
Thom’s face, if possible, had got paler.
‘He had a knife to my throat and he hurt Danny,’ she sobbed, feeling events of the past days overwhelm her defences and drown her ability to fight it off anymore. Thom held her tightly and glanced over at Peter, who looked up; something passed between them for a moment. Peter’s face tensed and darkened and he hugged Danny closer, looking sick.
‘He’s just a Darklander we’ve had some dealings with in the past. Nasty.’ Thom held her until she calmed down, wiping her face as soldiers and medics passed by, helping the wounded and covering the dead. Guards had despatched or captured the fighters who were left, having pursued the abandoned dregs through the archives and chambers. Only devastation remained, not just in the mess and carnage, but in the emotional toll.
They made their way through the rubble and destroyed boxes and books that had been blasted, hacked, or knocked from shelves to join Katrina and Jen.
‘You okay, Jen?’ Thom asked. She nodded and gave him a brief grin. He hugged her with his free arm and kissed her cheek. Poppy watched with interest, feeling composed just enough to raise an eyebrow at Katrina. She got a sarky eye roll in return. Katrina was feeling better, too, evidently.
They were steered into the next room, where the fragment had lain, and Jack left Russell with Pete and Jen, and slipped away. Thom saw where he was going and left Poppy behind to join him.
The pair crouched on the floor, and Poppy realised with a jolt what they were doing. A man and a woman in cream and white uniforms set down a stretcher beside Isa’s body. The two men shared a look and then, as one, gently lifted her onto the padded frame. Thom placed her broken sword beside her. Jack reached to touch her hand a moment and then tucked it gently under the blanket that was eased over her. Their heads bowed as she was borne away.
Poppy couldn’t see anymore. She was crying too hard. Russell was sobbing, arguing with Jen and Peter, who were in a mess themselves and trying to fight the grief back.
‘No, no, this can’t have happened, it isn’t right, it wasn’t supposed to be. We were supposed to stop this!’ Russell shouted, his voice breaking.
‘Russell,’ Jen began, trying to take his hands. He pulled away and raked them through his hair. His face was red and streaked with tears and he shook his head.
‘No. We came all this way to save her. So, what, the Oracle’s prophecies are useless because we can’t change things?’
‘Sometimes. There’s no set rule. I don’t know. Look, I don’t have an explanation, and I know you think one will help, but it won’t. I’m so sorry, Russell. But it won’t bring her back. You truly did everything you could, all of you,’ whispered Jen.
He clenched his fists and stared at the floor, the ceiling, the walls, eyes streaming. Jen took his stiff, unyielding arms and pulled him in to her, and he placed his head on her shoulder and melted.
*
Danny looked at the floor; he wouldn’t want to be stared at when he was crying, so he wasn’t going to do that to Russell, not that he was probably even aware. He scrubbed away his own tears and searched the ground for something to distract him from Isa, from the blood on the wall, from the broken sword. From the tiny conventions of death and grief. Something.
The flagstones were streaked with black blood from the Reaper and covered with debris. Little boxes and their contents littered the ground; comet trails of rainbow powders and herbs mixed among the masonry and ruined books. In among the mess, something caught his magpie eye and he stooped to grab it.
It was a broken piece of something, black and shiny. It was slightly concave with a rough feel inside, and after turning it over in his hands a few times, he realised with a lurch what it was.
The glistening blackness of the Reaper’s skin leapt into his head. It was a scale. He grabbed a small, empty wooden box, dropped the thing inside, and shoved it into his pocket. He might never see another, and it beat an Aquattrox programme.
He stood in time to see Jack turn his back on Thom as he tried to speak to him and, instead, walk over to embrace Jen.
‘You okay?’ Jack said.
‘Just about. I could sleep for a week.’
‘Tell me about it,’ he said, flexing his arm and wincing at his shoulder. ‘My sword arm’s killing me.’ His voice softened and he prised Russell away from Jen’s shoulder. He smoothed away tear tracks and looked into Russell’s swimming, pained eyes.
‘There was nothing more anyone could have done. Ultimately, it was her choice to be here and to fight. Nothing would have stopped her. And she died to save you.’
‘So this was my fault?’
‘No,’ Jack said, frowning. ‘No. It could have happened anyway. I’m sorry you had to see it. You should never have been here in the first place.’ He shot a look at Thom, who had joined them.
‘Spare me, Jack,’ he said, interpreting the look. ‘I know you’re pissed off, but now isn’t the—’
‘You have no idea. Perhaps if you had a child instead of acting like one, you’d understand,’ said Jack. ‘You and Knox were completely irresponsible.’
‘Seriously, Jack, you’re fucking doing this now?’ Jen snapped.
