Jim was unable to stop Rath from following Cobb and the others but right now he had his own problems. Luga was overpowering him; he would press forward his attack driving Jim back across the room and then ease up, stepping back into the middle of the room, to allow Jim to recover. All to spin out his enjoyment a bit longer.
***
Cobb and Adele had arrived at yet another door, closely followed by Won Lungh. As they swung the door open a terrible bloodcurdling howl echoed down the corridor behind them. As they rushed through the doorway they could hear the pounding of feet approaching and a heavy panting and snarling.
‘Oh Gods, there’s one of those hairy things after us,’ said Cobb. ‘Quick, close the door!’
As they swung the door to, something heavy hit the door, forcing them back a few steps. Cobb and Won Lungh pushed against the door with all their strength until it had closed enough for Adele to slide the bolt shut.
Cobb looked around; they were in a small ante-room containing a table and a chair, leading to some stairs going up. It wasn’t the direction he wanted to go but it was better than staying where they were and facing what was on the other side of the door.
The door rocked as Rath threw himself against it, again and again. The screws holding the bolt on were beginning to come loose and the hinges were being torn out of the doorpost. ‘Let’s go,’ said Cobb.
‘Where to?’ asked Adele.
‘Anywhere but here!’
Won Lungh grabbed the table and dragged it in front of the door. ‘You go, I stay here and block door while you get away.’
‘Won Lungh … no! Come with us!’ ordered Adele.
‘Missa Cobb, you take Missee Adele and keep her safe. I hold off … hairy thing.’
Cobb grabbed Adele by her arm and dragged her forcefully up the narrow stairwell. At the top they came into a larger room. Cobb slammed and bolted the door behind them. The room they were in contained a sofa and some easy chairs. It looked like a private study, there was a drinks cabinet to the left of the door they came through.
He went to the window but it was barred; besides it was too high to consider jumping out of even if it had been open. The only way in or out was through the door they had entered by. They were trapped!
‘Cobb, can’t you do your thing and jump us out of here?’
‘I will do it if I have to but if we jump to somewhere where there is no castle, we’ll end up in mid-air and fall to our deaths,’ he explained. ‘We should only jump as a last resort.’
The door shuddered as Rath threw his weight against it. He must have got past Won Lungh, they both knew what that meant. He was dead and shortly, so would they be.
***
Jim could barely hold Luga at bay when he tried to match him, so he began to deliberately slow down his parries, to swing wider than he should, to be wide of the mark when he lunged. Ever so slowly he began to get worse, to appear as if he was tiring. Luga saw this, and being supremely confident in his abilities, instead of pressing home his advantage and quickly defeating his opponent, he began to ease up on his attack. Not putting his full weight into his drive with the sword, taking longer in his cross cuts to give Jim time to counter. He knew that Jim was tiring and he let him know that he knew.
Jim laid it on even more, beginning to stagger, letting his sword arm droop at crucial moments, which Luga deliberately refrained from taking advantage of. Luga sadistically matched each of Jim’s weak blows with one of his own. When Jim struck out at him, Luga left his guard wide open which Jim failed to capitalize on. The man was saying in effect ‘I don’t even have to protect myself … you can’t hurt me!’
Jim fell to his knees, seemingly unable to raise his sword, his strength apparently exhausted. Luga stood over him arms wide, grinning at his wife. ‘Pathetic human,’ he said to Jim. ‘Did you really think you could beat me?? I am the best swordsman in Europe!!’ he screamed.
Jim stood up quickly and slashed Luga’s sword hand, causing him to drop the weapon. Then with all his strength he drove his own sword straight through Luga’s chest and out of his back. Stepping up close to Luga so he could look him straight in the eyes he said, ‘Yeah? Well I’m from Albion!’
Jim ran the startled Luga backwards across the room until the protruding end of the sword stuck deep into the wood panelling of the wall. He tried to pull out the sword for another blow but it was stuck firmly into the wall so he settled for the next best thing, he jerked it viciously sideways and snapped the blade off, leaving it embedded in Luga’s chest. The blade snapped along its length and broke away from the wall as well. He knew that as a werewolf this wound would not cause Luga any serious damage as once he transformed, the wound would quickly heal but hopefully he had bought Cobb and Adele some time to escape.
