The Key (24 page)

She's hurt, but there's nothing I can do here in this courtyard with darts showering down on us from the turrets, and footsteps coming quickly. Any moment we will be surrounded by guards and Neriah will have no chance of escape.

‘Dillon, Arkarian, use your wings and get out of here!'

Dillon shakes his head. Neriah is weakening fast in his arms. ‘No way. You just want her for yourself. You want to be the hero.'

I grab his shoulders from behind, lifting him, and hiss into his ear, ‘Do you hear that sound?' I point to the cobbled path. ‘They're soldiers' footsteps and they're coming fast. Do you want to get caught in Lathenia's palace? Tell me, Dillon, what do you think she would do to you, her once trusted soldier? We've both seen her dungeon. You don't want to go there.'

His eyes flick briefly to Neriah. ‘OK. I'll go.'

Arkarian hisses over my shoulder. ‘Don't make me leave you.'

‘You said that from now on I give the orders. I'm ordering you to go.'

He glances away briefly, then nods, clearly uncomfortable with my decision. But thankfully the two of them
disappear. At least they will return home safely. I lean down to help Neriah to her feet. A dart whips between us, so close that Neriah's hair lifts with the wind.

I yank her hood back over her head. ‘Keep the cloak around you tight.'

‘Use your wings,' she mutters weakly.

I grab her hand and thrust it over the top of her wound. ‘Keep it there and hold it tight against your wound.'

‘Matt, please go!'

With Arkarian gone, the hounds grow restless.
Retreat!
I force the thought at them. They whimper and cower, dropping their heads to the ground.

The pounding footsteps arrive in the form of a dozen guards. They lift their crossbows and aim them directly at the two of us, poison darts ready to fire. Marduke is one of them, and when he sees Neriah, her neck and shoulders soaked with blood, colour draining from her face as fast as the blood that oozes between her fingers, he snarls and grunts an unpleasant sound.

‘Give her to me!'

At the sound of Marduke's harsh voice, the hounds regain their courage. Like the guards they look to their Master for direction.

‘Hold your fire!'

‘She needs a healer, and quickly,' I tell him.

‘We have a healer here.'

‘And then what? Are you going to let Lathenia keep her imprisoned in that bird cage again? It's freezing up there. How long do you think she will last?'

His one good eye glows and swells, his half-mouth draws into a straight line.

A light flashes from a balcony on the inner courtyard
wall and Lathenia appears – alone. ‘Is there a problem, my pet?'

Marduke heaves, a loathsome sound, then turns slightly. ‘None that I can't handle, Mistress.'

Neriah almost passes out, and Marduke makes to run to her. I help her steady herself, and she opens her eyes. ‘Father …'

Marduke seems to hesitate, whether on purpose or not I may never know. But it's the one moment I need to work some magic of my own. Thinking quickly I peer into the freezing, sleet-filled air.

‘Watch him!' I hear Lathenia call out.

Too late, Goddess. Even the guards don't stand a chance. With one thought I change the sleet into fire. Suddenly the air is thick and alive and impossible to breathe. The hounds whimper and run for cover from the burning air. The guards are thrown into confusion.

‘The air is on fire!'

‘What magic is this?'

‘Run!'

From the balcony Lathenia screams, and the wail is heard far into the surrounding valleys. Fire is her one fear; she will do anything to avoid it. And in all the chaos I lift Neriah into my arms and run for the front gates. Operating the series of handles with my mind, the gates unlock and swing open. Then we are out and I am calling Mr Carter's name.

As we begin to shift back to the Citadel, I take one last look at the palace. Guards are running around trying to put fires out everywhere. Many are on fire themselves. The watchtowers, mostly made of timber, are ablaze. Lathenia is nowhere to be seen. Nor is her new lover, King Richard. Only Marduke is standing still. He hasn't
moved. He's still in the same spot, buried deep within his protective cloak, staring with one fiercely glowing eye. But there is a difference. Drool is seeping from his snout-like mouth and nostrils, and his yellow teeth are bared.

In this moment I understand that here is a creature that has lost too much.

The look on his face will stay with me for a long time.

It is the look of madness.