‘Thom and Knox didn’t have a choice,’ cut in Peter. ‘If they’d taken the kids back to the Gateway, there was a chance they’d have vanished again. Better to keep them in the city, safe.’
‘Where they ran off anyway.’
‘That wasn’t Thom or Knox’s fault, Jack,’ said Jen.
Thom ran his hands through his hair, staring in fury at the ceiling.
Danny looked at his father and recognised the signs that he was getting angry. His fingers never stopped moving and his smudged, bloody cheeks were beginning to redden.
‘Danny was trying to find his mother. They all tried to save Isa’s life and the fragment,’ snapped Thom. ‘Can you blame your son for having the same sense of honour and principles as you?’
Jack swiped away blood from a cut on his grimy face and shook his head. ‘Don’t talk to me about honour. This is my son’s life. All of their lives. It’s not a fucking game.’
‘Jack, calm down. It’s done now. They did what they thought was best. They weren’t to know all this would happen; you can’t blame Thom,’ said Jen.
‘They didn’t think at all. I thought you two would have been a bit more concerned, but I shouldn’t have expected anything less from the Thomas fan club.’ He glared at her and Peter. Peter swore at him and turned away, looking angry and hurt.
Danny’s eyes darted from one face to the other and he exchanged a gloomy look with the others. This was turning nasty – they’d heard their parents fight before, but to be in the middle, or worse, to be the cause of it, was a horrible feeling.
‘How fucking dare you,’ hissed Jen, stepping toe to toe with Jack and staring up into his eyes. ‘How dare you suggest that I’m not concerned about my daughter? I worry as much for her as you do for Russell, and I don’t hold Thom, Knox, or Pete to blame. You dick.’ She grabbed Katrina’s hand and walked away.
As soon as she was out of sight, Thom grabbed Jack by the jacket. ‘You can go and apologise to her.’ Jack smacked Thom’s arm away and squared off against him. Peter stepped between the two of them, and Poppy and Danny glanced at one another in alarm.
‘Enough. This isn’t the time or place. Let the dead be buried before you start tearing one another apart. Show some fucking respect.’ The two men looked guilty. ‘We’re all tired, hurt, and we want to get home.’ Jack and Thom glared at each other over his shoulder.
‘Danny, we’re leaving.’
Danny turned to his friends.
‘Fuck you, Jack.’ Peter took Danny’s arm and led him away in the direction Jen had taken.
*
Poppy saw Danny look back and felt more alone. She was distracted when Russell suddenly spoke up.
‘It was my idea to come here. I wanted to do the right thing, and that’s what you’ve always taught me,’ he said. ‘We had the chance to save Niri and Isa.’ Jack looked taken aback.
‘I understand why,’ said Jack, ‘But Isa… That could have been you or Danny or—’
‘But it wasn’t,’ said Russell.
‘It could have been.’
‘Would you rather it was, so you could say I told you so?’
Poppy held her breath for a moment. Russell had crossed a line, however right he was in the rest of what he was saying. She never shied away from speaking her mind, but that was too much.
‘I’ve always tried to protect you,’ Jack said, sounding shocked and angry.
‘You should have told us everything, all of you, instead of letting us just find out about this world.’
‘And trusted you not to have done something as stupid as this? Danny takes off into a strange, dangerous land and you follow—’
‘You should have trusted me. After the lies you told to keep all this secret, and you think you can’t trust me?’ Russell shouted.
Poppy winced, but she could tell Russell was past the point of no return; he clearly didn’t care, and she didn’t blame him. He was speaking the truth. She, too, was sick of the secrecy.
‘What else do you think you’re protecting me from? What about Mum? What aren’t you telling me about her?’ Russell’s voice cracked and tears ran down his face. He pounded his father’s chest, punch after punch, emotions pouring through his fists.
Jack stood silently and took every blow, flinching and stepping back slightly under his son’s half-hearted, exhausted onslaught. Poppy watched a tear run slowly down his face, and he wrapped his arms around Russell and pulled him close, stifling the anger. Russell buried his face in Jack’s chest and sobbed, completely spent.
*
‘Is this the way out?’ Danny asked his father. They were crossing the room where the Reaper had been raised. Peter shook his head.
‘No. I just … want to be here for a moment.’ Tears gathered in the corner of his eyes and he stared at the ground, looking beyond the debris. Danny understood.
‘We were so close. She was right there, Dad. We saw her.’
His father nodded, unable to speak. And then his face tensed, eyes widening. He crouched down beside the body of the Reaper’s first victim, Niri’s assailant, and plucked something from the floor as two medics placed a blanket over the man and prepared to move the body away.
