The Hunting of the Princes

  Slivers of magical light wove out of Lantic’s rings to coil round a soldier gol. But it slashed its sword down, slicing the enchantments, and blasting a fantail of sparks up from the concrete floor where the tip struck.

  ‘Oh great Heavens,’ Lantic gulped.

  ‘Bring the roof down,’ Sophie shouted. ‘Bury them.’

  Taggie didn’t see any alternative. She pointed her hand up, and chanted ‘Droiak’, trying to restrain the magic, to make it cleave into the vaulting bricks at an angle. That way the entire place wouldn’t come crashing down.

  A barrage of shattered bricks came thundering down on top of the first soldier gol, pummelling it to the ground. Taggie aimed again. ‘Droiak.’

  Thick clouds of choking dust billowed along the corridor. She squinted through it all at the vast pile of broken brick and rubble she’d brought down on top of the gols. There was a gap above it they could still scramble over to reach whatever had glinted.

  ‘Well done,’ Sophie said, waving the dust away from her face.

  Felix and Jem peered round the corner of the room they’d been investigating. ‘What happened?’ Felix asked. He held a firestar in one paw, ready to throw it.

  ‘Soldier gols,’ Sophie said. ‘They were waiting for us. Don’t worry, Taggie got them.’

  ‘I don’t understand what enchantments control them,’ Lantic said in a muffled voice. He was holding a handkerchief over his nose and mouth. ‘It shouldn’t have been able to resist my reorder.’

  Taggie grinned at him. Every inch of his clothes and skin were caked in dust, and she knew she’d be looking equally silly. ‘That’s the thing about magic. You never know—’

  Something went crunch behind her. She spun round. Another crunch came from the pile of rubble. Several bricks tumbled down the side. A sword stabbed up into the dusty air.

  ‘Oh no,’ she groaned. They’d have to run for it. And that meant soldier gols charging round Stamford, their swords slicing through anything and anyone who got in their way. ‘No. No. No!’

  Lantic was scrambling desperately through the satchel.

  ‘Run!’ Taggie yelled. She knew she’d have to bring the entire branch tunnel down behind them, and hope that would stop the soldier gols.

  ‘No,’ Lantic said. He was stumbling towards the pile of debris as a gol’s arm punched up. ‘We have to stop them.’ He coughed, sucking down a laboured breath.

  ‘We have to leave,’ Felix shouted. ‘Now!’

  ‘Lantic,’ Taggie squealed fearfully. ‘Come back.’

  A huge section of the rubble heaved apart, and a gol’s head and shoulders emerged. Taggie was horrified. She’d have to trap Lantic in here with the soldier gols.

  ‘Come back!’ she yelled.

  Lantic was coughing constantly. ‘Wait,’ he implored. Finally he found what he’d been looking for in the bulging satchel. His hand pulled out an anamage spider the size of a field mouse.

  A second soldier gol burst out of the rubble. Lantic hurriedly dropped the spider, then fished out a second. The third soldier gol bulldozed its way free. Lantic lobbed a spider at it, and half fell back down the rubble. Then he tripped. Taggie screamed. Sophie shot another bolt into the shoulder joint of the formidable clay arm that was slamming down to crush him. It slowed, emitting a screech she thought would puncture her ears.

  ‘Ti-Hath,’ Taggie cried. A protective shield of air curved over Lantic, instantly solidifying. The soldier gol’s fist bounced off it.

  ‘Get out,’ Sophie shouted.

  Lantic didn’t need any urging. He scrambled forward, his whole face red as he tried desperately to breathe. Behind him the soldier gol raised its arm again. Then stopped. Its blank head tipped forward in confusion. One of the anamage spiders was racing round and round its legs, moving with astonishing speed. A slim gossamer thread spun out behind it. The soldier gol tried to swipe the annoyance off its legs. And missed. The gap between its legs was rapidly vanishing under a web of gossamer. It swiped again and again, missing each time. Then it stopped trying to catch the spider, and tugged at the gossamer binding its legs. The gossamer was too strong, it didn’t snap or tear. And the spider was now spiralling about the gol’s torso. Behind it, the other two soldier gols were struggling inside the gossamer cocoons that were swiftly engulfing them.

  It took another minute, but the spiders completely swaddled the soldier gols. They tumbled over, becoming motionless statues of soft white silk.

