Bloodliner (11 page)

*****

 

Chapter 26

Jonah hesitated to help Mavis, intimidated by Arthur's million muscles and seven foot height...not to mention the fact that he was a vampire.

And is that a sword in a scabbard he's got there?

As Arthur made a grab for Mavis' arm, Jonah finally decided to move. He gulped down a deep breath and fought to subdue his chickenshit tendencies. He and Mavis had promised to watch each other's backs; he had to try to help her now.

Even if it was suicide going up against someone like Arthur. Even if Jonah had no clue what he could even do that would have the slightest impact on such a behemoth.

I'll do it. I'm going to help her.

Any minute now, I swear.

Before Jonah could work up the courage he needed to move, however, the crisis passed.

Suddenly, Arthur stopped reaching for Mavis and burst into laughter.

"I'm sorry," Arthur said between laughs. "I couldn't resist. You set me up for that one, Stanza."

Mavis and Jonah exchanged a look of complete confusion.

What's going on here?

"Please, rise." Arthur gestured for Stanza to get up off her knee. "And tell your friends they have absolutely nothing to fear from me."

"They're new to this," Stanza said as she got to her feet. "Forgive them, my lord."

"I'm afraid Mavis here has had a rough time of it," said Arthur. "She was attacked by two Lampreyus."

Mavis glared at Arthur. "Don't forget the third attack," she said. "In other words, you."

Arthur chuckled. "They don't know who I really am, do they?" he said to Stanza.

Stanza ignored the question. "We've come to visit the garden. Will you help us?"

"You don't even have to ask," said Arthur. "Not after all we've been through together."

Mavis moved over beside Jonah, but he didn't look at her right away. He was too busy staring at Arthur, trying to figure him out.

If we don't know who he really is, then who is he?

"Follow me." Arthur threw an arm around Stanza's shoulders and headed for the exit archway. "This way to the Garden of Tears."

*****

 

Chapter 27

Was it the constant screeching of what sounded like a million unseen creatures?

Was it the flocks of fish-tailed ghouls slithering through the bright red sky?

Was it the moaning crystalline trees or the turkey-sized dragonflies or the tyrannosaurs trotting across the distant, shivering plains?

Jonah wasn't sure what part of Lyonesse blew his mind the most.

Wish I had a camera.

As Jonah followed Arthur and the others across the wild landscape, he halfway couldn't believe the place was real. The thought crossed his mind that it was a dream or hallucination...or maybe he was dead.

Whatever it was, he was glad he wasn't stuck there alone. It didn't seem like a friendly kind of place.

If I'm dead, I'm pretty sure this isn't Heaven.

"Stay close," said Arthur, leading the way into a stretch of thick, red jungle. "If anything talks to you, don't answer."

Seconds later, as if on cue, a deep voice with a British accent spoke from somewhere near Jonah. "I'll grant you three wishes. Special low sale price today."

When Jonah turned in the direction of the voice, he saw a red-and-green-striped snake wrapped around a low branch, staring back at him with human blue eyes.

Don't answer.

Jonah picked up his pace, and it was just as well. He heard something thrashing in the brush back where he'd been walking just a moment ago.

"Here we are," said Arthur, striding into an open space beyond the jungle. "Home sweet home."

Jonah rushed into the clearing and stopped. "Holy shit."

"You can say that again," said Mavis.

What a castle.

Walls and towers of glittering white stone rose from the jungle floor to great heights, magically free of clinging vines or vegetation. Domes and spires topped the towers, gleaming gold and silver in the flickering sunlight. Statues of knights in armor stood at intervals around the parapets, folded arms clasping swords of real metal to their chests.

This place is huge.

It had its share of defenses, too. The outer walls were windowless, and the windows in the high towers were barred. Sharp spikes jutted from every spire and parapet, pointing skyward. A wooden drawbridge sealed the arched front doorway, the only means of crossing the broad, scarlet moat encircling the castle.

"Not bad," said Mavis.

"I'll say." Jonah couldn't stop gaping. He'd never been so close to a real castle before...and this didn't look like it was just
any
castle.

"Thanks." Arthur stomped across the clearing to the edge of the moat. He drew his sword, jabbed its point in the bank, and turned it.

Almost immediately, the drawbridge started to descend.

"Cool," said Jonah.

The drawbridge landed with a loud thump. Arthur had already clomped halfway across before the rest of the group set foot on the heavy boards.

By the time Jonah reached the other side of the drawbridge, Arthur had disappeared into the shadows inside the castle.

Jonah stopped in the archway and stared into the darkness. "Hello?" The echoes of his voice seemed to travel through a vast space. "Arthur?"

Stanza whipped past him and melted into the blackness.

Mavis stopped beside Jonah and planted her hands on her hips. "Stanza acts like she owns the joint, doesn't she?"

Jonah smiled. "Maybe she does." He liked having his cousin along in such a strange and threatening place. She had a way of making him laugh and putting him at ease. He felt like he'd known her a lot longer than he had.

Is this what having a sister is like?

Suddenly, a faint, golden glow flickered to life in the distant reaches of the castle. As Jonah watched, it quickly expanded, fanning out over walls and ceiling and floor. The light raced closer to Jonah and Mavis, revealing a hall that was even bigger than Jonah had imagined from the echo of his voice.

With one final burst, the light flashed up to the archway and washed over Jonah and Mavis. Jonah shut his eyes and turned away from the sudden change.

When he turned back and squinted into the now-bright space, he saw Arthur and Stanza at the far end of the giant hall, motioning for him and Mavis to join them.