Luga stared amazed at the stub of the sword blade sticking out of his chest; he couldn’t believe that he had been outwitted by a mere human! His ego wouldn’t let him accept it. He fell to his knees, coughing blood. His wife Kayla, ran to his aid and cushioned him as he collapsed to the floor. She looked up at Jim and her distress turned to anger and she began to transform before Jim’s eyes.
That’s it, I’m off, he thought and ran for the door.
Kayla finished transforming and stood over her husband. He waved towards the window. ‘See what’s happening outside,’ he gasped. She stalked over to the window and gazed down into the courtyard. It was filled with gypsies who were pouring out from inside the castle somehow and were attacking the guards from behind. Some of the gypsies were opening the gate and letting the townsfolk through. The guards although better armed were being overwhelmed by sheer weight of numbers.
Kayla turned back to Luga and told him, ‘Muuusssst leeeaaavve … yooouuu chaaaannngggge,’ her canine snout unable to pronounce Human speech properly.
Luga began to transform into his other shape but as his body grew and his muscles and internal organs reorganised themselves, the broken shards of the sword blade embedded in his chest sliced through his insides, causing him even more damage as they moved around. With a cry of pain, he slipped back into human form and fell backwards onto the floor.
He hit the bloodstained flagstones with a thump and the weight of his body caused the blade splinters to twist inside him. His body spasmed in agony. He called weakly to Kayla, ‘We must leave, you must carry me until we are clear in the woods and then we can deal with this.’ He put his hand to his chest and tried to stop the bleeding.
Kayla leaned down and picked him up gently. She walked out the door and they made their escape from the castle.
***
Cobb looked desperately round the room, there were ceremonial, crossed pikestaffs hanging on the wall for decoration. Cobb pulled one down and inspected it; it was a long wooden staff supporting an axe head, topped off with a long spike. It would have to do; it was the only weapon in the room.
As the door flew off its hinges and crashed to the floor, Cobb brandished the pikestaff. Rath lowered his head so he could get through the doorway and walked slowly into the room. He stopped in front of Cobb and Adele and raising his arms, he snarled at them.
Cobb said to him brusquely, ‘Down boy, bad dog!’
Rath just snarled at them again, spraying Cobb with flecks of saliva. Cobb responded by shoving the spike on the top of the pikestaff into the centre of Rath’s chest, just below the rib cage. Rath roared in pain and grabbed the pikestaff, tearing it out of Cobb’s hands.
Taking a grip on it with both hands, Rath slowly withdrew the pikestaff from his chest. ‘Youu caanntt huuurt meee wiiith youuurr weaaponsss!’ he lisped. He jabbed the blunt end into Cobb’s chest, knocking him back against the wall, then he swung it viciously in an arc, catching Adele on the side of her head and knocking her across the room.
Cobb leapt at him but Rath caught him in mid-air by one hand around his throat. Rath shook him and whirling around threw him at the wall behind him, where he crashed into the drink cabinet, shattering it and spilling broken glass and bot
tles across the floor.
Adele slowly raised herself by her arms until she was in a sitting position. Blood trickled down from her forehead into her eyes and she wiped it away groggily. She saw Rath drag Cobb from out of the remains of the shattered drinks cabinet and drop him on his back on the floor. Then he knelt down until he was straddling Cobb’s chest.
If only Adele could do something to help Cobb but she wasn’t even able to stand up. Perhaps she could use her mind to control Rath like she could other animals. She tried to take over his mind but it was no good, her power only worked on dumb animals and despite his transformation there was still too much human intelligence in there to allow her to gain mastery of him.
She sought about her for something, anything, to use as a weapon when she saw the ring on her right hand. It was silver! It had been her mother’s and she had hidden it under her gloves when she came through the Pils-Holstein customs. She tried desperately to pull it off her finger but it wouldn’t come loose easily. She put her finger in her to mouth to try and loosen the ring with saliva. It tasted cold and bitter on her tongue, that was it, maybe she could use that!
