Maze Running and other Magical Missions (14 page)

Lee stepped forward. “We didn’t all agree that, because we didn’t know what was at stake! Why didn’t you tell us?”

Helen stood up to face him. “You’re a fine one to talk, Lee! You set up that whole performance on Dunadd without telling anyone. If you’d told me your plan, I could have explained why it wasn’t going to work!”

“If I’d told you my plan, Helen, then you wouldn’t have been so wonderfully appalled when I gave him the second vial. The only reason he didn’t suspect we might have more than one false vial, and search us all, was because your anger at me convinced him he had Yann’s last heartbeat in his hands.”

“So it was ok for you to trick us, in order to trick him? How dare you do that?” Helen’s anger at herself was spilling over into anger at Lee.

“You, my dear human, have offered one of your friends as a snack to a dragon. How dare
you
do
that
? Because you thought it was the best thing to do in difficult circumstances. That was my calculation too.” 

“But I didn’t think it would ever happen! I thought we’d agreed not to let him take the token. I didn’t think anyone would do anything so daft.”

“Not even to save you?”

“
No, not even to save me
, you self-centred ambitious faery!” she yelled at him, then she took a deep breath and spoke more calmly. “If I had told you what I’d promised, what we risked, would you have set up that ambush, and given him the vial?”

“Of course not. I would have come up with another plan. You could have trusted me with their lives too.”

Helen realised that no one else had spoken for ages. She looked round. Everyone was silent, staring at the ground. Rona was stroking Lavender’s soft feathery wings.

“Sorry. I’m really sorry. Don’t give up yet…” Helen didn’t know what else to say.

Lavender fluttered into the air. “We’ve all been far too clever for our own good. Now we must concentrate on the simple things. We must heal Yann. Then we must stop the Master.”

Lee nodded. “Wise words, flower fairy. But I thought we’d have more time.”

Tangaroa looked up. “You always planned to stop him?”

“Of course. You didn’t think I’d hand the Master the token, then let him trot off and conquer the world, did you? I hoped we’d have a few weeks to gather our forces and plan our attack. But this just gives us a more pressing deadline. Now we must stop the Master before that dragon has her breakfast tomorrow.”

They were all quiet and sombre as Sapphire flew back to Cauldhame Moor. When the dragon landed and Helen leapt off, she saw that the sun was nearly resting on the horizon. It was almost halfway through the spring equinox.

Epona galloped up, ignored Helen and spoke to Catesby, who was hovering above Helen’s head. “The Three are here, fire-bird. Time is running out!”

Lee pushed the vial into Helen’s fingers. “You hand it over. That will make it harder for her to hate humans.”

Helen said, “But you got it. I didn’t.”

“We all got it, it was a team effort.”

Epona was questioning Catesby, but gabbling so much the phoenix couldn’t get a squawk in. “Petros and Mallow have nothing to offer the Three, nothing to heal Yann with! Did you find the token? Have you brought it?”

Helen walked up to Epona. The dappled centaur took a step back, then stamped a hoof. “Keep away from me, human, unless you want my hoofprints on your ribs!”

Helen held up the vial. 

Epona snatched for it, but Helen pulled her hand back. “Are you sure you want it, Epona? Do you want to touch something that’s been in a human’s hand?”

Epona said, “Give me the token, so I can take it up there in time to save Yann.”

Tangaroa said, “The sun is still free in the sky. It isn’t quite sunset yet. We have time to take it ourselves.”

All the friends rushed past Epona. They sprinted along the lawn, past the fountain, up the steps and through the columns. Helen heard Sapphire flap overhead, swooping over the green-tiled roof to land at the back.

As Helen got to the front entrance, she grabbed Lee’s cloak to slow him down. They walked in together, behind the rest of the friends, who were skidding on the smooth floor as they ran towards the room in the back corner.

Helen asked, “Lee, that bit of panto with the king’s footprint, was that just to cover you filling the extra vial, or is being Faery King really your ambition?”

He answered quietly, “It would be my ambition, Helen, if you’d promise to play at my coronation.”

He smiled at her, waiting for a reply. Helen sighed. “Ask me later. Much later. Let’s concentrate on Yann right now.” She hurried off towards Yann’s room.

When she stepped into the warm space, she saw the Three, red cloaks glowing in the firelight.

She saw Petros and Mallow, arms round each other, looking down at Yann, who was lying still under a striped blanket.

And through the window to the west, she saw the 
sun just touching the horizon, as Sapphire stuck her head through the window to the north.