Jonah moved slowly as he started across the huge space. He looked in all directions, gazing at the incredible surroundings.

For a big, empty room, it was breathtaking.

There was no furniture anywhere on the floor, not a single table or chair. There were no shelves on the walls or chandeliers hanging from the lofty ceiling.

And yet, the walls and ceiling and floor weren't bare. Not even close.

Every surface in the room was painted with images of people and places...medieval scenes rich in color and detail. All of them shared a common, sky-blue background and flowed together like one giant painting.

Knights in armor clashed in great battles bursting with horses and blood and banners. Colorful dragons soared and breathed fire upon villages. Storms lashed castle parapets with sheets of rain and bolts of lightning. A beautiful woman dressed in white married a bearded warrior before a priest in gold vestments.

Jonah had a second look at that one, which was up on the ceiling. There was something familiar about the bearded warrior.

He looks like Arthur.

"Ah," said Arthur. "Methinks they like the Great Hall."

"Well," said Stanza, "it
is
pretty great."

"I've never seen anything like it," said Jonah. "What does it all mean?"

"It's a history." Arthur walked to a nearby wall and ran his hand over an image of a young woman cradling an infant in her arms. "
My
history. From the beginning."

"Where's the part about you becoming a vampire?" said Mavis.

Arthur pointed at a corner of the ceiling. "Right there."

Jonah looked where Arthur was pointing. The painting there was of a teenage boy with red hair and mustache—and an old man with flowing white hair. The old man, outlined in a halo of golden light, clutched the boy and bit down into his throat.

The old man's white beard and robes were soaked with crimson. The boy's face was contorted in an expression of pure agony.

"I tell you," said Arthur. "That was the best day of my life."

"The best day?" said Mavis.

"What came after," said Arthur, "would not have been possible without that day."

"You mean these battles?" Mavis gestured at the images on the walls, ceiling, and floor. "All this killing?"

"Much more than that," said Arthur. "This land of Lyonesse, before it slipped away, was the heart of a great kingdom."

Stanza nodded. "Greatest there ever was."

"Thank you." Arthur bowed to her. "It never would have existed if I had not received the power of the
feratu.
"

Jonah looked back up at the image of the old man biting the boy. "Who is that? Who bit you?"

"His name," said Arthur, "was Merlin."

Suddenly, a chill shot through Jonah's body, and the hairs on his neck leaped up all at once.

"Did you say 'Merlin'?" he said.

"Yes," said Arthur.

"As in the magician?" said Jonah. "At Camelot?"

"Yes," said Arthur. "In fact, you are standing in Camelot right now." He spread his arms and grinned.

Mavis took hold of Jonah's elbow, perhaps to steady herself. "Don't even try to tell us you're King Arthur," she said.

"I won't," Arthur said with a wink, "but I am."

*****

 

Chapter 28

"
No
," said Shakespeare. "You may
not
try to kill King Arthur for the bragging rights."

"Screw you," said Thomas. "
You
can't tell me what to do,
Suckspeare
."

The two of them soared through the red sky over Castle Camelot in their bat-winged states. They'd been watching Stanza's crew on the ground far below...at least until Stanza and the others had disappeared inside the castle.

Now, Shakespeare and Thomas were waiting for Stanza and her people to come back outside.

Not that I'm worried, since they're in there with King Arthur himself. This is nothing compared to the gauntlet of terrors that have stalked them until now.

And Stanza and the rest didn't even know the half of it, thanks to Shakespeare and Thomas.

Since secretly arriving alongside Mavis in the form of drifting mists, Shakespeare and Thomas had fought one menace after another behind the scenes.

As many dangers as Mavis, Jonah, and Stanza had faced in Lyonesse, the ones they hadn't seen had nearly claimed their lives as well. Back in the cave, as Rapiarre had pursued Mavis, other creatures of a different savage breed had also worked to snatch her from the shadows. Something with a million slashing souls, a master-demon masked in red-and-green-striped snakeskin, had reached for Jonah in the jungle. A dark abomination, inside-out and iridescent, had lain in wait near Castle Camelot itself, intent on hatching eggs in every member of the group.

Only the stealthy, bloody work of Shakespeare and Thomas had spared Mavis, Jonah, and Stanza from these threats and more.

If Thomas and I had not come to Lyonesse, those three would be dead by now and our prize would be lost.

Shakespeare wondered, though, if the results would have been the same if Thomas had stayed behind.

I have to hand it to the little monster. He fights like a Viking.
Will he still fight as well, I wonder, if I fulfill my vow to redeem him?

"I don't get it," said Thomas. "Isn't King Arthur the other player you were talking about? The one who has the force and will to steal our prize?"

"Aye," said Shakespeare, impressed the boy recalled his words so well he could quote them exactly.

"Then if we
kill
him," said Thomas, "that's one less moron who might screw us over, right?"

Shakespeare banked and rode a gentle current, gliding higher on his leathery wings. He stared at a rank of airborne specks in the distance. The red sky, lit by the glow of luminous dust instead of direct sunlight, was easy on his vampire eyes.

"Things like this must be played a certain way, Thomas." Shakespeare continued to watch the distant specks approaching in an arrowhead formation. "With finesse. With guile."

Thomas zipped around him in a circle. "If someone's going to take something that's mine, I'd rather kill him first."

"Take a closer look at the cards and how they lie," said Shakespeare. "We can only find and unlock the prize with Jonah and Mavis both. When Arthur wins them over—and he will—they'll not be quick to cooperate with those who try to hurt him."

"So
make
them cooperate," said Thomas. "
Force
them."