Longfang (24 page)

‘We didn’t,’ Elian said, giving her a broad grin and pointing over his shoulder with his thumb towards Pell. ‘Pell forced the Oracle to tell us where to come.’

‘He did!’ Kira was amazed. ‘How?’

‘He threatened to smash the second orb if the Oracle didn’t tell us.’

Nolita gasped. ‘But you wouldn’t have done it, would you?’ she asked quickly.

‘Yes. Actually, I would,’ Pell replied, still without emotion. ‘And I nearly did. I’m beginning to wonder if the Oracle is the force for good everyone says it is. Think
about it. These orbs it needs – one sucked blood from Nolita, the second was formed from a dragon’s heart. The first drew predators with its aura and the next killed indiscriminately
every time night fell. They’re hardly wholesome attributes. Why does the Oracle need these things? To regenerate, it says. To regenerate into what? Will it be the same creature when this
regeneration is complete? Something about this quest feels wrong to me. What gives the Oracle the right to demand these sacrifices?’

‘The second orb killed?’ Nolita said, her face paling. ‘Who did it kill?’

Pell did not answer. His eyes challenged the girls to answer his question first.

Elian broke the awkward silence.

‘Look,’ he said. ‘We’re here to get the dusk orb, and we should do it now. Segun isn’t our only worry. We’ve spent the last four days fighting a running
battle against dragonhunters.’

‘More hunters!’ Kira exclaimed.

‘We think they’re the same crowd as before.’ Elian scowled as memories crowded his mind. ‘Ra and Shadow have both taken injuries, but Shadow’s are the most
limiting. Her wing is badly hurt. They’ll be close again by now. According to Ra, their leader is possessed.’

‘Possessed? How?’

‘An evil spirit creature has taken control of his body. She calls him a “joining”. It seems joinings have a particular hatred of dragonkind, so they’re not going to give
up the chase. We’re here. We came for the orb. Let’s go get it, or do you want to abandon the quest after what Pell has said?’

Nolita looked unhappy and unsure. Kira was more decisive.

‘No,’ she said. ‘Let’s get on with it. We’ve come this far. Let’s get the orb . . . unless Aurora needs healing?’ She glanced at Nolita for confirmation
and then guiltily at Pell. It seemed unfair that Fire could heal all but his night dragon, but she could not change the facts. Nolita nodded agreement.

‘Thanks, but Ra is fine,’ Elian said gratefully. ‘Her wounds are not troubling her at the moment.’

‘In that case we should get the orb now before Segun gets reinforcements. I’ve got some questions that I’d like to ask both Pell and the Oracle, but they can wait. How many
night dragons entered the castle?’

‘Two,’ Elian answered.

‘We outnumber them. Good. I guess Fang and I should lead, as it’s the dusk orb we’re after this time.’

She looked across at Pell, expecting a challenge. His expression did not change and he said nothing. Kira did not quite know what to make of his silence, but it was Elian who spoke again.

‘Why not have Fang and Firestorm lead the way?’ he suggested. ‘If we follow them on foot, Shadow and Aurora can bring up the rear. I’d feel a lot safer if I had friendly
dragons all around me. Although the gates are big enough for us to ride our dragons inside, there’s no telling where the orb is. If there’s danger, the dragons will be able to move far
more freely if they don’t have us on their backs.’

Kira nodded and the dragons agreed.

It was further than it looked to the great grey gates of the Castle of Shadows. The wind whipped around them, howling over the battlements and moaning through the thin archers’ windows
with a keening so powerful that the riders could feel it in their chests. Kira stuck her fingers in her ears in an effort to block out the sound, but nothing seemed to dull its bite.

As they got closer, so the walls towered higher. The structure was truly gargantuan, its sheer scale making even the dragons seem small and insignificant. They reached the enormous arched
gateway. Kira looked up and around. When she had been at the Grand Library in Harkesis it had been hard to imagine a doorway bigger than the main entrance there. That seemed laughable in the face
of this gateway. This was a gateway for giants.

‘Or worse,’
Fang added.

‘Worse?’
she asked.
‘What do you mean?’

‘There is something here, Kira,’
Fang said slowly.
‘The castle may look deserted, but do not be fooled. We are not alone.’

‘You’re probably sensing the night dragons,’
she suggested.

‘No, it’s definitely not the night dragons,’
Fang replied.
‘I have tried to sense ahead for them and I feel nothing even remotely like the mental tones of a
night dragon. What I feel is more transient. Something is leaking fleeting traces of thought – nothing identifiable, but there is a sense of watchfulness about the castle. Something is
waiting.’

The wind strengthened as they walked through the great archway. It funnelled through the gap in the walls, as if trying to push them back. Kira’s sharp eyes could just make out the lines
of a huge portcullis hidden in a dark recess above them. She stepped more swiftly as they passed underneath it, her mind picturing it dropping with a great rumble. As they reached the inner end of
the tunnel, the wind died away to little more than a swirling breeze. The noise of the wind in the battlements was still audible, but distant.

The inner keep stood squat and dense, dominating the central area of the castle. It had been built towards the southern side of centre, leaving a large open area at the northern end of the
castle. Firestorm and Fang headed for the open area, keeping as much open space around them as possible. They were hunting for the orb, but Kira felt very much like prey here.

Several old trees, twisted, broken and long dead, stood within the walls. They seemed sad reminders of the life that had once lived within the castle. In their day, they must have been great
pillars of colour and life, but their broken remains now only served to enhance the feeling of death and loss.

