The Dragon's Game

by James Erith

  ‘Life is never straightforward, girl. What happens to one, affects another: every action creates a reaction. One person's loss is another's gain. It is the same with power. It is the same with worlds and universes.’

  Sue stretched and breathed deeply, trying to wrap her head around all the information Cain had given her.

  ‘The people and the species of Havilah are,’ the ghost continued, ‘in every way superior to those on Earth. If you’re worrying about Earth, re-population is necessary on every planet every once in a while. It happened here once. It is life, my dear. It is simply the way of the universe. Earth will, in the long run, be a great deal better for it.’

  52 PITCHED INTO DARKNESS

  Isabella took Daisy by the arm and guided her towards the steps. Following them, a little way behind, Archie limped on, supported by Old Man Wood.

  All of a sudden Old Man Wood and Archie were pitched into blackness. They stopped, grappling at the dark.

  ‘What’s going on?’ Archie whispered.

  ‘I don’t know,’ Old Man Wood replied. ‘Appalling smell.’

  Archie’s mace-like hair turned steely as a disturbing thought shot through him. ‘It’s the blood of the beast,’ he said, gagging on the stench. He reached out. 'It's moving in on us,' he said, touching the cold scales. ‘We’re enclosed!’

  Stretching their arms out, Old Man Wood and Archie found alternating layers of coils moving in opposing directions, sliding inwards towards them.

  Soon they were pushing against them with all their might, their legs on one side of the tightening coils, their hands on the other.

  ‘Branchwand - please push,’ Old Man Wood whispered closing his eyes, but the contraction still continued, if fractionally slower.

  ‘We’re going to get crushed,’ Archie spluttered, struggling for air. He strained against the coils, hammering them with his head, denting them, using every ounce of his strength, everything he could think of.

  For a brief moment, he tempered the movement but holding the relentless sideways-sliding walls proved impossible.

  ‘Daisy!’ Archie yelled as loudly as he could. ‘Daisy! HELP US! HELP…!’

  His body and moreover his sharp hair spikes pushed into Old Man Wood.

  ‘Archie,’ the old man gasped. ‘Move your head.’

  ‘I can’t … it’s jammed.’

  Old Man Wood groaned as Archie’s head spikes began to cut into him.

  Archie screamed again, but his sounds were muffled by the snake’s vast bulk. Slowly but surely, the snake’s barrel-sized coils began to squeeze the life out of them.

  53 SUE HEARS THE ALTERNATIVE

  Sue shook her head. ‘But I don’t understand what kind of universe would choose the de Lowes to take the test—’

  ‘My thoughts exactly,’ agreed the ghost, ‘especially after such a long time and when their mentor has forgotten the lot of it.’

  ‘You’re saying Old Man Wood is supposed to be their mentor. He’s part of this?’

  Cain chuckled. ‘You did not know? You didn’t even suspect his involvement?’

  ‘No. I just thought he was a bit of an old oddball, that’s all, looking after his cattle and his apple trees.’

  ‘That old man has been wandering the Earth for thousands and thousands of years. Are you telling me no one noticed? Between you and me, it is a miracle your friends have gone as far as they have with his useless guidance. That old man has forgotten everything, and he should not be trusted. Not by them, not by you, not by anyone—’

  ‘But he’s a lovely, gentle old chap…’

  ‘It’s a simple trick to be forgetful and gentle, girl when you have time on your side. But that’s isn’t the half of it; there is much more than meets the eye where he’s concerned.’

  Sue looked flabbergasted. ‘So you know him? How come?’

  ‘This man,’ he spat, ‘who you daintily call Old Man Wood, is my father. He controlled the Garden. He controlled the processes of creation.’

  Sue took a sharp intake of breath. ‘You’re bloody kidding me!’

  ‘I’m afraid not. Why would I lie?’

  Sue scratched the ground with her hand, thinking. ‘You’re saying, in a funny, roundabout way, that Old Man Wood is God?’

  ‘Only if you believe in such a thing,’ Cain replied, suppressing a laugh.

  Sue didn’t know what to think. Her heartbeat raced. ‘You fought your very own father in a battle between creation and evolution?’

