'Not this time,' Jenna told her. And she began to ease Sebastian backwards along the trunk, keeping one hand on his arm.
Leonora gave another shriek – or rather, it began as a shriek but suddenly turned into a long, thunderous growl. Sebastian looked back at her in terror and saw that she was changing, shifting her shape within the loose-fitting cloak, her body melting like hot wax. In an instant, it was no longer Leonora he saw, but the long, lithe body of a cat, shrugging itself free of the cloak and advancing towards the tree trunk, eyes glittering, teeth bared.
'Jenna,' whispered Sebastian. He didn't need to say anything else because he heard her gasp, felt her body stiffen beside him. 'Run,' he advised her with a calmness that amazed him. 'I'll be right behind you . . .'
She took him at his word, turning on the narrow trunk and moving back the way she had come, the movement making the tree trunk judder. Sebastian would have followed, but he had underestimated the speed at which the new Leonora could move. She had leaped up onto the end of the trunk and was racing towards him. Caught between trying to turn away and facing up to her attack, Sebastian chose the latter, and took the full force of the leap against his chest. He fell backwards and his backpack slammed against the tree trunk. Leonora carried on, clearly focusing on Jenna, but Sebastian desperately twisted round on the trunk: hanging on with one arm and reaching out with the other, he grabbed the big cat's tail.
Leonora gave a screech of anger, turned round and lunged at Sebastian, her claws raking at his head. He let go of her tail and lifted the arm to cover his face as the needle-like claws shredded the fabric of his tunic and bit deep into the flesh beneath. The pain almost made him relinquish his grip on the tree trunk; but then he felt it dip alarmingly again and he realized that Jenna was coming back to help him. At the far end of the log he could see Cornelius, watching grimly but unable for the moment to do anything to help.
'Jenna, stay back!' he yelled. 'This tree's nearly gone!' But she ignored his warning. As she came forward, she pulled something from her belt. Sebastian just had time to register that it was the dagger they'd used to reach the treasure; but then all hell broke loose, and he had to concentrate on hanging on grimly as Leonora launched herself at him again, her mouth open.
At the same instant Jenna closed on the big cat, and her arm lifted and fell, sinking the blunt blade deep into Leonora's tawny flank. The cat-woman bellowed in agony, a great howl of pain and anger. She tried to twist round to face her attacker, but was now losing her grip on the tree trunk. She slipped backwards, her claws gouging great furrows in the wood. Her back legs swung out over the abyss and she hung there for a moment while Jenna aimed a kick at her face. Leonora's front paws tore into tree bark in a vain attempt to hold on, but then she began to fall backwards, past Sebastian.
For a fraction of a second he experienced a great sense of elation. He would be free of her at last! But then there was a terrible impact as something yanked on the strap of his backpack, nearly pulling him from his perch. He locked his arms desperately around the tree trunk, but a terrible weight was dragging him down. Twisting his head to peer back over his shoulder, he saw that a woman's hand was clamped around one of the straps. The hand and arm were human, but below them the body was still that of a big cat. Even as he looked, it was changing back to the shape of a naked woman. The eyes still glared up at him with a terrible malignance, and from a mouth that was not quite cat and not quite human came a voice that had elements of both creatures.
'You're coming with me,' it growled. 'Be sure of that.'
Sebastian held on grimly, his arm muscles screaming in pain as he struggled to hold Leonora's weight. He knew that he could not hope to hang on for more than a few minutes. But then Jenna was reaching down past him with the dagger, using the blunt bloodstained blade to saw at the strap of the backpack.
'No use,' he gasped. 'Can't . . . hold on . . .'
'You've got to!' gasped Jenna. 'I'm nearly there . . .'
Sebastian's muscles were stretched to breaking point. He opened his mouth to yell against the pain of it—
And suddenly the weight was gone and Sebastian cried out in relief as the half-cat, half-woman fell into the void, still clutching the backpack. He risked another glance down and saw her still-changing body turning over and over in the air as she fell into those terrible depths. And he saw something else falling beside her, something that glittered in the sunlight – an ancient weapon with an oddly-shaped handle.
'The dagger!' he whispered.
Jenna nodded but said nothing. She was starting to help Sebastian up onto the tree trunk when something seemed to shake him to the very core and he almost lost his grip a second time. A vivid brightness flared within his head, and suddenly it was as though he was seeing everything for the first time. He noticed the incredible detail of the tree bark around which his arms were clasped. He noted the gold brocade of the sleeve of Jenna's jacket as she reached down to help him up, and he saw the beauty of her brown eyes as they stared into his.
He realized at once what had happened. Leonora's body had just crashed onto the jagged rocks far below and, in dying, she had finally freed him from the enchantment that had claimed him for so long. He clambered up onto the tree trunk and flung an arm around Jenna's waist.
