* * * *
AT ONE OF the dining room windows, Maria resentfully watched Bart and the twins running across the yard towards the stables. Then, as she turned to join the others, she realized she still clutched the sopranino recorder in her right hand. Strange Bart didn't notice it was missing, she thought. A sudden idea occurred to her.
"I need to go to the toilet,” she said and left the room as casually as she could.
Instead of going upstairs, however, she ran on tiptoe through the kitchen and let herself out the back door, closing it quietly behind her. Carefully she crossed the gravel of the yard. Once on the grass, she raced after the now distant figures of Bart and the twins. Instead of making for the stables, however, she veered left towards the forest. She felt sure she knew where Peter went. But what possible danger could he be in? she asked herself. The Lady wouldn't harm him. And even though he didn't explain anything about her, he was far from afraid of her.
When she reached the first chalk-marked pine Maria paused, listening intently. She could hear nothing—no soughing of wind in the pines, not even the sound of distant bird song. The very stillness of the forest made her spine crawl. She peered past the marked tree. From where she stood she could see the second chalked arrow clearly. It seemed to almost glow against the background of the forest. The forest interior was so dark it might have been dusk instead of not long after midday.
Maria entered the forest—and black shadows closed in on her. Murky shapes moved in all directions. Through the corner of her eye she saw one loom at her right. When she whirled that way there was nothing there, but another loomed on her left. Silently they mocked her helplessness and terror. It took her a full minute to realize their game as she turned first this way and then that.
They want to confuse me so I'll lose my way. I must ignore them. They're not real, anyway.
She turned to look for the marked tree, but saw she no longer stood at the edge of the forest. By this time her breath was coming in painful gasps, her heart ramming against her ribcage. Her gasps turned to little whimpers of fear when she realized she was lost. The shifting shades disappeared as soon as she became aware of this fact. They had apparently fulfilled their purpose. With their disappearance, Maria stood still and forced herself to calm down. Her thoughts raced. What on earth was she supposed to do now? There was only one thing she could think of.
"Peter! Peter! Peter!” She yelled the name with all her lung power.
From somewhere far away the hills bounced her shout back and forth. It was the only answer she received. She waited for the echoes to die and listened intently for a moment, eyes straining in the gloom. Then she drew in another deep breath to try again. But she let it out in a strangled gasp as faint rustles came to her ears. Someone—or something—was moving over the carpet of dead pine needles. The footsteps were light but quick. Whatever was coming towards her was moving very fast. She peered in the direction from which they seemed to come, her heart pounding anew.
"Peter?” This time she pitched her voice very low. To her horror, she couldn't stop it quavering.
From out of the gloom something sprang at her. A wolf! Maria's mind screamed. It grabbed her by one of the legs of her jeans. Even as she realized it had to be a dog, she stumbled backwards under the impact and tripped over a tree root. The dog released its grip on her jeans and took a mouthful of her tee-shirt. When she looked up she found herself looking into the compelling eyes of a German shepherd.
"Dreyfus!” Maria's relief was so great that tears pricked her eyes. She gave the dog a quick hug and scrambled to her feet. “Where's Peter, Dreyfus?"
Dreyfus ran a few yards and stopped to make sure she was following. When he was satisfied she understood he wanted her to follow, he carried on at a steady lope. Maria had to run to keep up with him.
They found Peter lying where Dreyfus left him. His eyes still stared with apparent sightlessness at the treetops. Maria's heart jumped in horror. A tight band seemed to close around it.
"Oh no! No! No!” She dropped on her knees at Peter's side, unwilling to believe what her eyes told her. Her shaking fingers dropped the recorder onto his chest. She fumbled for the pulse in the wrist lying across his body. As she lifted the flaccid hand the tips of Peter's fingers touched the instrument. Instantly the fingers moved. Relief flooded Maria's fast-beating heart. She looked at Peter's face. His eyes still stared upwards like those of a statue. The fingers of the hand whose wrist she held moved again, more feebly than before.
