The Ark of Dun Ruah, Book 1

by Maria Burke

  ‘Run, Niamh,’ she cried.

  The jackals chased the girls up the mountain path. Kerry felt a sharp pain in her ankle. It felt like it was going to give way under her weight and she was forced to limp. She saw that she was losing ground behind Niamh.

  ‘I can’t make it much further,’ she called. ‘I hurt my ankle back in the Abbey and it’s started acting up again.’

  To her relief, Grinwick and the swiftails appeared on the path before them. The eagle swooped at the wild dogs with a shrill, piercing cry and they retreated into the shadows. Then he returned to Kerry and Niamh.

  ‘We’ve spoken with Queen Kiki’s guards,’ said Grinwick. ‘She has agreed to talk to you. There is not much further to go to the eagles’ base. I’ll go ahead of you. Just keep moving.’

  Grinwick flew off and Kerry tried to run on her ankle again. It had been weak ever since she fell against the tapestry wall in the Abbey, the day she arrived on the island.

  To her horror the ankle gave way again on the difficult mountain terrain. She lost her footing and tumbled down the rough incline, straight into the path of the jackals. Scrambling back up the path, she came face to face with a hungry wild dog.

  The dog bared his long fangs and growled.

  ‘Get away from me, you beast!’ she yelled.

  The animal crept closer, his eyes glittering and his tongue dripping with drool. Kerry stepped backwards but stumbled over a loose stone and tripped. She fell back onto the rocks. Aware that the jackal was ready to pounce, she picked up a fist full of gravel and flung it at him. He howled and then lunged at her.

  Kerry screamed.

  Suddenly, with a mighty cry Grinwick appeared from over the incline with his huge claws outstretched. He descended and caught the wild dog up in a vice-like grip. Then he lifted him up high in the air. The dangling creature howled for mercy. Grinwick flew out over a precipice and dropped the jackal. With a shrill cry it landed on a ledge below and scurried away to safety. Quickly, Grinwick returned to where Kerry stood ready to swoop on another pack member. But they had already fled down the mountain after their leader.

  That night Farradore returned to Coracle to tell Browdan the latest news gathered by his scouts. He informed him that the Abbey had once again been deserted by Red Beak.

  ‘The birds on watch there noticed that it was suspiciously quiet throughout the afternoon’, said Farradore, ‘so I led a flock of volunteers into the Abbey with me to check it out. We forced back the eagles that guarded the Abbey door and when we entered it we found that almost all eagles had vacated the building. Only a few remained to hold the fort.’

  ‘Did they tell you where Red Beak had gone?’

  ‘No. We got no information out of them. So we made a thorough search of the Abbey and found no clues as to where they had flown. Then I sent some scouts to check Cooley House, thinking that Red Beak had moved his camp back there. But the Eagle King and his army weren’t there either. And the scouts couldn’t find any trace of them.’

  Browdan looked worried.

  ‘I’m sure the eagles are devising some clever scheme of destruction for us. Have you any clue where they have vanished to?’

  ‘They have abandoned all their usual haunts. It’s a mystery.’

  ‘Then they must have gone underground somewhere beneath the Abbey. I don’t think they’ll make it far through the subterranean network. Eagles only go into the caves when they’re desperate. I expect they’ll emerge with a surprise attack sooner or later. We must keep working on building up the town’s defences and be ready to attack them when they surface.’

  Grinwick and the swiftails led Kerry and Niamh to the mouth of a great cave that opened as an archway into the mountain. The entrance was guarded by a flock of eagle hens in red plumes who had already been informed that they were arriving. They stood back to allow the visitors to pass through. Grinwick led them into a vaulted arcade, lit at intervals by lanterns on the floor. A series of high arched caves ran deep into the mountain and the visitors continued until they reached the entrance to an inner cavern. It had a deep red curtain draped across it.

  Two tall eagle hens stood guarding the mouth of the cavern. They were also dressed in bright red plumes. One of them asked Grinwick for their names. Then she entered the inner chamber to announce the visitor’s arrival.

  A flock of eagle guards emerged from behind the curtain to escort Niamh, Kerry, Grinwick and the swiftails inside.

