Sebastian Darke: Prince of Explorers

by Philip Caveney

  'That's all you think about,' sneered Cal. 'All I've heard on this trip is you moaning. I don't know how those two put up with it.'

  'We do because we have to,' snapped Cornelius. 'And watch what you're saying about our friend.'

  'Yes,' said Max, 'you're too lippy altogether.'

  The argument was interrupted by Salah, who suddenly jumped into their midst and started making frantic gestures.

  'What's she saying?' muttered Cornelius.

  'Probably telling Cal to pipe down,' said Max. 'Probably sick of the sound of his voice, like the rest of us.'

  'Sick of my voice?' roared Cal. 'Oh, that's a good one!'

  But now Salah was leaping about, trying to get their attention, and Sebastian saw that she was pointing along the street.

  'What's wrong, Salah?' he asked. 'What have you seen?'

  Salah pointed again, her eyes imploring him to look. He gazed in the direction she was indicating and drew in a sharp breath.

  'Wait,' he said. 'Look. Look there!'

  Now everybody turned to see.

  A long way off, a light was burning in a window at the top of one of the tallest buildings.

  'Shadlog's teeth!' said Cornelius. 'There must be somebody living here after all. That's an oil lamp or something.' He looked around at the others. 'We must go and investigate.'

  'Yes,' said Sebastian. 'We should—'

  He broke off in surprise. Something had just scuttled past behind him. He caught a glimpse of a ragged flapping cloak.

  'What's wrong?' asked Cornelius.

  'I'm not sure. There was something—'

  He broke off again as another shape flew across a narrow opening to his right. This time Sebastian thought he saw a pale, staring face.

  'What in Okrin's name was that?' muttered Galt.

  'I don't know,' said Sebastian. 'But whatever it was, it was no rusa.' He glanced around at the others. 'I think we should make our way towards the light,' he said. 'Right now.'

  Nobody disagreed with him.

  They set off along the street, pulling out their swords as they went, looking to left and right.

  Now Sebastian became aware of a strange sound – a sort of high-pitched giggle that might have been made by a child, except that there was no joy in this sound: it was cold and empty enough to chill the blood in his veins.

  Something flapped overhead as one of the cloaked things jumped from roof to roof above them.

  'What are they?' whispered Keera fearfully. 'They look like men.'

  'Not like any men I've ever seen,' said Cornelius coolly. 'And whatever they are, I don't think they're here to offer us the keys to the city. Come on, let's pick up the pace a bit.'

  Everybody did as he suggested. The light burned enticingly in that high, high window, but it was a long way off.

  As they passed a narrow alleyway, something came towards them out of the darkness; something with a deathly white face and long claw-like fingers. Galt turned to meet the attack and swung his sword at the creature. There was a hideous shriek that seemed to fill the air around them. The thing leaped impossibly high and disappeared into the shadows again. Galt looked at his blade and showed it to Sebastian. It was slick with greenish-black liquid.

  'What creature has blood that colour?' gasped Galt; Sebastian had no answer to give him.

  Now the weird high-pitched sounds were coming from all around them. Sebastian glanced up and saw a couple of the creatures clinging to the sheer wall above him, their eyes shining in the dark. Quite suddenly one of them came hurtling down at him. He swept his sword blade above his head in a deadly arc and felt metal cleave through flesh and

  bone. The creature flopped down, hitting the ground just behind him. He had expected it to lie still, but it rose up again, howling and gibbering, before disappearing back into the shadows.

  'I don't like this!' protested Max. 'Those things don't want to die.'

  Sebastian had to agree. A blow like the one he had just delivered should have killed anything that moved, but the creature had seemed merely angered by the blow. He looked ahead. The light was much closer now, and he began to think they might have a chance; but then one of the beasts swooped low over their heads, flung down an arm and grabbed Salah by the collar of her tunic, wrenching her away from Keera's side. It alighted in front of them and prepared to bound off with Salah still firmly in its grasp; but then Keera's arm lifted and fell and something bright and metallic flashed through the air. A dagger thudded into the creature's back. It gave a high-pitched squeal and rose up, leaving Salah slumped on the ground. Keera ran to her, yanked her to her feet and they ran on.

  But there were more of the things now, emerging on either side as they approached the tall building. One spindly, gibbering creature came for Max and met a pair of mighty horns that hoisted it back into the air. Sebastian realized that the light was now their only hope. If it proved to be a false one, then they would be overrun in moments.

  Looking up, he saw the light burning in a barred window high above. He ran up to a huge metal door and started hammering on it with the hilt of his sword while the others turned at bay, swords drawn as a semicircle of shrieking nightmares closed in on them.