Helen held out the vial to Yann’s parents.

Petros gasped. “A token! You got it! I never really believed you could … Thank you so much, all of you.” He bowed his head slightly to Helen and her friends. “But don’t give it to me. Give it to them.”

Helen turned to the Three, who were standing in front of the fireplace, warming their hands.

“What do you bring us … human girl?”

“Water from the footprint of a king,” Helen whispered.

“And did you meet … the Master of the Maze there?”

“Yes,” Helen admitted.

“Did he get … a token too?”

“Yes.”

The Three laughed. “That should be fun … But first…”

They each reached for the vial. Helen could see a red-nailed hand, a plump hand and a wrinkled hand. She didn’t know which to put it in. So she just held out the vial and watched as all three hands moved forward, then a blur of fingers grabbed it.

Helen stepped back, and stood beside Rona and Sylvie.

The Three approached the still silent shape of Yann on the low bed.

First they dragged the blanket off him.

Then they ripped the dressing off his chest.

The centaur shuddered, but his eyes didn’t open.

The youngest of the Three reached out her slim 
hand to his chest and jabbed her red-tipped fingers into the wound. Blood started to flow again.

Yann moaned, as new pain dragged him out of his warm slide into death.

The Three moaned back, “
Aaaah!
” But their moan was of happiness, not pain.

The youngest held the open vial to the slow flow of blood, and the blood slid slowly in. Then she replaced the cork and handed it to the oldest of the Three, who shook it up and down to mix the water and blood.

Helen tried not to gasp when she saw the youngest of the Three put her bloodied fingers to her mouth and suck them.

The middle woman pulled the cork out and threw it behind her into the fire.

Then three hands clutched the vial and held it up to the setting sun. The light shone through the red liquid and they poured the liquid out.

It fell, like a long red thread, from the vial to the wound, where it sizzled and smoked.

Then the blood stopped flowing from the wound, as it closed up. It closed like a flower closes at night, or a hand closes into a fist.

It stopped bleeding, it closed up and it healed. In just a few seconds, there was no scar, just
blood-matted
hair and a mess of blood and ripped dressing on the floor.

Yann’s eyes opened.

He looked at the Three, leaning over him.

“How do you
feel
?” they chorused. “Is it still painful?” 

“No,” he said, and smiled, then shut his eyes again.

The Three sighed and moved away, gliding over to Petros and Mallow.

Helen slipped behind their trailing cloaks and knelt beside Yann.

She heard the Three say, “It was a joy to meet your son … We fully expect … to see him again soon.”

Helen placed her ear on Yann’s ribcage. She heard the strong, thumping beat of his horse heart.

She sat up and grinned at her friends, as the Three said, “His heart is beating again … He will wake … when the sun has set … but the healing will not hold for certain … until dawn … so he should rest until then.”

Helen looked at Yann’s face. His eyes were closed, his mouth still, but his cheeks were no longer white and his breathing was stronger. He was asleep, not unconscious.

She looked up to see the Three gliding towards the door. “We cannot stay to watch … we have another appointment … once it is full dark.”

Petros and Mallow trotted over to Yann. Mallow bent down to clear up the bloody dressing and Petros laid the blanket over his son.

Helen walked back to her friends and whispered, “Yann is healed. Now let’s stop the Master.”

But Mallow spoke too. “We cannot ever fully repay you for saving our son, but we can start by feeding you. Please join us in the hall, and we’ll let Yann sleep off the healing in peace.”

Rona started to say, “But we still have to…” 

Helen spoke over her. “That’s very kind, Mallow. We would love to eat with you. But first we have to debrief after our quests, so we’ll go outside where we won’t disturb Yann.” She pulled Rona out of the room, and the rest followed.

“But why can’t we ask them for help?” Rona muttered, as they walked past the columns.

Once they had settled by the fountain, Helen said firmly, “We can’t ask them, because we don’t have time for long crisis meetings and full-blown military assaults on the Master. Do we, Tangaroa? When will it be full dark?”

Tangaroa answered quickly, “At this time of year, twilight lasts less than two hours.”

Helen nodded. “So we have to go now and deal with my mistake. Or I have to go, because this is my fault. You don’t need to come with me.”

“But if we involved the elders, they could protect us from the Great Dragon, hide us, keep us safe,” Rona insisted.

“I’m no keener than you to be eaten,” said Lavender, “but hiding from the dragon won’t help; it might even provoke a war between fabled beast families.”