  Kerry gasped when she saw the sparkling crystal chamber that glittered before her. Like a thousand chandeliers, the crystals shimmered in candlelight. The cave floor was studded with pyramids of gleaming amethysts and lit with flickering candles.

  Queen Kiki rose from her perch in the centre of the chamber where she was surrounded by a nest of adoring hens. Wearing a gown of violet and white feathers her wings were studded with amethysts. The glittering, downy vision glided over to meet her visitors.

  ‘We’ve been expecting you,’ she said. ‘Grinwick and your swiftail friends told me that you were coming to talk with me. I am very eager to hear what you’re doing here and what you’ve got to say for yourselves.’

  ‘Queen Kiki,’ said Kerry, ‘we need your help.’

  ‘My help!’ cried the Queen. ‘What could I possibly do for you?’

  ‘Is our friend Pod here?’

  ‘The Blue Owl!’ said the Queen. ‘So that’s what this is about. The owl is my property. My husband bought him for me at great expense. We treated him very well and gave him the best of everything. What nerve you have coming to my home on Eyrie Island to steal him from us.’

  ‘Red Beak doesn’t own him. He abducted him on the Ark of Dun Ruah when we were travelling from our home in the town of Kilbeggin. Pod is a free bird. He was never for sale. Can’t you see Red Beak has lied to you about everything? He murdered the leader of this island and his wife and threw the people off their land and their homes.’

  ‘I don’t have to listen to any more of this nonsense. Is that all you came here to say?’

  ‘Your Majesty, I have put myself and my friends in great danger by coming here to talk to you. We are at your mercy. I wouldn’t have come here if I didn’t think you were a good queen. Surely you know what your husband is like.’

  ‘I do know what he is like. But you tricked me, Kerry, and made me look like a fool in front of my whole court with that laughing gas stunt. How can I trust you after that? This could be another one of your tricks.’

  ‘Search me, Queen Kiki. I’m not here to trick you. You know I’m telling you the truth.’

  Then Kerry turned to Niamh, took her by the hand and led her towards the Queen.

  ‘This is Niamh, the daughter of the old chief of the island, Coleman Cooley. She will tell you what destruction and murder Red Beak has carried out here. And look, here is Grinwick, a native Giant Eagle. Ask him about what Red Beak has done to terrorise the flocks of the island and bring them under his control.’

  Kiki looked at Niamh and Grinwick and then sighed. She turned her back to them and fluttered slowly back to her perch.

  ‘The Blue Owl isn’t here,’ she said after a long pause. ‘I went back to the Abbey to get him but Red Beak had already moved him somewhere else. I don’t know where he is. So I’m afraid I can’t help you. You came all this way for nothing.’

  Kerry looked at Niamh in desperation.

  Niamh walked over to Queen Kiki’s perch.

  ‘You can help us by joining the White Army,’ she pleaded. ‘You said you looked foolish after Kerry’s laughing gas incident. But remember what Red Beak did to her. He kidnapped her friend Pod and when she came here to search for him he imprisoned her in the dungeons. He then sent a guard to pluck Pod’s feathers. Think of how painful that would have been.’

  ‘But Red Beak told me that plucking the owl would be painless. He said he would inject him with a sedative. The owl was happy to do it until you came along.’

  ‘Pod wasn’t happy,’ said Kerry. ‘Red Beak forcefully
injected him with a feather-growing formula. And now he can’t even fly. He is weighed down with those feathers and the last time I saw him he could barely breathe. Then he risked his life for us in the forest as we tried to escape.’

  ‘And I have seen Red Beak inflict torture on countless eagles,’ added Grinwick. ‘He even built a prison tower complete with torture chambers especially for this work. You must have heard the screams, Queen Kiki.’

  ‘Well, he explained that to me by saying that his prisoners were fighting among themselves in the tower. Yes, I’ve always worried about Red Beak. And I know my husband is a liar. But I still love him. Is that so wrong?’

  ‘No, it’s not wrong to love someone,’ said Kerry. ‘Red Beak is very lucky to have someone like you to love him. And if he loves you he will listen to you. So come and help us find Pod and free the islanders. Help us persuade Red Beak to give them back their inheritance before he destroys it.’