  ‘Lantic,’ Taggie said in the silence that followed. ‘That was amazing.’

  ‘Very useful indeed,’ Sophie conceded.

  Lantic wheezed down a breath. ‘Asthma,’ he choked out.

  Sophie and Taggie grabbed an elbow each, and hauled him out of the cavern and back down the tunnel until the air was clear of dust. He sat with his back to the wall, trying to recover, with Jem and Sophie fussing over him. Taggie and Felix made their way cautiously back to the munitions dump station.

  ‘Majesty,’ Felix said awkwardly when they reached tiny platform.

  ‘What?’ she asked, a little sharply – but then the munitions dump made her very nervous.

  ‘It is not my position to offer comment. However, do you think Prince Lantic would have been quite so eager to risk himself under ordinary circumstances?’

  ‘I hardly think this qualifies as ordinary circumstances,’ she said, waving round the station. At the same time she could feel her embarrassment growing.

  The squirrel swished his tail about. ‘I was referring to the courage enchantment you used on him earlier.’

  ‘Oh.’ Taggie flinched. She certainly hadn’t realized Felix had seen her do it. ‘Felix, I really had to talk to Lady Dirikal.’

  ‘I appreciate that, Majesty. But were there no other options?’

  She wanted to say, ‘No quick ones,’ but that would make her sound even more selfish. ‘Probably,’ she mumbled, wishing she didn’t feel so bad. I got what I needed at the time, she thought. And right there and then, when she really didn’t need it, up from her memory came the image of Queen Judith in the Hall of Council: arrogant and victorious as she won the argument about who was behind the assassins, manipulating everyone for her advantage. Taggie pulled a face at the vision. It was a horrifying thought that she might turn out like her aunt.

  ‘I won’t be doing it again,’ she said firmly. ‘And anyway, I don’t think it lasts this long.’

  ‘You might be right. The prince may well believe he has something to prove. To someone,’ Felix said primly. And with that he scampered off over some of the rubble.

  Frowning at the squirrel’s somewhat enigmatic statement, Taggie followed him over the rubble. She gave the immobilized soldier gols a wide berth as she scrambled into the storage room the contraptions had been guarding. The shiny object on top of the oil drum was a fat ring, measuring just over a foot in diameter, made from thick strands of gold and ebony twined together. She picked it up cautiously, feeling the dark magic it contained. It was a very potent artefact, she could tell, but it didn’t react to her touch.

  Her charmsward bands turned. ‘Evoloor,’ she chanted: an exposure charm, which should show her the nature of the dark magic she could sense in the ring. Except the charm didn’t work on it. Whatever the ring contained, it wasn’t giving up its secrets easily.

  Lantic was looking a lot better when she got back to him.

  ‘You have asthma and you went deeper into all that dust?’ Taggie reproached him. ‘That was mad.’

  He coughed again and spat out some dust. ‘The gols had to be stopped. I knew my spiders would do the job.’

  ‘Thank you. It was also very brave, but please don’t do it again.’ She hoped she didn’t look as guilty as she felt.

  He smiled weakly. ‘What did you find in there?’

  Taggie held up the ring for them all to see.

  ‘Is that a dark gate?’ Jemima asked.

  ‘I’ve no idea,’ Taggie admitted.

  A QUICK TRIP TO THE FOURTH REALM
br />   By the time they’d walked back to the railway station they still had forty minutes to wait until the next bus back, so they all trooped into Cafe Black on the corner of Stamford High Street and Ironmonger Street. It was a light, airy establishment, with modern white tables and chairs. All of which made Taggie conscious of how grubby they looked. They sat at a table near the back, and put Felix’s canvas bag on the floor.

  ‘Banana milkshake, please,’ a smiling Jemima said to the waitress behind the counter. She’d learned a while ago that if she was polite, the staff added marshmallows to the shake for her. She and Taggie called it the ‘Felix Special’ – he did so adore marshmallows.

  ‘Hot chocolate, with marshmallows,’ Taggie said. ‘Do you have ice cream in your city?’ she asked Lantic.

  ‘Er, no, I don’t think so,’ he said, which earned him a strange look from the waitress.

  ‘One strawberry ice cream,’ Taggie ordered, hoping that would go some way to making up for the courage enchantment.

  ‘Two,’ Sophie said quickly; ice cream was one part of the Outer Realm she thoroughly approved of.