  Silence set in as she rubbed the dust off another glassy puddle and peered in.

  The ghost noticed her discomfort and changed the subject. ‘If your friends were to unlock the key to the Garden, there is only one other way for the people of Havilah to awaken…’

  Sue, too, was pleased to leave the topic. ‘If there’s another way,’ she said, sitting up. ‘Surely, it’s got to be worth letting them win and trying it.’

  ‘To release the humankind here, in these patches on the floor,’ Cain said, dryly. ‘Either the Heirs of Eden will fail or…’

  Cain’s voice indicated he was moving away.

  ‘Or what?’

  ‘Or there is a birth here, in Havilah, of a human child…’

  Sue’s forehead crinkled. ‘I’m not sure I follow – a human child? But everyone here is frozen. I don’t understand,’ she said.

  But when no answer returned and as his words sunk in, Sue began to grasp the full meaning of his words.

  54 AN IMPASSE

  ‘Did you hear that?’ Daisy said, as they climbed the stairs.

  Isabella looked at her curiously. ‘No, I didn’t hear anything. You’re probably hearing things.’

  ‘Where’s Archie?’

  ‘Behind us,’ Isabella replied casually. ‘Come on, let’s get out of here.’

  Daisy heard it again.

  She turned and tugged on Isabella’s arm. Her voice wavered. ‘No, he’s not. We have to go back.’

  ‘Seriously?’ Isabella quizzed. She turned around. No Archie. No Old Man Wood. 'Oh, hell.'

  ‘They’re in terrible danger,’ Daisy said, looking up at her sister, her brow creased. ‘Trust me. I think they’re trapped.’

  ‘What about the tablet?’

  ‘It’s all or nothing. You know that, and there’s nothing we can do about it.’

  Retracing their steps, a vast coiled snake sat in precisely the spot where they’d last seen Archie and Old Man Wood.

  If you are looking for your friends, the serpent said. Death is but a few twists away. Return the tablet and you may get them back.

  ‘How can we trust you,’ Isabella said without talking, as if the conversation were taking place in a slightly different part of her brain.

  You have no option, child!

  ‘Don’t flatter yourself, you repulsive slug,’ Daisy replied. ‘We have the tablet that you cherish so much.’

  Well, if you’re going to be like that - your little family dies. And then, of course, you’ll die too, because if one of you fails, you all die. And if you flee, I will catch you.

  ‘But, if the tablet leaves the labyrinth,’ Isabella said, ‘then you will die too. The freedom you’ve waited for, for so long, will have been utterly in vain.’

  The snake’s coils stopped twisting.

  Then we have an impasse.

  ‘Yes, we do.’

  For several moments, both were locked in a will of minds.

  We could strike an agreement, the snake said, its eyes bulging towards Isabella, twisting and twirling around and around.

  Isabella found she couldn’t release herself from its gaze. ‘An agreement,’ she repeated. ‘Yes.’

  Daisy nudged her sister. 'Bells—?’

  Give me the tablet, the snake said.

  ‘Yes. Give you the tablet,’ Isabella repeated.

  ‘Bells, what are you doing?’ Daisy said, her impatience growing. She glanced up at her sister’s fixated stare. Oh God, it’s hypnotising her again. She waved her hand in front of si
ster’s eyes. Not even a blink.

  Daisy watched in terror as the coils began to slither again, the muffled cries from within increasing.

  Summoning her energy, anger building fast, she faced the beast.

  ‘Let go of them now!’ she roared.

  Really? The beast replied. And what will you do?

  Two beams of light flashed out of her eyes, smashing the snake in its head.

  The snake’s head recoiled.

  Isabella gasped and collapsed, the spell broken.

  ‘Want another one?’ Daisy said, her eyes glowing.

  The snake hissed back.

  Daisy fired again this time at the coils, burning a hole. White globs of flesh spat out of the snake. Instantly it uncoiled the top two loops and flew at Daisy.

  Daisy was too quick. Her eyes shone, another flash striking its neck.

  The snake retreated nestling back on its cone of coils, its smoky marble eyes glaring at Daisy.

  They stared intensely at one another, anger sizzling through the air.