  CHAPTER 25

  The Storm

  The next morning a huge squall came from the sea. Farradore’s forecasts for the weather proved to be correct. Dark clouds hung over the island. It was clear that a storm was brewing. As the day wore on, the weather worsened and the rain began to pour heavily. The villagers were forced indoors as the rains flooded the streets.

  Browdan was busy hatching out a new defence plan in the town hall with his team of leaders. Simon was given a large division of men and women to work on new weapons. As well as building up their supply of grenades and missiles, they created mortars to launch their artillery. The leaders liaised with the villagers on strengthening the town’s defences.

  At noon Grinwick flew through the main door of the town hall followed by the swiftails and a flock of eagles. Everyone dropped their work and gathered to hear what they had to say.

  ‘The chapel at the cliff top at the edge of the village is full of Red Beak’s battalions,’ announced Grinwick. ‘There are hundreds of eagles in there, maybe thousands. Queen Kiki sent us to tell you the news.’

  ‘But how did Red Beak’s forces get into the chapel without anyone seeing them?’ asked Cian. ‘Our scouts have been patrolling this whole region night and day.’

  ‘They must have used an underground passage,’ declared Browdan. ‘They’ve found the Pilgrim’s Way! That’s why Farradore couldn’t find them in the Abbey. Red Beak has managed to get into the ancient underground path from the Abbey to the chapel on the cliff. They followed the footsteps of Niamh and Coleman. I never expected this. I thought those passages were too narrow for eagles to pass through.’

  ‘You can never underestimate Red Beak’s powers,’ said Grinwick.

  ‘But you made it to the Lone Peak Mountains and spoke with Queen Kiki?’ said Browdan.

  ‘Yes, Kerry and Niamh are still with her. Red Beak sent a flock of his guards to visit the Queen this morning. They told her that he was in the chapel and that he was asking her to join forces with him there.’

  ‘And what does Queen Kiki plan to do now?’

  ‘Queen Kiki wants to help us. She has sent some of her hens to plead with Red Beak to call off his attack on the town and to meet with her. But she thinks she can only stall him for a short while.’

  ‘We’ve got to stop Red Beak’s army getting out of the chapel,’ said Cian. ‘If we don’t prevent them getting out they’ll wreak havoc in the town.’

  ‘Grinwick,’ said Browdan, ‘I need you to gather your scouts together and send them out to warn each household straight away. Tell everyone to barricade their homes and to get ready to defend themselves. No one is to go outside until I give further orders.’

  Grinwick sent the freebirds off to spread the news around the town. They distributed smoke missiles with instructions on how to use them to every home.

  ‘Board up your houses,’ they cried, ‘and light your fires. Red Beak is about to attack the town.’

  The villagers barricaded their windows and doors and lit fires in their grates. They launched smoke missiles high into the air and they exploded into thick clouds of noxious black smoke. Simon hoped the smoke would keep the eagles off their rooftops and away from the streets. Huddled indoors, the townsfolk listened and waited. An eerie emptiness pervaded the deserted streets, which a few hours previously had been full of activity. The only sound to be heard was the wind blowing and the rain lashing against the rooftops.

  With blood-curdling battle cries, eagle flocks burst from the chapel on the cliff and descended into the streets. They used rocks and metal bars to attack the roofs, doors and windows. They landed on walls and rooftops, digging into tiles and mortar with their beaks and talons, trying to break through. People used everything they could find to block them out. But even the thick black smoke didn’t keep them at bay.

  ‘Eagle Power, Eagle Power,’ they shrieked, instilling fear into the hearts of the villagers.

  Simon and his team of pyrotechnicians remained at their base in the town hall with Browdan and Cian building up their stores of ammunition. Soon they were joined by Grinwick, Farradore and the Tawny Owl who had been forced off the streets by the savage eagle raids.

  ‘The smoke missiles aren’t working,’ said Grinwick.

  ‘We’ve got to get out on the streets and attack the eagles before they destroy the town,’ said Simon.

  ‘Let’s target the chapel,’ said Browdan. ‘We must try and force our way in there. The only way we can beat Red Beak is to get into his camp and stop these raids on the town!’

