Chaos Storm (The Flight of the Griffin Book 2) (33 page)

He peered over the side at the desert and distant city so very far below, and uttered a curse. He was clearly still travelling in circles and appeared to be heading out into the desert again. He couldn't go up any higher, so reaching up he toggled the lever to vent some of the warm air and felt the balloon lurch and descend, rather too rapidly as his stomach attested. Regaining his feet he twisted another lever and a burst of flame leapt out of the central canister halting the descent, but it was too much, it knocked the Magician off his feet once more and he scrabbled about in alarm as the balloon shot up into the cold blue sky.

It took some time, but he finally managed to turn the burner off. Now colder than ever, he leaned over the side and sighed, he was ridiculously high, but at least his direction had changed, the mountains were getting closer again. A small blue speck far below caught his eye and after a moment's consideration he sighed, the dragon was rising, coming up again to pay him a visit. All in all, the romance and excitement of ballooning was wearing very thin for Magician Falk and he was ready to walk with his fellow man on the ground. Either that, freeze to death or end up as a dragon's dinner he thought wistfully.

* * *

The grey cat sat in a patch of warm sunlight watching the circling blue and yellow butterflies with studied interest, her tail flicked gently as her head moved from one fluttering creature to the next. Her paw occasionally reached out in a half-hearted attempt at swatting them.

'Mahra?'

The cat glanced about then stood up and stretched, her claws extending and retracting as she did so. Resuming her seated position, she began swatting at the butterflies again.

'Mahra, is that you? How did you get here?'

'I'm not going to talk to you when you're invisible Pardigan, I can sort of see you… did you know cats can sort of see you?'

'Shhh, keep your voice down. If someone hears us we're going to be in big trouble. Yes, I know cats can see me, so can elephants and priests of Chaos. It's becoming less and less of an advantage. We have to get back through that door.'

'But it's nice here, I like it.' A butterfly came close and her head moved, following the erratic flight until the tiny creature landed on the tip of her nose, opening and closing its wings. The cat's eyes slowly crossed studying it. 'What's an elephant?' she purred softly.

'It's what they call that big animal with the long nose. Look, Mahra, I'm getting out of here. This place is nasty, its evil and I want to get back to that nice safe battle the other side of the door.'

The butterfly took to the air again, and Mahra turned to regard the now visible Pardigan as he crouched at the base of the wall pulling his boots on.

'You seem a little upset? Oh, you found the skull, good boy.'

'The Emperor is going to join his army at sunset, and he said he was going to break the city's shield. We have to get back and warn them. Mahra, I'm serious, he has a big black crystal, and it's full of people's souls. I saw him drag some poor man into it… it was hideous. It's where he gets his magic. I don't know what we're going to do, but we have to get back to the others… come on.' Pardigan disappeared and Mahra jumped down from her perch on the wall and followed the ghostly shape of her friend.

Stepping back through the doorway was a shock to the senses. The heat of the late afternoon desert was the first blow, hitting them like a thump between the eyes, and then came the unsteady motion of being perched high on the elephant's back as it rocked from side to side shuffling its feet. As they hurried to descend the stairs, the sickening roar of battle was loud in their ears.

'I'm going to place-shift into the city and warn them,' yelled Pardigan over the noise. 'Can you get in somehow?'

'Oh, don't worry about me; I'll meet you there. I'm going to see what's happening from above, get a better idea of things before coming back. Go on, go!' Without waiting, the cat jumped from the staircase and transformed into the snowy white owl, soaring over the heads of those below that were so intent upon killing each other, screaming their hatred, caught in the lust of battle and death - the owl was ignored by all as the battle raged.

Warm air was still rising from the hot sand of the desert, so Mahra was able to gain height quickly and was soon spiralling high on the thermals looking down on the mighty city of Dhurban, still safe for now behind its wall and shimmering shield. Surrounding it was the invading army, the heaviest concentration of men and fiercest fighting congesting around the main gates, which is where she knew Quint would be. He must be one of those tiny specs amid the smoke, arrows and death she thought.

Looking to the west, she could see the great blue and yellow dragon. It appeared to be attacking a big floating bubble of some kind. She watched for a few moments as it swooped in, claws extended breathing great gouts of flame, which enveloped the strange object. It was a weird looking thing; maybe the Magicians had sent it up to distract the dragon away from the city. Feathers fluttering in the warm air current, she continued her turn east towards the mountains and saw that the troops of the Realm had finally arrived. They were forming into ranks ready for their march across the last expanse of desert and didn't look to be making camp. If they marched all night they would join the battle by morning, this was good news. She flew for some time until the sun started to set, and a cooler current of air ruffled her feathers. Dipping a wing, she turned back to the city and made ready to find her way in.