The sphere is still spinning. And while Arkarian watches it, growing more distressed as each hour passes, the rest of us have to go on with our normal lives, whatever that is these days. That's why I'm sitting on the bus this Monday morning going to school. In a way I'm glad for this ‘normal' part of my life. So much is happening lately in my other worldly life, it's almost a relief to have something ordinary to do. And since returning from Athens, everyone knows about my new power that tests loyalty and the curse Lorian has set in motion. A curse, for heaven's sake! He may as well have marked my forehead with a hot iron brand; I couldn't feel any more isolated.

At least our mission to Athens was successful. The key is now in Matt's hands.

The bus pulls up to the school front gates, and even before getting off, I see them – Matt, Ethan and Isabel in a little group. By the time I get off the bus and through the security guards, Neriah is with them too. She looks paler than usual, but then, I've heard what happened to her.

At least Neriah is someone I can relate to – both our fathers are monsters. Mine is in prison where he
belongs, so at least
I
don't have to see mine any more – he's the one locked in a cage.

At the foot of the stairs Dillon approaches me. ‘Hey,' he says. ‘Heard about the curse. Good one,' he laughs. ‘That should make you popular around here.'

What's up with him this morning? He's even more cynical than usual. For a second I get the urge to reach out and touch him without my gloves on, but of course I wouldn't do that. ‘What's with you?'

His eyes glue themselves on Neriah. ‘Huh? Did you say something?'

My own eyes follow and see Neriah talking to Matt, and if Matt's body language is anything to go by, something's happened between these two for sure. I can
feel
the tension from here! Matt's wound up like a spring, and trying to look everywhere except at Neriah, especially into her eyes. Beside me Dillon can't stop staring. Of course he's noticed too. Who wouldn't? Except Dillon's eyes have turned into narrow pinpoints of envy.

Neriah lays her hand on Matt's arm to get him to look at her, and beside me, Dillon turns greener than a frog covered in moss. He starts to take off, and there's no need to read his thoughts to know where he's heading, or what's on his mind.

I try to get him to come back. ‘Hey, wait!'

He keeps going. This can only be trouble.

I call out again, ‘Dillon, stop!'

He doesn't stop, but stomps right up to Matt. ‘What do you think you're doing?'

Matt looks surprised, his eyes shifting sideways as if he's wondering if it's him Dillon is talking to, or someone beside him. ‘I'm not doing anything. What's wrong, Dillon?'

‘What's wrong?
What's wrong?
I can see what's happening here. While I was away, you moved in on Neriah!'

Neriah's mouth opens wide. ‘Dillon, I think you've got the wrong idea. Let's go somewhere quiet and talk.'

He stares at her, and while I can't see his face from this direction, it makes Neriah step backwards. ‘This is between me and Matt,' he says between gritted teeth.

Isabel and Ethan lift their heads to listen. Some other kids nearby look at them too.

Neriah starts to say something in protest, but Matt lifts his hand to stop her getting any closer. ‘Look, Dillon, I haven't made a move on Neriah.'

Dillon scoffs loudly. ‘Yeah, right! Just look at her, she's lovesick for you!'

Both of them turn and look at Neriah. Her skin turns from pale pink to bright red. She goes to speak but words don't form.

Matt tries to get Dillon to calm down. ‘I'm telling you I didn't do anything behind your back. You have to believe me.'

Dillon sees red. ‘Well, I don't believe you. I've got eyes of my own, and they don't lie.' He shoves Matt, who flies backwards and lands on his butt, his back thrust up against the seat Ethan and Isabel are sitting on. They scramble out of the way.

It's a big hit, way too hard for what looked like an easy shove. I remember that one of Dillon's powers is strength.

Matt gets up, red in the face. ‘Now listen here, Neriah isn't your property. She isn't anyone's. She makes her own decisions.'

‘That's right! And she was deciding on me until you turned up and stole her from me!' This time Dillon
shoulder-charges Matt straight in the gut.

Matt falls backward again and looks winded.

‘Get up!' Dillon calls out. ‘Come on. Get up and face me. Or are you scared?'

Matt gets up, and, to his credit, lifts his hands in a peaceful gesture. Dillon ignores it completely; instead, punches Matt square in the jaw. Matt goes flying, crashing into bags and dragging a bench metres backwards.

