Longfang (18 page)

‘What does it say?’ Kira asked, trying to banish any eagerness from her voice.

‘It’s not easy to read,’ Conrad said slowly. ‘But I think it says: “Not Darkenfell. Castle of Shadows. Night . . .” then there is one final word that might be
“drag” or “drags”. He didn’t finish it, so I can’t be sure.’

‘Could it be “dragons”?’ Nolita asked.

‘He could have been trying to write “dragons”, but it’s impossible to say for sure,’ the scholar replied. ‘Does the message mean anything to you?’

‘I don’t know,’ Kira replied, eyeing the people around cautiously. ‘It might do. It appears that whoever left the scrap of parchment with “Darken-fell”
written on it was looking to mislead us. Has anyone heard of a Castle of Shadows?’

Kira turned in a slow, deliberate circle. She was surrounded by pale-faced scholars whose expressions varied between shock, sadness and outrage. Was one of them a murderer? Would the killer stay
to see if he had achieved his aim? Her instincts told her the killer was gone.

‘Yes. I have,’ a young scholar volunteered. ‘There’s a ghost story set in a place called the Castle of Shadows. I remember the author’s note in the front said the
castle was based on a real castle. I think it’s in northern Orupee.’

‘Could you check for me?’ Kira asked. ‘It’s very important.’

‘Of course. I’ll do it at once.’

Northern Orupee! thought Kira. That’s not far. If he’s right, we could reach the next orb within two or three days. Kira reached out with her mind.
‘Fang? Can you hear
me?’
she called, concentrating all her will on reaching out through the bond. Nothing. Not a whisper. She felt no sense of his presence at all.
‘Fang? Have you seen any sign of
night dragons?’
Still nothing. He was out of range of her thoughts. He and Firestorm had been gone a long time. Were they still bathing in the sea? Kira’s instincts began to twitch
again. Something was wrong.

Chapter Sixteen

As Aurora descended in a gentle arc to land in the meadow near the campsite the riders had used before, Elian’s mind was elsewhere. He was trying to picture the Castle of
Shadows. It would take about two days to fly there, but once they reached it – what then? They could not retrieve the orb without Kira, so was there any point in going there? If only they had
not got separated, the penultimate step of the quest would be firmly in sight . . . if only.

Aurora refused to talk about the castle. If dragons deliberately avoided it, then it was obviously not a place to wait around in. There had been a distinct sense of dread through the bond when
she told him of its reputation.

Pell had suggested returning to their old campsite for some breakfast and Elian was happy to oblige, though he was not sure if he should be eating breakfast or supper.

They had left through the dawn gateway from Isaa into France. Despite the journey taking an instant, they had arrived in the other world just before dusk. He had then been awake all night, as
his body still felt it was daytime. At dawn in France, just as he was ready to rest, they had opened another gateway. This time they arrived before dawn in the mountains of Orupee. His eyes felt
tired, as if it were late evening, but the day was just beginning. It was weird and disorienting.

As they landed behind Shadow and Pell, a movement between the trees caught Elian’s eye. It took a moment for his mind to process what he was seeing and another for him to react.

‘LOOK OUT!’ he yelled at the top of his voice. ‘THE TREES!’

Both dragons and Pell turned as one. It was too late to avoid the volley of weapons totally, but Elian’s warning saved the dragons from certain death. Aurora could not dodge the first
spear, but instead of it striking the middle of her body, it hammered into the muscle high on her right foreleg. The piercing agony of it lanced through the bond. Elian clutched his right bicep, as
the muscle burned with an empathic shock of pain.

For a few heartbeats the air was full of weapons. Aurora swept her tail around to protect her torso as three more spears thudded home into the dense muscle along its length, sending further
shocks of pain down Elian’s back. Aurora opened her great jaws and roared with anger and pain. It was a primeval bellow that would have sent any normal foe scrambling for safety, but the
hunters did not retreat. Even as he clutched his right arm with his left, another spear brushed the tops of Elian’s thighs, whistling past with deadly momentum, whilst a further weapon lodged
at a shallow angle across the nape of Aurora’s long neck.

Shadow had also taken several hits. Her heavy natural armour had deflected some of the weapons, but one was caught under the leading edge of her right wing where the main muscle joined the wing
to the body. Two more had penetrated her tail, which she too had instinctively used to protect herself.

‘Shadow! No!’
Aurora’s mental cry to her fellow dragon reverberated through the bond, sounding deafening inside Elian’s head.

The night dragon was incensed. She opened her mouth and let out an ear-splitting scream of defiance. She was preparing to strike back.

‘It’s a trap, Shadow. Don’t do it,’
Aurora continued.
‘They want us to fight back. Come. Follow me. We need to get away now. Can you still
fly?’

Elian did not hear Shadow’s reply, but her posture changed and he could tell that Aurora had got through to her. He was surprised to have heard Aurora’s words spoken to Shadow. He
normally only heard her voice when she was directing thoughts at him through the bond.

‘Good. Follow me. We need to get out of their reach.’

It was strange to hear just one side of the conversation, but Elian felt more than able to fill in the blanks. Aurora broke into a launch run, her powerful back legs driving away from the danger
at a formidable rate of acceleration. Elian felt spikes of pain as the spears bounced with every muscle movement. Her gait was awkward as she tried not to put too much weight on her right foreleg,
but she got up to flying speed quickly and was soon powering up into the air.

Once airborne and climbing away with a steady rhythm, Elian looked back over his shoulder to make sure Pell and Shadow were following. They were, but Shadow was struggling to fly with the spear
stuck in her right wing. It was obvious they would not be able to go far. Further back, Elian could see the hunters bringing horses out from between the trees. It seemed the men on the ground would
not give up now they had drawn blood.

