Chapter Fourteen
Our first objective was to retrieve the little box from the garden near Sally’s house. The goblins had been searching for the Stone for nigh on three years and not had any luck. We had no chance without some kind of clue about where to look. Although maybe, I considered as Gabriel and I jogged silently along the Stirling streets, we were in a better position than I’d thought.
I knew the city well; I had contacts and knew secrets that were bound to be useful. Gabriel de Florinville was a Dark Elf; he had power at his fingertips which I could only begin to dream of. And between us we knew where to find a box which, if we could open it, might lead us to the Stone of Scone. Perhaps I’d use it to crown myself Queen of Scotland then I could use my power to expel all goblins from our shores forever. I’d send the current government into exile alongside them. The Prime Minister and his Parliament at Holyrood didn’t deserve a second thought after abandoning Stirling to its three-year siege. Ancient laws be damned; basic human rights had to count for more.
I sneaked a look at Gabriel. I might keep him around – if he stopped going on about this Fior Ghal stuff.
‘How long will it take them to reach James and speak to him?’ I asked.
‘Two days.’
I was taken aback. ‘That long?’ It was a specific and very fast answer. Optimistic suspicion – if there was such a thing – poured through me.
‘If the Filit goblins haven’t worked out that Ange is still alive and not buried under half a ton of Tolbooth rubble, they will soon. Once they’ve finished tearing the city apart, they’ll realise she found a way out and will search for her outside. The Gneiss goblins tried to destroy the Tolbooth, presumably because they knew she was inside and could bring the Filits closer to the Stone. If they couldn’t hear her secrets themselves, they’d prefer to see her dead so that no one else can. But sooner or later they’ll realise that she’s alive and start looking for her. The goblins might have kept the secret of the Stone to themselves but they can’t seem to keep any secrets from themselves. I’ve instructed Rymark to take an obscure route and ensure that no one sees him and Ange. It’s more circuitous and it will take a day or two, but it’s the safest option. The Prime Minister needs to hear from Ange herself.’ He paused. ‘That gives you and I time to find the Stone before he decides what to do with her information.’
‘You think he’ll destroy the entire city.’ I said it quietly, even though my insides were seething.
‘It’s the smart move. Destroying Stirling will either destroy the Stone or bury it for several hundred more years so it will be someone else’s problem.’
My fingers twitched and I tensed them irritably. ‘Everyone inside the city limits will die. There are probably twenty thousand people here and most of them are packed into the centre where they think it’s safer. If James flattens Stirling to protect that chunk of rock, all those people will be killed.’
‘They will be. But if the goblins, be they Filit or Gneiss, harness the Stone of Scone then many more will die.’
‘That doesn’t make it right.’ I glanced at him. ‘If you were the Prime Minister, is this the decision you’d take? Obliterate Stirling and everyone in it?’
‘I’m not him,’ he said.
‘That’s not what I asked.’
Gabriel sighed. ‘I know.’
We turned round a sharp corner towards an old shopping arcade. There was a dry cleaners with dusty windows and a half-smashed glass front door, a small newsagents which had long since been ransacked, a pharmacist which was no doubt in similar straits, and a long-abandoned Chinese restaurant. I sent it a forlorn glance as we passed. ‘I really miss barbecue spare ribs. And prawn crackers.’ To add emphasis, my stomach took that opportunity to grumble.
Gabriel’s mouth tightened. ‘You are very thin.’
‘It’s the special siege diet. When all this is over, I’ll write a book and make gazillions. I’ll use the money to stuff myself with spare ribs and prawn crackers.’ I paused. ‘Followed by five tiers of chocolate cake.’
‘We were assured repeatedly that the citizens remaining in Stirling received weekly rations.’
I laughed bitterly. ‘Sure. We all receive rations – if we’re good.’ I patted my tummy. ‘We get bread which has been bulked out with sawdust and the odd tin of mouldy beans. Maybe, if we’re truly lucky, we’re given half a turnip. We used to get meat but if you pay attention you’ll realise that there aren’t animals round here any more. You might find the odd rat in Marrock’s sewers but there are no horses. No cats. No dogs.’
