Armies of Nine, Book Three of The Adventures of Sarah Coppernick

by SJB Gilmour

  ‘Dat’s none of ‘is business, is it Pollux?’ Castor said, not taking his beady eyes off Marzdane.

  ‘No it isn’t, Castor,’ Pollux rumbled. He too did not take his eyes off Marzdane. The two ogres spread out and took several more steps towards him. Marzdane began to draw in his power.

  ‘I fink he’s going to try something sorcerous, Castor,’ Pollux told his twin.

  ‘Den we know what to do wid ‘im, don’t we Pollux?’ Castor said. He stamped his foot so hard that the whole building shook. Pollux did the same. Soon the ground was shaking so badly that all the furniture in the foyer went flying. Marzdane tumbled to the ground and his concentration scattered.

  Pollux rushed forward with surprising speed for a creature that appeared as big and stupid as he did. He wrapped one enormous hairy fist around Marzdane’s throat and picked him up as if he were a rag doll. He growled angrily, foam beginning to fleck his tusks.

  While Pollux was grasping hold of Marzdane, Maddy flashed about the place, straightening the furniture and re-potting one of the plants that had fallen over.

  Castor smiled at Marzdane. ‘I must apologise for my brudder,’ the ogre rumbled. ‘He got a real bad temper. If I wuz you, I wouldn’t do nuttin’ stupid like trying to blow us up or nuttin’.’

  ‘Dat’s da kind of fing dat gets people hurt,’ Pollux snarled, squeezing his fist. Marzdane hung in that vice-like grip, struggling with the huge fist around his neck. He pried at Pollux’s massive fingers and made strangled gargling noises.

  ‘What do you fink we should do wid ‘im, brudder?’ Pollux said over his shoulder to Castor.

  ‘Da boss tol us dat if he ever showed up, we was to take care of ‘im.’ Castor made a chopping gesture at his tree-trunk of a throat.

  Pollux grinned. ‘Wid pleasure!’

  Maddy flashed to a halt in front of Castor. ‘Not in here you don’t!’ she announced firmly. Like all quicklings, she was quite petite and very slender. Next to Castor and Pollux, she was positively tiny. ‘I just got this place tidied up! I’ll not have you two big oafs making a mess.’ She stood on her tiptoes and poked Castor in the belly. Castor hunched his shoulders and backed away like a scolded child.

  ‘Aw c’mon, Miss Maddy!’ he pleaded.

  ‘Yeah, let us kill him,’ Pollux added, ignoring the strangling noises Marzdane was making. ‘Pleeeease!’

  Maddy rolled her eyes to the ceiling. ‘I didn’t say you couldn’t kill him,’ she explained slowly. ‘I just don’t want you making a mess in here. If you’re going to kill him, do it outside or at least somewhere that can be hosed down, okay?’

  Pollux brightened. ‘Geez, tank you Miss Maddy!’ he almost sang. He turned to face Marzdane. He brought the struggling sorcerer, who was now quite purple, up close. ‘Hear dat? We gets to kill ya!’

  ‘And we gets to do it outside so it’s gonna be messy!’ Castor crowed with glee. ‘We is gonna paint the place wid your guts!’ The two grinning ogres took the struggling Marzdane through the lobby and out into the loading bay. The various workers who were packing away boxes of scrolls and tomes, all stopped to watch this spectacle of the two grinning monsters and their struggling victim.

  Maddy sighed and returned to her desk. She tidied it up with a blur of movement and sat back in her chair. As soon as she was settled, a glowing yellow crystal ball on the counter began to hum. Maddy gently touched two fingers to the ball and gazed into it to see Masters Isaacs and McConnell.

  ‘Oh hello, Master McConnell, Sir!’ she said brightly. ‘And hello Master Isaacs.’

  ‘You hit the emergency button, Maddy,’ Benjamin said seriously. His handsome face was worried. ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘Oh, Marzdane showed up and started making a racket,’ Maddy said as if it were of no importance now. ‘I thought he was going to do something nasty, but Castor and Pollux arrived before he could cause any trouble. I’m sorry to have bothered you. I didn’t know how long the boys would take to get here. I know how much they enjoy their work so I sent them outside. I didn’t want them making a mess in here.’

  James and Benjamin shared a long look.

  ‘What did he want?’ Benjamin asked carefully.

