Keeper of the Realms: The Dark Army (Book 2) (9 page)

‘Take a good look at this map. Remember it, because tonight when I ask you to, you will open a Portal to this location.’

Charlie looked long and hard. ‘Deepforest to the east, then the Great Plains, then the Western Mountains and where they join the Slumbering Hills … the Stubborn Citadel. Got it.’

‘Are you certain?’

‘Yes.’

‘Excellent. Now for a closer look.’ Singing softly, Darkmount zoomed in on the citadel. As it grew, the other features of the map dwindled until only a perfectly formed model of the fortress remained.

‘That’s one mean-looking place,’ said Charlie.

The citadel sat on top of a craggy, sheer-sided hill. The main building was a squat-looking tower that was encircled by three high stone walls. The place was thick with battlements, guard towers, arrow slits and murder holes. If Jensen’s tower was the epitome of fairy-tale architecture, then this was the complete opposite. No one in their right mind would ever want to visit this place.

‘How are we going to get in?’

‘The citadel is guarded to prevent any unwarranted
Portals so you will have to open your Portal down here, at the base of the hill. We will then climb these cliffs and scale the walls here.’

‘That’s a long climb,’ said Nibbler, looking doubtful.

Charlie was quiet as she attempted to estimate how high the cliffs were, then tried to add the height of the walls on top of that. ‘There’s no way –’

‘That will not be a problem,’ said Darkmount. ‘I will carry you.’

An image of the bishop climbing the courtyard in Alavis flashed through Charlie’s mind. ‘Er, OK. Will you be able to carry me over the other walls as well?’

‘Yes.’

‘What about me?’ asked Nibbler.

‘Fool, just fly in! It’ll be dark and the last thing anyone would expect is a Winged One.’

‘Er, yeah. OK. So fly in where?’

‘Here.’ Darkmount pointed to a secluded side of the main tower. ‘The portcullis and main entrance is over on the other side so there will be fewer guards here. Once you meet us I will carve a door inside –’

‘Wait,’ interrupted Charlie. ‘You’re making it sound too easy. Won’t they spot us once we’re inside, and won’t they hear your stonesinging first or at least be able to detect it?’

‘If we stumble across any guards I will silence them, and as for the stonesinging do not forget I am a Stone Bishop. Stone is my element and my faith gives me power. Real power. Keeping my voice quiet enough to remain undetected, at least long enough for us to get over the wall, will be child’s
play. Of course once we’re inside the citadel … Well, that’s where the real danger begins.’

‘Oh, great.’ Charlie laced her words with a healthy helping of sarcasm. ‘After all, we wouldn’t want it
all
to be child’s play and sweet eats. So what makes the inside scarier than the outside?’

Ignoring her scorn, Darkmount replied. ‘Firstly, there’s a whole garrison of soldiers, Shades and Stonesingers inside. And, secondly, I don’t know where the Gate to the lower dominion is, so we will have to find that when we get in.’

‘By beating the directions out of the first soldier you can get your hands on, I’m guessing?’ suggested Nibbler, who had grown used to Darkmount’s ways.

‘Of course,’ snorted the Stoman. ‘I only use methods that produce results. Why do otherwise? Of course, on this occasion we won’t have the luxury of taking our time. Once we break in all the citadel’s forces will come raining down on us.’

‘Isn’t that going to be a problem?’

‘Possibly. But provided this Hatchling –’ he gestured at Nibbler – ‘and I can find a narrow passageway to bottleneck the opposition, it shouldn’t be. Between his flames and my stonesinging we should be able to keep any threat at bay long enough for you to return with my god. Once my god is in my hands there will be no power in that fortress that can prevent us from leaving.’

10

A Challenge of Will

Charlie knuckled her head in an effort to stay focused.

‘Right,’ she said. ‘If you and Nibbler are keeping the citadel’s forces at bay I’ll be going on alone, in which case I want some real instructions on where I’ve got to go and what I’ve got to do. And when I say instructions I mean the kind that are step by step, childproof and impossible to fail.’

‘Do not worry, Charlie Keeper. The task ahead will be dangerous but not impossible. You are the one who is going to bring me back my god. Of this I am certain.’

‘Well … good. So tell me what I’ve got to do once we’re inside.’