  'Hurry, Sebastian, we can't hold out for long!' cried Cornelius. 'There's too— Ugh!' He swung his sword, and an echoing scream told Sebastian that his blade had found its target. He continued to hammer on the door, the noise of metal upon metal ringing out into the night. Finally, after what seemed like an age, a small panel slid aside and a pair of blue eyes stared out at him.

  'Who goes there?' cried a voice.

  'Travellers,' yelled Sebastian. 'We're under attack – please help us!'

  The panel slid shut and then he heard the rasp of bolts being withdrawn, one after the other. He turned back to see a hideous white vision closing in on him; he had a nightmarish image of a long cadaverous face, the skin white as parchment, two lidless yellow eyes and an open mouth, the jaw hanging down at an impossible angle.

  The thing screamed at him and a blast of foul breath gusted into his face with a hideous stench of decay. Sebastian drove the point of his sword forward, felt it pierce skin, and the thing retreated, only to be replaced by another, equally hideous visage and a pair of groping hands that clawed at his face.

  Beside him, Galt was hacking and stabbing with his sword; then Sebastian heard the metal doors creaking open behind him and a voice cried, 'Inside, now!'

  Sebastian pushed Keera and Salah towards the opening and saw that human arms were pulling them into the light. Now Cal and Max were retreating inside, followed by Cornelius. Only Sebastian and Galt were holding back the waves of shrieking, leaping creatures. Sebastian began to edge back; he shouted to Galt to come with him, but the warrior seemed oblivious to everything but the brutes attacking him.

  He was swinging the sword like a madman and his face and shoulders were spattered with their dark blood. Sebastian started to move forward to help him, but he was pulled back inside the building. He could see that the things were all around Galt now; as he watched, horrified, one flung its arms around the warrior's shoulder and sank its teeth into his neck. Galt tried to raise his sword, but the things were swarming over him, pinning his arms to his sides. Sebastian saw that the door was closing – it was closing, and Galt was still outside.

  'No!' he roared and tried to force his way out, but hands held him fast. He heard the door crash shut with a great clang and the huge bolts rasp across. Sebastian could see that there were scores of them on the door – presumably to keep those things out. He could still hear Galt's roars of pain and anger, mingling with the strange giggling sounds of the creatures; and then it was suddenly ominously quiet and Sebastian sank to the floor, dropped his bloody sword and buried his face in his hands.

  There was a long silence. Finally he lifted his head and looked up at his rescuers. A shock went through him when he saw that they were children.

  CHAPTER 18

  SANCTUARY

  There w
ere six of them in all – four boys and two girls, their ages ranging from perhaps seven to fifteen summers. They were dressed in ragged, homespun clothes and were all armed. They stood looking down at Sebastian, their faces grim. Around them, those they had rescued were crouched, scared and exhausted but glad to be alive.

  Sebastian pointed at the bolted door. 'We have to go out there again,' he said. 'Our friend – Galt – he's still out there. We can't leave him.'

  The children turned to what must have been the oldest boy, a tall thin lad with a thick shock of curly black hair. He shook his head.

  'There's no point,' he said. 'Your friend was bitten. He will turn.'

  Everyone stared at the boy.

  'Turn? ' cried Cal. 'What do you mean?'

  'I mean he will become one of the Night Runners – the things that were attacking you.'

  'Don't be ridiculous!' snarled Cal. 'That's Galt out there, one of the finest warriors of the Jilith tribe. We can't just leave him. Now let us out before it's too late!'

  'It's already too late,' the boy assured him.

  'Nonsense!' Cal got to his feet and started to draw one of the bolts. Instantly every child raised a spear and levelled it at him. Their eyes showed only the cold, merciless stare of killers.

  'I'm sorry,' said the boy, 'but if you even touch one of those bolts, we will kill you. This I promise.'

  Cal stared at him angrily for a moment, and then, realizing that he was deadly serious, reluctantly lowered his hand.

  'Now,' the boy went on, 'I must ask you all to examine yourselves carefully. Did any of you receive a bite?'

  Everyone checked themselves as best they could. Sebastian found that though he was covered with blood, none of it was red. He ran his gaze over Max's flanks and haunches, knowing that the buffalope could not easily examine himself, but thankfully he found no trace of crimson amidst the shaggy ginger fur. As he did so, he was aware that the children were watching intently, their weapons held at the ready. However, it seemed that everybody had come through the ordeal unharmed. The boy seemed to relax a little and lowered his spear. The other children followed suit. For the first time, some of them allowed themselves a smile.

  'Well, that's a relief,' said the dark-haired boy. 'It would have been terrible to have got you inside, only to be obliged to kill you.'

  Cornelius gazed up at him. 'You'd have been prepared to do that?'

