The Angel of Elydria (The Dawn Mirror Chronicles Book 1) (49 page)

“Oh, of course, in fact there
were
some humans here. Yes, yes, my―my cousins were visiting a few days back. They were interested in seeing the Carnival so I let them stay here for a few nights. They’ve cleared out, though. Got a room at an inn closer to the castle, I think,” Argent mumbled.

A goblin made a small noise in his throat. “Well, you won’t mind if we have a look around then, will you? Safety precaution, you see. All human-owned property in the area is being searched.”

Footsteps were heard climbing the spiral staircase and moving about the main room. Penny’s hands clamped into tight fists as a goblin ranger stepped into the workshop and began tossing Argent’s prized possessions and delicate tools aside like throw pillows. Argent appeared behind him, the anxious look on his face betraying him. The goblin poked around a bit more and turned back to face Argent.

“How is it that you came to own this shop, Mr.―”

“It’s Argent Clemons. I inherited it from my teacher and guardian when he died. He was a goblin, childless, who owned this shop prior to my coming to Hulver,” Argent explained, his voice stronger now that he was telling the truth.

“And when was it you came to Hulver, exactly?”

“Umm―about sixteen years ago.”

“And how old are you now?”

“Twenty-four,” Argent breathed, and Penny could almost hear his thoughts screaming that he was too young to be locked away for life.

Another goblin thumped into the room. “Come on, Jurdie. There’s nothing here. We’ve got other houses to search,” he said. Penny felt the tension leave the room with the goblins. Annette let her head fall against the side of the cupboard wall, producing a low but unheard thump.

Penny was preparing to move out of the hot and stuffy cupboard as the goblins left their final words of advice with Argent when she saw it.

From the top of cupboard, perhaps roused by the small shockwave Annette had created, crawled eight quick legs, twitching and skittering as an overgrown spider scuttled down the side of the cupboard. Penny held her breath as the black spider crawl into Annette’s freshly styled blonde locks. In horror, Penny watched as Annette lifted her head up with a jerk when she felt the movement on her head. The quick motion caused the fat spider to fall from her hair down the back of her dress.

The moment she felt it, Annette gave the tiniest of squeaks. Even in the darkness, Penny could see she was struggling not to scream. Her hands clapped over her mouth and her eyes were wide as she tried to carefully bump up against the wall and smash the spider.

“Wait, what was that?”

“What was what?”

One of the goblin rangers pounded back into the room. Annette’s eyes went wide and she became very still, her horrified eyes locked with Penny’s. The goblin poked through the room and just as he reached for the door of the cupboard, Simon leapt forth in a preemptive attack.

“Jurdie!” the goblin closest to them hollered as Simon jumped on him, pinning him to the ground. The rest of them tumbled out of the wardrobe, ready to fight. Two of the rangers bounded into the room, while the third leapt for Argent.

“Andro-trash! You’ll rot in prison for harboring enemies of the Nation!” A goblin pulled a pistol on Annette and everyone froze.

“Don’t hurt her!” Argent broke free from his ranger, running forward. The silver-haired man grabbed at the controls of two of his puppets peeking out from his voluminous pockets. The puppets he called the Lady in Black and Hyde sprung to life and emerged as Argent poised to strike.

“Goblins,
drop your weapons and get against the wall!
” Annette shrieked, her voice trembling with power.

The goblins followed her orders in perplexed chagrin, and Argent shot a surprised glance at Annette before pocketing his puppets.

“Get your things! Let’s go!” Hector urged, gathering the group together and hurrying them out the door before the goblins could break free of Annette’s orders. They sped down the stairs, hurtling down the hill.

Gently fluttering out in front of the shop sat the huge moth the four rangers had used to get to Argent’s house. Without bothering to wait for the others to catch up, Hector threw his leg over the moth’s back. The creature made a strange purring sound and reached its antler-like feelers back to investigate Hector. Penny and Simon mounted the moth with clumsy movements, causing it to shudder in discomfort and make a louder, more agitated sound. Argent and Annette caught up with them just as one of the goblins burst through the front door, screaming at them to halt. For one horrorstricken moment they all sat on the moth, not knowing what to do.

“Argent, how do I make this thing move?” Hector yelled back at him.

“The antennae! Hurry!”

Hector grabbed the feelers and with a shriek the moth began to flap its huge wings with powerful, sweeping motions. Penny gasped and latched onto Hector’s back as the beast lifted off the ground and shot into the air.

They spiraled upward over Hulver, watching Argent’s house get smaller and smaller as they sprang higher into the gray sky. Hector gave the moth another forceful tug, and it leveled out. Hector steered them in a circle, the moth straining under their combined weight. Penny looked down at their goblin assailants who, now hundreds of feet below, were mere dots.

“They’ll be after us with a fleet of moths and dragonflies and every manner of flying machine in minutes. This poor thing can’t hold more than four goblins, much less all of us. We need to land before she gives out,” Argent shouted over the blustering wind.

“Understood. Mulgrith’s only a few miles away, we can make it,” Hector yelled, and urged the moth onward.

The dark trees of Mulgrith loomed closer. Now that the unwelcoming woods were at last staring her in the face, Penny felt that she might rather turn back around and take her chances with the goblin rangers. She kept craning her neck around to see if they were being followed, but so far the skies behind them were clear. After looking back for a fourth time, something strange caught her eye.

