Kal Moonheart Trilogy: Dragon Killer, Roll the Bones & Sirensbane (44 page)

‘The triangle represents Arcus Hill,’ Ben explained as we approached the desk. ‘It’s the oldest symbol of the city.’ He nodded at a gilded coat of arms that hung above the front desk: a golden triangle, filled with smaller circles that I imagined were supposed to be coins.

An elderly clerk sat at the desk, poring over a ledger. Ben coughed cheerfully to attract his attention, and then showed him the key. The clerk asked for Ben’s name, and received the reply, ‘Godsword.’ The clerk went rigid as he tried to control his surprise. ‘Follow me, Sir. Madam,’ he said once he had come to his senses.

We walked through a series of underground corridors, and through a number of heavy doors, which the clerk unlocked and locked again behind us. ‘We have vaults below the bank that haven’t been opened in several generations,’ he informed us as we went, ‘but I must admit that after five hundred years, I never expected to ever see this vault opened
at all
.’

He left us respectfully alone in front of a heavy oak door, in a long chamber full of similar doors. ‘This is it, Kal,’ Ben said. ‘Sometimes, it all just comes down to having the right key to the right door.’

‘I’ll remember that,’ I said, trying to contain my excitement ‘Now just open it!’

Ben slipped the key into the lock, turned it, and pulled the door open. We walked into a small room barely big enough for two people. It was lined with shelves, and the shelves were lines with bones.

Ben started searching around immediately. ‘Meet Banos,’ he said, handing me the skull of a god. ‘Or maybe it’s Arcus. They look quite similar, don’t you think?’

I could barely hold on the ancient relic, my hands were trembling so much. I put it down on a shelf, and noticed something shining under a pile of ribs, so I dug it out.

‘No treasure,’ Ben was saying as he rifled through the remains of Arcus and Banos. ‘I guess I could try and sell the bones to a museum or the university, but who would believe that they were the bones of the gods?’

He turned to me with a resigned look on his face; a look that turned to an expression of awe when he saw what I was holding. ‘Kal!’ he gasped. ‘Is that …’

‘Looks like it,’ I said, throwing him the circular object. He held it gently in his hands, admiring the intricate design and the jewels.

‘This …’ he breathed, ‘
this
will make us a fortune … or at least set us on the path to a fortune. The diamonds alone must be worth thousands, and that’s before you factor in the historical value …’

‘You can’t sell that, Ben! It’s your birthright!’

He shook his head. ‘I can. I told you before, I have as much right to be king as you have to be queen. I want the Godsword name to be known again, but I’m going to do it the fair and democratic way. Royal blood is meaningless these days, and this may as well be a chunk of gold to me now. I couldn’t care less if they melted it down.’

‘If you are going to sell it,’ I said, ‘are you sure you wouldn’t rather just retire to a little farm between the city walls? We could keep chickens!’

He laughed. ‘But that’s boring, Kal. You know I love stories—exciting and dangerous stories—and I want to be part of one myself. The tale of how the old king broke down and killed himself is one I’m sick of hearing, so it’s time to make a new ending. General Truebolt—now there was a man who gambled everything on one heroic venture! That’s who inspires me, not my meek ancestors.’

‘General Truebolt’s heroic gamble didn’t work out so well,’ I pointed out.

‘Maybe not,’ Ben said, ‘but at least he tried, and died a hero battling invading monsters. They built statues of him and his men—the only statues of the Godsword kings are down in the crypts below the Basillica. I’d rather be remembered as a man who took a risk, than not remembered at all.’

I believed him, but I couldn’t resist needling him once more. ‘Are you sure you don’t want to try that thing on for size though? Just once?’

Ben sighed. ‘Alright, Kal. Just for you.’ He put the crown on his head and danced a merry caper around the tiny vault, finishing with a flourish and a wink. ‘All hail me,’ he laughed.

And so for the first (and last) time, I fell to my knees before a king.

V.vii

The Scourge

Kal held on to Will for as long as she could. But he was heavy, and her strength was fading fast. When she finally released him, he pitched backwards and dropped over the edge of the pit. The body of Will Straightarrow joined with the bones of thousands of other Truebolts. As the bones closed around him, it was almost as if his family were grabbing and embracing him, welcoming him home.