Adele sucked deliberately on her silver ring, savouring the bitter taste, imagining it much worse than it actually was. In her own mind she imagined the taste making her teeth stand on end, magnifying the flavour until it made her sick to her stomach … and then she looked at Rath.
Rath was straddling Cobb’s chest, Cobb struggled but Rath had him pinned down by the throat. Cobb’s instinct for self-preservation began to take over and he could sense that familiar tingling feeling building up that he always felt before he jumped to another dimension, but he was fighting it. If he allowed himself to shift to another Universe, assuming there was a castle there, he would be safe but he wouldn’t go and leave Adele at Rath’s mercy. So he fought the urge to let himself jump to safety. Whatever the cost to himself, he would not leave Adele.
Rath had one hand raised above his head ready to deliver the deathblow to his helpless victim. Adele knew she couldn’t control him but he was part animal at the moment, had animal instincts and if she could communicate with those instincts, then maybe Cobb had a chance.
She rolled the taste of silver around in her mouth and her eyes blazed as she pushed it into Rath’s mind. Although the silver couldn’t harm him physically without touching him, he still had the instinctive werewolf fear of it. He tasted the silver in his mouth and he paused mid swing. Adele pushed harder and the icy fear he felt in his mouth crept through him and slowly slid down his spine making him arch his back and howl in fear. Cobb scrabbled desperately around him for a weapon, his hand closed on one of the heavy cut-glass decanters. He smashed it into the side of the distracted Rath’s head, knocking him off Cobb’s chest.
Cobb dragged himself away from Rath and rose unsteadily to his feet, massaging his throat. Rath shook the broken glass off himself and stood up, facing Cobb.
Tap, tap … Rath felt something tapping him on the shoulder, trying to get his attention, ‘Erm … excuse me …’ said Adele.
Rath turned around slowly to find Adele standing behind him brandishing the pikestaff. He stared incredulously at her and the pikestaff. ‘Youu caannttt kiiiilll meee wiiithhhh thaattttt!’ he dismissed her bravery, contemptuously.
‘Want to bet?’ she replied, looking down.
He followed her eyes to the point of the pikestaff, on which dangled her silver ring, which she had managed to remove from her finger and place on the weapon. ‘Nooooooooooo!’ he screamed as she rammed it into his chest, where it pierced his heart.
Rath fell backwards screaming in agony, holding the pikestaff, unable to pull it out of his chest as he had before. He struggled, his heels drumming on the floor before he slumped dead, his last breath coming out in a gasp, as his body succumbed to the fatal silver in his system.
Cobb walked over to the dead werewolf and said, ‘Take that … dogbreath!’
They both watched as Rath transformed back into human shape, then Cobb went over to Adele who was leaning against the wall, wiping the blood from her forehead. ‘How’s your head?’ he asked.
‘I’ve never had any complaints, why do you ask? … Oh sorry … I thought you meant … sorry, yes my head’s fine, no problem.’
He hugged her. ‘You saved my life there, you know.’
She shrugged, ‘It’s getting to be a habit, isn’t it?’
‘Are you thinking what I’m thinking?’ he asked.
‘Yes,’ she said, ‘but where are we going to get the whipped cream?’
Cobb laughed. ‘I love you,’ he told her.
‘I know,’ she replied. They laughed together for the sheer joy of being alive and having survived their encounter with Rath. Then reality sunk in and they had to face the fact that Won Lungh was downstairs, dead. ‘Well, I guess we’d better go and pick up the pieces. Poor Won Lungh, I shall miss him.’
Sombrely they descended the steps down to the anteroom. The door had been smashed off its hinges and Won Lungh’s leg was sticking out from underneath it. Cobb went over and heaved the door off him. Adele bent down beside him to say goodbye to her Cantonese protector.
She ran her hand over his bald head and he stirred. ‘He’s alive! Quick, help me get him up.’ Cobb leaned the door against the wall and helped Adele drag him clear and lift him up into one of the chairs. Apparently, when Rath had smashed the door down, Won Lungh had only been knocked unconscious.
