Maze Running and other Magical Missions (12 page)

“Did she believe you?” Helen asked from the darkness of the blindfold.

“She didn’t eat you.”

“But Lee, can you order the whole faery army to fight for you?”

“Not yet. But perhaps I will eventually. In the Great Dragon’s long view, ‘eventually’ is the blink of an eye. She wouldn’t risk me taking revenge even in hundreds of your years’ time.”

Rona called from the end of the line on dragonback, “We’re all blindfolded, Sapphire, you can go.”

As Helen felt the dragon lurch upwards, she asked, slightly louder, “So Lee, if it would help Yann, could you threaten the Master in the same way?”

“No, the minotaur is working to a mortal timetable. He wants power now, and I don’t yet have the power to oppose him.”

Helen nodded. But she still had more questions. “When you spoke to the dragon, did you turn into something else?”

Lee laughed. “My glamour works on different beings in different ways. For you, I glamour a human boy, which is almost the same as my own true form. For a dragon, I glamour something else. Something 
she can understand. Something she has reason to fear.”

“That Great Dragon was afraid of you?”

“Of course,” Lee said calmly. And Helen wondered whether she should be grateful for, or wary of, the faery’s protection.

It wasn’t possible to talk to everyone on Sapphire’s back as they flew away from the Great Hall through cold wet clouds, so Helen stayed quiet during the flight.

When the dragon landed at Cauldhame Moor, they pulled off their blindfolds and leapt down, then all turned to look at Helen.

She took a deep breath. “The good news is that the dragons won’t get in our way again. I persuaded the Great Dragon to call off Crag, Jewel and the rest. The bad news is more complicated…”

Helen paused. On the flight, she’d decided not to tell her friends all the bad news. She didn’t want to admit that one of them might be eaten for breakfast tomorrow if they let the Master get a token, because she didn’t think that knowing the danger they were in would help anyone save Yann.

“The bad news is I know why Yann was injured. The Master injured Yann so that we would search for the tokens. Presumably, if Yann had agreed to work for him, the Master would have asked Yann to find the tokens. But when Yann refused, the Master injured him so we would collect them.”

Lavender shook her head. “No, he must have 
intended to injure Yann all along, because the healing tokens wouldn’t give themselves to someone working to help evil.”

Lee nodded. “I thought that injury was too perfect. So it was a trap to injure Yann, to force us to do the Master’s bidding.” He frowned. “I don’t like being manipulated.”

Sylvie muttered, “You manipulate everyone else…”

Helen broke in before the wolf-girl and the faery, who had a temporary truce rather than a friendship, started to argue. “I also discovered that the Three are playing both sides. They’re happy to heal Yann
and
the Master, hoping both of them will cause more injuries and pain. But there’s worse news than that. The Master doesn’t just want to heal the blind eye and scars you gave him, Catesby. With the Three’s help at the equinox, a healing token can give him the power to see everyone’s weaknesses.”

Her friends looked concerned, even frightened. They understood how dangerous that power could be.

“So we
can’t
let him get the token. Agreed?”

She looked round at everyone whose life had been threatened by the Great Dragon. No one disagreed.

Helen sighed, then kept talking to cover her relief. “The other bad news is that I’d planned to ask about the king’s footprint, but I made a mess of the last question, so the Great Dragon didn’t tell me where it is. However she did confirm it exists.” Helen looked up at the sun, already well past noon. “We only have a few hours left. And we still don’t know where the king’s footprint is…” 

“Yes, we do,” said Lee. “I’ve studied places and objects which confer royal power. Long ago the Kings of Dalriada were crowned by standing in a carved stone footprint in Argyll. The new king placed his foot in the carving to connect with the land. Perhaps that connection to the land’s power gives the footprint healing force too.”

“Where is it?” Helen asked.

“On Dunadd, a hill fort in Kilmartin.” Lee grinned.

Helen smiled back. “Excellent! But why didn’t you tell us this yesterday?”

“Lavender was right, with no rain it was an unnecessary distraction. But we flew through rain clouds on the way here, so now the footprint might contain genuine rainwater.”

“Let’s go to Argyll then,” said Tangaroa, clambering up Sapphire, his blue skin almost camouflaged against her scales.

“But there’s no point getting a fourth token,” Rona said, “because the Master’s minions will just take it. It’s impossible to get a token to Yann if the Master wants it first.”

“Of course it’s possible,” said Helen. “We just need something else to give the Master. It doesn’t have to be the true token he takes. What would we put the water in?”

“A small glass vial,” said Lavender.

