The Ark of Dun Ruah, Book 1

by Maria Burke

  ‘A nasty little piece of work, aren’t you? Stay where you are then. You are trapped. And soon I’ll be back with plenty of reinforcements.’

  The eagle flew off and Niamh leaned back against the stone wall behind her to gather her strength. But, to her shock, the wall gave way and she fell down a steep shaft. She hit the ground with a crash. Bruised and dazed, she stood up and looked around her. She was still holding the torch.

  Niamh saw that she was in a large tomb. Old stone slabs lined the walls and in the dim light she could see inscriptions on many of them. She shuddered. Through an archway she could see another tomb beyond.

  ‘I must have stumbled into the catacombs under the cloisters,’ she thought.

  Niamh had never been in the catacombs. It was one place she had never dared to explore with Coleman. But she knew there was no point in trying to climb back up the shaft. It was far too steep. She also knew that the eagles wouldn’t dare to follow her into the claustrophobic catacombs. So she tried to find a way through the labyrinth of tombs. A crunching sound under her feet caused her to freeze in her tracks. She shone the flashlight down and saw skulls and bones scattered beneath her.

  ‘Human skeletons!’ she screamed in terror.

  The ground was littered with human bones. She kicked them aside and ran forward into the unknown. Speeding on blindly, she crashed straight into a wall, banged her head and fell to the ground. Her heart was racing and her head was spinning.

  ‘I’ve got to calm down,’ she thought, ‘The only way that I’ll get out of here is by keeping my wits about me.’

  Composing herself with great effort, Niamh stood up and continued on until she came to a small crypt. She climbed a short flight of stairs and walked through a larger crypt which had a set of pews lined up the middle and a longer staircase at the other end. At the top of this stairs she arrived at a small wooden door.

  Niamh tried the door but it was locked. When she examined it closely with the torch, she noticed that the lock had rusted. After a few hefty shoves it gave way and she stepped into a tiny chapel. She gasped in wonder as her torchlight hit the walls. They were decorated with magnificent frescoes.

  Niamh was so relieved to be out of the tombs that she slumped down on the nearest pew and started to pray.

  ‘Please, help me Lord,’ she cried. ‘Why did I get involved in this nightmare? It’s such a terrible place. Oh please, please get me out of here; I don’t want to see any more dead bodies.’

  Then, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

  CHAPTER 18

  Eagles in Turmoil

  Niamh stared at the hand on her shoulder. She spun around, ready to defend herself. A young monk in a brown habit stood before her.

  ‘Niamh,’ said the monk, his clear blue eyes shining. ‘Niamh, thank God you’re here.’

  ‘Coleman!’ gasped Niamh. ‘Are you a ghost?’

  ‘Of course I’m not a ghost,’ he said, taking her hand in his. Niamh felt the warmth flowing through her brother’s hands. Tears welled up in her eyes.

  ‘Coleman. You’re alive! I can’t believe it. Is it really you or am I losing my mind?’

  ‘I’m as real as you are Niamh. Yes, I’ve been a prisoner here in the Abbey all this time.’

  ‘I’m so glad that you’re alive, Coleman. I’ve missed you every day since you disappeared. But the monks told us that you were dead. So did Red Beak.’

  ‘When Red Beak discovered my manuscript work and realised how valuable it was he decided to keep me alive. He has kept me here working in solitude ever since. Only a small core of eagle guards know that I’m alive. They insist that I keep my face hidden under my hood at all times, especially when working in the library. My identity has been kept entirely secret. Usually there are eagles guarding me around the clock. But today they’re preoccupied with other matters. So they’ve left me on my own. I work here from morning to night illuminating manuscripts. Red Beak sells them off for money and he’s always demanding more. Sometimes he makes me work right through the night. But Niamh, tell me about you. What are you doing here in the Abbey?’

  ‘I’m looking for a boy called Simon who came here searching for his sister and a Blue Owl who was kidnapped by Red Beak for his feathers. They were being held captive in the dungeons. But now they’ve been moved to the prison tower.’

  ‘Yes, I saw eagle guards outside the tower earlier. And then I heard a lot of shouting and hysterical laughter. More guards arrived but now they’re all gone. The prison tower is right beside us here. We can easily take a look.’

