Chapter eighty-five

In the Shadow of the Sky Monsters

 

It was impossible, of course, that such creatures could hang in the sky.  They were too heavy, too cumbersome and their wings scarcely flapped at all. It was more as if they were hideous child’s toy balloons, each with ten foot long jaws.

The battle was continuing, but the eyes of both armies now seemed increasingly pointed to the sky. Many Tlaxacans simply bolted from the field when the sky monsters began to appear, but the knights were more disciplined.

 As the minutes passed the number of monsters increased slowly but steadily. They seemed to come from nowhere.  

Among the Tlaxacan humans was a sky counter. He counted the monsters into the sky and when the number reached sixty he gave the signal. The Redcloak army retreated rapidly into the centre of the city. Only a defensive ring of human archers remained. The knights knew that this did not mean that they had won; in fact they suspected that the opposite might be true.

The knights waited – there was very little else that they could do.  They had no way of affecting anything in the sky and they dare not attack the city.

High on the hill above the city Kratos gave his orders. The creatures had no real brains but they could quite easily be commanded to do very simple tasks – for example, as on this occasion, to kill everyone that they could find.

The sky monsters dropped down and began their task. They were unwieldy beasts and they found manoeuvring to destroy their enemies rather difficult. Some flew against the sea of horsemen and scythed through them with their jaws open, others landed and found that lumbering across the terrain snapping horses and men in half was awkward and time-consuming . None of this mattered much though, as nothing that the knights could do would harm the monsters at all – they might as well have been using pillows against swords.

Van Eisen attempted to rally his troops, but he was in despair. They had got so close, but now every charge was losing a hundred knights; it was only a matter of time before he would have to sound the retreat and all would be lost. He knew that they would never see this battlefield again, and that his dream of the throne would be in tatters. Where was Balliwick? Surely if he were here he would think of some trick, some idea, that would turn things around.  He sent scouts out, one more time, to try to find him.

The pointless battle continued, and the battlefield filled up with the corpses of the brave knights. They tried everything to damage their opponent – spears, swords, arrows, sticks and stones – but nothing did any more than deflect them slightly, or make them pause for a second or two. Behind the sky monsters came the Redcloak army, tentative but steady, avoiding the jaws of the monsters, but inexorably gaining ground. There was a clear and present danger that the knights would be cut down completely. The only thing preventing a total massacre was van Eisen, who had his generals form their corps into well-disciplined groups, which could, at least temporarily, use their extraordinary horsemanship to avoid the jaws of the giant insects.  Von Eisen was preparing for an orderly retreat. That way he expected to save more than three-quarters of his men.     

Only a few of the scouts returned.  One of them was the bearer of the worst news that the Baron had ever received. The scout had found Balliwick on the hillside and seen that he was controlling the sky monsters. Around him were scattered powdery bones and skulls, along with the tatters of Crimson Flame uniforms. If they had once been knights then they were clearly not killed by the monsters.       

When van Eisen had heard the scout’s report he felt the anger of betrayal as an intense physical pain. How could it be true? Were all the months of companionship just a lie, just a ruse to get him here? Was all of his companion’s advice the twisted lies of a traitor? Was this all part of a plan to humiliate him and destroy his dreams? If all those things were true then this man deserved to die – even against impossible odds.

Driven mad by grief and the end of his ambitions Baron von Eisen thus ordered his army to attack the hillside where Kratos was standing. The unbearable pain of betrayal and loss was to be exchanged for the bearable pain of revenge and death.  In strategic terms this was sending his entire army to the slaughter, with no hope of ever reaching their objective. If Kratos had considered his most fanciful dreams he could not have imagined a better outcome.   The reconquest of Eddorre was about to fail completely.

 

***

Behind Kathleen were a group of Otto’s men and behind them twelve Orbiverdi. With them were Hardacre, Victoria and Lily. Victoria looked cross but determined; she was well aware that even though she had found the foolish princess, she still wasn’t safe. Lily looked suitably penitent, for the time being.

‘What on earth is going on?’ asked John, ‘who are these humans? Why are there Orbiverdi here?’

John noticed Victoria for the first time.

‘And who are you? You look very familiar…’

Victoria closed her eyes and swallowed – this was not the time to get cross about that again. Her voice was calm, but strong.

‘I am Miss Jenkins – Miss Victoria Jenkins – I’m Princess Lily’s governess’

John and Celia looked at each other in coordinated surmise.

‘You must be Elizabeth’s sister!’ they said, as one.

Victoria glared at them and then ploughed on.

‘Perhaps you can tell me who you are now – other than one of the very many people who I seem to bump into who are close personal friends of my sister…’

‘These are more witches, Miss Jenkins’ said Hardacre sternly, ’and it might be a sensible idea if they turned to their minds to what is going on overhead. We can find who we are all later, perhaps’

It was then that it hit John just how bad things must be: Laurence was willing to skip formal introductions. 

‘You’d better teach us this spell then Katy’ he said, ‘and hope that those things don’t notice us for a while’

 

Kathleen sat her three students down in the middle of the hillside. The twelve Orbiverdi stood around them in a defensive circle, looking upwards, but they had no weapons. It seemed to the witches that their only role would be to tell them exactly when they were going to be ripped to pieces.