  ‘But the chapel is impregnable,’ said Grinwick. ‘They’ve carried metal bars with them, all the way from the dungeons in the Abbey. And they’ve used them to block the windows and doors. There’s no way anyone can get in there.’

  ‘There’s got to be a weak point,’ replied Browdan. ‘How are they getting in and out?’

  ‘Through the bell tower,’ said Grinwick. ‘They’re using the windows under the roof of the tower to launch their raids.’

  ‘We could burn them out,’ said Browdan.

  ‘No,’ said Simon, ‘in this rain it would be too difficult to set the church on fire.’

  ‘Then the only way to hit Red Beak is to blow the entire chapel up,’ said Browdan. ‘We’ll bombard them.’

  ‘But what about Pod?’ said Simon. ‘Is he still with Queen Kiki?’

  ‘No,’ replied Grinwick. ‘She told us that Red Beak has him.’

  ‘Then he must be in the chapel,’ said Simon. ‘We can’t blow it up without killing them all and Pod as well. But we can attack it and lay siege to it. We could try using more smoke bombs to flush them out.’

  ‘Then we’ll target the windows in the bell tower,’ said Browdan.

  ‘My team has a large batch of smoke and fire missiles ready,’ said Simon. ‘I’ll select a suitable range of arms to fire at the windows in the tower. We’ll also bring mortars to launch the missiles. I’ll go now and get what we have prepared. Then we’ll follow you to the chapel.’

  Browdan waited for the eagles to finish their latest raid on the village. He gathered a large squadron of volunteers together. As chief of the White Army he led his troops to the little chapel, which was situated high above the town. It stood balanced at the edge of the cliff, battered by the howling wind and rain. The troops quickly surrounded the church and lay siege on Red Beak.

  Armed with Simon’s hand missiles they launched their attack on the chapel windows. Red Beak’s troops quickly reacted by blocking up the gaps in the windows with wood and metal from inside. They also reinforced the doors.

  The White Army continued to batter the chapel at short range while they waited for Simon’s division to arrive with the mortars. The eagles retaliated by dropping rocks and stones from the top of the bell tower, showering them with missiles from above. Browdan’s men used their helmets and shields to protect themselves. They held their ground until Simon’s squad arrived with six mortars. Then they prepared to attack.

  ‘Hurry,’ called Browdan, ‘we’ll be battered to death if we don’t
penetrate the bell tower fast. Launch your missiles directly at the top of the tower, Simon. And give it everything you’ve got.’

  The six mortars were trained on the top of the bell tower. Simon ordered his squad to fire. They battered it with the first round of missiles but the tower held strong and the eagles cheered with their victory cries.

  ‘Eagle Power, Eagle Power,’ they chanted.

  ‘Fire again,’ Browdan cried.

  Simon’s team loaded the mortars and fired again. Slates fell from the roof of the tower and cracks appeared high up on the walls but still the structure held strong.

  Once again Simon launched his missiles at the top of the tower. This time more of the roof tiles slid off and several eagles were hit. They fell screaming from the tower.

  ‘You can do it, Simon,’ cried Browdan. ‘Give it another round.’

  ‘Fire!’ cried Simon.

  Roof tiles flew and a huge gaping hole appeared in the roof but the tower stayed standing. The cries of eagles could be heard from inside as the dust and rubble flew.

  ‘Only one round left,’ cried Simon. ‘It’s our last shot. Here we go.’

  The mortars were loaded with the last round of missiles.

  ‘Fire,’ Simon roared. The missiles flew.

  With a mighty crack the entire roof of the bell tower blew off, rocking the building to its foundations. A rumbling began as the tower crumbled to the ground in a cloud of dust and rubble. Soon a gaping hole appeared where the tower joined the chapel.

  Hundreds of eagles flew out of the falling tower of rubble trying desperately to enter the chapel through the gaping hole.

  Browdan called on his forces to attack the base of the collapsed tower.

  ‘Force your way through into the chapel,’ he ordered.

  Clouds of dust and flocks of panicking eagles blocked their path into the chapel. Each time they tried to break through, a wall of eagle wings rose up to meet them, barring their way. The force of hundreds of flapping wings created a mighty wind. The White Army were blown backwards by its surprising force.