'I'm free, Jenna!' he cried. 'That witch has gone from my head at last!'
She was about to answer but an ominous crack from below alerted them to the fact that the tree trunk was finally losing its battle against their combined weight.
'Quickly!' she gasped, and they scrambled on their hands and knees to the far side. Sebastian was so relieved to be on solid ground again, he felt like hugging it. They both turned back to stare across the crevasse at Cornelius. He was standing there, looking doubtfully at the tree trunk.
'You can't risk it!' Jenna shouted across to him. 'It's barely holding together.'
'I have to risk it!' he bellowed back. 'There's no other way across that I can see. I'll just have to be fast. Make room for me!'
'Cornelius, wait!' shouted Sebastian. 'Perhaps we could—'
But it was too late. The little warrior was already running across the tree trunk, his eyes fixed on the far side. As he emerged from the spray of the waterfall and moved towards the middle, the trunk bowed again and they all heard that terrible cracking sound.
'He's not going to make it,' whispered Jenna.
But Cornelius kept going, shortening the distance with each stride. Sebastian moved to the edge of the abyss and held out a hand to his friend.
'For a moment there,' he said, 'I thought you were going to—'
And then the tree trunk gave a final crack and snapped across the middle like a rotten twig. Cornelius's expression momentarily registered surprise; then his powerful little legs launched themselves from the tree trunk, he gave a deep bellow and his body went into the familiar spinning blur that was the Golmiran death leap. He arced across the void and crashed headlong into Sebastian, knocking him backwards in an ungainly sprawl.
They lay there for a moment, catching their breath.
'Shadlog's teeth,' said Cornelius at last.
Sebastian had to agree that it summed up the situation pretty well.
CHAPTER 35
OUT OF THE FRYING PAN . . .
Once he had got his breath back, Cornelius disentangled himself from Sebastian and turned to stare down into the crevasse, watching in fascination as a dust cloud slowly settled over the place where the tree had landed. 'That was too ruddy close for comfort,' he said. 'It's a wonder that tree trunk hung on for as long as it did.' He looked up at Sebastian. 'I'm sorry, lad, I couldn't do anything when that shape-shifter attacked you and Jenna. I didn't dare add any more weight to the trunk.'
Sebastian waved a hand in dismissal. 'It doesn't matter,' he said. 'The main thing is Leonora's gone. She's out of my head completely and my thoughts are my own again.'
Jenna came to stand beside him. 'I'm glad of that,' she said. 'But your freedom was bought at qu
ite a price. We've lost the dagger – and your pack and everything that was in it. Even our bridge is gone.'
Cornelius moved away from the edge with a matter-of-fact shrug. 'It's not the end of the world,' he said. 'It makes things more complicated, that's all. We can mount another expedition any time we need to. Of course, we'd have to bring some equipment and a lot more people. We'd need to cut down a new tree and carry it up the ravine for a start!'
'That would get us across the chasm,' admitted Jenna. 'But the treasure will be locked away behind solid rock.'
'There are ways to blast through rock. Maybe we could get hold of some more of those thunder-sticks we had in Keladon. They'd smash their way through any obstacle.' Cornelius threw himself down on the ground and the other two joined him. 'Besides,' he said, 'I don't know what we're worrying about. The booty in the two packs we still have will provide enough wealth to last us a lifetime. I take it we'll still split it three ways?'
'Of course,' said Jenna, without hesitation.
'Four ways,' Sebastian reminded him. 'Don't forget, Max is still expecting his cut.' They all laughed at that.
'He'll be the richest buffalope in history,' said Jenna.
'He'll buy lots of pommers,' said Sebastian, 'and get very, very fat.'
'The important thing,' said Cornelius, 'is we're alive and the witch is dead.' He glanced warily at Sebastian and smiled when he didn't react. 'Did you hear what I said, Sebastian? I called Leonora a witch . . . a rotten, stinking witch!'
Sebastian shrugged. 'Why not? That's exactly what she was.'
Cornelius grinned. 'It looks as though you really are cured, my friend!'
'It's as though I've been wearing blurred glasses all this time,' Sebastian told him. 'Now I can see everything in perfect detail.' He glanced sheepishly at Jenna. 'And I can finally recognize true beauty when I see it.' He reached out a hand and put it on hers.
There was a brief, thoughtful silence. Then Cornelius spoke.
'The problem is, what are we going to do now?'
'We go back to the ship, of course,' said Sebastian brightly. He looked at the other two and noted their frowning faces. 'Don't we?'
Cornelius shook his head. 'I don't think it's quite as simple as that,' he said. 'For one thing, Leonora couldn't have got here by herself. Which means that Trencherman and his crew must be skulking around somewhere—'
'We're closer than you might think!' announced a strident voice, and they all looked up to see Trencherman and his villainous-looking first mate emerging from the opening in the rock that was the only way in or out of this place. The two men advanced slowly. They were smiling, the kind of thin smiles that were not to be trusted.
