The Catastrophe of the Emerald Queen (16 page)

Leppard turned to them
. “Now listen you two. The Vagthunder can’t go outside,
they only protect the inside of the building. Hopefully we will
drive whoever these intruders are out into the open or they will be
taken. Now load your bows.”

The soldiers outside the dorm room had scattered like
leaves in the wind as soon as the creatures emerged from the walls.
The leader had heard the intolerable keening noise and knew
straight away that the cursed girl had lied about the building’s
defences. No-one had utilised anthropomorphic defence at any time
in living memory and as soon as he realised that the noise was not
merely a disembodied voice designed to scare off petty thieves in
the night, he’d run back down the corridor, leaving his men puzzled
and deafened behind him. Now he was running for his life, his sword
having been flung down as he’d rounded the first corner. He’d heard
the screams of his men and those he’d sent into the boy’s dorm and
now only two of them had managed to catch up. He didn’t know and
had no time to care what had happened to the others. As they
rounded another corner a huge lumbering shape staggered forward,
roaring angrily and grabbed the middle soldier by his cloak. The
man’s feet skidded out from under him and he screeched as the
creature stepped back into the wall, yanking the man after him, his
sword clattering to the floor. The other two didn’t spare him a
backward glance but hurtled to the main doorway in front of them.
As they pounded down the corridor the same monster reemerged alone
but looking slightly bigger and with a piercing roar began pounding
after them, malformed knees and elbows pumping like pistons. The
leader realised they weren’t going to make it, the creature was
gaining ground at twice the rate they were. Twisting round he
grabbed the other man and shoved him into the wall, who crashed
noisily as he span, colliding with the stone then stumbled, falling
onto his face, his hands flung out to break his fall. He screamed,
“NO!!”” and with a snarl the creature bore down on him, scooping
him up; the soldier’s pitiful cries cut off abruptly. The leader
raced to the doorway and barged into it heavily, the doors bursting
open as he fell through and onto the steps, just as another
creature hurtled out of the corridor to the left and stood on the
steps, howling with its head back as the man rolled down the steps
noisily and collapsed winded at the bottom. He raised himself up
and painfully stood, glaring at the roaring creature, steam
erupting from both its nostrils as it frustratedly stared at him,
unable to follow. The man stood and dusted himself off, breathing
heavily and then removed his helmet and wiped sweat from his
forehead. It was Galfront Siavy. He glared at the creature and then
bowed theatrically before moving away rapidly into the
shadows.

Chapter
9

Jared, Bue and Leppard moved
past the hulking yet still Vagthunder in the dimly lit hall, bows
primed and ready. In the distance they could hear shouts and roars
along with the sound of huge feet pounding the floor in a tattoo of
terror.

 “
Be ready and keep your mind
clear
,” Leppard said to Bue
whose his lips were held in a straight line of
determination.

 “
How are we going to get into
the main building
?” Jared
enquired. “That soldier is still out there.”

 “
There’s always more than one
way to get to your destination my b…Jared” Leppard replied. He had
clearly dressed hurriedly once the break in had started and had his
leather halberk over a loose shirt that was unbuttoned and he was
shoeless. He walked to a small stack of shelves at the back of the
hall and pulled it to away. Cobwebs stretched and
snapped back from it as Leppard
pushed it away to the side. There was a small door behind it and he
took a key from his pocket. It fitted the door and with a squeak of
resistance the bolt moved back as the key was turned and the door
opened with a grind of wood on wood. It clearly hadn’t been opened
for a very long time. Leppard took the unlit tinder he had in his
hand and used it to create a burning torch by holding the material
into the casing of an oil lamp burning dimly on the wall. The
sputtering glow from the light revealed a set of steps that led
downwards and to the right, dissapearing into
darkness.

 “
Old way
through
.” Leppard grinned.
“No one’s used it for years.”

 
Bue snorted. “Found the other
end months ago, just couldn’t figure out how to get this door
opened
.”

 
Leppard stared at him for a
second and his eyes narrowed. “Well, young master, as you are
versed in this passage’s steps, you can lead us
.”

 
Bue smirked and took the torch
from Leppard’s hand, stepping carefully onto the first stair and
moving forward. “Remember to duck” he whispered to Jared as he
moved downwards slowly. As they moved forward Jared could see
scuttling shapes of what looked like large spiders moving away into
the recesses of the walls and caught a glimpse of one the size of a
cra
b. He shuddered. Leppard
was behind them and closed the door, locking it and pocketing the
key. Bue moved a large veil of webbing aside with his hand. Above
them the muffled cries seemed fainter and less frequent now as if
the commotion in the main building was nearing an
end. 

As they pressed on Bue turned to look over his shoulder.
“Which way?” he whispered
.
“The left takes us to near the caretaker’s lodge. The other way
brings us up to the dining room near the service hatch.”

