The Ascension (5 page)

moved

closer,

dancing

with
sinuous

movements that Rio did his best to match. His heart wasn’t in it though, and Rio spent the whole dance looking over his partner’s shoulder to where Gem and Sparks were talking and laughing as they danced. Rio was miserable. Al summer long since they had parted at Word Castle, he had thought of Gem and how she had cared for him, stood up for him, even fought for him in Anachronia. No one had done that for him before, no one had ever believed in him like Gem did. He thought she was just another pretty rich cheerleader when he first saw her at Word Castle, but she had proven over and over again how she was the kindest noblest girl, no, person, he’s ever met. No wonder why she became the Ruler of Anachronia. No wonder why he couldn’t stop thinking about her, although he knew in his heart, she was way out of his league.

Rio had heard what the Summer Queen had said earlier about Sparks having to find his perfect match. More than that, he had seen the look that had passed between the other boy and Gem. Even now, Sparks was probably plotting some happy life for the pair of them, ruling over a kingdom they hadn’t even known existed this time yesterday.

Rio knew he had to do something. If he didn’t act soon, Gem would be swept up so completely in Sparks that he wouldn’t have a chance. Just the thought of that fil ed Rio with
anxiety
. He pul ed back from his dance partner without so much as a word, ful y intending to stride over to the dancing couple and find a way to cut in, and got at least two steps before the feeling struck, deep in the pit of his stomach.

“Are you al right?” the fairy woman asked.

Rio waved her off. For a second, he thought it was simply the juice and he
vacillated
between rushing outside to get some air and continuing towards Gem. The feeling grew stronger though, and Rio ran for the nearest door, rushing through the crowd of dancers and leaving his partner far behind.

He made it out onto the palace lawn and sucked in air in great, heaving gasps. It brought no
respite
.

This didn’t feel like the juice anymore.

Instead, darker thoughts surfaced in Rio, of sensations he’d been trying to ignore for these past weeks, shivers that seemed to want to spread through his whole being, and that frightened him with the thought of what they might do if they did. Rio stood there and fought the sensation
resolutely
, retaining a
tenuous
grip on himself as best he could.

It was no use. Whether it was the juice, or being in this new world, or simply the strength of his jealousy brushing aside the last few barriers, the feeling spread through Rio until it seemed that his whole body might be set to explode. He looked down at his hands, only to find thick grey hair sprouting from them.

The sensation hurried through him then, in a rush of
metamorphosis
that sent bones and flesh shifting along new paths. Rio fel to his knees as he stretched and twisted, the strain of it ripping huge tears in his clothes. He somehow managed to struggle free of the chain shirt before it crushed his changing body, but the effort used up his last
reservoirs
of control.

Rio lay there as the transformation rippled through him, and afterwards, as he panted, his tongue lol ing from his mouth. He tried to get to his feet, and found that those feet were now paws. He tried to cal for help, and al that came out was a howl. Managing to push himself to al fours, he trailed a struggling, stumbling path to the nearest fountain, seeing over the lip of it with an effort and staring at his reflection.

Except that it wasn’t Rio’s reflection. Where there should have been a teenage boy with dark there should have been a teenage boy with dark hair, chiseled cheekbones and piercing eyes, now there was only a wolf. A huge, powerful looking, grey-haired monstrosity of a wolf, certainly, but that wasn’t much of an improvement. Part of Rio was
repulsed
by the very sight of it. Part of him, however, seemed to recognize it, as though something about the image resonated deep within him.

Rio didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t go back into the party like this. Even if people didn’t attack him on sight, he couldn’t let Gem see him like this. Not when Sparks looked perfect by comparison. If she saw the monster he had become, there wouldn’t be any chance for him, and Sparks would probably be ready with some
scathing
comment to make it even worse. Rio shook his shaggy head. He couldn’t stay here. Not like this.

At a bounding run he set off back towards the forest, the distance disappearing in great, leaping strides. As he did so, Rio couldn’t help thinking that Jack and Kat, left behind at the castle, were definitely the lucky ones.

********

Snow covered the world as far as the eye could see, though since more snow was fal ing in thick waves, that wasn’t very far. Two figures, a boy with deep red hair and a darker haired girl, trudged through it, dressed in clothes of the deepest black that stood out like holes against the ice. At least, Kat trudged. For his part, Jack strode through the frozen waste with a strength that didn’t seem about to
wane
.

Exhausted and frankly bored, Kat currently hated him for it.

“When are we going to find somewhere to stop? I’m freezing.”

“Are you through?” Jack asked. Kat felt the last
vestiges
of her temper evaporate.

“What’s that supposed to mean? Of course I’m freezing. We’re stuck out in the snow. We’re both freezing. People wil probably find us out here, looking like giant ice-lol ies,” Kat said in her British accent.

Jack gave her a blank look.

“What you’d cal Popsicles.”

“Oh.” The boy shook his head. “Kat, I’m not even cold, and I don’t think you are either. You’re not even cold, and I don’t think you are either. You’re not shivering. Think about it.”

As if to
validate
his point, Jack stuck one hand in the snow, made a snowbal , and threw it at her.

“Hey! That’s cold!” Kat was just about to grab a snowbal of her own to back up the
rebuke
with some
punitive
action when it occurred to her that actual y, it
wasn’t
that cold. “Al right, so maybe it wasn’t, which is weird, but that was a real y
puerile
way to prove a point.”

“Effective though,” Jack pointed out. This time Kat did throw a snowbal . Jack dodged it. “You’re right though, it is a
quandary
. How can we be out in the snow this long without even being cold?” Kat shrugged. As far as she was concerned, as long as they weren’t freezing to death, it didn’t real y matter. Of course, it didn’t help them with other problems, such as working out where they were or finding their way to anywhere that wasn’t just an endless field of snow.