'I feel I should thank you,' Trencherman told Sebastian.
'Thank me? For what?'
'For ridding the world of that scheming witch. She worked her enchantment on me too – otherwise I would never have allowed her within a sea mile of me. And I certainly wouldn't have let her persuade me to turn round a ship that was slowly sinking to follow the Sea Witch to her destination. But here I am.' He pointed to the crevasse. 'I must say it was interesting watching that little drama unfold.' He flicked his gaze across to Cornelius. 'For a moment there, midgeling, I thought you were going to follow her down into those hellish depths.'
Cornelius got to his feet, drawing his sword as he did so. His companions followed his example.
'I'm no midgeling, Captain Trencherman. I'm a Golmiran. And you'd best stay where you are, or you shall have my sword to answer to.'
Trencherman looked somewhat amused by this comment. 'You speak as though you are in charge . . . when in fact it's not like that at all. Allow me to demonstrate.'
He clapped his hands, and at his signal a dozen men appeared on the high rocks that ringed the plateau. Sebastian looked slowly around at them. Each man held a bow and every bow had an arrow nocked and pulled back ready to fire. There was a long silence while the three friends assessed the situation. There was nothing they could do. If they tried to resist, they would be dead in moments. If they turned to run, there was only the deep and terrible chasm behind them and no way of crossing it.
'I trust your treasure-hunting expedition was successful,' purred Trencherman, who couldn't seem to stop smiling now that he was back in control. 'I must say, I'm looking forward to inspecting the booty. It will be doubly sweet when I know that somebody else has done all the hard work for me. Captain Swift, I'll trouble you to throw your sword and your pack over to me.'
'Go to hell!' snapped Jenna. 'You'll take them only from my dead body.'
Trencherman shrugged. 'If that's what you'd prefer,' he said. 'It's really all the same to me.' He lifted a hand to signal to his archers, but Cornelius stepped over to Jenna.
'Do as he says,' he told her. 'No treasure is worth losing your life over.'
'But—'
'Do it!' insisted Cornelius. And he threw over his own pack and sword.
Jenna glared at him for a moment, then nodded as she acknowledged the impossibility of their situation. She followed suit with great reluctance, and Trencherman signalled to his mate to collect the packs.
'We'll take those nice bronze helmets you're wearing too,' prompted Trencherman. 'And, elfling – what about the jewelled sword you have at your waist? I'd say it's far too fancy for a breed like you to wear.'
'Why, you—' Cornelius took a step forward but Sebastian put out a hand to hold him back.
'It's all right,' he said. 'Of course he can have it.' It had suddenly come into Sebastian's mind to try and play the hero. Perhaps it was an attempt to make up for his poor performance crossing that tree trunk. Perhaps he had momentarily taken leave of his senses. Whatever the reason, it had occurred to him that if he could just cover the short distance between himself and Trencherman, he might be able to take the captain hostage and use him to barter a way out of there. So he pretended to be having trouble with the ancient brass catch on his sword belt while he began to edge forward.
'I found this in the treasure cave,' he said as he walked. 'The precious stones in it must be worth a small fortune—'
'Stay where you are!' Trencherman warned him.
'No, really, you must look at this one big stone at the end of it. I'm not sure if it's a diamond or an emerald. What do you think?'
'I told you to stand still!' snapped Trencherman.
'Sebastian, do as he says,' said Jenna anxiously.
Sebastian was very close now. A few more steps and he'd be able to make his move. Meanwhile he carried on talking.
'You know, Captain, we should sit down, the two of us, and discuss a deal. You see, there's a lot more treasure. We weren't able to carry it all and—'
Trencherman made the slightest of gestures to his first mate and the big man stepped forward to intercept Sebastian, pulling something from his belt as he did so. Sebastian lifted an arm to throw a punch into the man's ugly face, but in the same instant the mate lashed out at Sebastian's head. A bright light seemed to explode in the middle of his skull and his limbs lost all their strength. He was only dimly aware that the ground was rushing up towards him, but before it could thud into him, everything turned black.
CHAPTER 36
THAT SINKING FEELING
He woke for an instant and thought that he was back on the Sea Witch, because whatever he was lying on was swaying and lurching rhythmically beneath him. But then he became aware of thick, springy hair under the palms of his hands and, opening his eyes, he realized that he was slumped face down across Max's back. He vainly tried to sit up. His wrists were tied with thick ropes that passed under the buffalope's belly.
He groaned, managed to turn his head to one side and saw Jenna's concerned face looking at him. She was walking alongside Max and he saw that her hands were tied behind her back.
Sebastian Darke: Prince of Pirates Page 25