‘Not everyone is starving.’
‘No. Such is life.’ I shrugged. ‘But don’t try to convince me that you thought everyone in Stirling, regardless of their connections, was fat and glowing and happy. I’m not going to believe you. With respect, Gabriel, you’re not that naïve and you’re not that stupid.’
‘I have tried to help.’
I smiled sadly. ‘You’ve not tried hard enough.’
He took my hand and squeezed it. ‘You are right. I’ve not.’
At least he didn’t try to plead ignorance or suggest that he’d spent the last three years hassling the government to do more, but I still pulled back my hand. He was smart enough not to reach for it again.
We jogged in silence for several uncomfortable seconds until the awkward atmosphere was interrupted by something far more sinister. At first I didn’t think much of it – it was just an odd prickling on the back of my neck – but Gabriel clearly noticed too and slowed to a walk. A lone starling, perched on top of a nearby tenement, flew off with a startled squawk. I didn’t know what was wrong but the air didn’t feel right.
I stopped moving and realised that there was an odd vibration underneath my feet. Gabriel stopped too, a small line creasing his brow. ‘Have the Gneiss goblins ever tried any other kind of bombardment?’
I shook my head. ‘Just air missiles.’ I gnawed on my bottom lip. ‘You don’t think they’d be tunnelling underneath the city, do you?’ It would be one way to get past the barricades without anyone noticing.
‘No.’ Gabriel looked unhappy. ‘It would be strategic suicide. If anyone noticed they were down there, they’d be sitting ducks.’
The earth rumbled, shaking this time with tiny undulations. ‘You feel that, right?’ I said to him. ‘I’m not imagining things?’
Just then, a small fissure opened up by my toes. It was only a crack in the tarmac but it was enough to make me yelp and spring backwards. Unfortunately it wasn’t the only one; as I scrambled back onto the pavement, hundreds of little cracks appeared, a gigantic spider’s web of destruction forming at our feet. A loud rumbling noise rent the air and, instead of gently shaking, the ground began to sway violently.
It was the smell that really gave it away. It was like guano with an edge of blue cheese; it was a familiar, distasteful scent but I’d never experienced it so strongly. More cracks appeared in the walls of the buildings around us; their foundations were crumbling before our eyes.
‘A Mongolian Death Worm,’ Gabriel yelled over the racket.
I nodded, my blood chilling. ‘A freaking massive one.’ I clutched his arm to stop myself from falling. ‘We have to get it. The others are underground – if it comes across them before they get back to the surface…’ The Worms were subterranean creatures. Up here they were vulnerable but underground they were king.
‘Agreed.’ His eyes scanned ahead. ‘Back there near the shops. I’ll force it up at that point.’
I breathed out. ‘Okay. Give me thirty seconds to get behind it so it’s cornered.’ I sprinted forward without waiting for his answer. I heard him yell out something about being careful and rolled my eyes. This wasn’t my first encounter with a Death Worm though it was the first time I’d not been in shadow form.
Despite their name and predatory nature, they were fairly easy to kill once you forced them out into the open. With sightless eyes because of their underground existence, and soft bodies that cou
ld be penetrated easily with a sharp weapon, they were more of a nuisance than anything – unless you were part of an unsuspecting group travelling underground with children and injured people. I’d never seen one larger than the size of a small car but, given what was happening under our feet, this particular Death Worm was far larger.
I scooted towards a crossroads and whirled round. Gabriel was standing stock still, his arms outstretched and his palms turned towards the sky. Even from this distance, I could hear him chanting, his deep voice echoing down the road towards me.
The ground continued to rumble before heaving open with a loud crack that reverberated under my feet. I only just managed to stay upright. The beige head of the Death Worm suddenly reared up in front of me.
It was massive. Even though the fissures in the ground had prepared me for its size, I was taken aback. The rotting smell almost overpowered me but it was the Worm’s vast mouth swinging towards me, with its rows of tiny sharp teeth, that really affected me. Imagine the mouth of a great white shark multiplied at least threefold. The Worm’s jaws hung open as it snapped and I only just managed to throw myself out of the way. I heard Gabriel shout again from behind its rearing body but I couldn’t focus on what he was saying. Right now all I could do was worry about myself.