Kal watched him go. She felt no regret or sorrow, just a simmering anger, tempered by her wounds and exhaustion. Will Straightarrow was not the man she thought she knew, so why mourn him like a lost lover? How had he managed to smile and joke and keep his murderous side from her? There was only one answer: he had been a psychopath. She should have recognised the signs, but she had mistaken his hate for charitable zeal.

Kal took the bone dice key and threw it into the pit after Will. This cave would never be locked again: the treachery of Feron Firehand must now be made public. All Kal had to do now was make it to back to the city and tell people. She staggered away from the pit, gasping in pain. The dagger wound in her stomach had pierced her abdominal muscles and made every step agony. Blood was spilling from between her fingers as she pressed a hand to the rupture.

She reached up to one of the torches, and held her dagger in the flames. The conductive chrometal blade quickly heated up. She was going to have to cauterise the wound if she didn’t want to bleed out before she escaped the caves. The only trouble was, Kal had seen plenty of evidence over the years of the hidden dangers of stomach wounds. Blood and bile from ruptured organs could kill from the inside too. She needed to get medical help as soon as possible, but until then there was only one thing for it …

She slid the hot blade back deep into her wound. Kal’s howls of pain echoed around the cave, and continued bouncing off the rock walls as she gnashed her teeth and dropped to her knees.

When her head eventually stopping swimming, she forced her tired muscles into action and stood up. Then she began the long walk back to the surface: the longest walk of her life.

* * *

At the first crossroads, Kal had the choice of heading away from the city, towards the Field of Bones. She dismissed that option; chances were she would run into Cassava’s soldiers long before she found a friendly face. So she stuck to the tunnels, making her way back up to the Forgotten Tomb. Every step was torture; every breath was fought-for.

She made it all the way under the city, and through the damp tunnels under the river, but faltered as the way got steeper climbing up Arcus Hill. She stopped dead in the middle of a seemingly endless passage. Kal’s mind was blank, her limbs numb. She didn’t
decide
to lie down here—she was incapable of decisions—she just knew that there was no way she was going any further.

For some reason, as she lay in the dirt, Kal began to dream. Her mind cast back to the forests around Refuge that she used to explore as a child. There were caves filled with imaginary trolls there. She used to creep into them with her neighbour, Deros, both of them dreading the sudden touch of a gnarled, warty hand on their shoulders …

A rough hand grabbed Kal’s elbow and hoisted her to her feet. ‘Get up, Moonheart!’ a voice bellowed in her ear. ‘I’m not carrying you back this time!’

Dogwood?
Kal tried to give the fat captain a hug. ‘You can arrest me now,’ she drawled. ‘I don’t care anymore.’

He laughed his ugly barking laugh. ‘I’m not here to arrest you, Moonheart. I’m here to help you. Come on—walk!’

Arm in arm, they plodded up the slope. ‘Just don’t … try to interrogate me as we go,’ Kal said, when they paused for breath. ‘I don’t think I can walk … and talk at the same time.’

‘I promise not to,’ Dogwood said. ‘Damn it, Moonheart—I’ve been looking out for you and helping you all week! I just couldn’t say anything in case my authority as Captain of the Senate Guard was compromised.’

Kal looked at her rescuer in disbelief. ‘What?’ she said.

‘It’s true,’ he said, explaining away as they resumed the climb. ‘After you caused all that carnage at Raelo’s place, and shot out of the window on a wire, I had to send my men chasing all sorts of false leads in order to let you and Straightarrow escape. And at Witchwood’s den, I only went to see her as an excuse to be around to lend a hand in case you needed me. I’ve blanked out the bit where I found you naked, by the way.’

‘Thanks,’ Kal grunted.

‘Felix was adamant that I should obstruct both your investigation and Godsword’s preparations for the trial. He was furious when I let Straightarrow into the court room late. Legally, the doors should have remained closed. Felix tore me down afterwards—he said he was stripping me of my rank. Unfortunately, no one was around to hear him, and the next morning he was found dead, so …’

They were almost at the steps up to the mansion. Kal stopped for breath. ‘I know you’re not helping me out of the goodness of your own heart, Silas,’ she said. ‘So who’s paying you?’

Dogwood bristled. ‘Let’s get one thing straight, Moonheart. I’m not the kind of man who stoops to taking bribes. My, er,
benefactor
was contributing to the Senate Guard’s equipment and training. Anyway, any accusations of impropriety will soon be silenced, because the man I am helping is now consul elect!’

