The Gorgons Gaze # 2 (Companions Quartet) (27 page)

Anneena, standing at the head of the procession, watched these developments with dismay. Her carefully plotted script was being ruined by the unexpected actions of the Clamworthys.

“What’s he up to?” asked Anneena’s sister Rupa, who was there to report for her newspaper. A photographer stood beside her, his camera clicking furiously to catch the drama.

“I’m not sure,” Anneena admitted. “He’s been acting weird since Connie went missing—since he went missing himself, in fact. Perhaps it’s all gotten to be too much for him.”

“In that case,” said Rupa, “we’d better leave him alone. His dad will look after him.”

Zed sauntered over. “That was cool. Who are they?”

“Just a couple of local characters,” said Rupa. “We’d better keep going?”

Zed nodded. “You’re right. We’re opening the festival in a couple of hours—let’s wrap this up.”

King Arthur raised his hand and the procession jingled into life again, following the road around the edge of the wood.

16
Merlin’s Oak

T
he branch Connie clung to felt dangerously thin. Her eyes were closed tight as every time she risked a peek at what was happening around her, she was overcome with a wave of fear and her trembling became uncontrollable. She could only endure heights when bonded with a flying creature. On her own, all her dread returned. Clinging with her bound hands, she dared not move as every breath of wind made the branch sway to and fro with an ominous creak. A kind of paralysis had struck Connie; her mind could think of nothing but her terror of heights. She could hear faint cheers and voices some distance away but did not realize what they meant. All she knew was that Kullervo had left her like a flightless fledgling stranded at the top of the oak, staked out as bait for the first predator to pass by. In this case, the hunter the
shape-shifter hoped to catch was the Society. While she would like nothing better than a friendly squadron of dragons to swoop out of the skies, Connie knew she should not wish it as that was exactly what he wanted.

A rustling sounded close-by her head and Connie felt the presence of another creature: not Kullervo and his allies, hiding below, waiting to attack anyone who approached the tree on foot or from the sky, but an earthy nature she had experienced once before. Opening her eyes a crack, she saw the wood sprite staring at her with wonder, its leafy pelt now showing many more patches of gray skin. It reached out a paw and touched her shoulder. Immediately, Connie was swept with the calming ebb and flow of the tree’s sap.

Universal, you are in danger
, the wood sprite told her, stroking her shoulder gently.

You are too high. There is no way down from here but one
.

I know
, replied Connie grimly,
that of the acorn—to drop
.

And there are creatures below; dark creatures that are hiding in my branches uninvited
.

Connie closed her eyes again for a moment and turned her thoughts to the tree’s core, traveling down its stem. On one of the lower branches she felt the smooth touch of the gorgon’s hands, grasping the bark. Further down, deep in the roots, there were other creatures hidden, ones she had not yet encountered, sprites of stone. Kullervo had arrayed
his forces for an ambush. But where was he? His voice was stilled in her head, yet she knew that he could not be far away. The pieces were set for a battle that she was powerless to stop. It seemed likely that in a short while, the world would never be the same again. The mythical creatures would be forced into the open. They would kill one another in defense of her and the crowds of people in the wood, a sacrifice that would turn many in the mythical world irrevocably against the Society. It would be all her fault. If only she had not been so foolish as to walk into Kullervo’s trap! At least she could try to save one creature.

Hide yourself
, she urged the sprite.
Danger approaches. Do not go near the creature at the base of your tree. Avoid her eyes
.

The wood sprite snuffed the air.
Yes, danger does approach
. With a flick of its long tail, the sprite scampered down the trunk and disappeared into a crack.

Having done what she could, Connie grasped the branch more firmly in her hands and waited for the battle to begin.

Once out of sight of the crowd, Col slowed Skylark to a trot.

We’d better be more careful
, he told the pegasus.
Kullervo is bound to have set some lookouts. We don’t know who or what we’ll have to get past
.

Where are we going?
Skylark asked.

Merlin’s Oak
.

There was a flap of wings and a scratching noise from the top of Col’s helm. With a leap that pushed down on his head, Argand took off into the air, flashing gold among the branches.

Off to find the universal
, observed Skylark.
Let us follow her. She may have sensed her presence
.

Col nodded and together they wound their way through the thickets of trees, chasing the golden spark that darted ahead. Argand appeared to want them to follow her, for each time she disappeared from sight she would double back and wait for them to catch up.

I think Kullervo will be expecting a full blown assault
, Col told Skylark as they followed their guide.
He knows that I’ve seen his army, so he knows that the Society believes Connie’s well defended. If I’m right, I don’t think he’ll be looking out for a single human on a horse. I’m hoping he’ll think we are just strays from the procession and not unleash his attack on us
.

I hope so, too
, Skylark agreed wryly.
But why not attack at once? What is he waiting for?

I think he’ll want the road builders to make the first move before he acts, to prove to mythical creatures that he had to fight us. He’s probably waiting for the bulldozers to start rolling—that’ll show we didn’t stop them from tearing down the wood, but we did act when he attacked the people. That’ll turn many of you away from us humans. It’ll destroy the
Society—rip it apart. I’m guessing he’s got his forces hidden somewhere deeper in the wood, waiting for his signal to strike
.

Hoping and guessing, Companion, you trust much to luck and your understanding of Kullervo
.