“You know,” she grumbled, “I bet the others are having a fine time of it, stuck back in the castle while we do al the
tedious
work finding Henry Word.”

“We don’t know that they
were
left behind,” Jack pointed out. “They probably might not have arrived where we did.”

“Where else would they be? Anyway, wherever they are, they aren’t hiking through al this snow.”

“You just don’t like being bored.”

Wel , that was probably true, but it wasn’t like Jack had to point it out.
Vexed
now, Kat threw another snowbal at him. This one hit, but since he couldn’t feel the cold it didn’t make much difference.

“Oh, come on,” Jack said. “If we keep moving, we’re bound to run into something eventual y.”

“Knowing our luck,” Kat pointed out, “it wil probably be something that wants to eat us. It usual y is.”

Jack ignored that and trudged on
stoically
through the snow. With a sigh, Kat set off in his wake. She wasn’t sure if she preferred this new, decisive version of Jack, but at least he was good at clearing the snow out of the way.

Gradual y, the snowstorm spent its energy,
dissipating
the way Jack had known it would. After al , back home in Alaska, he saw them often enough, though the idea of not being so much as chil ed by one as he walked through it wasn’t exactly normal.

Unfortunately, now that there wasn’t a barrage of snowflakes in the way, Jack could see something move in the distance. A white dot on the horizon formed a familiar shape against the
desolate
backdrop, and it seemed to be coming closer.

“Kat?”

“What?”

“I think there might be a polar bear stalking us.”

The girl gave him an angry look.

“Jack, that isn’t funny.”

“It’s not meant to be. Look.”

He pointed to where the bear was closing on them. Closer now, Jack could see that it was huge, even by the standards of its kind. The thick fur of the creature looked nearly
impregnable
, and its claws looked like they could tear and kil with ease. It sped towards them
inexorably
.

Jack grabbed Kat’s arm and dragged her into a run, knowing even as he did that it was too late. Bears were faster than humans. Although these bears were twice as large as normal bears, they appeared to be just as fast.

“
Surreptitious
,” he said as they ran, hoping that the ruler word would have its usual effect of making them hard to spot. Kat did the same, and Jack saw her take on the shadowy shimmer that marked the word. It didn’t seem to make any difference to the bear, though Jack guessed that, between the beast’s sense of smel and the tracks the pair of them were leaving in the snow, it probably didn’t need to see them to hunt them.

The bear was just steps away now, and Kat chose that moment to stumble, sprawling in the snow as it reared up above her.

“
Emulate
!” Jack yel ed the ruler word, and half a dozen extra Kats appeared. The bear’s claws swept through one and it disappeared. It would buy them a second or two, but Jack knew it would take more than that to help Kat. The moment she tried to move away, it would be obvious which one she was.

In what he hoped was an
intrepid
move and not simply a stupid one, Jack threw himself at the bear. It shouldn’t have worked. Even with the extra bulk and strength he had gained in the last couple of months, the bear should have been stronger. In what turned out to be a
fortuitous
moment though, Jack brought his fist around sharply, punching the bear squarely on the nose. The bear blinked and sat back on its haunches, as though in disbelief that some human boy would have the
temerity
to try something like that on him.

“Run!” Jack yel ed to Kat, and thankful y she did. They set off together at a
frenetic
pace, weaving trails through the snow as they headed for a series of ice boulders that looked like they might provide at least some cover. Perhaps if the bear lost sight of them, they might be able to slip away. Speed wouldn’t get them anywhere, but maybe a little
guile
would.

Thoughts of escape fled Jack’s mind as a deep growl came from ahead of them.

“Another bear?” Kat asked. Jack skidded to a halt.

“That can’t be right,” he said. “Polar bears are mostly solitary hunters when they don’t have young, and-”

“And there’s the Jack we know and love,” Kat interrupted. “Look, is this real y the moment for
discursive
thoughts on the habits of bears? Unless you’re about to tel me that they real y only eat either honey or marmalade sandwiches rather than people, we need to find another way to run.”

Jack nodded, he turned, looking for a good route across the snow. He’d barely started forward when another growl came from the direction that he had picked. Turning round, he tried again, only for the same thing to happen.

“They’ve surrounded us,” Kat said. Jack nodded.

“Which is strange. Bears
really
don’t do this.” As he said it, Jack scanned the area around them for anything that might help. A way out, something that might
deter
the bears. Anything.

There was nothing but the snow, and the ice, and four huge, furry forms pacing towards them with the four huge, furry forms pacing towards them with the kind of
languid
menace that made it clear the bears knew they had their prey trapped.

“I suppose we could throw snowbal s at them until they get bored,” Kat suggested, though Jack could sense the edge of panic to it.

“If I use the
asylum
ruler word, it might keep them off for a while.”

“Do it,” Kat replied.

Jack did. A shimmering dome closed over the pair of them, translucent enough to see the advancing bears through. They paused a little way away, apparently trying to figure out what was happening. Jack doubted that would last.

“How long do you think this shield wil last?” Kat asked. Jack shrugged.

“I don’t know. Any ideas how we’re going to get out of this?”

Kat shook her head.

“At least we have time to think of something, though,” she pointed out.

Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to be that simple.

One of the bears, Jack thought it was the one that had original y chased them, padded forward to sniff at the dome. It pul ed back, as though sniffing at something
odious
, but then reared up onto its hind legs. It seemed clear that it intended to smash down in an effort to crush their tiny bubble of safety, and with the protective barrier in place, Jack and Kat couldn’t even move out of the way.