She closed the distance quickly and approached the main gates of the city where the huge elephant still stood carrying the strange wooden palace on its back, she felt sorry for the poor thing. It was swinging its long nose and flapping its ears, obviously agitated. Around it, hundreds of drummers were forming up, beating out a steady rhythm and soldiers were lighting fires to illuminate the battle once the sunlight had faded - darkness obviously wouldn't bring respite for either side. As Mahra swooped down intent upon finding the small weakness into the city shield that they had used when first arriving, she noticed a gathering of higher-ranking soldiers around the elephant. The drummers pounding rhythm intensifying with many of the soldiers joining in, clashing their swords on their shields. More soldiers were running over to join the gathering; something different was taking place. She noticed others working in pairs to bring out long curved horns that once in place, joined the drumming to send long moaning calls out across the battle, the city and the desert sands beyond.

Circling now to study these new events, soaring just above arrow range, Mahra watched as the unmistakable figure of the Emperor, Djinn Tsai, emerged from the doorway at the rear of the palace and slowly descended. Behind him, retainers supported something that she realised must be the huge black crystal that Pardigan had described. They were carrying it with great care, navigating the staircase cautiously, in obvious fear of spilling it. Realising that everything Pardigan had warned about was going to come true, Mahra dived down, gliding just above the heads of the waiting warriors and tapped the crystal as she passed, feeling it rock beginning to tip over, then she flew on towards the narrow gap in the shield and readied herself to enter, now eager to get the unpleasant affects over with, her heart pounding with the urgent need to get back to her friends. The Emperor had arrived at the battle, which meant something was about to happen, and if Pardigan was right, it wasn't going to be good.

* * *

The Emperor, Djinn Tsai, slowly descended the wooden staircase and gazed across at the setting sun. The base of the shimmering red disc had just touched the horizon and was beginning to dip below the shadowed dunes of the desert, the heat haze of the desert make it shimmer and dance. He stopped, his head tilting to one side. The disappearance of the star was a sight that he was aware held fascination for many humans, but it was a spectacle he had witnessed far too often, in fact, countless millions of times, and it now held little interest for him beyond marking the passing of yet another day. However, he had to concede that, from here in the desert, it was a rather pleasing shade of red.

Taking another step, his attention turned upon the sea of bowed heads and humped backs as his people grovelled before him in the dust, how pitiful they were. He snorted in disgust and turned towards the city wall where, thankfully, the fighting was still bloody and brutal. Drawing a deep breath he sighed with pleasure, savouring the sharp feel of each new death, the countless moments of suffering and drawn out agony being played out before him. To the Djinn, it mattered not if it was his own soldiers or the Dhurbar warriors as blows were traded, mortal wounds inflicted and men and women died - it was the way it should be and most satisfying. At last his attention moved upward, above the battle where the air was thick with souls, it was their presence that he could feel most keenly of all.

A soul upon death, will not go far from the fallen body, they remain close. The confusion and anguish of each and every disconnected life force was so delicious that it almost made the Emperor's mouth water, almost. Breathing deeply once again, he smiled and stilled the desire to reach out and begin gathering them quickly, like some greedy human snatching food from the feasting table. No, he preferred instead to take his time and savour the moment, denying himself the pleasure, delighting in the anticipation of when all that power and energy would be harvested and captured so that the crystal would slowly begin to swell, and saturate his entire being in an orgy of energy that would leave him breathless in ecstasy and feeling so, so alive.

As his feet left the bottom step of the stairs and touched down upon the desert sand, a single loud drumbeat signalled to his grovelling subjects that they could rise. The droning calls of the horns resumed along with the heavy beating of drums and then the high ululating cries of the wraiths rent the air. Emboldened by his presence more of his soldiers ran towards the battle, screaming their war cries and hatred of their enemy, eager to lay down their lives upon the walls of Dhurban for their Emperor. He watched them and smiled… they were all so ready to oblige him.

Something flitted past overhead, a fast silent shadow he glanced up and frowned. The sound of a foot scraping on the stairs caused him to glance back, momentarily concerned for the safety of the crystal as he watched the bearers struggle under its weight, they were swaying, and the crystal was rocking, but they had control of it and were waiting for him to move on. To break the city's shield, and of course to gather the souls the crystal needed to be this side of the portal, a regrettable but necessary risk. Realisation dawned upon him that its exposure to the battle had momentarily filled him with an unaccustomed emotion… fear. He studied it, tasted the emotion, glanced at the crystal once more, and then moved on. There was nothing else for it, the crystal was well guarded, needed to be here, and the bearers had regained their balance. He returned his mind to the task at hand

Ignoring the fawning courtiers, soldiers and retainers, he walked slowly forward, the throng of people parting in front of him. Picking his way through the debris of discarded weapons, spent arrows and dead, he came to stand in front of the great elephant, to the same spot where he had conjured the great blue and yellow Drac-Au-Shun the previous day.