‘There are seven lower dominions in Bellania, or as you’d call them, seven hells. The realm you require is inhabited by the Patchwork Kindred, and it will be as different to your eyes as Bellania is from Earth. Be aware that it will be unlike anything you have ever seen.’

‘Anything?’

‘It will be like a dream made real.’ He paused as he gave the matter some thought. ‘Or a nightmare.’

‘Oookay, then.’ Charlie had a sinking feeling that things were only going to go downhill from here. ‘So what other good news do you have for me?’

‘To open the Gate you must focus your Will upon it. You told me that the Delightful Brothers forced you to use a mirror to open a Portal to your own world. Well this is the same. Force it to open and it will reveal the path. Once you have passed through the Gates you will find yourself in a mist, so visibility will be limited. Beneath your feet you will feel a stone path; do not wander from this – turn neither left nor right, but follow it straight ahead. It will lead you to a bridge and on the other side you will find a temple. Remember: stay on the path and do not look down when you cross the bridge.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because it is said to span a bottomless pit. Those who look into it become mesmerized and fall. Once you have entered the temple –’

‘Wait, wait, wait. This all sounds too easy. I’m supposed to just walk on in? No guards with three heads? No devils with horns and tridents? No portcullis that turns into a mouth and tries to swallow me whole? Nothing like that?’

‘The scriptures say nothing of –’

‘Scriptures? You mean you don’t know? Have you never been there?’

‘Silly child, of course I have never been there! If I had do you think I would have any need for you and your idiotic sidekick?’

‘Hey!’ said Nibbler, who was quickly silenced by Darkmount’s thunderous glare.

‘May I continue?’

Charlie nodded, still unsure what she was letting herself in for. She pouted and crossed her arms.

Darkmount stared right back. ‘I can tell you nothing with certainty,’ he continued. ‘All I can tell you is what has been written. The temple will be open and unguarded. Once inside you must take yourself to the highest floor. There you will find a corridor lined with many doors. Those on the left will be marked with a burnt cross; the doors on the right will be marked with a burnt circle. The vessel you seek will be in one of the last three doors on the right. Precisely which of the three neither I nor the scriptures can say for certain. Under no circumstances must you attempt to open any door marked with a cross.’

‘Why not?’

‘The scriptures did not say why, only that it was forbidden.’

‘Fine. No doors with a cross. What does this vessel actually look like?’

Darkmount sketched an outline in the dirt on the cave floor. It looked like a classical Greek vase, the kind with a pointy base. ‘It is an honest and humble stone urn. Dull brown in colour with no lid, and if you were to gaze inside you would see the night skies.’

‘What, with stars and all?’

‘With stars and all, Charlie Keeper.’

‘So shouldn’t be too hard to find, then, huh?’

The Stoman bishop gave her a measured look, trying to discern whether or not she was mocking him. Charlie stared back and did her best to look serious.

Pulling a sour face Darkmount nudged over a beautifully crafted leather satchel. Charlie opened it and peered inside.

‘Er … is it supposed to be empty?’

‘It is for the urn. Its padding will keep the vessel safe and will allow you to keep both hands free.’

Charlie slipped the satchel over her shoulders so she could wear it like a backpack.

‘Most importantly,’ he continued, ‘Touch nothing, eat nothing, drink nothing. Remember these words and remember them well.’

‘Touch nothing, eat nothing, drink nothing. Sure. But this still all sounds a little too easy. C’mon, Edge, there’s got to be some monsters or guards or … well, something! What about all these “Daemon Kindred” you talk about?’

‘I was coming to that.’ Darkmount picked up a long bundle. He carefully unwrapped it to produce an ancient, rusted and seemingly useless sword.

Charlie looked at it carefully, waiting for a flicker or a sparkle to suggest a hidden sharpness, but she was disappointed. It really was just a rusty sword.

‘Oh, great, I feel safer already!’ she snorted. ‘Not only are you sending me to hell, you’re giving me the worst sword I’ve ever seen in my life and what’s twice as ridiculous is that I’ve absolutely no idea how to use it. Ha! If there’s any hungry daemons in there they might as well sit back and enjoy the show cos the only person I’m going to be a danger to is myself.’

Charlie crossed her arms and sat back in an obvious grump, not caring who saw her pouting.

‘Young Keeper, nothing in any realm is what it seems. Nothing. The same can be said of this sword.’

‘What, you mean it’s going to turn into a lean, mean, slicing machine, then?’ she said with thick sarcasm.