“Helen’s right,” said Lee. “This needs to be dealt with fast and simply, not with lots of hooves and noise. And those who caused the problem should solve it, so it’s only right that Helen and I deal with this on our own. You enjoy the centaurs’ hospitality, while we find the Master and destroy the token.”

Sylvie growled, “I won’t trust my life to anyone else. Not to tricksy faeries or truth-slicing humans. I’m coming too.” 

Tangaroa nodded. “I’ve discovered that most of you, fairies and phoenixes as well as humans and selkies, are capable of cheating and lying, so I must come too, as the only person I can trust.”

A familiar voice cut through the evening air. “Tricks and truth-slicing and cheating and lying? That doesn’t sound very friendly. What
have
you all been up to?”

Yann pushed Lee and Helen aside, and sat down in the circle.

Everyone stared at him.

“I gather I have to thank you all for saving me. So I thought I’d find you celebrating my return to life. Instead I find you whispering in dark tones and accusing each other of trickery and treachery. Have you had a difficult couple of days?” He grinned at them.

Everyone spoke at once: Helen admitting to stupid promises, Tangaroa asking why Yann had helped Rona cheat, Sylvie complaining about being used as a bargaining chip, Sapphire waving her stumpy tail.

They all spoke over each other, until Lavender yelled, “Do you want me to use the silence spell again?” Everyone quietened down.

“We all have confessions and complaints, but Yann doesn’t need to hear them now,” the flower fairy said firmly. “Yann needs to go back to bed and rest.”

Helen reached up and grabbed the centaur’s wrist. His pulse was strong, but she agreed with Lavender. “You rest, and let us sort this out.”

He pulled his wrist away. “Sort what out? You 
found a token, and the Three healed me. What do you need to sort out?”

They all looked round. No one wanted to admit it into the silence.

“I’m not going to rest easy with a mystery in my garden. Tell me.”

Catesby perched on Yann’s shoulder and began to tell him a story.

As Catesby squawked, Yann looked first at Sapphire, “I’m sorry about your tail, but if Helen says it will grow back, then I’m sure it will.” Catesby chattered again, and the centaur shook his head at Rona. “You couldn’t keep quiet, could you?” He turned to Tangaroa. “You have a valid complaint against me, my blue friend, but now is not the time to settle it.” Tangaroa nodded. Then Catesby added more, and paused. Yann looked down at Helen. “I appreciate your loyalty, human girl, but my life was not worth theirs. You should never have made that promise.”

Catesby flew down to Helen and perched on her hand. He rubbed his head against her shoulder and nodded at her. She smiled back. Maybe the phoenix was the only one here who thought she’d done the right thing. The only one who genuinely didn’t mind sacrificing himself to save Yann.

Sylvie said, “Now you know the highlights of our bad decisions and foolish mistakes in the last two days, you can go back to bed and let us sort this out.”

“Oh no.” Yann stood up and stretched. “I’m coming with you. You risked your lives to save me. Now I must risk mine to save you.” 

“Don’t be daft,” said Helen. “You were dying an hour ago. You can’t fight the Master tonight.”

“Why not? I feel fine. I feel fantastic. I have the healing force of Scotland running through my veins. I’ve never felt better.”

“The Three said the healing wouldn’t be fixed until dawn.”

“The Three, my dear girl, do not always follow the path of truth. They’re probably hoping I’ll stay out of their way while they heal the Master. I’m willing to take the risk.”

Helen shook her head. “You can’t. We’ve all risked so much to save you.”

“You didn’t go to all that trouble to save a centaur who sits out a fight while his friends go into danger, though, did you?”

“But too much effort now could kill you.”

Yann shrugged. “If I have to risk my life to stop the Master and save my friends, then I’m risking a life which was very nearly lost anyway. I do appreciate all you have done for me. But the Great Dragon may be right. Perhaps my death was a price worth paying to stop the Master. If I really am worth saving, maybe I can stop him. And if I die stopping him, then at least I’ll achieve something with my death.”

Everyone stared at him silently. He grinned. “Cheer up! I’m back. And I’m looking for a fight. So where are we going?”

“He’s the Master of the Maze,” said Lavender. “His healing will be strongest at the heart of a maze. We should go back to Traquair.” 

Tangaroa looked at the western horizon. “The sun is down, the equinox is in the dark half of its cycle. We don’t have much time.”

Yann said, “We’re not aiming to outwit the Master. We’re going to fight him. So gather your weapons and your courage.”