Breathing through my mouth, I rolled right and forced myself to calm down. I’d dealt with Death Worms before; this creature might be bigger but that didn’t mean it was invincible. As it sensed my movement and its head careered down towards me again, I leapt to my feet and ran, sailing upwards and round until I was behind it. Then I twisted in mid-air so that I landed on its back.
The Worm screeched, immediately putting all its efforts into flinging me off. It shook violently, first one way then another. Its skin was damp and cold to the touch, leaving me covered in a filmy goo wherever I touched it, but I was damned if I was going to let go.
Gabriel shouted again and there was a flare of light as he sent some Dark Elven magic bolt into the Worm directly below my own body. The Death Worm screamed again in agony this time rather than frustration. It writhed while the muscles underneath its slimy skin twitched and tensed. It heaved out of its hole, its tail lashing out as it fought to twist round and face Gabriel head on.
I wrapped one arm tightly round the Worm’s girth, digging my toes into its fleshy folds so that I didn’t slip. Once I was confident that I wasn’t going to slide off, I used my free hand to start searching. This might be a monster but all Death Worms had vulnerable points; one was usually on its belly and the other was somewhere beneath its shoulder blades.
‘Saiya!’ Gabriel yelled. ‘You need to get off! I can’t shoot it again with you in the way!’
I flung out a hand irritably, gritting my teeth as I continued to search. Most of the Death Worm’s body was soft, with springy tissue that shielded it from the wear and tear it would receive while moving around beneath the earth’s surface. I was looking for a hard nub of bone.
Despite my body getting in his way, Gabriel found an opening and sent another bolt of magic towards the Worm. This time the creature was better prepared and decided that enough was enough. After recoiling from the hit, it hissed loudly and whipped its tail. It took a moment to breathe in before lunging forward. It wasn’t built for defence; Death Worms were so-called because they preferred to be on the attack.
It slithered towards Gabriel with preternatural speed, mouth opening as it drew close enough to snap. Gabriel gave a loud war cry and leapt backwards, managing twice the height and distance that I would have been capable of. It didn’t matter though; the Death Worm had him in its sights now and wasn’t going to give up however far Gabriel jumped. It lunged again and this time I felt it collide with Gabriel, knocking him off-balance. Although my heart was hammering against my ribcage, I didn’t look up. The only way either of us was getting out of this was if I found the weak spot I was looking for.
The tips of my fingers sneaked under yet another fold of pale, flabby skin, brushing against something furry that sent a rippling shudder of disgust through me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Gabriel was back on his feet again. He was more sensible this time and dived to his right to shelter behind a garden fence. It was only flimsy wood and it wouldn’t hold for long but it would give him cover to regain some of his strength. And at least I knew he was still breathing.
The Death Worm seemed unimpressed at this lack of bravado. It reared up, flinging its body backwards. My left foot slipped and I felt my arm, which was wrapped round the thing’s neck, starting to slide as well. I cursed under my breath and squeezed my eyes shut, stopping my desperate search in favour of doing everything I could to stay on its back.
The Death Worm lashed out, using the side of its long head to smash against the fence and break the brittle wood into smithereens. Gabriel thrust out his hands and another bolt of magic flashed out from his fingertips. It streaked through the air and smacked into the Death Worm’s left flank but I knew without looking that the magic hadn’t penetrated its tough hide. Gabriel de Florinville might have extraordinary power at his disposal but, unless he knew where the Death Worm’s vulnerable spots were, he had no hope it bringing it down. Fortunately, I did.
As the Worm jerked away from what must have been searing pain, I found it jutting out from underneath one of the flaps. The bone was horn shaped; all I had to do was to grab it, yank it upwards and snap it off. I’d only get one chance and it was a two-handed job. I needed the Worm flat on the ground for this to work.
‘Gabriel!’ I yelled. ‘I have it! I need you to run! I need to be flat, not riding this damn thing like a prancing pony! Let it chase you!’