Danny shuffled round to see what it was. A silver locket lay open in his father’s fingers, the neat silver chain trailing between them.
‘That’s Mum’s.’
‘Pete?’ Thom had caught up to them and crouched beside his friend. Without a word, Peter tilted the locket. Danny saw inside. He saw himself: young, with spiky hair, giving a cheeky grin to the camera. On the other side of the locket, his parents’ faces smiled from behind broken glass. Danny’s knees weakened and he grabbed his father’s arm.
‘Where did it come from?’ Jen peered over their shoulders.
‘The Reaper didn’t rise here. They just opened a portal to where it was and triggered the magic to raise it, somehow. There was a man, that guy.’ He gestured at the body being carted away. ‘He was fighting Niri. He grabbed this off her when he knocked her down. The Reaper killed him.’
‘You saw her? You saw Niri? She was here?’ Jen crushed Pete’s arm.
‘She was here. Kind of. She was where the Reaper was. The Darklands. Niri’s in the Darklands,’ said Peter.
Thom’s look of shock said enough for both him and Jen.
‘How do you know for sure?’ Thom said, looking half-elated, half-stunned.
Danny opened his mouth to tell about the odd twins and the man who had helped his father, but felt his father’s hand tighten on his arm.
‘Danny found out. Kennan told him that’s where the Reaper rose.’
He caught his father’s lightning-fast look and said nothing. At least for now, he thought.
‘Now we know. We just have to get into a sealed-off Land,’ said his father.
‘They only did it because they planted the magic before it was sealed,’ said Danny.
‘How is that possible?’ said Jen. ‘That means they’ve had a Reaper for over a decade and only just now used it.’
Peter shrugged. ‘Right now, I just want to melt into a bed and not wake up for a fortnight. And then I’m going to find Niri.’ He closed the locket and clutched it as if it would be ripped away. ‘If not for that man, she’d have been back.’
‘If she had got out with him, that thing would have killed her, too,’ said Katrina.
Her words hit home, making Peter flinch. He looked at the locket again and visibly crumbled and buried his face in Thom’s shoulder, his body heaving while his friend comforted him. No one said anything until he pulled back and wiped his face on his torn sleeve.
Jack and the others arrived, and Poppy joined Danny in looking at the floor where the Reaper had risen and then at the bustle of activity: medics, soldiers, and more.
‘Where did the Reaper go?’ Poppy said, staring at the charred, blood-spattered floor and then back the way they’d come.
‘No idea,’ said Jack. ‘But it will be back. The other fragments are all in danger. This was a bold, open attack, unlike the others. They’ve shown their hand. And the Reaper will get steadily stronger – this one was a baby.’
This horrible fact chilled the air.
‘A baby? That thing?’ Poppy whispered in disbelief. It was a sick thought.
‘How do you know? And what’s a full-grown one like?’ said Danny.
‘You don’t ever want to know,’ whispered Jack, ‘either answer.’
Danny was curious, but said nothing. Now probably wasn’t the best time.
‘All this for nothing.’ Jack shook his head and surveyed the wrecked hall, the bloodstains and debris and torn and burnt tapestries clinging pathetically to the walls. ‘Now they have another piece and a Reaper to help them get the rest.’
‘At least the Allies can’t deny this any longer,’ muttered Jen. ‘Now they have to face facts. Albeit way too late.’
Something jolted in Poppy’s brain. Of course. She could barely pull it from her pocket, her hands were trembling with excitement so much.
She yanked the crystal fragment free and held it out to Jack. ‘It’s safe,’ she said, and grinned.
Jack lifted it from her hands. ‘Unbelievable,’ he said. A smile split his face, taking her by surprise, and she felt herself flush as he stared at her in amazement.
They all peered at the unassuming piece of jagged crystal. She had never really had the chance to look before, but it was almost pathetic – hardly worth the carnage that had erupted.
Jack passed it to Peter and shook her hand. ‘John would have been proud,’ he said quietly. She smiled at him and saw respect in his green eyes.
Chapter 28
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THE SUN WAS STILL rising the following morning when they prepared to leave Darrant Ridge. Russell looked out from the shadow of the half-sunken towers set into the vast green mountainside. The ragged backbone stretched down into a thick, sprawling forest that dominated the horizon all around, but he felt too exhausted to be overawed.
He had slept as soon as his head hit the pillow in one of the smaller officers’ quarters, but Isa’s face, her smile, her eyes, the light in her, and the scream of the Reaper still haunted his dreams. That he would never see her again broke him. That knowledge, and the long journey from Danny’s house to this place, all those days ago, had taken its toll, as had his accumulated injuries, and he could have slept for a week.