‘How bad are your wounds, Ra?’
he asked, leaning over to look at the spear sticking from her right foreleg.

‘Bad enough, but they will not cause lasting trouble if we can draw the weapons soon,’
she replied.

Elian’s arm, neck and lower back throbbed with sympathetic pain. He did not know how she could make her mental voice sound so casual given that she had a fistful of spears lodged in
various parts of her body.

‘I don’t understand, Ra,’
Elian admitted.
‘If those are the same men who attacked us before, why are they so set on hunting us? I thought they’d give up
after seeing Shadow eat their leader, Kasau.’

‘I am not sure I understand, either,’
Aurora replied.
‘Most dragonhunters do it for the money. There are those who will pay vast amounts for dragonbone, but this
feels different. I don’t think their new leader is entirely human.’

‘Not entirely human? What do you mean?’

‘There is something strange about his mind,’
she said, choosing her words carefully.
‘Kasau, their old leader, felt the same way. I have entertained a suspicion ever
since our first encounter, but have been reluctant to mention it until now. If I were to make a guess, I would say their leader is a joining.’

‘A joining? What’s a joining?’

Aurora thought for a moment before answering.
‘Explaining a joining is not easy,’
she admitted.
‘Humans name them differently around the world. The man looks normal
on the outside, but there is a race of unseen creatures, bodiless and often malevolent, that can only express themselves by invading and using the minds and bodies of others. I think one of these
creatures has joined with the leader of these hunters.’

‘Demons!’ Elian breathed. ‘You’re talking about demons,’ he added with more volume. ‘Are you saying he’s possessed?’

‘I’ve heard humans use this expression when talking about joinings,’
she admitted.
‘It is not an entirely accurate description, as the person who has been
invaded still has limited control over his mind and body. The “demon”, for want of a better name, will normally encourage behaviour in the host body that furthers its own agenda. A
joining enjoys abilities beyond those of normal humans, but the relationship between host and hosted is not symbiotic. The spirit creature is very much a parasite. Any benefits the host body gains
are granted only to further the aims of its invader and are often self-destructive.’

‘If Kasau was possessed, did the demon die when Shadow ate him?’
Elian asked.

‘No, the spirit creature part of a joining cannot be harmed in that way,’
she said.
‘It will have transferred itself to another host body in the instant of
Kasau’s death. I expect it preselected him as the best available host. Demons have ever harboured a deep hatred for dragonkind. This one must have begun trailing us from the moment we first
met. When Kasau led the dragonhunters into attacking our campsite that night at the meadow, he was expecting two dragons. The presence of Firestorm and Shadow took him by surprise.’

The thought of being selected as a host for a demon sent a shudder down Elian’s spine. He was still coming to terms with the sensation of his bond with Aurora, but the idea of something
invading him and taking over his mind was repulsive.

‘Do not worry, Elian. Your mind is safe whilst I live,’
Aurora assured him.
‘One of the reasons these creatures are hostile towards dragons is that they cannot invade
our minds. Once the bond is in place with a rider, you become immune to their abilities. If I am killed, you will become vulnerable, but I am not in a hurry to die just yet.’

‘I’m glad to hear that.’
Elian’s stomach churned as he considered what might have happened if he had not spotted the first hunter making his throw. He looked back
to see where the others were.
‘How is Shadow doing?’
he asked.
‘That spear in her wing doesn’t look good.’

‘She is struggling,’
Aurora admitted.
‘I have felt better, too. We cannot go far. Shadow needs to land and have the spears removed soon, but we also need to get as
far from those hunters as we can. The joining will push his men relentlessly. No doubt they are being fed dreams of wealth. Little short of death will deter them now. However, most dragons do not
kill except as a last resort.’

‘What about Shadow eating Kasau?’
asked Elian.
‘The hunters were running away when she did that. That was hardly a last resort.’

‘True,’
she said.
‘But Shadow is not like most dragons.’

‘You. Here. Now!’

Husam barked out the order like a military drill instructor. His accusing finger singled out the man he was addressing. The hunter looked over both shoulders, half hoping the hunt leader was
pointing at someone behind him.

‘Yes, you!’ Husam snapped, his strangely mismatched eyes narrowing with anger and his finger now pointing at the spot on the ground he wished the man to occupy.

Tembo watched in silence as the man Husam had singled out stepped forwards. The unfortunate hunter’s eyes were wary and his face was draining of colour. Husam waited, motionless until the
man was standing right in front of him. The rest of the hunters shuffled about uneasily. Those who had known Kasau remembered how intolerant he had been of error. Husam now had the same strange
discolouration in one of his eyes. Would he demonstrate the same brutal code as the silent hunter had before him?

‘You did not wait for my command. You threw early and drew their attention,’ Husam accused, his body stiff with anger.

‘Did I? I thought—’

‘No, you did not think!’ Husam interrupted. ‘If a whisper of thought had entered your mind, you would have known to hold your position until I gave the word. If you had not
been so impatient those dragons would be dead or at the very least, mortally wounded. Thanks to you, we’re now faced with a long chase. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you
where you stand.’

The man did not answer. His face was white and his hands were trembling. Tembo eased forwards slowly, searching Husam’s face for signs of his old friend. He was not the man who had set out
with him from Racafi. This Husam was different. Something had changed him. Somehow he had inherited Kasau’s cold aura. Husam had always been focused, but never with the burning intensity that
he was displaying now. The change had come immediately after Kasau’s death. What had happened that night?