Gabriel’s eyes fixed on me with an unfathomably dark expression. He nodded and did as I asked, turning on his heel and sprinting away. The Death Worm, apparently sensing that it finally had its prey where it wanted it, slammed down and started to follow. It could move faster on its belly – but now I was virtually horizontal, I could do what I needed to.
With a hole running the length of the street, Gabriel’s options were few. Instead of streaking ahead in a straight line, he was forced to jump to the far side where the pavement lay. The pavement was ruptured, however, and every time he reached another gaping fissure, he slowed as he bounded over it. The Death Worm’s size meant that it could slither across each gap with barely a bump.
With the Worm’s muscles rippling underneath me, I raised myself upwards, my feet flat against its back. I brought up my arm until I was gripping the hooked curve of bone with both hands. Swinging this way and that, I yanked upwards as hard as I could and almost immediately there was a cracking sound as the bone gave way.
At the same time, the Worm reached Gabriel, its jaws snapping at him. No longer able to run, Gabriel was forced to face the monster. He flicked out a bolt of magic just as it slammed him down to the ground. Wishing I still had my knife, but knowing I’d have to do this the hard way, I raised one hand to jam it into the gap created by breaking the jutting bone so I could pull out the Worm’s main artery. As I did so, the Worm belatedly realised the danger it was in and let out another ear-splitting shriek. Then, abandoning Gabriel, it slammed against a wall, doing everything it could to shake me off.
Breathing hard, I tried again but the Death Worm wasn’t giving up. This time, it started to roll; if it couldn’t throw me off, it would use its bulk to squish me flat. The Worm flipped and darkness descended as its body covered me. I punched my way through, feeling for the artery and pulling it upwards. As the Worm’s body crashed down on top of me, scalding hot liquid gushed out of it. The Worm had scant seconds left – but then, so did I.
The weight of its body pressed me down. With hard cement against my back and the flesh of the heavy Worm on top of me, I could no longer breathe. I tried to squeeze my head to the left to gulp in air but it was no good. The damn thing was too heavy.
Its body convulsed, deep in sudden death throes, but that didn’t help me, pinned as I was. I couldn’t see anythin
g. I braced myself to separate my shadow; it was just possible there was enough of a gap through which my wraith form could slide out and shove the Worm away.
I squeezed my eyes shut then abruptly I was free. The Worm’s body rolled off me. Covered in slimy gunk and warm blood, gasping for air, I used my legs to push myself to safety.
Standing at the side, with crossed arms and a smug expression, Gabriel smiled at me. ‘You’re welcome.’ There was a nasty gash on his cheek where the Worm’s teeth must have slashed him but otherwise he appeared unharmed. He was also annoyingly clean.
Pulling myself to my feet, I shook off the worst of the dripping blood and scowled. I smelled like a sewer. Worse. As something disturbingly viscous slid down my forehead and threatened to blind me, I used my sleeve to wipe my face. Yuckity yuck yuck.
‘I think you’ll find,’ I said with a huff, ‘that I was the one who killed it.’
Gabriel’s smile widened. ‘You did. You were fabulous.’
Somehow his praise made me even more uncomfortable. ‘I’ve never seen a Worm that big before,’ I muttered.
He walked over to me. ‘Indeed.’ He turned to eye the Worm’s corpse, which was lying flaccidly against the gigantic fissure it had created. ‘But at least it’s proved good for something.’
I couldn’t possibly see what. ‘I’ve tried Worm meat before,’ I said with a sniff. ‘It’s inedible.’
Something dark and horrified flickered in Gabriel’s eyes before he masked it. ‘That’s not what I meant,’ he said stiffly. ‘Death Worms of this size live far below the surface. They don’t tend to come this close to us unless they have a very good reason.’ He gave me a meaningful glance. ‘The goblins must have driven it out.’
‘Why on earth would they do that?’ I said, without thinking. A Death Worm would kill goblins just as quickly as it would kill the rest of us. Then I realised what he was referring to. ‘They’re drilling underground,’ I breathed. ‘They think the Stone of Scone is buried somewhere.’