Lee smiled. “I’ll see what Mallow has in her kitchen. But I think you want me to get more than one vial, don’t you, Helen?”

“Yes. We’ll take one empty vial and one filled with fountain water.” 

So, ten minutes later, with a half-discussed plan, and a full vial of water hidden in Lee’s cloak, they flew to Dunadd.

They passed through a band of rain on the way, which Tangaroa confirmed was moving east from Argyll. When they landed on the almost flat summit of Dunadd, it was no longer raining, but the ground was wet and low cloud clung to the hill.

“This weather should keep human tourists away,” Helen said, as they all slid down.

“We don’t need long,” said Sylvie. “Let’s get the token and go.” She flickered into her wolf form.

“Not so fast,” said Tangaroa. “We can’t be sure we’re here alone.”

“And the footprint won’t be easy to find.” Rona peered through the mist.

Lee said, “I think it’s just down the slope to the northeast. But Tangaroa’s right, we must be careful.”

Helen nodded. “The Three must have told the Master where the tokens are, so his goats might already be here.” She was whispering, as they huddled together near Sapphire’s head.

Lee drew his sword. “We don’t have time for debate. I’m my king’s champion and a senior officer in his army. Many of you are skilled hunters, but I’m the only soldier here.” He spoke brusquely, as if he was giving orders to troops. “You will all do as I say, so we can get away as fast as possible.”

Sylvie growled, but Helen said, “Let Lee suggest his plan, Sylvie, and unless you see any flaws, let’s just do it. We don’t have time to argue. Yann doesn’t 
have time.”

The wolf nodded.

So Lee stood in front of them, back straight, sword in hand, speaking clearly and sharply. “The dragon will remain here, as there is no room down by the footprint. Helen will fill the vial and I will go with her to watch her back.”

Sylvie snarled something sarcastic, which no one translated for Helen. Lee raised his eyebrows at the wolf and repeated, “I’ll watch her back and you will all cover our exit route. If our enemies are planning an ambush, it will be
after
we have the token. Therefore I will station each of you at a different section of the path from the footprint back to the dragon and you will stand sentry. Once we have the vial, you will cover our exit, follow us back up to the dragon, then we will all leave. Understood?”

Almost everyone nodded.

“But what if the Master attacks the sentries first…?” Tangaora said slowly.

Lee flicked his cloak, which was suddenly a duller green, almost khaki. “Trust me. I’m trained in defensive tactics. Are you all ready?”

This time everyone nodded.

Lee stationed Sapphire at the far edge of the plateau, looking southeast, and Catesby behind her looking northwest. He placed Lavender and Sylvie near the centre of the plateau, and Rona and Tangaroa at the northeast, beside a curved wall of ancient stones.

Then he led Helen down the steep slippy path off the summit. As they walked carefully through the soft 
grey mist, she said, “The sentries won’t be able to see a thing.”

“They’ll see a minotaur right in front of them, if he’s here.”

“And what can they do if he is here?”

“Don’t worry, Helen. Do your job; let the sentries do theirs. And that looks like your job.”

Lee pointed at a flat grey rock with a geometrical pattern scored across it. As Helen got closer she realised the straight lines were natural cracks, framing a deep footprint carved at the front of the rock. A right footprint, pointing off the hill towards the misty expanse of Scotland below.

Lee said, “That must be it. The footprint of Scotland’s earliest kings.”

Helen knelt down on the slippery wet rock. There wasn’t as much rainwater in the footprint as she’d hoped.

As she pulled the empty vial from her pocket, she heard a squawk from Catesby.

She looked towards the summit, hidden in mist, then turned to Lee. “What did he say?”

Lee said sharply, “Just a sentry checking in. All clear. Get the water.”

Helen eased the cork out of the vial and lowered the glass vessel into the thin layer of water. She chased the water around the footprint, looking for tiny dips in the stone, catching as much liquid as she could.

She was aware of the cloud getting heavier and darker, of cold silence all around her. Soon she was spilling as much from the vial as she was collecting, so 
she lifted the vial up and waggled it. It was half full. That would have to do.

As she pushed the cork back, Lee whispered, “I’m going to help you up. When I grab your hand, I’ll swap the vials. Don’t react, in case we’re being watched.”

“But then you’ll have the true token,” she whispered, not looking at him, still fiddling with the vial.

“Yes. Can you trust me with it?”

Helen looked up at him. This Lee wasn’t a smiling, colourful, music-loving faery. He was a hard-faced soldier. His clothes looked darker, more severe, more military, and his voice had been harsher since they landed. Helen hardly knew this Lee.

“I trust you to get your job done. I’m just not sure what your job is.”