  ‘He claimed to be looking for you, Master McConnell,’ Maddy told him. ‘He was very agitated. I think he’s been having some sort of crisis since he lost his seat as chairman. He looked a little unhinged. The news has just been carrying on about some sort of explosion and fire at his Paris apartment… Quite unlike him to perform any sorcery around mortals. I can go ask him if you like. I’ll have to do it quickly, though. Castor and Pollux did seem very eager to dispose of him.’

  ‘Do that, will you dear?’ Benjamin asked her.

  Maddy nodded. She picked up the ball and flashed out of the office and into the loading bay. There she found Castor and Pollux, laughing like schoolchildren. Castor was holding Marzdane’s ankles while Pollux had hold of his wrists. The two grinning ogres were playing tug of war with Angelina’s ex-husband. This spectacle had drawn the attention of the loading bay workers and they were all gathered around, jeering and taunting. As soon as everyone saw Maddy appear, they remembered their other tasks and hurried about them.

  ‘What?’ Castor demanded plaintively. ‘Youse told us to do it outside!’

  ‘And we is outside!’ Pollux added.

  Marzdane was screaming in pain and anger. He saw the yellow ball Maddy was holding and a desperate hope dawned in his eyes. If he could just get these two buffoons to let him go, he might have a chance of finding out where Angelina was.

  ‘McConnell!’ he yelled at the ball. ‘Tell these to morons to let me go!’

  ‘I’m not their boss, old boy,’ Benjamin replied with aplomb. ‘I can’t tell them to do anything.’ Of course this was a lie and Marzdane knew it but he also knew the two grinning ogres would take it as a sign to return to their fun. This they did with wicked glee.

  ‘Ten hammers says his arms come off before his feets!’ Castor crowed to his brother.

  ‘Youse got a bet, brudder!’ Pollux yelled back and the two ogres pulled at Marzdane even harder.

  ‘Isaacs!’ Marzdane tried with an agonised cry. Then he screamed in pain again as his body began making strange creaking and popping sounds as his joints began to give way. James watched the screaming former Chairman of The Sorcerers’ Guild for an agonising minute. Finally, he sighed and waved at the ogres.

  ‘Okay boys,’ he said with exaggerated regret. ‘That’ll do.’

  Pollux let go of Marzdane’s wrists. Castor stepped back slightly and held one hand up, dangling Marzdane upside down by the ankle.

  ‘Where’s Angelina?’ Marzdane yelled.

  ‘Now what does youse want wid Miss Troy?’ Castor rumbled. He held his arm up high and stooped down to look Marzdane in the eye.

  ‘I’d like to know that myself,’ Benjamin said in his most civilised manner. ‘Not that it’d do you any good to find her. She and Apollo are betrothed now.’

  ‘Hear dat?’ Castor told him. ‘Youse don’t wanna go boddering Miss Troy now dat she’s gonna be Missus Apollo, does ya?’ He shook Marzdane vigorously. Several coins and a bunch of keys fell out of his pockets.

  ‘Never!’ Marzdane screamed. ‘She’s mine! Let me go! Angelina can’t marry that stupid, Grecian—’ He didn’t get to finish. Castor reached down with his free hand and grasped Marzdane by the throat again.

  ‘You know,’ James said to Benjamin, ‘as much as letting him get torn apart by ogres appeals to me—’

  Castor and Pollux jumped at the opportunity. They immediately returned to stretching Marzdane.

  ‘It’s probably nothing compared to what’ll happen if he does find Angelina,’ James continued.

  ‘It’s been quite a while since she’s seen Marzdane,’ Benjamin agreed. ‘I’m sure she’s missed the old boy. A reunion does sound like a good idea.’ He was trying very hard not to laugh.

  James grinned wickedly. ‘Shall we?’

  Benjamin’s gri
n was equally nasty. ‘Let’s.’

  James waved at his ogres. ‘Let him go boys,’ he told them.

  Disappointed, Castor and Pollux dropped Marzdane on the ground. The crazed sorcerer leaped to his feet. Sparks began shimmering up and down his body.

  ‘Oh no youse don’t,’ Castor said. He grabbed Marzdane’s shoulder with one huge hand and began to squeeze. ‘No sorcerous stuff.’

  ‘You wouldn’t dare!’ Marzdane raged. He began drawing in his will to blast the two ogres.

  Castor squeezed even harder, breaking Marzdane’s collarbone. ‘You know dat’s da trubble wid dem crystal balls, Pollux,’ the ogre complained. ‘Dey is so unreliable.’

