‘Did you hear that?’ she said, peering out the window. Ahead she could see one of the two dragons tasked with pulling the coaches straining a little more than it had previously, its head bobbing in time with a much more powerful and more expansive wing beat. The crack of the air off the back of the dragons’ leathery wings was sharper and crisper.
Niamh opened up a small hatch at the front of the cabin and poked her head through. ‘What’s happening, Hector?’ she said to the burly figure in the driver’s seat.
McHavering hurriedly slipped a small hip flask into the inside pocket of his coat. ‘Niamh! Wasnae expecting t’see ye there.’
‘Obviously,’ said Niamh, smiling. ‘What were you drinking?’
‘Oh. Ah. Cocoa,’ said McHavering, unconvincingly. Niamh cocked her head to one side and smiled back. ‘Well. A wee drop o’ single malt really. It can get a little chilly up here even wi the protective charms so a wee drop of mountain dew helps tae ward off the chills a mite.’
‘Well don’t let Roland catch you. You know he doesn’t look kindly on whiskey around dragons.’
‘Ah well that would be because the last time he had a whiskey wi me in the stables he spilt some just as a Honduran Hellcat wi a cold let rip wi an uncontrolled nasal ignition. The whiskey ignited and the next thing ye knoo the skinny rake was running roond looking for a trough o water wi his pants on fire. He couldnae sit doon for a week!’
‘He didn’t really, did he?’ giggled Niamh.
‘Oh aye. The worst part was it burnt his pants clean off and the sight of that skinny little bottom running roond the stables wasnae something I’d wish on anyone. I still have nightmares aboot it!’
Niamh laughed and glanced ahead. Beyond them flew the other coaches in the convoy, surrounded by more castle guards on their deadly-looking black mounts than she had ever seen before.
‘What’s happening with the dragons?’ said Niamh. ‘They look like they are having to work a lot harder now.’
McHavering’s eyes widened in surprise. ‘Y’have a good set o ears to notice that,’ he said. ‘We have tae gain a wee bit more height t’get over the moontains.’
‘Moontains?’ said Niamh quizzically. ‘Oh. Mountains.’
‘Aye. That’s what I said. See that passage over there?’
Niamh squinted in the direction McHavering was pointing. ‘You mean the gap between those peaks there?’
‘Aye. Well that’s where we’re heading. That pass is the lowest place to cut through between the Alps. We could have forced the beasties in a straight line over the top but however strong they may be there’s nae point wearing them oot.’
Niamh could see the dragons were still straining to gain height and despite only having her head outside for a few moments she could tell it was getting colder. Even now, well into summer, the peaks of the mountains were layered in snow. Hanging glaciers cast blue highlights down the side of the steeper slopes and sheer sided cliffs were still buttressed with ramps of bright clean ice.
‘Close it up, Niamh!’ yelled Tulliah from inside the coach. ‘It’s getting cold in here.’
‘Okay,’ she yelled back. ‘Thanks Hector. Stay warm.’
‘Aye. You too,’ he said, pulling his jacket a little more tightly closed and swinging a bright green scarf around his neck.
Niamh climbed back inside and closed up the hatch. ‘We’re climbing through the mountains so the dragons are having to work a little harder. That’s all.’
‘I could have told you that,’ said Hugh.
‘Well why didn’t you?’ said Niamh, looking disgruntled.
‘You seemed to be having such fun,’ said Hugh, without bothering to even look up from his game.
‘Owww!’ Grady yelled, dropping his wand to the floor as he slapped his hands over his ears.
‘What’s wro…’ Niamh started to say before she too cried out in pain, covering her ears.
‘What’s wrong!’ said Bree urgently.
‘Niamh looked up with a pained face. ‘Can’t you hear it?’
‘Hear what?’ said Bree.
‘That noise!’ said Grady. ‘It’s like something being ripped in two, like fingernails on a blackboard.’
‘Grady!’ squealed Niamh, pointing out the window. ‘Look at the sky!’
Grady lifted his head to where Niamh was pointing. ‘What’s happening?’ he said with fear in his eyes.