Well, if there is one thing I can claim to know
, Col said with a shudder,
it’s the mind of Kullervo. He lived in me for many days, remember. He’s dark and devious. He’s not interested in a straight fight—he wants to trick us into being the bad guys—it’ll amuse him to make us hated by you creatures. He’ll be taking great pleasure in observing us all perform the parts he’s given us. I expect he’s somewhere up there, watching the skies for the first squadron of dragons, bursting to bring this all out in front of the cameras
.

The beech trees were giving way to thickets of oak and holly. The dark green glossy spikes of the holly leaves tugged at the horse-cloth. Col ripped it free, leaving strands of scarlet waving in the wind. After a few hundred feet of heavy going, they broke out into a wide space under the boughs of an old tree with the girth of a bull elephant and bark as wrinkled as its skin. A thick, dark-green canopy of leaves, shot through with autumn gold, rustled overhead. It seemed very quiet and still after the bustle and noise of the procession. There was no sign of Connie.

Suddenly, Argand sped back to them, hissing excitedly, before shooting up into the air and out of view.

What do you think that means?
Col wondered, his heart picking up its pace as he sensed peril near at hand.

I think it means we are in danger—mortal danger
. Skylark gave a frightened whinny, nostrils flaring, and began to back away.
I smell that snake creature
.

Col looked wildly around but could see nothing. He, too, could now smell something—the acrid scent he associated with the gorgon’s cave. It was strong. The gorgon must be very close, but he could see no sign of her. The wood was suspiciously silent, the only sound coming from the leaves whispering to one another in the old oak tree they were under.

Then, with a screech like a whistling kettle, Argand dove out of the sky, colliding with Col’s helm, bringing the visor crashing down over his eyes. Col did not need to be a companion to dragons to know what that meant.

Move!
he urged Skylark.

The pegasus bounded forward. Crash! Out of the branches above them leapt the gorgon, eyes blazing, snake-hair writhing to bite Col. He ducked. She missed him by a hair and fell to the forest floor, momentarily dazed by her fall. Col had only a second in which to act.

Don’t look at her!
he warned Skylark as he turned his mount to face the gorgon.
We’re going to charge her down
.

With the lance held firmly under his arm, Col crouched low on Skylark’s back. He could see very little through his visor. Holding up his tin shield he glimpsed the reflection of the gorgon getting to her feet and raising her face to him.

Charge!
he yelled, shutting his eyes tightly against her gaze.

Skylark sprang forward, pounding the turf with heavy hooves. With a shuddering jolt the lance collided with something hard. Col was thrown by the impact. His armor clanged as he hit the stony ground at the roots of the tree and his helm rolled off into the bracken. Staring up into the canopy above for a few confused moments, Col wondered what had happened. Why was the gorgon not leaping on him as he lay defenseless on the ground? Had he managed to hit her? Rolling painfully over, he risked a look to his right and saw the gorgon slumped at the foot of the tree, her bronze wings crumpled around her and the lance in two pieces by her side. The lance must have thrown her back against the tree when he struck and she was either stunned or…or dead?

Skylark galloped back to his companion, bursting through the trees like a white light into the dark shadows under the oak.

Are you all right?
he asked anxiously, nuzzling Col to see if he was injured.

Fine—just winded
. Col clambered back to his feet unsteadily and then pulled himself onto the pegasus’s back.
I think this means that we’ve found Connie. But we’ll have to go up to get her. There’s a clearing nearby—we can take off from there
.

Col steered Skylark to the woodland spot where he and
Rat had first seen his mother all those weeks ago. On finding the way open before him, Skylark picked up his pace.

At last!
he rejoiced as he unfurled his wings. The tattered scarlet cloth flapped back over Col’s legs as Skylark spiraled upward.

Not too high!
Col warned.
We don’t want the people to see, or we might as well have called in the dragons
.

Leveling out, Skylark flew at treetop height, skimming across the forest roof. A flicker of gold flashed ahead and Col cried out:
There she is!

Skylark saw Connie clinging to her frail perch with Argand dancing at her side. The dragonet had a piece of rope like a long worm dangling from her jaws. The pegasus kicked toward them, skillfully dodging in and out of branches that stretched up to the sky as if to grasp his legs and prevent him from reaching the universal.

“Col!” Connie screamed. “Skylark! Be careful!”

Skylark swerved down toward her, with Col already reaching out to pull her to safety.

“Behind you!” she shrieked.

Col caught a glimpse of dark wings soaring at him, but he was not going to break off their rescue attempt now. He snatched at Connie’s outstretched hand as they swooped past; as he did so he clung onto a thick fistful of Skylark’s mane to stop them both from sliding off. The pegasus climbed up with difficulty because Connie was now dangling over his shoulder, impeding his left wing.

“Try and swing up!” Col shouted at Connie who was hanging on, white-faced, by one hand. He could feel her palm beginning to slip out of his grip. “Grab my belt.” Connie flailed around in the air trying to grasp hold of something, pulled on the scarlet cloth but it ripped.

At that moment, a midnight blue eagle dropped out of the sky like an arrow flying to its target, talons stretched out to tear at the pegasus who had had the audacity to slip under its guard. One talon raked across Skylark’s hindquarters, leaving a bright red trail against the white flesh. The pegasus reared in pain, Col struggled to retain his seat—and Connie’s hand slid from his grasp.