  'If you were bitten, yes. Forgive me – it must seem harsh to you, but we have lived all our lives with the Night Runners and we know that the tiniest bite will turn a man into one of those things . . . and once inside here, it would mean the end for all of us.' He turned to look at Cal. 'Your friend out there was doomed from the first moment he was bitten. We have seen it a hundred times.'

  Cal shook his head. 'This is easily said,' he growled, 'but you would feel differently if it was one of your friends.'

  The boy shook his head. 'No, I would not,' he assured Cal. 'We all of us know that is the first rule of survival in this place. Aaron has taught us this. Never let your feelings get in the way of staying alive.'

  'Aaron? Who's Aaron?' asked Keera.

  'You will meet him in good time,' said the boy, 'and he will explain everything. But now you must be hungry. Come, we will find you food and drink.' He seemed to remember something. 'I am Phelan,' he said. 'I am the leader here. I answer only to Aaron.'

  Max was astonished by this information. 'Aren't there any grown-ups?' he asked.

  The children stared at him in astonishment, and some of the younger ones smothered giggles with their hands. Clearly they had not seen a talking buffalope before.

  'How did you do this trick?' asked Phelan, grinning delightedly. 'Can one of you throw your voice?'

  'The very idea!' said Max. 'I don't need any help to talk, thank you very much. I've been doing it since I was a calf. And I don't think it's very polite to be laughing when we have just lost a friend.'

  'Of course,' said Phelan, twisting his lips into a grimace. 'You must forgive us. I'm sure our ways will seem very cold to you. But you will understand when you know more about us. So come, let us find you some refreshment.'

  'Just a moment!' roared Cal angrily. 'How can you talk of food at a time like this? Are you forgetting about Galt?'

  Phelan stepped forward and placed a hand on Cal's shoulder. 'It is pointless to think about him now,' he said. 'He is lost to you. But believe me, you will see him again before very much longer. And you will wish you hadn't. Now, come – you have had a poor welcome to our home. Food and drink will at least help to lift your spirits.' He indicated a flight of steep stone steps leading to a landing, then switching back on itself before continuing up. 'It's a long way up to our quarters,' he told them. 'But it's worth the climb.' He glanced at Max. 'Think you'll be able to get up there?' he asked.

  'I'll do my best,' Max sighed.

  'Very well.' Phelan instructed two of the older boys to guard the door and then led the way up. Max went after him, his hooves slipping and sliding on the smooth stone steps. After some hesitation, the others followed. Sebastian looked at Cal and saw that he was staring helplessly at the bolted door, as though still considering going out there. He placed a hand on Cal's shoulder.

  'I'm sorry,' he said. 'Galt was—'

  But Cal shrugged the hand away. 'Save your breath, elfling!' he snarled. 'Whatever points you earned back at the river just got wiped out. Galt was my closest friend. We grew up together. Now, because of this trip, he's gone. When this is all over, you and your midgling sidekick will have my sword to answer to. You might have put Keera under your spell, but I know you for what you are.'

  'And what's that, exactly?' asked Sebastian.

  'Trouble,' said Cal. And he turned away and marched up the stairs.

  Sebastian shook his head; it was pointless now to hope that he and Cal could ever be friends. Galt's death meant there was a void between them that could never be bridged.

  With a sigh, he followed the others up the stairs.

  Phelan had not been exaggerating. They had to make their way up fifteen flights of stairs before he led them along a landing to a large room; and Sebastian noticed that yet another flight continued upwards. Max was quite exhausted by this stage and complained loudly to anyone who would listen to him.

  There were more ragged children in the room. Sebastian counted twelve in all, again ranging from just a few years to around Phelan's age. They all seemed intensely interested in these newcomers, and when they heard Max talking, they flocked around him, prodding and slapping, trying to elicit a response.

  'Do you mind?' he protested. 'Get off! Ow! Stop that! Now, which one of you is in charge of the food?'

  One end of the room was dominated by a huge stone fireplace in which a log fire blazed merrily. Phelan indicated a series of tattered couches and chairs around it and invited the guests to sit down. He instructed a couple of children to fill some clay bowls from a huge cauldron of stew that was bubbling over the fire; somebody else filled cups with water from large skins hanging in a corner. Phelan took a seat beside them and watched as they ate. Cal was staring moodily into the fire, spooning stew into his mouth and clearly uninterested in talking, so Phelan addressed his questions to the others.

  'Have you travelled far?' he asked them.

  'Some of us have come from Ramalat up on the east coast,' said Sebastian, talking through a mouthful of what tasted like rusa stew. 'These three are Jilith from a village in the jungles of Mendip.'

  Phelan nodded but didn't seem to recognize any of the names. 'You must forgive me,' he said. 'We have never known anywhere but here. I have no idea if these places you speak of are near or far.'