The Familiars: Secrets of the Crown (18 page)

Familiars, for hundreds of years the safety of Vastia has rested on the shoulders of wizards. Now its future rests on yours.

Queen Loranella’s parting words were echoing in Aldwyn’s head. So much faith had been placed in him and his fellow companions, the animals they called the Prophesised Three. But now the driving rains seemed to confirm the lingering feeling that Aldwyn, Skylar and Gilbert were up against an evil that was more than they could handle on their own.

Skylar had been right about the storm – it was only getting worse. The night was even darker in the absence of moon and stars, which the thick layer of clouds obscured. The familiars were at the centre of a full-blown scimitar gust, and it was all too clear why it had earned that name. The winds cut through the branches like sharpened blades, leaving splintered limbs strewn about the ground. Aldwyn heard a loud crack above him as the heavy bough of a sycamore tree snapped and came crashing down, nearly flattening Gilbert if Shady hadn’t tugged him out of the way.

“Leopards are reclusive creatures,” said Skylar. “They’re not like lions, who live out in the open plains in family groupings. No, they could be camouflaged in the trees or hidden in crevices between rocks. They would be difficult to spot in daylight or on a clear night, never mind during a full-blown scimitar.”

“OK,” said Gilbert, trying to take control of an impossible situation. “If it’s so difficult to find, maybe instead of searching for the snow leopard, we should try to get the snow leopard to come to us. Aldwyn, you didn’t happen to pack a really big jar of cat food, did you?”

“At this point, I don’t even think we’re looking for a leopard,” he replied wearily. “Perhaps not even a crown.”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” said Gilbert sarcastically. “It’s called the Crown of the Snow Leopard. Why would we be looking for a crown or a snow leopard?”

“
Hiding high upon its head, Draped in white shimmering gown, Lie the keys to the past, In the snow leopard’s crown
,” said Aldwyn. “Think about it. Nothing in the Song of the First Phylum has been what it appears.”

“Even if you’re right,” said Skylar, “where does that leave us?”

Aldwyn didn’t have an answer to that, and so the familiars continued silently through the rain-soaked valley in the unnamed stretch of the Beyond. The denseness of the trees thinned and the group could at least take some solace in escaping the threat of timber toppling upon their heads.

Then they came up over a rise – and were met with a glorious sight, one that rivalled the majestic beauty of Torentia Falls. Across the valley that spread out below them, they saw a hillside that was completely covered in white-petalled flowers, with only a few patches of black earth visible beneath. The curve of the hill’s crest resembled two rolling waves coming into shore. On second glance, they seemed even more like… the back of a reclining cat. On the taller of the two peaks stood a circle of seven grey rocks. Aldwyn had seen these rocks before, in Gilbert’s puddle viewing. They were the ones he had been cowering among, clearly in danger.

Aldwyn and Skylar looked at each other. Then they turned to Gilbert.

“Even I figured this one out,” said the tree frog.

There was no question that they had found the Crown of the Snow Leopard. And it wasn’t a precious object, but a place. Aldwyn knew that hidden somewhere high atop that hill lay the keys to the past and the power to summon the Shifting Fortress.

“We did it,” said Skylar proudly. “And with a day to spare too.”

They hurried as fast as they could across the valley and up the flowered slope. There was such joy in Aldwyn’s step that he momentarily forgot the downpour drenching him. Skylar flew for the rocks, so eager she could not wait for Gilbert and Aldwyn to catch up. Aldwyn’s paws crushed white petals underfoot as he dashed to the edge of the crown.

Skylar was already standing at the centre beside a pedestal of steel, which had a grapefruit-sized hole carved out of it.

“The spheris would have fitted perfectly here,” she said. “That must have been what the Odoodem meant when it said the spheris was one with the Crown.”

A rapid succession of lightning flashes illuminated the sky and the stone circle, and Aldwyn could see that the inner face of each of the seven rocks was covered in glyphs. The etchings reminded Aldwyn of the symbols he had seen on the glyphstone outside Bronzhaven and the one in Bridgetower.