 “
Go left
,” Leppard replied, motioning with his hand.
They moved on, bows held in front of them. The surface of the floor
was loose with bits of stone and the glow from the torch spluttered
in contrast. There was a strong smell of damp in the air. Shortly
they came upon another flight of steps and Leppard whispered
urgently “BUE! Let me go first.” 

Bue was about to argue but saw
the look of grim severity on Leppard’s leathery face and moved back
to allow the bow master to pass him. Leppard climbed the stairs
quickly and went to take the key out of his pocket. 

“
You don’t need that
,” Bue hissed. “Just lift the handle and pull the door
up and to the left, it’ll open.” 

Leppard smiled and placed the key back. He looked over his
shoulder and down the steps at the two boys below him. “Ready? Now,
let’s go but be careful
.”

Challandra had remained motionless for a few minutes as the
first Vagthunder had grabbed her guard. Partly through fear as
she’d never seen these beings before, despite having been told how
to summon them and her awe was mixed with a sense of terror at what
she’d seen. The men they had taken were gone now, merged with the
building and while she felt some pity for them she reminded herself
that they had come to take Jared and wouldn’t have hesitated to
hurt anyone trying to stop them. Her heart hammered in her chest as
she took a few deep breaths and placed one hand on the wall and
tried to stand up. Just then something hit her in the lower back
tumbling her forward. She whirled and stifled a scream only to see
the c
rossbow instructor
Leppard facing her with his bow pointed at her. His face creased
and he lowered the weapon.

 “
My apologies
Miss
,” he said looking
slightly embarrassed. “Are you hurt?” 

Challandra shook her head. “No. We need to check on the
boys
.” Just then she saw
Jared’s face peering out from behind Leppard and Bue grinning at
her. 

“
Well it’s good to see you two are
ok
,” she said with relief.
“Although I see you are as always in the heart of trouble Master
Bue.” 

“
Just looking out for you Miss
.” Bue grinned cheekily at her and then stepped
out behind Leppard, Jared following him. Leppard reached out his
hand and helped Challandra to her feet. The sounds of pandemonium
had now stopped, the screams gone and only a soft thudding could be
heard.  

“
Someone needs to check on Madame
Veer
,” Bue reminded them.
 

Leppard
spoke up. “Me
and Jared will check on Madame, you and Miss Challandra go and see
to your friends. Once you’ve checked you stay there until we come
back. Clear?”

 “
Crystal
,” Bue said, already moving forward. Challandra
followed him and he moved as if on a hunt, his bow held in his
right hand in front of him and his other held slightly to his side
and level with his chest, ready to signal to Challandra if he
spotted anything. Leppard and Jared moved off in the other
direction, moving at a brisk pace and were gone round the corner
quickly.

 
As Bue
and Challandra reached the corridor that led to the boys’ room a
huge figure lumbered into view and stood glaring at them. Bue
raised his crossbow but Challandra silently pushed the weapon down.
The Vagthunder looked lost, like its purpose had ceased to be and
its shoulders drooped as it looked away. Challandra took a deep
breath and walked up to the huge figure as it turned slowly to look
at her, the sound of its breathing the only thing they could hear
in the corridor.  

Swallowing hard, Challandra reached out and raised her hand
and touched the huge creature gently on its chest. It felt cold.
“Thank you
,” she said
quietly, her voice cracking and then swallowed again before
whispering. “Emco falhalain merhumkree.” The creature sighed
heavily and without hesitation turned and walked forwards into the
nearest wall. The wall rippled to accept it and then was solid
stone, the Vagthunder vanished.

 
Bue looked scared, his
crossbow quivering, then he recovered and Challandra smiled. “They
have all returned now. If there were any soldiers left in the
building they would have found them
.”

 “
There
was one in the practice hall…” Bue began but Challandra interrupted
him.  

“
Gone too. That spell sent them back, it’s clear
now
.”

 
They moved to the door of the
boys’ room and opened it. Bue kept his crossbow levelled as he
entered but lowered it as he saw the grinning face of
Makeo staring at him from besides
Jared’s bed, the window now closed.

 “
Alright there
Sharpeye
?” The boy beamed
brightly “didn’t get caught by the monsters
then?”

 
Bue grinned and stepped
forward, placing his bow on Jared’s bed and briefly hugging his
friend, then stepping back. He turned to face the rest of the boys.
One or two were still in bed, their eyes frightened. The smallest
boy was sitting
up shivering,
the sheets drawn up to his chin and tears streaming down his face.
Challandra moved and sat down, putting her arms around his tiny
shoulders and drawing him to her. “Shhh..it’s alright,” she
soothed, and stroked the frightened boy’s head. He put his face
into her chest and sobbed quietly. 

The others seemed ok and Bue made a mental note that
everyone was there. “No one hurt?” he asked
Makeo.