‘Dillon!' Isabel screams, while Ethan's thoughts come pounding into my head. He too is aware of Dillon's infatuation with Neriah. Seems like everyone knows. But Matt's done nothing wrong, and Ethan can't believe what Dillon's doing, out here in public.

He goes over and grabs Dillon from behind. ‘Cool it, OK?'

Dillon jerks his shoulders and Ethan drops off like a fly.

As Matt gets up, Neriah tries to calm Dillon down. ‘You've made your point, Dillon. We'll settle this now, without fighting. Come with me and we'll talk.'

But Dillon is out of control. He waves Neriah to the side, intent on squaring off with Matt again, but the power throbbing through him is way too strong. She runs into his arm and falls backwards, hitting the ground. Matt sees red.

By now a small crowd has formed around them, everyone jeering them on. The security guards keep glancing over, but seem reluctant to leave their posts at the gate. Matt comes over with his fists drawn. He lands a punch to the underside of Dillon's chin. And now it's Dillon who goes flying, crashing into Ethan, knocking him over again. The crowd starts cheering and hooting.

I look around for Mr Carter. Someone has to stop this
before it gets any more out of hand. Knowing one of his powers is incredible hearing, I call his name. If he's anywhere on school grounds, he should come.

Nothing.

‘Come on, Mr Carter, where are you?' If he doesn't come soon and break this up, it's going to be too late, if it's not already. The fighting grows more intense as they continue swapping blows. The security guards have finally decided the fight is getting serious enough for them to intervene. They start shoving kids aside to get to the two at the centre.

But the teacher on duty, the vice-principal Mr Trevale, reaches them first. ‘Hey! You boys stop this now!'

He gets in between them, holding them apart with a hand on each of their heaving chests. They stand and stare at each other until Dillon makes a move, but Mr Trevale screams at him, ‘That's enough!'

Mr Carter finally turns up at a run, and when he sees that it's Dillon and Matt fighting, his eyes nearly fall out of his head. ‘What's going on here?'

Mr Trevale looks from Dillon to Matt, making sure the situation is stable and he's not about to get his head punched in. ‘I have no idea, Mr Carter, but I'm going to find out. You two boys get to my office now!'

Matt exchanges a quick look with Mr Carter, who gives an almost imperceptible nod.

‘If you like, Bob, I know these two boys, I can look after this.'

Mr Trevale thinks about this and I hear his thoughts clearly. He's got a lot of work on his desk and he has to teach a class in a few minutes that will keep him tied up for most of the morning.

The buzzer sounds and everyone groans. Mr Trevale
gives them all a sharp look. ‘You heard the bell. Now get going to your classes, all of you.'

Mr Carter tries again. ‘I don't have a class right now. I can get to the bottom of this.'

Mr Trevale finally relents. ‘Detention goes without saying, Marcus.' He gives Dillon and Matt a strong look. ‘Perhaps even a suspension might be in order. We'll discuss it this afternoon. You boys are both seniors. You should know better!'

At last everyone moves off to their respective classes. Mr Carter shakes his head, disgusted. He would be. ‘You two go straight to my office. We're going to have a little private conversation.'

Dillon starts to move off, his head hanging as if he can't believe what he just did. I go back to where I dropped my bag, intending to go to class, but just as I pull it on to my back I hear Matt talking to Mr Carter. ‘I want Rochelle to come too.'

Mr Carter glares at him for a moment, clearly not understanding why.

‘It's important or I wouldn't ask,' Matt continues.

Mr Carter calls me over. ‘Matt wants you to come to my office too.'

‘What for?'

Matt says softly, ‘I want you to test Dillon's loyalty.'

‘
What?
Are you serious? Why?'

‘You saw what happened. Dillon initiated that fight with no thought of the consequences. The Tribunal will wonder if he started the fight on purpose to reveal my identity, or the identity of us all. Testing his loyalty will be one way to put everyone's mind at rest, and quickly.'

I can't believe this is happening! Damn Dillon and his temper! ‘Matt, don't make me do this.'

‘I don't see why you've got a problem with it. You did it to all the members of the Tribunal. That couldn't have been easy.'