Maria's gaze flew back to Peter's hand. She had time only to register that the fingers were feeling for something. A great clap of thunder ripped the silence apart; blue lightning streaked overhead. Maria screamed. She crouched over Peter with her hands covering her ears. In her terror she didn't see Peter's fingers close over the instrument lying on his chest. She didn't see Dreyfus take a stand over Peter and turn outwards as though facing a threat to his fallen master. She didn't even hear the dog's growls and snarls.
"Out of my way, girl! He belongs to me."
The ugly, rasping voice was the first indication to Maria that they weren't alone. She whirled in the direction of the voice. She gave a strangled gasp at the sight that met her terrified eyes. The Lord in Blue towered over them, filling the small clearing with his evil presence. He glowed eerily in the murk of the forest—a blue light that gave no illumination.
Maria's first instinct was instant, blind obedience. Then Peter's hand, now holding the recorder, touched hers. As she felt the hardness of the recorder against her hand, anger flooded her. Firmly she clasped her hand around Peter's fingers, pressing the instrument into them. And she felt strength flow back into Peter's hand. When she answered the command of the dreadful apparition, her words surprised her. It was as though someone else put them in her mouth. And the voice—strong and clear—surely didn't belong to the quiet, timid Maria she thought she was.
"No he doesn't. He belongs to the Earthlight—and to me."
"Stand aside, I tell you! He came at my bidding. He is mine!" the Blue Lord thundered. The very air quivered around him.
"No.” Maria's heart quaked at her own audacity. What did she imagine she could she do against such a powerful being? She didn't even know what this was all about. Vague memories stirred within her. She remembered scraps of the incident in the bicycle shed—the black, evil cloud; the force with which Peter jerked her outside and slammed the door; the anxiety in his face and voice. How could she have forgotten it all so completely—until now?
"You don't know who I am, girl.” The blue light sizzled and crackled around him. “I warn you, I show no mercy to those who stand between me and mine. He came at my bidding. By the laws of your world—which are denied me—I already have claim on his physical being. Now by the Absolute Law—because he came at my bidding—I lay claim to both body and soul."
Still holding Maria's hand, Peter leapt to his feet. He moved to stand between Maria and the Blue Lord. “I am here on behalf of the Earthlight, not at your bidding!"
The Lord in Blue sneered. “Looking for the One Tree? This isn't it. This is the largest tree in the forest. Don't you know your prophecy? ‘Though all the trees may look the same ... ‘Does this tree look the same as its fellows? It's not even part of the forest but a much older tree. As the largest tree in the forest it has immense power, and I've harnessed that power for you to help you find the One Tree."
"I don't want—or need—your help,” Peter said through clenched teeth. He turned to Maria. “Play the music the Lady gave you.” He touched his finger to the instrument as Maria raised it to her lips and kept it there until she started playing. Then, completely ignoring the Lord in Blue, he walked round the tree. There, touching some of the roots, lay the piece of dead wood shaped like a rifle. Shaking with fury, he picked it up and broke it over his knee several times. He looked at the shadow lying within the Blue Lord's hood and scattered the broken pieces in all directions. “There. Now you won't be able to harm anyone else through this
tree."
The Lord in Blue gave a strangled cry of frustration. He tried to raise his arms to blast them with blue fire, but the music pouring from Maria held him fast. He vented his rage in the only way left to him. With a powerful sweep of his arms he summoned a black cloud so huge and dense that Maria, Peter and Dreyfus couldn't dodge it. The nauseating, gaseous substance set them all coughing violently, forcing Maria to stop playing. Unfortunately for the Blue Lord, the black cloud had been summoned to bear him away and he disappeared before he could take advantage of Maria's disablement. The black cloud went with him and Peter and Maria immediately stopped coughing.
In hopes of stopping the Lord in Blue returning, Maria started playing again. It was then they heard the steady, muffled clopping of horses’ hooves. Seconds later Obsidianus, Silvera and Crystalline, ridden by Bart and the twins, came into view. They were followed by a band of seven men on foot. Peter recognized the rest of the circle of the Earthlight's Chosen. His heart leapt with joy and new hope. Now all twelve of them were together everything would be all right.