The others exchanged puzzled looks. ‘What can you see? There’s nothing out there,’ said Quinn, looking completely confused.
Niamh dragged her gaze away from the window. ‘You can’t see those ripples in the sky?’
The others shook their heads. ‘It’s just clouds, Niamh,’ said Bree.
‘It’s not just clouds,’ said Grady. ‘It looks like the sky has cracks all over it.’
‘Grady!’ said Niamh pointing. ‘Look! It’s coming from back there!’
Grady peered out the window. In the distance he could see a black speck growing larger and larger. The rippling seemed to emanate from whatever was chasing them. The speck appeared to close on them impossibly fast, growing larger in leaps and bounds until it resolved itself into another black-clad rider that pulled up beside them.
‘It’s stopped,’ said Niamh, dropping her hands from her ears.
Grady wiped a sheen of sweat from his brow. ‘It’s something to do with that rider.’
The dragon rider flipped up his visor and smiled at the children, giving them a cheery wave.
‘It’s Uncle Garrett!’ said Grady. ‘What’s he been doing?’
Garrett pulled out his iWand and immediately the children’s own devices began to buzz urgently. Grady picked his up from the floor as Niamh flipped hers open. Their uncle’s face appeared clearly at the tip of both.
‘Howdy!’ he said. ‘Sorry I took so long. Had a few more things to do than I thought. Bored yet?’
‘What was that noise?’ said Niamh testily. ‘I thought my ears were going to fall off, it hurt so much!’
‘Yeah,’ said Grady. ‘And what were you doing to the sky?’ That was spooky. Don’t ever do that again.’
Their uncle stared back, confused. ‘What noise?’ he said. ‘And I didn’t do anything to the sky. I time-folded my way back to you. It was the only way to catch you.’
‘Well you must have been doing something wrong. That was horrible.’
‘Are you saying, Niamh,’ said Garrett slowly and deliberately, that you could … hear me time-folding?’
‘And see you,’ said Grady.
‘But that … that’s impossible,’ said Garrett, shaking his head. ‘No one as young as you should be able to see those spells. Hardly anyone my age can see them!’
‘Is it dangerous?’ asked Grady. ‘To be able to see the spells?’
‘I can’t say,’ said Garrett. ‘But now you’ve been … affected by the spells you should be okay. Probably. I think. If you’ve been through the spell barrier once then it shouldn’t affect you again. Though with you two I don’t know what might happen. You’re not exactly normal.’
‘Gee, thanks,’ said Niamh with mock indignation.
‘I need to talk to your parents. And Brighid. Settle back and eat something. Any second now you’re going to feel enormously dizzy and sick. Don’t worry though. You won’t throw up. Probably. But get some food into you and you’ll feel much better.’
‘Too late!’ said Grady turning green. He pulled down a window, stuck his head out, and threw up into the open air.
‘Cool!’ said Hugh, looking out over Grady’s shoulder. ‘Like multi-coloured rain!’
‘Oops,’ said Garrett. ‘Oh well. I recommend hot chocolate. It’ll take away the taste better than anything else and I especially recommend the marshmallows that come with it. See you later!’ He snapped his iWand closed. Giving the children another wave he urged his mount on and caught up to a coach ahead. His dragon swung close in behind it before landing lightly on a railing at the back. It balanced easily on the swaying c
oach but still looked to be in a perilous position. Garrett slid from the beast’s back, hung onto a side railing and eased himself down to the running board of the coach before pulling open the door and climbing inside.
Grady wiped his mouth as he sat down. ‘Uurggh. That was horrible.’
‘For you maybe,’ said Hugh. ‘But cool to watch! Your uncle definitely had the right idea though. Hot chocolate for all I think!’
‘They didn’t!’ said Grace in disbelief.
‘They certainly did,’ said Garrett, removing his gloves in the coach. ‘Their description of what they saw, and the stomach-emptying reaction of Grady sealed it. They will able to time-fold now.’
‘I told you they would be strong,’ said Murdock.
‘You never mentioned anything about being able to time-fold though,’ said Merritt. ‘It’s unheard of for children that age to break that spell barrier. It’s … it’s …’
‘Unexpected is the word you’re looking for,’ said the voice of Brighid, though there was no sign of the phoenix anywhere.
