Rise of the Fire Tamer (The Wordwick Games #1) (5 page)

‘Good, good. This map will show you the way through the Wickedly Woods to where the Spurious tribe is camped. I will fetch the loyal folk of Perfidious to aid you. My friends, we march to war.

Walking
at the front of the group, Sparks had his hand on his sword hilt, ready. Occasionally, he glanced back to where Gem walked, reading the map. If she caught him doing it, she would smile. Of course, she also smiled at Rio when
he
caught her eye. How she could see the two of them as the same was beyond Sparks. Rio was just a brusque, rude kid who would probably steal from them as soon as look at them. Sparks would just have to show them, when the fighting came, whom Gem should really be looking at…

Bringing up the rear, Rio found himself staring at Gem too, though more in puzzlement than anything. Rio knew he was handsome. Any other girl would have reacted when they first met, probably given in right then. So what was it about the rich girl? Maybe that was it. Maybe she didn’t think he was good enough for her. Well, he’d be
diligent
about it, work hard, and pretty soon she’d come around…

For her part, Kat was thinking that going out to fight just because someone said so was such a… a conformist thing to do, following the majority, going along with things. She also found herself thinking about Rio. He wasn’t a conformist. There was something dangerous about him, something different. Kat tried smiling at him. He smiled back, politely, then went back to staring at Gem. Well, who cared? Even if Rio was very good-looking…

Jack was mostly thinking about all the anachronisms around him. The kingdom was certainly living up to its name. The maze had still been there when they had walked outside, and he’d thought mazes where mostly later entertainments, sixteenth and seventeenth century or something. Then there had been all the different weapons, when they had been used in different centuries, or on different continents. The bow he had could have been something from the English forces of the Hundred Years War, while the one Gem had looked more like the sort of thing that had been used in Hungary. Since he had just been sent by a wizard to deal with ogres and trolls, Jack doubted that he could really complain, but still, it was odd…

Gem spent her time trying to find their way. She was a bit worried about the map, not least because the route it showed took them straight through the Wickedly Woods. She could remember Henry Word’s warning about that place clearly. She was also aware as she walked of the boys’ eyes on her. Two of the boys, at least. Jack seemed preoccupied. The trouble was, both Sparks and Rio seemed nice. Well no. Nice probably wasn’t the right word for Rio. But there was definitely something there…

Goolrick watched the departing group with a certain amount of thoughtfulness. For the most part, they seemed to be exactly what he had expected. But the girl, Gem… Goolrick found himself thinking a little of the former princess, Chelsea, as she had been in her prison in the woods. Yes, she might prove useful. They all might. For now though, he should fetch reinforcements, but maybe not too quickly. It would be good to see
how
useful the five of them might be…

Chapter 4

T
he Wickedly Woods seemed to brood as the five of them made their way along rough track ways designed more with deer in mind than people. What they brooded on, Gem couldn’t guess. Maybe on why anyone would want to trek through a set of woods that were so dank, or on whether they should be allowed to leave again. The very trees seemed to hate, to abhor, the presence of people, and to Gem’s eye seemed to shift around, confusing the path.

Still, they kept going, following the map as best they could. Surprisingly, the conditions seemed to foster a sense of camaraderie among them, a trust in the group that soon had even Rio making an effort. He joked with Jack about how many trees Jack would crash into without his glasses. Jack, for his part, was busy muttering under his breath.

“What are you doing, Jack?” Gem asked. The boy looked up, startled, as though he had been caught doing something he shouldn’t.

“I… that is…um…”

“He was saying random words,” Kat supplied. “I don’t know why.”

Gem could guess.

“You were trying to discover more ruler words by trial and error?”

Jack nodded mutely.

“That’s clever, but maybe we need somewhere with a bit more space, just in case something dangerous happens.”

“I…I don’t think that it works like that,” Jack said. “I think that maybe you have to think of the results when you say the word. So it shouldn’t be dangerous. Um… I think.”

Gem wasn’t about to argue. Especially since that was one of the longer sentences he’d uttered around her. She let him get back to his muttering.

In any case, they soon had more room. At least, the trees thinned out a little, letting the five of them walk between without any trouble. There was a space between a cluster of oaks that formed a clearing of sorts, and Gem decided that it looked like a good place to stop for a bit. She had lost track of how long the five of them had been walking, but it seemed like hours.

She was just about to call a halt when the howl came. It started off alone, then built up as more voices joined it and the sound converged into a single howl that seemed to come from everywhere at once.

“What’s that?” Jack asked.

“Probably just wolves,” Rio replied, though Gem noticed that he unsheathed his sword.

“What if it isn’t?” she asked. “We should be wary.”

“Cautious is practically my middle name,” Rio said. He smiled, but it faded as he looked over Gem’s shoulder. Gem turned, following his gaze.

She quickly wished that she hadn’t. More than a dozen large, ugly figures were making their way forward, holding a variety of weapons. Some had axes, others swords, but all of them looked brutal and vicious. Ogres, Gem guessed, thinking back to what Goolrick had said at the castle. One held the leashes for a pack of what could only be wolves, because no dog ever looked quite that dangerous.

The ogre with the wolves seemed to be in charge. He held up a hand, and the others halted. He spoke roughly, as though human speech weren’t easy for him.

“What tribe are you?”

“I’m not sure,” Gem said. “I don’t think we really have a tribe. We’re not from Anachronia.”

“What tribe?” the ogre demanded, raising his voice. On their leash, the wolves strained and snapped at one another. Sparks stepped between Gem and the ogre, his sword drawn. To Gem’s surprise, Rio joined him.

“Perfidious,” Sparks said. “What’s it to you?”