Drawing a last full breath, he began to gather his will, reaching out to focus and then draw upon the crystal's energy. The link formed and once more they became as one. Power began to flood through him, saturating him, filling him in such a way as nothing else ever could. Raising his arms slowly above his head, he began the process of weaving threads of red Chaos, the crackling whips of energy lashing out from his fingers and attaching to one soul after another, capturing them unawares as they grieved the death of their mortal bodies. Once singled out and harnessed, the souls writhed helplessly and screamed, caught like fish on hissing red lines, their cries rising higher, becoming more desperate as they were dragged away from their earthly remains towards the steadily pulsing crystal. Most upon the field of battle could neither see nor hear the souls anguish; in fact, most remained ignorant of the souls' existence and were unaware of the reason behind the Emperor's display. Arms whirling as he directed and controlled the energy, the Emperor, Djinn Tsai, wove his web of power snatching more and more souls, dragging them, forcing them wailing, pleading and struggling towards the crystal. For any that could hear it, the air was filled with the souls' raucous anguish. When the first of his captures reached the crystal, they were slowly absorbed… eaten, each soul distorted and stretched as it struggled and fought against the terror of what was happening to it. Eyes now glowing as red as the streaks of energy that he wielded, the Emperor, Djinn Tsai's, own cry rose to join the sounds of battle, yet the Djinn's voice did not cry out in pain, it cried out in pure, ecstatic joy.

'What is he doing?' Pardigan came up alongside Quint and leaned on the parapet. The fighting in this section had died down, both sides had retreated, distracted by the incredible display being played out in front of them. Upon the wall, the Sultan's Magicians were using the lull in the battle to work their spells, replacing crystals and repainting their wardings and symbols to renew the defensive shield in anticipation of whatever the Emperor might be about to throw at them.

The boys stood back as the hunched figure of a Magician rudely pushed past, and then stopped to mumble a spell and scratch fresh symbols onto the stonework with a long curved dagger that pulsed with the blue energy of Order - the old man's thick white beard bobbing up and down as he muttered, working the incantation.

'What have you done with the skull,' asked Quint, placing an arm about his friend's shoulders, both as a sign of affection for his friend whom he was happy to have back, but it was also to support his tired body, Quint had been fighting for most of the day and was quite ready to drop.

'The skull is in the palace, it's safe. First chance we get, then someone has to get it back to Sterling Port and put it with the other two, but for now it's safe. So…' he nodded towards the Emperor, 'what do you think he's doing?' They both gazed down at the strange little man standing in front of the city wall as he flung his arms about in a display of quite baffling complexity, with bolts of crackling red energy leaping from his outstretched hands flickering all over the battlefield. What they couldn't work out was why? Not one streak of dancing lightning had entered the city, nor was it hitting anyone up on the wall. There seemed neither reason nor intent behind anything the Emperor was doing.

'The crystal is just behind him, look… with lots of guards around it,' said Quint.

'Yes, I saw it.' Pardigan leant down, put his head on his arms and continued to watch the weird and strangely wonderful display. 'Do you think he's doing something to the shield? He did say he would arrive at sunset and remove the city's defences, he's up to something.' And then, as his eyes focus changed from the crystal back to the Emperor, he saw what was happening. 'Oh Source, he's taking the souls of the dead and dragging them into the crystal, look.'

Quint narrowed his eyes and tried to see whatever Pardigan could see. By now a massive, dancing web of crackling red energy was spread out from the little man's hands, jumping and weaving transforming the battlefield to a deep crimson. Dancing shadows stretched up the city walls and out into the growing darkness of the enemy camp. The elephant didn't look happy. It was swinging its trunk and shuffling as if deciding when it should make a break and run for the mountains. To either side of the great beast the handlers were struggling, leaning back on their restraining ropes, trying to use their weight to control the animal, four of them on each side, but it looked to Quint as if they would be dragged away as soon as the elephant finally made its mind up that humans were far too strange. Behind the Emperor, about fifty paces back, stood hundreds of warriors, patiently watching and waiting. Alongside them were the stooped, shuffling figures of the remaining wraiths, the hoods of their cloaks covering them, protecting them from the blinding red light. From up on the wall they couldn't see the wraiths' features beneath their cloaks, but Quint knew it was them because they were making that awful high-pitched squealing noise.

'Can you see what he's doing yet?' asked Pardigan, 'He's dragging the souls of the dead back into that crystal. It's where his magic comes from, I saw it happen in the palace.'