“Today, my job is saving Yann. So do as I ask.”

She held her hand out to him. He put his sword in its scabbard, took her hand and pulled her up. She felt the vial in her fingers roll away and another take its place. Then he let her go.

“I heard something,” Lee said suddenly. “Look north, check there’s no one at the foot of the hill. I’ll look south, then we can get back to the dragon.”

Helen stepped to the north and looked into the mist, but she couldn’t see anything, so she turned back.

Lee hadn’t moved south. He was still at the rock, kneeling down, his cloak covering the footprint.

“Lee, what are you doing?”

He frowned at her, then stood up and carefully placed his right foot in the dry footprint. He put his weight on 
the foot, gazed into the mist, then stepped away.

Helen gasped. “The king’s footprint! Lee, is
that
your ambition?”

“Ask me later. Let’s get the token to Yann.”

So Helen walked with the faery warrior towards the summit of Dunadd. When they were nearly at the top of the path, Helen looked up at the curved wall. The selkie and blue loon weren’t there.

Lee put his hand on her elbow. “Keep walking.” He pushed her forward.

She shook her head. “Where are they?”

A deep voice called out from the summit. “I have your selkie, human girl. I have all your friends, wrapped up like presents. Unless you want me to skin the wolf or boil off the seal’s blubber, come up now.”

Helen heard a noise behind her and glanced back to see a line of fauns blocking the path.

“Come up
now
!” boomed the voice.

Lee said quietly, “It’s fine. We knew this might happen. We’re prepared for this.” He said even quieter, “You have the dummy vial. Give it to him, but be reluctant.”

Helen shook his hand off her elbow and ran the last few steps up the hill.

The mist was thinning and when she reached the east side of the plateau, she could see the minotaur standing in the middle. Black wiry hair on his bare chest, black leather trousers on his wide legs and a black-handled axe in his hands.

And she could see her friends. Rona and Tangaroa standing still, with swords at their throats and wound 
all round with glossy brown rope. Sylvie lying on the ground, her back to Helen, covered from muzzle to tail with the same smooth rope. Catesby and Lavender, unbound, sitting on the grass, and Sapphire crouched down with a rope round her snout.

“Helen Strang,” rasped the Master, his human voice straining to get past his bull’s throat. “Thank you for collecting my token. Though I had hoped for one earlier. Perhaps you aren’t as efficient without the horse-boy.

“Your winged friends agreed to stay still and silent to save your other friends from the blades of my minions.” He nodded to Frass, the tallest faun, who lifted his sword closer to Tangaroa’s neck. The blue loon’s face was pale under his swirling tattoos and he was looking straight ahead, not down at the blade under his chin.

“As your friends are being so obliging, human child, I’m sure you will oblige me too. Give me the token.”

“No,” said Helen. “I won’t give you anything.”

“Don’t you believe I will hurt your friends? Show her the wolf.”

A smaller faun rolled Sylvie over with a cloven hoof, and Helen saw blood dripping from the wolf’s jaws.

The Master smiled. “You’ve already collected the token, so I can leave this old fort stained with blood if I have to.”

Helen wanted to refuse, to argue, to fight. But there was no point risking their lives for water from a fountain, so she let her shoulders droop. Then she 
remembered Lee’s advice to be reluctant. “How do I know you won’t kill us once you have the token?”

“Because I might need you again, my clever little questors. I’d rather leave you alive and in awe of my power than dead and useless. Give me the token, child, and I will give you back your lives. For now.”

He stepped towards her.

“But what about Yann? If I give you the token, Yann will die!” She put a note of panic in her voice, even though she knew the real token was safe in Lee’s cloak.

The Master laughed. “You can’t save the centaur. But you can save the wolf, the seal and the others. Give it to me now.”

He stepped closer.

Helen opened her hand and looked at the vial. She held it out to the minotaur and he snatched it.

“Thank you, human girl.”

“Now let us go.”

“Not yet. I’ve been tricked by you before, and I will not underestimate you again. Frass?”

“Yes, Master,” the tallest faun answered.

“Is your uncle awake, or is he dozing again?”

“Don’t be so impertinent, young bullhead,” said a frail voice. “I am here, and I am ready to work.” A hunched-over faun appeared from behind the curving stones of the old hill fort. He had a lined face, grey goat legs and a leather bag over his shoulder. “Where is that token you want me to test?”

He hobbled up to the minotaur and took the vial.

Helen heard Lee whisper, behind her, in a worried
tone, “He brought a magic tester…”

The minotaur nodded to his minions. “Hold them, until we see whether this child has been honest with me.”