  Coleman led Niamh through a narrow door at the side of the chapel. They emerged out into the monks’ cloisters. They hurried through a series of archways skirting the enclosed cloister garden and made for the prison tower. Suddenly, Coleman stopped in his tracks and looked up towards the sky.

  ‘Listen, I hear the sound of eagles flying,’ said Coleman. ‘Quick! We’d better go back to the chapel. It’s safer there.’

  As Niamh and Coleman ran back through the cloisters they saw it was too late. The eagles spotted them from the sky and quickly descended into the enclosed garden. Some of them landed at the chapel door, blocking their way. Another flock barred their way to the prison tower. The flocks started to close in on them from both sides.

  ‘There’s no way out!’ said a voice beside them.

  Niamh jumped. She turned to see a man in a grey cloak standing close to them.

  ‘Just do as I say,’ he commanded. ‘Stand at my back, between those pillars.’

  The man held his hands up high in the air. Niamh saw beams of white light radiating from his hands. A whirling wind rose and powerful gusts swept through the cloisters. Niamh was flung against one of the pillars. She wrapped her arms around it and clung on tightly. The eagle flock coming from the library side was swept up into the sky. The wind spun them around the Abbey walls in a powerful vortex, dashing them against the walls.

  Then a mighty rumbling sound came from the chapel side. Niamh spun around to see eagles approaching and the roof of the cloisters collapsing over their heads.

  The man in the grey cloak stood before her. His cloak swirled open and shielded her from the falling rafters. Blazing light emanated from the silver lining of his cloak, blinding her eyes and forcing her to cover her head. She fell to the ground and the floor beneath shook with the impact of the shattered roof. With cries of despair the eagle flock fell and lay buried beneath it.

  Silence returned and the man in the grey cloak came forward and helped Niamh to her feet. Coleman was already standing beside him.

  ‘Follow me,’ ordered the man. Without knowing who this man was, Niamh was ready to trust him. He led them through the library door, past the great lib rary halls and into a tiny room lined with ancient books. He reached out his hands to touch one of the bookcases and probed it with his fingers. Suddenly, his expression lightened. A smile lit up his lined face and brightened up the whole room.

  ‘This is what I’m looking for,’ he said.

  Niamh could see that an almost invisible half-sized door was cleverly cut into the bookcase. The door swung open, revealing a flight of descending steps.

  ‘Follow this pathway and it will lead you to safety,’ he gestured.

  ‘You must be the Messenger,’ said Coleman. ‘I’m so honoured to meet you. I’ve heard all about you. The monks hold you in the highest esteem.’

  ‘Call me Malachy. And I am honoured to meet you both. But now you are in great danger and you must hurry. We will meet again soon and we will talk then. This passage is called Pilgrim’s Way. It should be a safe escape route for you. It leads to the village of Coracle and when you get there you will find me waiting for you.’

  ‘Yes, I know, it comes out at the old chapel on the cliff,’ said Coleman. ‘Is it still standing? I thought it might have fallen into the sea by now.’

  ‘It’s still standing,’ said Malachy, ‘but if another bad storm hits this island it may collapse. Now make haste. It’s possible that
Red Beak will find this passage and follow you. So go with haste.’

  Red Beak rose from his throne in the Great Hall and hovered over Simon. ‘So you thought you could hide from me in my own home! You will never escape me. My eyes are all-seeing. My power is unbreakable. But now I command you to tell me where the rest of your friends are.’

  ‘You claim to have all-seeing eyes,’ challenged Simon, ‘so you don’t need me to tell you where they are, do you?’

  ‘You try to be clever, boy. But you are playing with fire. My flocks will soon catch your friends. It’s time to teach you a lesson you will never forget! Indeed, this will be your final lesson. Roddick, throw this prisoner into the tombs under the Abbey and bury him alive. Let him rot there with the corpses and skeletons in the Vaults of the Dead.’

  Red Beak’s blood-red eyes were liquid. Leaning forward, he hissed at Simon. ‘You will die a slow and horrible death with only the rats to keep you company.’

  Then he turned to Roddick. ‘When you’ve locked him in the tombs, seal up the passages and make sure he doesn’t get out. Now get him out of my sight.’

  ‘Wait!’ shrieked Kiki. ‘What about the Blue Owl? Tell me where my owl is. I must have his feathers for my royal cloak. And the girl with the fireworks, where is she? I’m still waiting for my firework display.’