He rushed forward. Bart, Jamie and John dismounted quickly. Everyone seemed to be talking at once. Maria's music was drowned in the hubbub.
"Maria's the one spoken of in the prophecy,” Peter cried. Then he pulled Maria forward to introduce her, forcing her to stop playing. She gaped at him in surprise as he went on to quote, “The friend of the One through willow shower, with silver concord protects his power."
The meaning of Peter's words seemed to strike Maria with the force of a physical blow. Eyes wide with terror, she lifted the recorder to her lips again. But it never reached them. There was another almighty clap of thunder. At the same time blue lightning streaked through the forest. Black cloud swirled angrily around them. The noxious fumes and gases took instant effect; they all started coughing violently. From within the cloud the Lord in Blue reached out. A strong hand grabbed Peter's forearm. Helpless to resist, he was dragged into the black cloud. The cloud eddied in furious triumph as the Lord in Blue departed with his captive.
Chapter 16
Revelation
"THAT'S THE last your silver-tongued friend will see of you,” the Lord in Blue said in raspy satisfaction as the black cloud soared over the forest. His laugh made Peter's nerves feel like a nutmeg being passed over a grater. “As for you, you'll stay with me until you've found the One Tree for me. You'll stop them finding out its name and you'll force it to reveal itself to no one but myself. If you refuse to do as I say I'll allow the black cloud to fill your lungs with its poison. Your friends below will suffer even worse."
Peter looked sideways at the robed lord with his hood pulled forward to shadow his face. He was close enough now to peer into the face within the hood, but it was almost as though the Blue Lord wore a mask conferring invisibility on his face. There seemed to be nothing but a black hole where his face should have been.
The Lord in Blue once said to him, “Before I am finished with you I will break your mind. And by my Power you shall know Who I am.” Peter took this to mean the Lord in Blue was somehow part of the Evil One himself, just as surely as the monstrous, vile-smelling spider had been. However, the spider, thought terrifying in both its form and its essence, had never possessed the reined-in menace of the Lord in Blue.
"It will reveal itself only to the One who calls upon it by name,” Peter said.
"That's why I need you—unfortunately. In the search for the One Tree you and I are like the two sides of a coin. I, the Commander of Darkness, am the head and you—though but a puny ambassador of the Earthlight—are the tail. We will patrol this forest together until we find the One Tree."
"How do you know the One Tree is in the Forest of the Earthlight?” Peter said, but his heart quaked as he remembered that the beginning of the prophecy given to Bart and Jamie by the Great Oak had mentioned “the darkening forest"—a good description of the Forest of the Earthlight at the moment, he thought. And Peter knew something the Lord in Blue surely didn't—that the One Tree would be “a noble pine". The only tree he had seen answering such a description was the very tree that violently rejected his touch.
Peter's ponderings were abruptly interrupted.
"Peter.” It was a deep, slow voice, barely above a whisper, speaking into his mind.
"Essence of Obsidian!” he cried in like manner.
"Careful,” the voice of the Power of Obsidian warned. “The Evil One—the Lord in Blue—cannot hear in the face of the spell around us, but he may yet suspect something and find a way to listen. There isn't time to let you discover for yourself, but your friends below need immediate protection against the Evil One's black cloud which, as you've just seen, has become extremely potent. The Lord in Blue plans to use it to cripple them—possibly kill them—when you have found the One Tree for him."
"Yes, of course.” Why didn't I think of a protective spell straight away? Then I wouldn't be in this dilemma.
"It's all right, Peter, don't reproach yourself. The Earthlight needs the power of the Evil One to help you find the One Tree. You must stay with the Lord in Blue and do whatever he asks. When the One Tree is called upon by name you will turn the Blue Lord's own power upon him to his ruin."
"I see.” But his heart quaked. How was he supposed to accomplish such an impossible task?
Before he could ask this question, however, the Power of Obsidian said quickly, in alarm, “The spell! Hurry!"