  You do realise, the snake finally said, that if I were to die while I surround your friends, you would never get them out in time. Gorialla Yingarna closed its eyes. Perhaps, I should rest awhile.

  In the silence, Daisy thought she heard something familiar, like heavy breathing and the pitter-pattering of running. Was it Archie and Old Man Wood trying to beat their way out?

  ‘Maybe the beast’s right. Maybe we can do a deal.’ Isabella said, at length.

  Daisy glowered at her. ‘No bleeding way! Let me finish it off.’

  Isabella squeezed her sister’s healthy shoulder and whispered ‘we can’t leave them, Daisy. I don’t think you have the strength to zap it to death like Superman. One way or the other, we have to get out of here, and we have to take the tablet. A stalemate doesn’t help anyone.’

  Deep down, Daisy knew she was right.

  ‘Hell-ooo!’ Isabella called out. ‘How about I put the tablet over here by the wall.’

  The snake opened an eye.

  ‘… but only when you release them.’

  Are you talking to me, child?

  Isabella repeated the request.

  The snake flickered its tongue. In the interests of fairness, why not place the tablet halfway from you, and halfway from me. Wouldn’t you agree?

  Isabella and Daisy caught each other’s eye. ‘OK. Seems fair to me,’ Daisy said. ‘But I’ll be the judge of where it goes.’

  Excellent, the snake crowed. Put it wherever you feel is equitable.

  ‘How can we trust you’ll let them go?’

  You have my word. Furthermore, I will wait for you to reacquaint yourselves.

  Daisy had a better idea. ‘I’ll draw a line in the dust. When Archie and Old Man Wood cross it, you may go for the tablet. Agreed?’

  Agreed, the snake said, its voice filled with mirth. If that is how you wish to proceed, let the game begin.

  55 STONE’S PLAN

  Stone laughed. The fog had lightened until he found himself walking briskly, dodging fallen trees and mud pools and low-lying branches. Even the stabbing in his midriff had lessened, especially when he bent over and held his arm tight around his chest, the weight of the flamethrower and the fuel rucksack over his back somehow dulling the sudden spikes of pain.

  Moving along, he hummed to himself, thinking of his approach. Two or three blasts worth of fuel, that’s what the soldier said. One would do, he thought: a long one, tracing into their house, torching everything in its path. But would they dash out of the front door, or slip out of the back? He toyed with this thought. If he set fire to the front, it had to be the back, in which case, he’d need to move fast around the house.

  And what of the other units? He didn’t really care. Without a radio, he’d take matters into his own hands. If other soldiers appeared, he’d move them into position, get them to assist.

  And, when he found the de Lowes, to show them how determined he was, maybe he’d put a bullet in the old man. He was expendable. Now he thought of it, so was the girl Sue, and her friend Gus, and also, he figured, the headmaster — even if he was his cousin.

  He’d line them up, shoot them, one after the other, depending on the answers they gave. After the first one, he suspected they’d sing like birds. Maximum fear for a maximum return. Fear worked; it always worked.

  Afterwards, he’d tie the boy up. Maybe, he’d beat him up first. Or perhaps, he thought, he should he get them to the boats and navigate the flooded Vale of York back to Swinton Park. No, there wasn’t time. He’d start the interrogation the moment he found them. It depended, he supposed, on who flew out of the wasps’ nest first. And, of course, how much they decided to tell him.

  And, after they’d let him in on their secret, he’d take this tablet or whatever it was they cherished so much, and he’d contact the Americans and let them know that the situation had been resolved and tell them to back off.

  Then, he’d reach out to the COBRA offices and let them know he had acquired the solution.

  Or maybe, he mused, mulling the thought around his brain, he’d threaten to use whatever it was that they’d found. He could assume whatever power it had, all for himself.

  No, no. He shook his head. His first duty was to stop the bomb going off, and then he'd figure out how to halt the spread of the Ebora disease.

  And after that, he’d be a world hero; the man who figured it all out. And, what’s more, he’d still have the tablet.

  56 A LINE IN THE SAND

  Daisy walked across the chamber and placed the tablet carefully on a stone.