Won Lungh sat there cradling his head in his hands, trying to gather his wits. Suddenly he seemed to realise where he was and what had been happening. ‘Missee Adele … you alive! Are we still being chased?’ he asked her.
‘Not any more, we’ve taken care of that. But we’re not out of the woods yet, we still have to make it out of the castle.’
***
Cobb opened the main door of the castle cautiously as they weren’t sure which side was doing the cheering. They had returned to the main hall, which was empty of guards, so they had approached the main door.
‘Well it looks like we’ve won,’ he said to Adele and Won Lungh.
The courtyard of the castle was filled with people milling around and a festive atmosphere was beginning to break out. All of Luga’s guards were being rounded up and taken to the dungeons and someone had raided the kitchens and food and drink were being brought out.
The wounded from both sides were being taken care of by the local doctor and Zelda was helping out where she could. Adele spotted her and dragged Cobb over to her.
‘Come with me, there’s someone I want you to meet,’ she said. Adele and Zelda hugged each other and then spoke in Pils-Holstein. ‘So this the one you came here to protect’ said Zelda.
‘Yes, this is … this is my … this is Cobb.’
Zelda looked him up and down, ‘Yes, I can see why you’d want to keep him. He has a good soul too.’ She held her hand out and he took it. He winced slightly as she shook his hand.
Damn she had a strong grip, thought Cobb. ‘Pleased to meet you … who are you?’
‘She doesn’t speak Albion,’ said Adele. ‘This is Zelda. She is the local witch, I’ve been going to her camp for the past few days and she has had various … er … animals keep an eye on you. That’s how I knew you’d been captured. She’s also been teaching me to be a real witch.’
‘Do you need training?’ he asked.
‘Oh my word yes. If there’s one thing Zelda has shown me, it’s that I’ve barely scratched the surface.’ She turned to Zelda, ‘Does anybody know what happened to Luga?’
‘Some of the men saw him and his wife escape over the castle wall. She had transformed into a werewolf and was carrying him, he was still in human form for some reason.’
‘Luga and his wife have escaped,’ Adele translated for Cobb.
‘You should be proud of yourself, you’ve done what you set out to do,’ said Zelda, ‘you saved both the men you came out to protect.’
‘I only wish that were true but I’m af
raid that Luga killed the other man, Jim.’
‘Oh no. I saw him over there a moment ago, I recognised him from the remote viewing that we did.’ She pointed across the courtyard.
‘Cobb! Jim’s alive, come on.’ She grabbed his arm and pushed into the crowd. They found Jim enjoying a bottle with a few men that Cobb recognised from Die Schwartze Pumpernickel.
Adele threw her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek. ‘Jim! You’re alive!!’
Cobb shook him warmly by the hand, ‘What happened?’ he asked Jim. ‘I felt sure Luga had killed you.’
‘You’ve got no faith. I told you I’d been trained by some of the best swordsmen in Europe but I’ve also been trained by some of the best fighters in Europe. They teach you how to win fights, not just beat your opponent on points. I gave Luga a short, sharp fencing lesson and then did a runner when his wife started to change into a big, hairy thing. Imagine waking up next to that in the morning,’ he shuddered. ‘Enough to give you the screaming ab-dabs.’
Cobb unbuttoned his shirt and removed the black velvet bundle. He handed it to Jim who unwrapped it to reveal the Great Seal. With a big, beaming smile he held it above his head and laughed. ‘We did it Cobb, we beat the odds!’ he gloated.
‘So what are you going to do now, Jim,’ asked Cobb. ‘You hold the Great Seal … that gives you the right to claim the throne. I’m sure you’ve pulled off some big jobs in your time but have you ever stolen an entire country before?’
‘It’s very tempting I must admit.’ He lowered the Seal.
‘But what are you really going to do Jim?’ asked Cobb. This was the crucial point that Cobb had been dreading all through the trip. When it came to the crunch, would Jim give up the Great Seal or would his avarice get in the way. He had gone to a lot of trouble to steal it back in Londum, would he give it up easily now that he had it in his hands? ‘We’re supposed to take it back to Thornton.’
The Londum Omnibus Volume One (The Londum Series Book 4) Page 44