  After the waitress brought their orders over, Felix poked his head up out of the canvas bag, twitching his nose about. ‘So what exactly are soldier gols doing guarding Lord Golzoth’s left luggage?’ he asked.

  Jemima and Taggie automatically started giving him their marshmallows.

  ‘Someone in the Second Realm must be smuggling gol parts out,’ Lantic said with an expression of disapproval. ‘But I cannot believe any battlemage house would be so corrupt as to sell them to the Grand Lord.’

  ‘Maybe not directly,’ Sophie said. ‘But Golzoth certainly wound up owning some soldier gols – today proved that. The Karraks will be using minions to do their dirty work as always. Greedy people who don’t care who they trade with as long as they make a profit.’ She popped some ice cream in her mouth and smiled contentedly.

  ‘They weren’t enchanted with any normal animation magic,’ Lantic admitted glumly. He gave his scoop of ice cream a suspicious sniff, and put a tiny piece in his mouth. ‘Oh wow! It’s freezing, and it’s delicious!’

  Taggie grinned at him as he started scooping up more strawberry ice cream. The sight of him enjoying himself made her feel a lot happier.

  ‘Those crates in the munitions dump were definitely the same as I saw in Shatha’hal,’ Jemima said thoughtfully.

  ‘What was in them?’ Sophie asked.

  ‘Nothing,’ Jem said with a sigh. ‘They were empty.’

  ‘This is not good, Majesty,’ Felix said. He used a forepaw to scrape some sticky marshmallow from his tiny teeth. ‘Karrak Lords deploying squads of soldier gols would be a formidable adversary in any battle.’

  ‘And that metal attachment Jemima sighted was definitely from this Realm,’ Lantic said, giving his empty bowl a forlorn look. ‘But what could it be for?’

  ‘They’re up to something,’ Taggie said. ‘Assassinating young royals and smuggling weapons from various Realms is all too much for a coincidence. The Grand Lord is deliberately provoking this war. He must believe he’s capable of winning it.’ She gave her friends a pensive look. ‘I’m really concerned about what the Grand Lord is planning on equipping his army with. Lantic, you’ve no idea how awful Outer Realm weapons can be.’

  Felix finished the last marshmallow. ‘We’ll never find out just by sitting here, Majesty. Perhaps you should consider informing the War Emperor about this development before we venture into the Fourth Realm? You have the right to address the Gathering of Kings and Queens. They could launch an inquiry.’

  ‘We have no proof,’ Taggie said. ‘Jemima’s sight through a sealed crate, more empty crates turning up here, and some leftover soldier gols that shouldn’t be in this Realm. That isn’t enough – not for the Gathering. I know that now,’ she said bleakly. ‘They’ll laugh me out of the Hall, them and their clever slippery words. The next time I face them, it will have to be with something nobody can deny.’

  ‘So we’re going to the Fourth Realm, then?’ Sophie asked with a gleam in her eye.

  ‘Probably,’ Taggie said. She glanced down at the bag with the gold and ebony ring which hung round her neck. ‘If we can just find out what this thing actually is.’

  ‘It is a gate which came from the Dark Universe,’ Arasath told them when Taggie held the ring up in front of the door at the bottom of the roundadown.

  ‘Really?’ Taggie said eagerly. She and Sophie high-fived, while Jem and Lantic grinned broadly. ‘So I was right. This is how Golzoth followed us all those times.’

  ‘He was seriously tricky,’ Jemima said bleakly.

  ‘But we’ve got it now,’ Sophie said triumphantly. ‘We can be the sneaky ones.’

  ‘Indeed.’

  ‘How does it work?’

  ‘I will talk to it,’ Arasath said. ‘Bring it to me.’

  The handle-less door swung open, Instead of the usual brick tunnel, it now revealed a cupboard with a single shelf. Taggie put the ring on the shelf, and backed away as the door swung shut. Then she was left waiting expectantly for longer than she hoped.

  ‘It is locked, of course, which is why it would not respond to you,’ Arasath said eventually. ‘Golzoth placed it under his authority. A moment . . . It has been an age since I dabbled in such enchantments. None of the Universal Fellowship have ever talked to a gate of the Dark Universe before.’

  ‘What’s it saying?’ Jemima asked impatiently.