  As she walked towards Isabella, the huge coils began unravelling. Archie and Old Man Wood fell out, tumbling to the floor, wheezing and gasping for air. They crawled towards the girls, coughing.

  ‘We’ve done a deal,’ Isabella said.

  Old Man Wood spluttered struggling to find his voice. ‘A deal?’ he wheezed. ‘Gorialla Yingarna never stays true to any deal. Why didn’t you go? The snake dies if the tablet leaves.’

  ‘But so would you two - and that would mean we’d have failed. We couldn’t go on without you both. We’re in this together, remember.’

  There. You heard it, old man, the serpent hissed. Go and join your family.

  ‘Isabella, what is the nature of this deal?’ Old Man Wood asked.

  Isabella smiled and looked deeply into Old Man Wood’s eyes. ‘When you cross this line here,’ she indicated it with her finger, ‘there’s going to be a race to get the tablet which is sitting on a rock over there.’ She pointed at the stone. Her voice went barely above a whisper. ‘So, stay right where you are, both of you. Catch your breath. Stretch or something.’

  Then, in a small kind of huddle, Isabella whispered to Archie and Old Man Wood ‘We’ve been working on a plan.’

  Archie raised his eyebrows. ‘Excellent. How’s it going?’

  ‘Actually,’ Daisy added, ‘it involves you two remaining the wrong side of the line.’

  Archie’s shocked expression said it all. ‘Why?’

  ‘Because we’re relying on its natural arrogance, deceit and greed,’ Daisy whispered. ‘We’re going to offer you as bait - we’re pretty confident it will attempt to kill you again before taking the tablet. It’s super hungry.’

  ‘Famished,’ Isabella continued. ‘Why have one, when you can have two?’

  ‘Wow. Another great idea. Just out of interest,’ Archie said, ‘how long do we stay here?’

  ‘I don’t know. When it makes a move, Daisy blasts it and I run for the tablet and—’

  ‘You are joking.’

  ‘No — I think, this time it’s going to work,’ Isabella said.

  Daisy tapped her on the shoulder. ‘There’s a bit of a problem.’ She flicked her head towards Gorialla Yingarna. ‘I think we’ve forgotten something.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Look for yourselves.’

  They turned.

  ‘Lord Almighty. It’s vanished again,’ Isabella
gasped, her heartbeat thumping like a drum. ‘Idiots!’

  Their eyes searched the chamber as a shiver ran through them.

  ‘Another exceptional plan,’ Archie said sarcastically. ‘Feels like we’re sliding right back down the ladder to square one again.’

  57 THE END OF THE BATTLE

  How many more turns were there? Gus thought as he paused, hands on knees, panting hard, sweating. He unzipped Old Man Wood’s coat and draped it around his shoulders.

  He had to be close.

  Then he heard it, and for a brief second, he thought his heart would stop.

  His brow dripped. Daisy? Was that Daisy? Or Isabella? Or Archie?

  He ran, sprinting. One corner, another. One more. At the end of the next, he heard them.

  Talking. Talking to something.

  In the blink of an eye he saw his friends and the old man. In the next, the back of a huge scaly monster, like a dinosaur, filled his view.

  He tiptoed to the side and watched.

  Archie lay on the ground, his leg swollen at the ankle, trousers ripped, his spiky head covered in mud and rock and blood.

  Daisy’s left side was soaked dark red, her clothes and jacket lacerated almost beyond recognition.

  As the creature moved in on Isabella, a strange bubble flew out of her outstretched fingertips at the exact moment a blast of fire blew over them, protecting them like a huge rubber shield.

  He noted the old man, cowering in the corner. Terrified. Sobbing.

  A moment later, the flames and the bubble gone, Archie limped towards the beast, and hurled himself head first at it. The creature faltered and rocked, almost toppling over, then roared so loudly Gus thought his ears would bleed. Then its tail flashed around and smashed Archie into the wall.

  Archie’s face told Gus that he hadn’t given up. Whipping a knife out of a holster, he threw it at the beast, the blade lodging handle-deep in its throat.

  Daisy’s eyes flashed a powerful laser-like blast burning the flesh. The beast retreated, hurt, squealing.