Quint shook his head, 'It makes a nice display, but as magic goes, I think I preferred the butterflies. This is impressive of course, Loras would be enjoying it, but the butterflies were really good. I can't see them Pardigan, but whatever he's doing I don't think it will be over any time soon, so it gives us a chance to rest, I need it,' he sighed. 'Come on, let's go find something to eat.' He tugged on Pardigan's jerkin pulling his friend up. 'Mahra might have come in by now, and if she's back, she's going to be in the kitchens. There's nothing we can do here, I'm too tired even to watch.' The two friends walked off, carefully descending the gloomy ramparts by an open stone stairway and into the shadows of the city, for now still sitting safely behind its magical shield.

The narrow, night-time streets of Dhurban were lit by flickering torches, the air heavily scented with cooking food and burning incense. Excited chatter echoed along the narrow alleys as the Dhurbars debated the day's events. Stories of the Emperor's display and rumours that King Hugo's army was approaching the city were everywhere, but for Quint and Pardigan it wasn't long before all thoughts of the Emperor and battle were forgotten in favour of Mahra's company and a bowl of spicy Dhurbar stew.

Dawn brought confirmation that some of the rumours had been true. Having marched through the hours of darkness, King Hugo's forces had finally launched their attack to the rear of the enemy positions at first light. The news was being carried back into the city by criers shouting at the tops of their voices from every street corner, the sound of their ringing bells bringing people out onto the streets and flinging open their windows to hear and spread word of the cities salvation. As Quint, Pardigan and Mahra made their way through the streets to the wall, the story they were hearing seemed to change and grow, the details often contradicting each other as fresh debates and arguments broke out from a population that shifted from despair to celebration and then back again to fear as the story ebbed and flowed with the telling of it.

As they walked the final few streets and alleys and got nearer the wall, the sounds of clashing metal, shouting and screaming got louder and louder, this time, however, the sounds weren't from attacks on the wall itself but from the battle in the distant desert.

'I hope Tarent and Loras are okay.' Mahra glanced up between the buildings towards the narrow strip of blue sky as if hoping she might see
The Griffin
circling overhead.

'They'll be fine. Loras is more than a match for The Hawk and Tarent can deal with anything else that they get into.' Quint was trying to sound confident, but truth be told he was as worried as Mahra. They ran up the worn stone stairs to the wall, eager for their first glimpse of what might be happening.

The first thing that greeted them wasn't the battle, which was clearly raging in the distance, but the unmistakable figure of Elisop standing up on the ramparts, leggings around his ankles shaking his bare bottom at the Emperor and his army. Arrows were bouncing off the shield all around him, but of course none of them were getting through to hit his proffered target.

The little spy was wiggling his naked buttocks from side to side with his head turned so he could also shout at the same time. 'You cannot touch me, stupid Soul munchers. I am Elisop the…' Turning back, he noticed the three friends staring at him, hastily pulled up his trews and jumped down. 'What are you stupid children doing here? Go and fight those evil invaders. I suggest you shoot their giant beast, the one with the suspiciously long nose… I do not trust it.' He ran over to Pardigan and tugged on his sleeve until Pardigan bent down so the little spy could whisper in his ear. 'The big beast is watching me in a most peculiar way, and I don't trust that nose thing, it isn't… natural. It may be some secret weapon. I think it is a common mouse made grossly fat and large by the use of magics… I don't like magics. The nose is the key to its magical powers. Shoot it with an arrow and it will return to the shape of a mouse, you will see.'

Pardigan grinned, ignoring Elisop's ramblings about the elephant. 'Where did you come from? I thought we left you back in Deniah,' he pulled the little spy around to face him, 'and why were you wiggling your bottom over the wall like that?'

'I was doing no such thing!' said Elisop indignantly. 'I was merely sending a message to their Emperor. It is far too technical for you to understand.'

'Well the Emperor looks to have taken it a bit personally,' said Quint. 'He's up to something else… look.'

Eyes glowing red, the Emperor, Djinn Tsai, Lord of Shadows, was now swinging his arms around in circles as fast as he could. Gone was the web of crackling red energy harvesting souls, now it was just sand that was flying about, a cloud of dust and debris forming to spin around the strange little figure.

Emitting a loud squeal of distress, the elephant abruptly decided it had finally seen enough and began backing away, ears flapping, and trunk raised. With a last shrieking cry, it turned and fled, dragging its screaming handlers with it through the camp, the wooden palace upon its back swaying precariously from side to side. Oblivious to anything in its path, the huge animal trampled wraiths and flattened several of the buildings as it went, finally leaving the camp for the open desert, trailing ropes, tents and one last handler still holding onto his rope bouncing along behind it.