  ‘Ah, it has nothing to say for it is not as we are. This is more anamage contraption than living soul.’

  ‘Oh.’ Taggie didn’t know if she should be disappointed or not. The door opened, and Taggie retrieved the ring. It didn’t look any different. ‘Can we use it?’ she asked.

  ‘The dark gate is ancient, beyond even my years,’ Arasath said. ‘And so tired that I feel fatigued simply by talking to it. Though it is not alive, it is near the end of its life. The Dark Lords did not treat it with respect. However, I have now released it from Golzoth’s servitude. So, in order for it to serve you, you must have a clear picture of the place you wish to travel to. Show your destination to the dark gate using a portrayal enchantment. Once you have done that, use the ordinary opening enchantment, and it will take all those who are holding it.’

  Taggie gave the Dark Gateway an admiring look. ‘Is that all?’

  ‘Yes. But you must give it a precise picture of your destination; and I do not believe it is capable of opening more than three or four times before it is finally spent.’

  ‘I understand. Thank you.’

  ‘You are welcome, Queen of Dreams. Do you wish to return to the First Realm?’

  ‘No thank you. Not right now.’ She bowed in thanks, and made her way up the roundadown.

  They sat in a circle in the middle of the orchard. Above them, bees buzzed lazily between the blossom. More of the tiny white petals burst open eagerly in the presence of the Blossom Princess.

  ‘We can go anywhere we want,’ Lantic said with satisfaction. ‘Anywhere at all. How fantastic is that?’

  ‘But only three or four times,’ Sophie said soberly.

  ‘We can only rely on three,’ Taggie said. ‘So we must be very careful which destinations we choose.’

  ‘Getting into the Fourth Realm without the Karrak Lords knowing has to be the first,’ Lantic said.

  ‘Yes,’ Taggie agreed cautiously.

  ‘Arasath said we have to know the place we want to travel to,’ Jemima insisted.

  ‘I know. Felix, can you think of the best place in the Fourth Realm for us to start?’

  The squirrel became very still. ‘Majesty, I have never set foot in the Realm my family fled from.’

  ‘You must have seen pictures.’

  ‘Well yes. There is a painting of our old family home in the house I grew up in. It hangs above the fire in our parlour.’

  ‘That’ll have to do, then,’ Taggie said.

  ‘Er, I’ve heard it’s cold in the Fou
rth Realm,’ Lantic said.

  ‘Very cold indeed, now,’ Felix agreed.

  ‘Perhaps some preparation, then, before we depart?’

  Taggie and Jemima went into the cottage, where the caretakers made up sandwiches and flasks of hot chocolate for everyone, which Jemima packed into their old school lunchboxes. Then the sisters went through the hall wardrobe, picking out a selection of winter coats and boots. By the time they’d all put them on in the orchard, they were hot and sweaty.

  ‘Everybody ready?’ Taggie asked. She held up the dark gate.

  One by one they gripped the ring.

  Felix closed his eyes. His pointed nose twitched as if he was smelling something. ‘Caravaz el thrain,’ he chanted softly.

  The middle of the ring glowed with a hazy light. Taggie thought she was looking through a thin grey mist at a lovely long house. There was a lawn in front of it running down to a river, and the slope behind was covered by an oak forest.

  It certainly seemed like a real place.

  The charmsward bands slid round, the door aligning with a puff of wind. ‘Seseeamie.’

  The orchard started to rotate around them. Jemima gasped at the sudden movement. Then the mist was rising out of the ring to envelop them, turning the orchard distant. Sunlight dimmed as if evening had rushed up on them, and now there was nothing visible beyond the mist.

  Taggie realized the image in the ring was now the orchard. Her head came up. The mist was withering away. When she exhaled, her breath was white in the air. And breathing in revealed just how cold that air was. She was looking at the house Felix’s portrayal enchantment had summoned up. Except the light and life had been drained from the real thing. The house had faded to grey, its windows black and cracked, with a roof which had sagged under a thick mantle of snow. More snow enveloped the flat area at the front which had been the lawn. The river was frozen. On the slope behind, the oak trees were reduced to melancholy ice sculptures, sad shadows of their former vibrant selves. They were also slimed with tendrils of frost fungus which had swamped the entire woodland with insidious sallow fronds. Clusters of grape-sized spores hung from the branches, pulsating slowly.