  Pollux nodded. He leaned in theatrically to listen to the ball in Maddy’s hand. ‘I can’t hear a ting now. I know da boss told us to let ‘im go, but he didn’t know Mushdane ‘ere was gonna start misbehavin’ again.’

  ‘And we can’t have no misbehavin’,’ Castor added.

  Marzdane winced and let his will dissolve. He glared at the glowing yellow ball. ‘Where is she?’ he demanded.

  Benjamin shrugged. ‘Where else? She went to Crete.’ He looked at James. ‘She did say Crete, didn’t she?’

  ‘I thought she went back to Lentekhi,’ James replied, rubbing his scalp. ‘Now that she’s resolved all her issues, I think she’s gone back to being a soldier.’

  ‘Well, whaddaya know?’ Castor rumbled.

  ‘It’s workin’ again!’ Pollux added with mock surprise.

  ‘Say hi to her for us!’ James called out to Marzdane. He turned to Benjamin as if Marzdane was no longer there. ‘Should we tell her he’s coming?’

  ‘Let’s surprise her,’ Benjamin said, grinning. ‘His wits are so scrambled he’s hardly a risk. The only vulnerable one is Mel and she’s on Jilde. Even Marzdane in his hey-day couldn’t have gathered enough of a force to get past The Imperial Guardslins. Now he’s just a crazy old codger. I doubt he could raise more than a bad smell.’ He looked at Maddy. ‘Is he smelly?’ he asked her casually.

  Trying very hard not to laugh, Maddy nodded. ‘Just a bit, Master McConnell. It happens to old men, I’m told. Sometimes they lose control of their functions.’

  James nodded. ‘Glad I’m not there.’ He turned back to Benjamin as their images began to fade. ‘Righto. Morning drinks then?’

  Marzdane wrenched himself free of Castor’s grip. He did not bother to say another word. Fuming, he stormed through the foyer and out the front door.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Marzdane stumbled outside and onto the footpath on Punt Road in Melbourne. The typical Melbourne weather had decided to change again. When he had arrived, the day was clear and cool. Now the wind was blowing nastily and rain was pummelling down upon him. The mortals scurrying past him underneath their umbrellas ignored him as he healed his collarbone with a single muttered command. It may have been easy to do, but it still hurt quite badly. He gave a loud shout and swore most uncouthly. This time, a few startled mortals glanced at this strange, dishevelled and now quite wet man and hurried past. His bones were old now. Marzdane cursed his newfound frailty. No matter how much he had tried, he had been unable to reverse the spell young Hazelwood had cast.

  This confused him mightily. She was just a child and the spell was advanced for a girl so young certainly, but even so, he should have been able to reverse it quite simply. He shook his matted grey hair a few times. At least that didn’t hurt now that his shoulder was better, but it still produced several cracks and creaks from his old bones. Marzdane ignored them and stood quite oddly, out in the rain for several minutes.

  The rain didn’t matter. His shoulder didn’t matter. The spell that had caused him to age so much didn’t matter. He knew where Angelina was! He smiled to himself. That smile turned into a great big grin. He tilted his head back and stared up at the raindrops falling hard down upon him. They stung his eyes but he didn’t care. He thrust his arms out wide and shouted at the sky in pure joy. He’d found her!

  Several more passers by dashed past him, leaving quite a wide distance between them. Mortals in Melbourne were quite used to seeing the occasional crazy person out in the street but that didn’t mean they trusted them or wanted to help.

  ‘What the hell are you looking at?’ Marzdane demanded suddenly of one poor woman who rushed past. She gave a startled shriek and hurried off, refusing to look at him.

  Marzdane glared after the woman in disgust. Then he glanced down at his soaking, ruined suit. In an act of rebellion against The Guild that had deserted him so shamelessly, he drew in his power and glared up at the pouring rain.

  ‘Haltus!’ he bellowed. The rain stopped. So did the wind. He still needed sunshine. Yes, he was in such a good mood now that he definitely needed sunshine to shine down upon him. ‘Orbus!’ he commanded the sky. The huge grey clouds parted and the sunshine broke through. The air was still cool, certainly, but now at least he wasn’t getting any wetter. Satisfied that the elements were now behaving themselves, he turned his energy to his clothes.