 ‘I can teach you to cast the spell’ said Kathleen, ‘it’s fiddly, but not very demanding’

Lily ran over to where they stood.

‘Then let me do it, too’ she said, ‘I’d like to help’

Celia looked up at her.

‘Well, young lady… um, princess… whoever you are – are you are a witch, too?’

‘No!’ she said, quite affronted, ‘I’m an apprentice mage. Dom said that Witches are a bit rough and ready… ’  

 Kathleen looked up at her and smiled.

‘I’ll teach anyone’ she said vaguely, ‘even a spoilt princess’ 

John frowned – he still really had no idea what was going on. So, now who was Dom? If he was a mage teacher shouldn’t he have heard of him? Celia, in contrast, was ignoring all of this, and just had her head down concentrating.

Step by step Kathleen took them through the spell.  She gave them all a handful of tiny pebbles –then she showed them how to create the bulb around a pebble, and finally the spell to send the bulb into the target.  

They had had to practice without seeds, as they weren’t at all sure that they had enough real ones.  It took some time, but eventually they all picked it up well enough: first Celia, then John just behind her, and then Hardacre, and finally Lily. They were all amazed to find that Lily had considerable magical skill – although Kathleen had to make up some Archaic Elven triggers words for her, as she wouldn’t use ‘witch words’.  The witches had no real intention of using her, however, unless they really had to. 

They knew that all of this would be for nothing if even one of the sky monsters noticed them on the hillside. They had no defence against them. There was already an agreement that if the monsters came before they had mastered the spell then they would all have to try to escape as best they could.

A considerable way into the teaching, and without any warning, the twelve Orbiverdi began to sing. It was an odd song, in fact a rather irritating song: each one sang a different continuous note, hardly taking a breath. The effect was a strange wavering network of sound, which did nothing to assist the witches’ concentration.

After about twenty minutes of this John had had enough of the noise. He turned to the nearest of the Orbiverdi, but then noticed that she was staring intently at the sky. John looked up too. There were four sky monsters hanging above them. They were jostling and pushing to get down to them, but something was in the way; some sort of invisible barrier. Then he realised why they were singing – in this patch of grass and rock they were safe. They had woven a battlement with their song.     

John whispered ‘How long will it last?’  The Orbiverdi didn’t answer and she didn’t move; her eyes were fixed comp­letely on the sky.

John looked back at his colleagues.  His heart began to beat very fast.

‘We should hurry’ he said, quietly. He just hoped that the others wouldn’t look up.

A few minutes later Kathleen was satisfied that they were ready.

John stood up. He kept his eyes firmly on them.   

‘I suggest the following plan: the strongest one of us should go to get Kratos, the rest of us need to take out the rays and create a diversion.  Any dissenters? If there are any, then they better speak now…’

Celia was the first to say anything.  Her face was pale with concern.  

‘John, that’s extraordinarily risky – shouldn’t you take someone with you?’

Hardacre coughed and shot a meaningful look at John. John sighed.

‘We need as many as possible against the monsters. As for Kratos – we probably have to surprise him, or hope that his energy levels are compromised’

He paused, and sighed.

‘And – we have to be realistic about who has the best chance against him’

‘You’ laughed Celia, ‘of course’

Hardacre coughed again.

‘Laurence’ said John, shaking his head, ‘I suggest you tell her’

‘Tell me what?’

‘Miss Franklyn, we think that you should fight Kratos…’

Celia did a double take.

‘Laurence, this seems like a particularly strange time to be making jokes’

 John looked pained but he was very certain.

‘Laurence is right – it has to be you’

Celia blinked, but said nothing. Neither did John or Kathleen. Hardacre knew that it was up to him to explain.

‘Have you ever wondered, Miss Franklyn, why Boo came to you? Why she chose you among all of us?’

Celia stood up, shivering suddenly. She knew exactly why, but she had never admitted it to herself.

‘It was just chance – it could have been any of us…’ she said, ‘I suppose…’

Hardacre was very firm.

‘To spell it out – it was because you had the strongest magical aura of all that she could sense’

Celia shook her head.

‘Oh really – that does seem a bit unlikely…’

Hardacre sighed and summarised.

‘Well, I know the coven very well’ he said, ‘and there is no doubt in my mind that under these circumstances, that you, madam, are the most likely to succeed in this very difficult task. I am also certain that if the entire council were here you’d still be the first choice ’

 ‘How can that be true?’ she said, scanning round at all of them one at a time. None of them said a word until she reached Kathleen, who looked witheringly at her.  

‘Because it is true, you stupid woman’ Kathleen said, ‘and we’re all wasting time’

Celia got up from the floor and shook herself. She nodded her head at Hardacre and Kathleen and then turned to John.

‘We can’t let you go anyway’ she said, ‘you’re irreplaceable…’

John frowned. Is eyes constantly flickered upwards.  They really needed to act. 

‘Are you in or not – irritating friend?’

‘I’m in’ she said, finally, ‘but I think that you must all be insane’