“What does it mean?” asked Aldwyn.

“The symbols on the seven rocks are in a script I’ve never seen before,” replied Skylar. Another series of sparks in the sky allowed the jay’s eyes to discover something else. “But there’s writing here, on the steel pedestal, not unlike the language used in the oldest spells recorded. It appears to be instructions.”

Gilbert huffed his way up to the others, his wiry legs sleeved in wet mud, Shady at his side. “You two saved the queendom yet?”

“We’re working on it,” said Aldwyn.

Skylar leaned in closer to try to translate the words, which had worn away with time. “‘Noble possessor of the Spheris,’” she read. “‘Carrier of the blood of destiny. You have deciphered the secrets of the Crown and stand here hoping for the Shifting Fortress to appear. But your journey is not yet complete.’” Skylar’s voice grew anxious, and she continued to read faster. “‘Now, all that is left for you to do is gather the seven descendants of the First Phylum. Bring them to one of the three glyphstones and stand together, side by side in a circle, just like the seven stones surrounding you here. Then the Fortress will summon forth, and order can be restored to this great land.’”

“Hang on,” said Gilbert. “I think I misheard because I’m pretty sure you just said, ‘Your journey is not yet complete.’”

Skylar’s eyes were speeding over the words written on the pedestal again, as if even she could not believe that what she had read was true. But Aldwyn could feel in the pit of his stomach that this was not the end of their adventure, only a halfway point. And another realisation was quickly setting in – they would never be able to summon the Shifting Fortress in time to stop Paksahara from raising her Dead Army.

“We don’t even know who the seven descendants are,” said Skylar.

“We need to get word back to the palace, to warn them,” said Aldwyn.

“It will be too late by then.”

Aldwyn didn’t even need to turn round to know who had spoken these words; Malvern had found them.

“Very clever, nephew,” the traitorous pride leader continued. “I would have kept going too, had it not been for the moth I saw flying towards the moon.”

Malvern stalked round the circle, looking at the stones and the steel pedestal at the centre.

“So this is the Crown of the Snow Leopard?” he asked. “I never doubted that you’d find it. You have the same annoying persistence as your father.”

Malvern opened his pouch telekinetically, removing a small vial of gold powder. The vial uncorked itself and the powder flew up into the rainy sky. It swirled about before taking on the ominous shape of the double hex, glowing brightly in the darkness.

Aldwyn understood that Malvern was sending out a signal, a bright gold against the night sky. Many would see it, but it was only intended for one – Paksahara. And once she saw the burning eyes at the centre of the five-pointed star, she would be coming for them.

“Why did you do it?” asked Aldwyn. “Why did you betray us?”

“What you see as betrayal, I see as justice long overdue. Before you were born, when I first became pride leader, Paksahara came to Maidenmere. We met secretly. She promised a day was coming when animals would rule Vastia again. She was looking for allies who would be there at her side to rise up against humans when that time finally came. Humans, who pushed our pride to the dusty and deserted plateaux. There was a day when the bicolour cats could roam all the land, before cities and castles infested it. I promised to do whatever I could to help.”

“Everything you told me about my father was a lie,” said Aldwyn. “I deserve to know the truth about my parents.”

“The truth is simple. Baxley and I never saw eye to eye. I lived constantly in the shadow of his virtues, even when he was off on his adventures and I was in Maidenmere helping our tribe gather food and shelter. He had a chivalry and romanticism about him, but you can’t lead that way.

“Shortly before you were born, your father came to me. He told me of a vision he had seen in the Ebs. It was of his son in danger, and the only way to save him was by retrieving the Crown of the Snow Leopard. At the time, none of us knew what the Crown’s meaning or purpose was. But Baxley was unwilling to risk your safety, and he set out to find it. He remembered a nursery rhyme told to us as kittens, and followed the clues to a great tree in the Hinterwoods. He brought a steel ball back to Maidenmere. By that time, Corliss had given birth to you, and your father was able to say his goodbyes to both of you.