  ‘Purgarito!’ he commanded his suit. His body shimmered and in a flash, his clothes were once again clean and pressed. His tie was repaired and his shirt had new buttons. He gave himself a satisfied shrug and sauntered off down Punt Road to High Street. At the corner, he turned west and walked down past a terribly expensive mortal school to St Kilda Road. At St Kilda Road, humming to himself, he caught a tram that was rattling into the city. He needed to eat something, he thought, and Melbourne was reputed to have some very fine restaurants. He’d heard particularly good things about Lygon Street. Within half an hour, Marzdane was seated at a table on the busy street while a gaunt, pony-tailed waiter went to tell the chef that even though it was only ten-thirty in the morning, the gentleman wanted a dozen oysters followed by a large steak, extra rare.

  To ease the task, Marzdane had produced two of the strange green plastic notes these Australians called money. The waiter took them calmly, though Marzdane knew that inside his young, hung-over head, he was quite excited indeed. Sure enough, his oysters soon came, along with a complimentary bottle of white wine. Delicately, Marzdane ate his oysters and sipped at his wine that he was a little peeved to admit was far superior than any of the French stuff he’d been drinking in Paris. While he ate, he thought about Angelina.

  So, she was in Crete, eh? There for the birth of that tramp of a sister of hers’ latest offspring, no doubt. No doubt at all… Mautallius wanted that child, didn’t he? Now that he no longer had him as a puppet, Mautallius would have to find someone else to do his dirty work. Probably that mongrel Cromwell… Well, wasn’t that interesting? How better to get Angelina to love him again than to rescue her youngest niece or nephew?

  The waiter brought the strangely grinning man his steak. Marzdane calmly gave him another of the slippery plastic notes. This one was orange. The waiter did not seem so impressed as he’d been with the green ones, but Marzdane didn’t care. He cut a large piece of the bloody meat and tasted it. It was also far better than the French steak he’d put up with in Paris, though a little overdone for his taste. Still, he thought as he chewed, perhaps Angelina would like to settle here once they were back together.

  When he had finished his steak and his wine, Marzdane went to the bathroom to freshen up. He changed out of his suit into lighter and more durable travelling clothes. He tied his long grey hair back in a ponytail that was much bushier than the skinny waiter’s, and marched out towards the street. The waiter did a double-take when he saw Marzdane emerge.

  He managed to exclaim ‘Sir!’ before Marzdane handed him the last of his Australian money — several orange plastic notes and a few more green ones. He clapped the skinny waiter on the shoulder and sauntered off. As soon as he rounded the corner into Grattan Street, he created a large portal, right there in the middle of the street. Cars tooted and screeched and a woman screamed. The grinning sorcerer ignored them and stepped into the portal. As he stepped through, he waved at the sky.

&
nbsp; ‘Avantus!’ he muttered in a cavalier manner. As the portal disappeared, Melbourne’s nasty weather reappeared. The weather that greeted him in Crete was much nicer than that he’d left in Melbourne. The night air was warm and sweet. The salty breeze drifted off the Mediterranean Sea and rose high into the mountains where he now stood. He looked down, not at the city, but beyond, to a small rocky valley of un-tamable land, beneath which was hidden a great labyrinth.

  He looked up at the clear night sky. The half-moon was high above him and all around the stars flickered as though they were secretly laughing at him.

  ‘Bah!’ he muttered to the sky and waved at it with one withered old hand. He started down the hillside. When he was only a few hundred metres from the cave mouth, Marzdane assumed the form of a bat. As disgusting as it was to do, he made sure he anointed himself with the flying rodent’s fragrance so that he wouldn’t catch the attention of any minotaur who should look up at him. Satisfied he would pass muster, he flew into the cave.

  This wasn’t the first time Marzdane had been to The Labyrinth of Minos, but he was surprised at just how many of the cursed beasts were there. They had reproduced in far greater numbers than he had expected in the scant few hundred years since his last visit. Consequently, he was a little distracted as he flew through the caves and tunnels. If he had been paying closer attention, he’d have noticed another bat flying several metres behind him. He was not surprised that he managed to remember his way to the hospital cavern. Feeling quite smug, he flew up to the ceiling and looked down at Susan and David Hazelwood and their squalling brat of a son. He was surprised to see them look up at him. He was even more surprised that they themselves were not surprised to see him.

  ‘G’day, Marzdane, old boy,’ David said calmly. ‘What are you doing all the way up there?’

  Marzdane gave a startled squeak and fluttered down to land on the ground where he resumed his human form, which still smelled awfully of bat pee.

  ‘How—? He began to splutter.