“Oh, God…look,” she pointed, squinting against the afternoon sun. From the edge of the city rose a trail of black smoke, reaching high into the sky. Argent stared at it, a stony look crossing his face as his entire body went limp. The arms that had been grasping Annette for safety flopped to his sides and his lips quivered. Among the vast rows of houses and shops in the distance, a bright blaze of flame became visible.

A particular building had become consumed in orange-red flames that licked upward to the sky, streaming dirty black smoke from the windows and collapsing roof. Penny’s heart sank and she looked back at Argent’s devastated face. The puppet master’s arms snaked around his own body, his eyes glassy and welling up before he shut them. An expression of acute pain swept over his face as he doubled forward, looking like he was collapsing in on himself.

“Argent…” Annette breathed, turning back and putting a hand on his hunched shoulder as he hung his head, his silver hair creating a curtain around his face.

“No…this can’t happen―my shop…my magic…my
home
…” he whispered, barely audible over the roar of the air.

Penny turned her face away, not wanting to see anymore of Argent’s pain. As the moth dipped closer to the treetops of Mulgrith woods, its body shaking with weakness, Argent threw his head back and screamed with such profound anguish that Penny felt a stab of grief in her own chest. He took a ragged breath, covering his face with his hands as the moth plunged under the canopy of the woods. The noise of his scream echoed in Penny’s ears like a sick, broken record. For as long as she lived, Penny would never forget that sound.

T
he moth touched down on a patch of tall grass, shook the five of them off its back, and promptly fluttered up and away, leaving them lying on the forest floor. Penny got up with shaking legs, dusted herself off, and caught her breath. She squinted up through the treetops at the thick canopy of leaves almost blotting out the sun.

Penny helped the others to their feet, receiving a slight shock when she couldn’t find Argent. It took her only a moment to locate him slunk off from the group and sitting with his back to a tree. Penny approached nervously, studying his expression.

“Argent…we should go, they’re coming,” she said, extending a hand. He blinked and made no move to get up.

“Just leave me here,” he requested, not meeting anyone’s gaze.

“There’s no time for this, we need to go. Goblins will be crawling all over these woods in a few hours. You said so yourself,” Hector reminded him, shoving his glasses up his nose.

“I don’t care if they catch me or not. Leave me be,” Argent said, closing his eyes again.

Simon frowned. “Come on, man. It was just a shop…I know you lost a fortune in there, but money isn’t everything. It’s replaceable—your life isn’t. And you can’t really expect us to leave you behind,” he urged, his eyes sympathetic.

Argent moved at last, shooting Simon a disgusted look. “Maybe to you it was
just
money or
just
a shop, but to me it was everything—
everything!
You don’t understand, it was all I had left, all that mattered to me―” his voice broke with emotion and everyone went silent. Penny and Hector shared a helpless look. Annette pushed past them and marched up to where Argent sat against the tree, his face slick with tears. She put her hands on her hips and looked down at him with disdain.

“That is
enough
!” she hissed, eyes flashing. “You’re an adult, aren’t you? Start acting like one and not a sniveling little child!”

Argent looked as if she had just slapped him. Seeing she had gotten a response, Annette puffed up even more, her voice turning shrill.

“Don’t be pathetic, Argent. If I’ve come to know you at all this past week, then I know that you’re not just any pushover. You’ve got too much talent to give up living.
Every person standing here
knows how hard it is to lose everything that mattered to them. Penny and Simon were snatched away from their homes and brought to a completely different world without so much as a word of warning―everything and everyone that Hector ever loved was
destroyed
. But did they just crumple up and die? I remember wanting to give up when I’d lost all hope of my dream, but someone taught me differently. I won’t accept this. I simply won’t allow it. Now
get up
.” She stamped her foot.

Argent’s face contorted into an enraged snarl and he jumped to his feet, glaring at Annette. For a moment Penny was sure he was going to lash out at her, but instead he balled up his fists and bared his teeth.

“How…dare…you!” he gasped, his face red with anger and humiliation. There was fear in Annette’s eyes but she held her ground without blinking. “Have you failed to realize that this is
entirely your fault?
The goblins were about to leave until
you
gave away your hiding place! Where do you get the
gall
?”

Annette remained steadfast. “You’re going to come with us…or I’m going to drag you,” she growled back at him through gritted teeth.

Argent’s chest heaved for a moment as he stared at Annette. With a noise of tormented frustration he turned and stalked away, retreating behind Hector and Simon while Annette watched him go with crossed arms. Penny felt awkward as the flare of anger faded from the atmosphere. She looked to Hector again, who seemed just as shocked. Her imploring gaze connected with him, urging him to say something fast.

“A-all right, then, everyone,” he began. “The deeper we go into the woods, the less chance they have of finding us. Let’s try to be as quiet as possible, please. I know there’s a lot we want to discuss, but let’s wait until we find somewhere safer. Penny, erm, have you still got the camping supplies from Dewthorne?”

After checking her bag, she nodded and Hector gave her a tired smile. He gestured for everyone to follow him and they set off through the thick mass of trees, Argent dragging along slowly at the rear of the party, his face pointed downwards at the moss that carpeted the woods.