“Bad choice,” the ogre replied. “Surrender, and we’ll take you to Spurious. Don’t, and we’ll see how your bones taste.”

“Do we look like the
submissive
types?” Sparks asked. The ogre looked puzzled. He turned to another of them and whispered. The other one shrugged.

“He means do we look meek and mild and likely to give in?” Gem supplied. “But honestly, can’t we settle this in an
amicable
way? That means friendly, agreeable,” she added, as the ogre turned back to his whispering. He looked up sharply.

“I knew that! I was just thinking about which of you to eat first.”

The ogre with the wolves pointed to the five of them even as Gem watched.

“No. Not amicable. Get them,” he ordered. “Kill them.”

With a snarl, he let go of the leashes.

For a moment, Gem didn’t react as the wolves bounded forward in a single gray furred mass. Then, without thinking about it, she pulled her bow taut and sent an arrow flying into the pack. Rio and Sparks stepped forward, Sparks putting his shoulder behind his shield to hit a wolf like he was blocking a tackle, Rio swinging his broadsword in wide sweeps. An arrow from Jack’s bow flew out to hit one of the ogres, sending it crashing to the earth.

It was Kat who reacted most furiously though. With a cry she leapt forward, stabbing and blocking, charging into the middle of the ogres and their wolves. A mass of them closed around her and Gem couldn’t spot her anymore. Fitting another arrow to her bow, she fired, hitting a wolf in the leg.

There were too many ogres. Too many wolves. Rio and Sparks were attacking furiously, but for every blow they got through, they had to parry three more. For all that they were strong and athletic, it took skill to wield a sword against so many attackers, skill they’d never had chance to learn. If the ogres came at them all at once, they would never win.

Gem reached forward, grabbing Rio’s shoulder.

“We need to pull back. Into the trees. Split them up.”

She did the same with Sparks, then turned and bolted into the trees. Jack was already there, having climbed an oak so he could send down arrows at the ogres. Gem decided to dodge and dart, hoping to draw a few of the ogres’ attention.

It worked. Three of them peeled off, along with a couple of wolves, chasing her into the trees. Gem fired a shot as she ran, hitting a wolf more by luck than skill. Glancing back, she saw that Rio and Sparks had split up. Rio was dodging around trees, hitting ogres who couldn’t keep track of where he was. Sparks was fighting toe to toe with a pair of ogres, using his shield to keep them off. Kat was still buried somewhere in a scrum of attackers. As for Jack, he seemed to be enjoying staying out of reach in his tree, firing down even if he didn’t always hit.

Gem decided that it seemed like a good plan, especially as the ogres were gaining on her. With a shot at the remaining wolf that missed it by a hairsbreadth, she sprinted for a likely looking tree. She hadn’t spent a lot of time climbing trees, but it couldn’t be any more difficult than the more acrobatic things she’d done when cheerleading, surely?

Of course, Gem didn’t do most of them while wearing a long dress. The first leap found her feet tangling, and Gem stumbled, falling at the base of the tree.

She rolled, rising, knowing that she couldn’t just lie there. She managed a shot with the bow that sent the last wolf falling, and lined up another on one of the chasing ogres, taking it through the heart. She took too long though, and the next of the ogres to reach her swung a hand around, knocking the bow from her grasp. It raised the axe it held, obviously planning to split her like a fallen log. There was no way out that Gem could see. The fall of the axe seemed inevitable, impossible to avoid.

She thought of the vase Sparks had destroyed. Would it work? It had to, if she wanted to escape in one piece. With no other option, Gem raised her hand.

“
Deleterious
.”

The ogre’s face contorted. It made a strangled sound. Finally, with the grace of a falling tree, it toppled backwards, dead. Gem looked at her hand as though she had never seen it before.

Maybe if there had only been two ogres, it would have been enough. Maybe if she hadn’t been so shocked at the idea of having killed one with nothing but a word, Gem would have been fast enough. As it was, the last of the ogres leapt at her, grabbing her and lifting, clamping one hand over her mouth. Restrained as she was, Gem couldn’t say anything, let alone use a word of power.

“Now, I’ll eat your bones,” the ogre taunted. So close, Gem could smell the stench of it, which was somewhere between sweat and worse things. “Time to die, little-“

It didn’t finish the sentence. It didn’t have anything to finish the sentence with. One moment, it had a head, the next, it was falling backwards headless, letting go of Gem as it did so. Behind it stood Goolrick, a sword in his hand. The young wizard was still wearing his ornate robes, but was now rubbing at a splash of blood on them.

anytHonestly! You can never get it out, you know.”

“Goolrick? When did you show up?”

“Oh, not long ago. I used a quick charm to mask myself as I crept up. Not as efficient as the “
surreptitious
” word, but it works.”

There was part of Gem that wanted to hug Goolrick for saving her, and part of her that wanted to hit him for wasting time working at his robe.

“The others-“ she began, but Goolrick held up a hand.

“They should be fine. I brought help. First though, are you all right?”

Gem nodded and Goolrick led the way back through the trees. He had indeed brought help. Men in armor stood around holding swords and staffs. Sparks, Rio and Jack sat among them.

“Behold,” Goolrick said, “the men of Perfidious. Some of them, anyway. All I could get at short notice.”

“They were great,” Jack said. “Some of the wolves had me trapped in the tree, and then they just… arrived.”

“I’m glad,” Gem said, but she bit her lip. She looked around the trees again, in case she had simply missed something, then turned back to the others. “Where’s Kat?”

“I don’t know,” Rio said. Sparks shook his head.

“The last I saw of her, she was charging those ogres.”