‘You could show yourself rather than listening in on conversations,’ said Merritt grumpily. ‘In some circles that’s considered rude.’
‘Ah. But you know me well enough to forgive my little moments of fun,’ said Brighid. Her fiery face slowly materialised in the middle of the coach, though there was no sign of her body.
‘Do you mind?’ said Garrett. ‘It’s disconcerting staring through your head at my sister-in-law.’
‘Of course,’ said the disembodied head, bowing to Merritt and drifting to one side.
‘Do we tell them what it means?’ asked Grace.
‘They will work it out for themselves soon enough,’ said Brighid. ‘They may have to. I fear they are fast moving beyond our ability to anticipate how their powers may develop.’
‘Did they manage to get the book into their luggage?’ said Garrett, wiping his face down.
‘They did,’ said Grace. ‘Though I did have to call the servants from their rooms on the flimsiest of excuses. Grady has it in his trunk. I wish we knew what was in it.’
‘The book was not written to be read by sorcerers,’ said Brighid. ‘We know little about it other than the text is linked to Azrael’s Twins. And now the Twins are destroyed there are only two people in this kingdom who will be able to make sense of the book.’
‘Why don’t we just tell them we know they have it and that they need to work out its secrets?’ said Garrett.
Brighid turned an intense gaze on Garrett. ‘If we force these children into anything, anything at all, they will push back. They need to find their own way through this maze. And believe me when I say that trusting them to do that will be harder than you imagine. They have to find their own way.’
‘Morrigan’s Lake will be another step on the path. They will be fine,’ said Grace calmly, though her fidgeting and the twisting and turning of fingers gave lie to the serenity in her voice.
‘Will you be fine?’ said Merritt.
‘I’ll do what needs to be done,’ said Grace sharply. ‘We all will.’
‘Now that’s what I call a good hot chocolate,’ said Grady, using his finger to scrape the last remnants of chocolate froth from the side of the cup.
Niamh, Bree and Tulliah sat across from Grady watching his investigations of the depths of the cup with disgust. ‘There’s nothing left in there Grady. Give it up! It’s foul to have to watch.’
‘Then don’t watch,’ said Grady, shrugging before giving the rim of the cup one last lick. He put it down on the table and went to rub his hands on his top. A clear but soft tone sounded through the cabin and a voice cut through the air from the small disc in the wall behind them.
‘Don’t even think about wiping your hands on that sweatshirt of yours, Grady.’ His mother’s voice was no nonsense and he wondered – again – how his mother knew what he was thinking.
‘Sorry Mum.’
‘And that top better be clean when we get to the other end or you can wash it yourself.’
Grady rolled his eyes while everyone else chuckled.
‘And don’t go rolling your eyes at me,’ Grace’s disembodied voice said.
‘But ...’ Grady started to say.
‘I know you better than you think, Grady O’Connell. As for the rest of you – keep your eyes open. We’re nearly in the mountains so that means dragons. First one to see a glory gets extra ice cream for dessert tonight.’ The soft tone chimed again leaving the children to themselves.
‘A glory of dragons,’ said Niamh. ‘It sounds beautiful. Have you ever seen one?’ she said, turning to Bree and Tulliah.
‘Once or twice,’ said Bree. ‘But I’ve never really thought much about it. I’ve grown up with dragons so it’s … normal for me.’
‘What? You mean normal in the way of magical creatures swarming in hunting groups through the mountains?’ said Quinn with a hint of sarcasm running through his voice.
‘Yes, exactly that sort of normal,’ said Tulliah defiantly.
Niamh looked at her and smiled. That was one girl who was going to be not merely difficult but Difficult with everything the capital letter entailed. She never seemed to back down.
Outside the windows the slopes of the mountains reared up alongside them. An azure river below wound through braided banks of gravel and rocks. It tumbled over rocks in some places and lay quietly in deep pools of stillness in others. The steep and harsh mountain sides were stripped bare of trees with only the hardiest grasses and stunted shrubs remaining. A thin ribbon of road clung precariously to the edges of the banks above the river.