Of course, the elections! The votes cast on the Field of Bones were counted and announced live, so the result was usually known by mid-afternoon, sometimes even before voting was closed. How Cassava’s death would affect the results, Kal could not even begin to guess. But right now she had more important things to think about:

‘What about Ben? Did you find Ben?’

‘Yeah, I found him,’ Dogwood said. ‘Come on, one last push up to the top!’

The stairs up to the surface were soaking wet and slippery. Kal soon found out why: the storm had finally broken, and relentless rain was soaking Amaranthium, sluicing out the dust and dirt of the past month. As Kal emerged from the underworld, the rain attacked her as if it bore a personal grudge. She raised her arms and opened her dry, bloody mouth, and let the storm scourge her inside and out.

* * *

When I look back over that long week, one image always returns to the front of my mind: the meeting in the tomb in the aftermath of Ben’s party. I can still see their faces: Viola Witchwood, her flashing green eyes regarding my presence there with amusement; Felix Firehand scowling from beneath his bushy black eyebrows; Gwyn on his knee, the boy’s expression one of fading innocence; Ganzief Greatbear, seemingly laughing at nothing; and Ben himself, feet up on the tomb, smiling as he introduced me to the others. They all had their schemes, dreams and secrets that night, but now, with the hindsight of the intervening decades, all their concerns seem so ephemeral and insignificant.

For now, as I write this, my hand numb from the cold mountain air, every person that I was with in that cave is now just dust and bones.

* * *

Nim was the first person Kal saw as she and Dogwood stepped through the rubble of the mansion. The blond girl ran over through the rain and just about managed to stop short of giving Kal a hug. ‘Oh no, you’re hurt!’ she said.

‘I’ve felt better,’ Kal agreed.

‘I’ll go get help from the university. There are bound to be some medical students sitting around who could do with the practice. You stay here, Kal!’

Nim rushed off before Kal could object. A ring of Senate Guard surrounded the ruins of the mansion, and although they let Nim slip through, they were doing their best to keep gawpers and soldiers from Cassava’s legion coming closer. Dogwood guided Kal to where two stone columns had fallen against each other, forming a pyramidal shelter backed by a wall of rubble. A lonely figure sat on a stone bench beneath the shelter.

Dogwood fell back to allow Kal to approach alone. She dropped onto the bench with a painful groan. ‘So, you’re alive,’ she said, laying her head on Ben’s shoulder.

‘And so are you!’ Ben exclaimed. He looked as dirty and tired as Kal did, but had somehow managed to salvage a bottle of spirits from the ruins. ‘I was worried when I heard that Cassava had got you. And then of course I saw
that
!’ Far out over the city, an orange glow and a black cloud of smoke fought a losing battle with the rain, marking the last dying gasp of the amphitheatre. ‘What happened, Kal?’

She took the bottle from him and took a large gulp. Whatever the spirit was, it numbed her pain. Revived, if only by a fraction, she briefly filled him in. ‘… and I was worried about
you
when I managed to get back here and saw all of
this
!’ Kal said, waving a hand to indicate the wreck and ruin that surrounded them. ‘I thought you were inside with all your friends. How did you survive, Ben?’

‘It was a trap, Kal! After you had gone, I figured it out—that the killer might come for me next. Nim helped me rig the explosives. A bit over the top, perhaps, but it was a last ditch resort in case the booby-trapped windows and flying circular saws in the hall didn’t work. Did I tell you about those? Anyway, it was a good job we prepared, because it wasn’t just one killer who turned up today, but a whole gang of them.’

Will’s gang, Kal realised. The last generation of Truebolts all wiped out in one massive explosion. ‘But where were you at the time?’ she asked.

‘Hiding,’ Ben said. ‘I was actually inside the tomb beneath the house. I could hear you, Cassava and the ghost battling it out in the cave around me. I tell you, Kal, I’ve never been so scared in my life!’

Kal felt like she was going to laugh, but the feeling only lasted an instant. Tears came instead, and at that moment she broke down completely. Ben held her awkwardly as great wracking sobs shook her body. Eventually, she regained her composure. She extracted herself from Ben’s embrace and turned to look him in the eye. There was one more matter before the story was over.