“I promised him I would look after you and your mother. It was during this time that Paksahara and I began meeting more frequently. But it was of the utmost importance that our alliance remain a secret. Then I noticed Corliss acting strangely around me. And I knew what I had worked so hard to keep hidden had been exposed. It was impossible to keep anything from your mother. All the Wind Chanters like Corliss had special gifts. Your mother’s was the ability to read minds. She was telepathic.”

“Her death wasn’t an accident, was it?” asked Aldwyn, doing everything he could not to jump forward and claw his uncle’s eyes out.

“I tried to reason with her. Tell her that what I was doing would be for the good of the Pridelands. But she was just like your father. Righteous to a fault. Besides, she could read my thoughts, and no matter what I said aloud, the voices in my head said something different.

“She sent you down the river to protect you from me. I was too late to stop her. We struggled, and I pushed her into the river.”

A blind rage took hold of Aldwyn. A sharp rock flew up from behind him, directed right at Malvern. But it was blocked in midair by an even bigger shard that Malvern had lifted with his own mind.

Gilbert and Skylar watched helplessly as nephew confronted uncle.

“I would be angry too,” said Malvern, sensing his nephew’s fury. “But proceed with caution. My powers are strong, and I will show no mercy.”

The two stones hovered between them, locked in telekinetic duel. Malvern, with a quick twist of the mind, sent Aldwyn’s rock flying to the ground. Then, just by raising his chin, Malvern lifted Aldwyn off his feet and threw him into one of the seven stones in the circle. Aldwyn cowered there, the same way he had in Gilbert’s puddle viewing.

Aldwyn put a paw up against one of the rocks and got slowly to his feet.

“
Mongoose
,” whispered an ancient-sounding voice.

Where had it come from? He listened, his paw still up against the rock, and there it was again –

“
Mongoose
.”

He had hit his head pretty hard, but surely not so hard that he was hearing things.

“It sounded like it was coming from the stone,” said Skylar, erasing any doubts Aldwyn might have had about whether what he was hearing was real. He pulled his paw away and the rock went silent. Then he put it back up to the smooth surface, and there it was a third time – “
Mongoose
.”

“The stones, they must speak the names of the seven descendants upon being touched,” said Skylar excitedly. “We need to learn them all!”

Just then, the sound of beating wings could be heard overhead. Aldwyn looked up to the sky to see a bird the pale tint of indigo slicing through the air. It was almost as if the droplets of rain bent round it, the wings moved so quickly.

“A periwinkle falcon,” shouted Skylar with relief in her voice. “The fastest of all avian creatures. Noble and just, and a vicious fighter too.”

The bird came swooping down towards Malvern, ready to carry the traitorous cat off in its sharp talons. But then it landed beside Malvern – and began to transform. Claws turned to paws and beak to grey fur nose. There standing before them was Paksahara.

“I want to thank you,” Paksahara said to the familiars. “I could have never found the Crown without your help.”

Aldwyn and Skylar exchanged a quick look and a nod. They both backed away slowly, inching towards the neighbouring stone in the circle.

“Get the names!” whispered Aldwyn through his whiskers. “Gilbert and I will cover you.”

Skylar didn’t hesitate. She flew up to the next rock and pressed her wing against it. The stone spoke out a second species’ name, and Aldwyn was close enough to hear it.

“
Golden toad
,” said the same mysterious ancient voice
.

“The seven stones must be destroyed,” Malvern told Paksahara. “They must never reveal their secret to the Prophesised Three.”

Skylar was already at the third rock. “
Wolverine
,” the blue jay called out just as a blast of emerald energy shot out from Paksahara’s paws. It twisted through the air like a corkscrew and struck the side of the third rock, obliterating it. Skylar was caught in the blowback, landing on a pile of debris.