  ‘Oh, you mean Pod and my sister, Kerry,’ shouted Simon.

  ‘Yes,’ cried Kiki, hopping up from her perch. ‘Are you the brother who invented the matches?’

  ‘Yes I am Simon, the inventor of Handy Matches, and I can create dazzling firework displays that will blow your mind. Let me entertain you.’ He pulled a large orange match from his pocket and before anyone could stop him he struck it against the foot of Kiki’s throne.

  The throne burst into flames and Kiki shot up into the air screaming in fright. A flock of hens followed her. Smouldering black smoke swept high into the air. It swirled into a great thick cloud, forming a canopy over the Great Hall. The cloud burst. Deafening cracks of thunder erupted. Showers of scorching red sparks rained down on the room, flooding it with thick black smoke.

  Stunned by the noise, the eagles froze. The burning red hail scorched their feathers causing them to scream in pain. Terrified eagles fled from the Great Hall. Red Beak rose screeching from his throne. Turmoil raged through the ranks of eagle guards as they tried to protect their master. A deep black smoke engulfed the room. It filled the atmosphere so thickly that everything turned black.

  It was then that Simon heard a deep voice whisper in his ear. ‘Your friends are waiting for you in the grove at the eastern side of the Abbey gardens. Look for the green gate. And hurry.’

  Simon lit a blue match and used it to clear the thick fog around his head. As the black fog parted, a clear path appeared before him leading straight to the door of the Great Hall. He hurried forward and pulled the door open, pausing for a moment to look back into the hall. Smoke had blackened the room completely. He hurried out into the courtyard and ran from the Abbey, across the gardens towards the grove at its eastern end.

  To his great joy, Kerry, Pod and the swiftails were waiting for him under the cover of the trees.

  Simon ran to embrace his friends. Pod flew straight onto Simon’s shoulder and perched there chafing his neck in delight.

  ‘Get off, you heavy creature,’ said Simon, ruffling Pods big crop of blue feathers.

  The swiftails flew in delighted circles around Simon’s head.

  ‘How did you two get here?’ he asked.

  ‘We heard a voice in the dungeons telling us that Kerry and Pod were out here waiting for us,’ said Timmy.

  ‘I heard a voice too. It must have been one of the good eagles that Browdan asked to help us …’

  ‘Look out – here come the eagles,’ yelled Timmy.

  Simon saw flocks of eagles rising from the Abbey. He scanned the grove for a way to escape. Then he remembered the words he heard in the Great Hall: Look for the green gate.

  Straight away he spotted the green gate in the Abbey wall. ‘Follow me through the gate,’ he yelled at the others.

  Kerry could see Pod struggling to fly as she followed Simon through the gate in the Abbey wall. The owl gasped for breath as the weight of his feathers strained his little body. With tremendous effort he tried to flap his heavy wings. But the effort was too much and he plummeted to the ground. Kerry reached out to catch him. She held him closely in her arms and ran. Simon and the swiftails ran ahead into the woodlands. Scores of eagles burst forth from the doors of the Abbey. Their angry screams tore across the sky as they searched for their prey.

  Suddenly, two other eagles appeared ahead of them coming out of the woodlands. They swooped and before Kerry could jump out of his way, one of them seized her by the shoulders. He lifted her high up into the air and soared straight over the trees.

  CHAPTER 19

  Escape to Coracle

  Kerry struggled to free herself from her eagle captor with Pod gasping in her arms. But he held her upper arms and shoulders firmly in his claws and carried her high over the woodlands. Soaring heavenward above the forests, they crossed the foothills that stretched westwards from where the Abbey stood between the two peaks. The eagle flew south following the course of a deep-flowing river. Kerry felt the cold evening breeze cutting through her limbs. She was still clutching Pod, who was panting heavily in her arms.

  ‘Don’t be afraid, Kerry!’ said a familiar voice above her. To her great relief, she realised it was the voice of Grinwick, the security guard from the Ark of Dun Ruah. ‘I’ve brought my brother, Farradore, with me to help you,’ he said.

  Kerry looked over her shoulder and saw another eagle carrying Simon. The swiftails were perched on his arm. Behind them a swarm of eagles blackened the sky. Red Beak’s guards were in pursuit.