The sound of the dragons’ beating wings ceased and the coach began to circle upwards in great sweeping arcs. ‘What’s happening?’ said Niamh, gripping the sides of her chair.
‘They found a thermal,’ said Quinn. ‘Take a look,’ he said, pointing out the window.
The children peered curiously out the window. The convoy had begun a lazy dance through the skies as they climbed on an unseen current of warm air. The dragons occasionally sculled their wings taking the coaches higher and higher. In moments there were coaches above them and coaches below as the ballet played out through the pass. Dragons’ wings reflected fiery red and green highlights, reminding Niamh and Grady of the mountain parrots from their old home. It wasn’t long, however, before the pirouettes came to a close and the dragons resumed their flight between the peaks.
‘See?’ said Quinn. ‘We’ve gained a thousand feet in height and the dragons hardly had to do anything.’
‘That’s seriously cool,’ said Grady. He stared out the window at the snow line which was now parallel to where they flew. ‘Why are those rocks moving?’ he said, pointing to a patch of oddly coloured rocks.
‘They aren’t rocks,’ said Hugh. ‘They’re trolls. Mountain trolls.’
‘But … but they can’t be,’ said Grady. ‘They’re moving too fast. They look like they’re leaping over the ground. None of the trolls we’ve met in town can do that.’
‘Those trolls in town are a long way from home,’ said Quinn. ‘The closer they are to the mountains the more energy they have. The trolls are linked to the rock they were formed from. These trolls are a lot smarter and a lot more dangerous than any you’ve met before.’
Grady gazed in awe at the scene below. The trolls moved swiftly and when they stopped they became indistinguishable from the detritus on the slopes. It was the most perfect camouflage he had ever seen.
‘Niamh!’ Tulliah yelled from the other side of the coach. ‘Look! Dragons!’
Niamh and Grady both bolted for the window just as McHavering popped open the hatch. ‘There’s a glory in flight! Wait till ye see them dancing aboot.’
The dragons were all shapes and sizes but moved as if they were one creature with a single mind. They swirled one way and then another across the sky, darting down here, and back up again there. Every time they changed direction the sun glinted off the scales of the creatures, making th
e whole swarm sparkle and glitter. Sometimes the flashes of light were so brilliant the children found themselves shielding their eyes, but the sight had everyone in the cabin transfixed. It was obvious to Niamh and Grady that the only word you could use to describe the sight was, simply, Glorious.
‘I’ve never seen anything like it!’ Niamh said eventually. ‘I never imagined dragons could be so beautiful!’
The dragons began to form a cone-like spiral, wide at first but gradually circling inwards tighter and tighter. A haze appeared in the middle of the cone. As the children watched it thickened and took on a golden glow.
A group of dragons closest to the top of the cone broke away, darted rapidly upwards and then plunged down through the middle of the tightly packed glory. The remaining dragons followed swiftly as the swarm appeared to consume itself. The golden glow winked out of existence as the last few dragons completed their dive through the middle of the haze and belched out a stream of flame as if in delight at their own acrobatics.
Niamh ran to the hatch and stuck her head out to McHavering again. ‘What was that about?’ she said.
‘The beasties were feeding,’ said McHavering with a smile. ‘They can detect magical whirlpools and whip roond and roond tae concentrate the stuff. That was the glow ye could see. Then they whiz up and doon through it eating up the magic as they go. Keep watching. They won’t be finished yet!’
Niamh ducked back into the cabin and stared out at the glory. The dragons were possibly the most beautiful things she had ever seen in the sky. One look at Grady let her know he felt the same.
‘Are you alright?’ Hugh said to Grady.
Grady looked at him, confused. ‘Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?’
‘I’ve never seen you go that long without making a comment. I thought you might still be feeling ill.’
Grady shoved Hugh in the arm. ‘Gee, thanks,’ he said playfully. ‘It’s stunning. I wish Iris was here to see it.’
A voice sounded inside Grady’s head. ‘I can see it.’
Grady started at the unexpected comment. ‘Where are you?’ he thought in response.
Azrael's Twins and the Circle of Stone: Book Two of the Nearworld Tales Page 6