As they progressed across the open courtyard towards the seaward wall of the fortress, Kira began to sense the watchfulness that Fang had mentioned. Her hunter’s sense was prickling. She
could feel eyes following her. Her own eyes were constantly on the move, and her ears strained to hear even the slightest of sounds that might give a clue to where the watcher, or watchers were
hiding. There was nothing. Only the noise of the wind and the gulls.

They rounded the corner of the inner keep and the two lead dragons stopped.

‘What’s wrong, Fang?’
Kira asked immediately.
‘Why have you stopped?’

‘Don’t move, Kira! Stand absolutely still. The other dragons are instructing their riders,’
Fang said, his voice urgent.
‘Whatever happens in the next few
minutes, you must not move. If you do, you will die.’

Chapter Twenty-two

Kira froze, barely able to breathe. The sense of fear leaking through the bond shocked her. What had her dragon seen that could cause him such fear?

A movement caught the corner of her eye and she was tempted to ease her head around to the right to see what was there.

‘Don’t move!’
Fang ordered again, reading her intention. His fear for her was so strong this time that any thoughts of looking around were shredded.
‘Not even
slightly.’

The movement in her peripheral vision teased, whatever was there was coming closer.

‘What is it?’
she asked.
‘What’s there?’

‘They don’t have a name,’
Fang said.
‘“Shadow demons” is the closest I can come to describing them. I should have recognised them when we entered,
but for some reason they escaped my notice until I saw the remains of the two night dragons.’

‘Remains?’
Kira tried to swallow the lump that formed in her throat. Her mouth suddenly felt dry and swallowing was not easy. She was not upset to learn that the night dragons
were dead, but night dragons were not easy prey. It had taken a lot of griffins to kill Knifetail and that struggle had been noisy. Whatever had killed these two dragons had done it silently and so
fast that the dragons had not had a chance to warn their leader, who was hiding not far away.

An itch began to tickle at Kira’s nose. The wind was blowing loose hair across her face. She clamped her teeth together and tried to ignore it.

Another movement. This time she could just make out a shape.

The trees! she thought. It’s the trees!

‘There are no trees here,’
Fang told her.
‘The things you took to be trees are deadly creatures from another world. I did not see them as trees, but as piles of old
stone. They have an uncanny camouflage skill not dissimilar to my own. I doubt the night dragons even saw them coming. My eyes see more than most.’

‘So how do we get past them?’

A warm wave of positive emotion flooded through the bond in response to her question.

‘I’m glad you did not ask about retreating,’
he said.
‘The best thing we can do with these creatures is to stand our ground and let them get used to our scent.
If we remain still until they have dismissed us as a threat, we should be able to move slowly forwards and into the keep. The doors are open.’

The nearest tree creature was coming closer. Kira noticed a slight haze surrounding it. The blurring was subtle, but now that she knew the shadow demon was not displaying its true form she began
to see where its camouflage was distorting reality. What was it like underneath the disguise? No sooner had the question raised itself in her mind than she realised she did not want to know the
answer. She had the horrible feeling that if she were to see the creature’s true form it would haunt her sleep for the rest of her life.

Kira could feel the shadow demons all around them now, yet they made no noise. It was as if they were gliding on cushions of air. Although their movements were smooth and without menace, Kira
felt this was yet another part of their deception. A slight whimper from Nolita proved her correct. In the blink of an eye the creatures closed in. Their speed was terrible. Kira had never seen
anything move so fast, except perhaps the strange spitting weapons of the other world where Elian and Aurora had taken them.

The tensing of her muscles was instinctive. Kira could not help it. She felt Nolita tense up beside her as well. The creatures loomed over them, not touching, but uncomfortably close and
circling round and around.

Don’t try to run, Nolita, she prayed. Please don’t move.

Despite the cool wind, she felt a trickle of sweat run down her temple. Another tracked down her back underneath her shirt. The air bristled with fear. The dragons were projecting it in sharp
spikes that stabbed through the bonds and the riders were frozen, muscles locked rigid with breathless terror.

For what seemed like an eternity they stayed that way. Frozen. Suspended in a whirling dance of deadly peril. How long they had been standing when she first felt the shift, Kira could not tell.
The withdrawal was so gradual that she was not sure it was really happening. The relief, when Fang confirmed it, was immense.

‘They are pulling back,’
he said.
‘Remain still. We should be able to move again soon.’

Time seemed to flow with the reluctance of chilled treacle. When Fang finally said they could move forwards again, Kira realised she had no idea if one minute or a dozen had passed since the
shadow demons had begun to pull away.

‘Let’s take it one step at a time,’
he said.
‘Make no sudden movements. Keep everything slow. Once we’ve crossed the threshold we should be safe. The
creatures do not like to be inside.’

‘Safe from them,’
Kira amended.
‘But who knows what awaits us inside? My hunter’s instinct is prickling. This place is full of danger.’

Fang did not respond, but she could feel through the bond that he shared her worries.

They moved forwards. Keeping her movements painfully slow, Kira raised her hand to comb the loose hairs from her face with her fingers. The relief she felt as she scratched her itching nose was
heavenly.

Near the main doors into the keep, Kira spotted the remains of the night dragons. If Fang had not identified the bloody masses as draconic, Kira would have had difficulty in working out what she
was looking at. There was very little left. Trails of dark blood streaked the stones where the carcasses had been dragged to their resting places under the sea-facing outer wall. Of the two riders,
there was no sign. Kira did not want to think about what had happened to them, but she felt sure they were dead.

Step by step, the dragons and riders moved forwards towards the doors. Fang stopped everyone twice more before they reached the entrance, but each time Kira only counted a few heartbeats before
they began moving again. The doors into the keep stood open. They were big enough for the dragons to pass inside in single file. Fang went first, followed closely by Firestorm. The riders went
next, followed by Aurora, with Shadow bringing up the rear.