‘It is a Hell Sword. It bears a nasty surprise and if it looks like nothing now that is because it is deceptive.’

‘But what am I going to do with a sword? I don’t know how to use one!’

‘Well you’d better learn fast as it is the only thing that kills daemons.’

Charlie leaned over and took the heavy sword in her hands. It felt as useless as it looked. ‘What about the scabbard?’

‘There is no scabbard.’

‘So what am I supposed to do with it?’ said Charlie, unimpressed. ‘Hold it all day long until my hand goes numb?’

‘Just slide it between the straps of the satchel so it rests between your shoulders.’

She sighed despondently, but did as he suggested.

‘OK, so are you going to give me some more info on these daemons? Like what do they look like and how do I stop them doing … well, whatever it is they do to little girls who trespass in the lower dominions.’

‘The Daemon Kindred are a jigsaw race. No two are the same and each has been modelled upon a nightmare. Legends speak of creatures and critters half-man and half-beast or half-man and half-insect. Some of the wilder stories suggest that they are even more versatile than this, maybe even half-elemental.’

‘Elemental?’

‘Half-man and half-smoke, or wind, or fire, or soil or –’

‘OK, I get it. Half-not-very-nice, then. I can hardly wait. But why are they all half-man, why not half-hedgehog and half … I don’t know … half-
Tyrannosaurus
rex
?’

‘Some fables whisper that the Daemon Kindred strive to become that which they hate the most. Man.’

‘Yeah, is that Human, Treman or Stoman kinda man? I always get a little confused now that I’m in Bellania.’

‘Take your pick, each race is as capable of sin as the next.’

‘So you don’t know.’

‘I tell you what, young Keeper. Why don’t you take notes while you’re down there and then when you come back you can enlighten us all with your insights.’ He gave her another one of his measured looks – he seemed to have a lot of those to spare.

‘Right, well, then,’ said Charlie. ‘Any last words of advice for me, like what I should do after I have your “vessel”?’

‘I would run like you’ve got all the denizens of hell hot on your heels.’

‘Ha. Ha. Ha,’ grumbled Charlie with as much sarcasm as she could muster.

‘I do not joke about this, Charlie Keeper. Run and run for your life for all the Kindred will come for you. They always welcome those into Hell with deceit and wiles, but they will not so easily let you go. So run, Keeper, run back with my god as fast as you can.’

‘Run.’ Charlie nodded like it was the wisest thing in the
world to do. Truth was, she was beginning to get scared. She had known that going to hell was part of the deal, but a large part of her mind hadn’t been able to accept the reality of it. She gripped the hilt of the useless Hell Sword to stop the sudden shaking in her hands. It didn’t help, but at least it hid her fear from the others. ‘Right, running I can do. Any other last words of wisdom?’

‘Yes. Your Will will not help you in the lower dominions.’

‘What!’ choked Charlie and Nibbler in unison.

‘Your Will will only get you through the Gate and back. Nothing more.’

‘Please tell me you’re joking. Please tell me that was just bad Stoman humour.’

‘As I have told you several times: I do not joke.’

‘No, no, of course you don’t,’ said Charlie, white-faced. The shakes were now starting in her arms and legs. ‘You don’t joke.’

‘Hold up,’ growled Nibbler. ‘Charlie, forget this. There’s no way you’re going in there. Not without me and not without your Will. Listen, Darkmount, the deal is off! Definitely off! What kind of idiot are you and what kind of idiots do you think we are? We don’t need this; we can find the location of the Gate another way. We don’t –’

‘A deal was made!’ said Darkmount, his angry voice crackling around the cavern. The shadows seemed to darken, the light grew dimmer and the bishop appeared to grow in size.

‘Yeah, well who makes deals like that with little girls?’
yelled Nibbler. ‘Got to be some kind of twisted person to pull a fast trick like that!’ He stared fiercely at the bishop. Small puffs of flame burst from his mouth.

Darkmount jumped to his feet, his stonesong already building. Rage made the veins in his face and neck bulge. ‘So you would revoke a deal?’

‘That wasn’t a deal, that was a trick!’

Nibbler, just as furious, reared up on his back legs, spread his wings wide and gushed out a torrent of bright flame that burned and flared across the room. Dark green and bright yellow flames crashed together with the explosive sound of a thunderclap.