Peter reached immediately into his mind, searching for the spell. The stars wheeled around him in the darkness behind his closed eyelids. Mentally he reached out to them, until his mind touched the right one. The star seemed to explode behind his eyelids, its light flooding his brain. He found himself muttering a few words—words he forgot as soon as he uttered them—and the stars instantly vanished.
The Lord in Blue whirled on him, gripping his arm painfully. “What was that? What did you say?"
Peter blinked up at him vacantly. He pulled his arm away. “I don't know."
Steely eyes glittered within the faceless hood. “What did you do, then?"
"N-nothing. What—what can I do with the power of the Evil One's black cloud surrounding me?” How annoying to find himself stammering.
The steely eyes narrowed. “Just remember I don't trust you, I'm watching you all the time and I'll show no mercy to your friends down there should you do anything stupid. I know you're not the innocent you try to make out you are. And I'm not too sure you're as helpless as you ought to be. You're not who you are for nothing."
"As long as you don't harm my friends I'll do whatever you ask.” Just when he felt that stammering might have been useful, Peter's voice was steady and calm.
"Good.” The Blue Lord parted the black cloud sufficiently to allow them a view of the forest. He pointed. “Look—they're spreading out. If they think they can surround a forest—even a small one—with eleven people and one dog they're stupider than I thought. With the exception of the forester and perhaps the dog, they'll simply get themselves lost, especially that foolish girl who seems to think so highly of you. On their own they'll simply be easier targets for me."
Peter rounded on him. In his concern for his friends he almost forgot his own terror. “You promised not to harm them if I did as you asked!"
The Blue Lord's eyes narrowed to glittering slits. “I promised no such thing. My promise was that I will harm them—kill them, even—if you don't do as I say."
"But it's the same thing!"
"Not quite.” The Blue Lord's voice was oily with sadistic pleasure at Peter's indignant alarm. “While you do as I say I won't harm them. When I've got what I want—when the power of the One Tree is unreservedly mine—it's altogether another matter. I'll review the situation then."
Peter stared at him, his face a picture of dismay. Then, as he remembered what the Power of Obsidian had said, he turned away to hide any flicker of hope that may have shown in his eyes. But the Lord in Blue's attention was back on the Chosen Ones below. By this
time most of them had disappeared into the forest's interior.
"I think we'll follow the forester. As the owner of the forest he knows it better than anyone else and is likely to be the most dangerous. I'll leave the rest to the other Lords."
The black cloud moved off. From the small hole in its vile substance Peter couldn't see more than the tops of the trees. But his heightened senses knew, with the accuracy of a radar system, that Bart, Jamie and John were all riding to the far side of the forest, while those on foot took up stances on the other three sides of the forest, closer to the house and stables.
The Lord in Blue raised his arms and sent a bloodcurdling ululation ringing over the hills and valleys of the forest. Peter felt his eardrums shrinking from the noise. Then he became aware of other black clouds moving around them, scarcely visible against the lowering sky. And he knew, with sinking heart, that the other Lords of Corruption had joined the Lord in Blue to keep watch on all movement in the forest.
* * * *
"MARIA'S A long time,” Mrs. Fitzgibbon said with a frown, looking towards the dining room door. The four adults had started eating but were waiting for Maria to return before Peter's stepfather explained what little he knew of the Quest for Earthlight and Peter's involvement in it. Mrs. Fitzgibbon pushed back her chair and rose. “If you don't mind, I'd like to make sure she's all right."
No one made any objection as she left the room. They were all feeling so edgy it didn't seem strange that Maria's mother thought something evil might have happened to her daughter on the way from dining room to bathroom.
It was some minutes before Mrs. Fitzgibbon returned, decidedly agitated. “I can't find her anywhere. I've searched all the bedrooms. She hasn't even left a message."
Mr. Edwards rose abruptly. “She's obviously gone after the others. I'll go and bring her back.” Aware of the sudden tension in the room, he turned as he reached the door. “Don't worry. They can't harm her. She's not of the Earthlight."
The Third Age of Obsidian [Quest for Earthlight Trilogy Book Three] Page 18