  Grinwick followed the course of the river towards a valley. In the distance the Lone Peak Mountains rose high above its foothills. Kerry saw that a thick carpet of forest lay on either side of the river. But the pursuing eagles gained on them every second. Progress for Grinwick and his brother, Farradore, was slowed by the weight of their passengers. Red Beak’s army was close behind them.

  Kerry and Grinwick reached a bend in the river when a small flock of Red Beak’s eagles caught up with them.

  ‘We’re not going to make it,’ said Pod, who was fidgeting restlessly in Kerry’s arms.

  ‘We need to create a diversion. I’ll lead them off in another direction.’

  ‘No, Pod,’ said Kerry. ‘You’re too weak. The weight of those extra feathers will pull you down.’

  ‘I’ll make for the forest,’ said Pod. ‘The trees will hide me.’

  ‘I’m not letting you go.’

  ‘But it’s our only hope. It’s me they’re after, Kerry. I’m putting you in danger. With any luck the flock will follow me and you can get to safety.’

  Before Kerry could stop him Pod burst from her arms.

  ‘Whoot, whoot, whoot,’ he called as he plummeted through the air.

  The flock of pursuing eagles split in two. The larger flock went after Pod.

  Grinwick made some ground after Pod broke from the group and quickly descended to the bank of a river. Farradore followed and they dropped their passengers at the edge of the treeline close to the river bank.

  ‘We’re going back to look for Pod,’ said Grinwick. ‘You must get under the shelter of the trees right now. The forest is thick here and the eagles won’t be able to fly into it without catching their wings in the undergrowth. You will be safe if you stay close to the trees. If you continue on following the course of the river towards the Lone Peak Range you will see the deserted town of Coracle on the coast. Make for there and be sure to stay under cover. We will meet you on the outskirts of Coracle. Watch out for us. Quick! Red Beak’s army is almost upon us again.’

  As Grinwick and Farradore flew off a large group of eagles followed them into the distance.

  The remaining flock swooped. Simon, K
erry and the swiftails rushed towards the forest. But the flock had already landed between them and the treeline. The eagles closed in on them, forcing them to retreat towards the river.

  ‘Kerry! Swiftails! Help me gather firewood,’ called Simon, gathering up clumps of twigs from the ground around him. They all joined in and quickly collected a large bundle. Simon used it to light a crackling fire. Eagle reinforcements arrived and swarmed over their heads. Then they started to circle around them and descend.

  Simon dug a fistful of dirt out of the gravely riverbank behind him. He flung it into the fire. It spluttered and crackled, sending showers of hot sparks and embers spraying into the eyes of the birds that descended upon them. Screeching in pain, the eagles flew up into the air. Simon stirred the fire again and fanned it up to heighten the flames. Fiery darts shot high into the sky, striking scores of birds and scorching their wings. With terrified shrieks the entire flock rose in alarm and fled towards the Abbey.

  ‘They’ll be back’, said Kerry, ‘now that they know where we are.’

  Running deep into the cover of the forest, they kept as close to the river as they could, following its course. They travelled through the afternoon until the light started to fade. Occasionally they stopped to drink from streams and to rest their tired feet. At last the trees started to thin out and they reached the foothills of the Lone Peak range on the southern tip of the island. As they crossed a small ridge they spotted a flock of eagles shadowing the sky. It was a larger flock than the first. Simon spotted a large rock that jutted out over the path. The little group of travellers hurried towards it and sheltered underneath.

  ‘Don’t make a sound,’ whispered Simon as the flock passed overhead scanning the terrain below.

  Simon, Kerry and the two swiftails lay under the large rock, holding their breaths in anticipation. The eagles flew on, scanning the forest with their laser-sharp eyes. As the danger passed by, the fugitives relaxed. They had escaped the evil eye of the enemy once again.

  It was almost dark when the little group of travellers saw the dark blue sea glittering before them on the far horizon. On the coast lay the ruins of the deserted town of Coracle. The landscape in between was bare with a few rocky outcrops and parched bushes dotting the path that stretched before them to the town. They left the foothills, keeping a close watch out for eagles. As dusk deepened, the distant howling of jackals rose up around them. Staying under the cover of the few rocks and boulders they could find, they made for the deserted village of Coracle. But the cries of the jackals became louder and closer and they realised they were being followed by packs of wild dogs. The distance seemed vast and unending as they wearily trudged on.