03 Sky Knight (2 page)

Nimbus held out Venom at arm’s length, with the point aimed at his adversary. The tip of the blade quivered, so sharp it even cut the raindrops in two. ‘Where is my father?’ he said.

‘He isn’t here.’

Venom’s blade temporarily blurred out of reality, and then materialised again with its tip inside the spider–soldier’s chest. ‘Wrong answer,’ Nimbus growled.

The soldier made a startled noise, but there was no look of surprise in his pitiless eyes. ‘Bad move,’ he said, reaching around Nimbus with his spider legs.

Nimbus tried to back away, to rip Venom free; but he was already caught in a vice–like grip. With horrible slowness, the soldier began to pull himself along the blade of the spirit sword, inching towards the hilt.

Nimbus dragged on Venom with all his might, but he couldn’t get the blade out. He twisted violently, but he was being held so tight, and he was already so weak; there was no chance of escape. His heart sank as he realised, too late, what his doom would be; and the soldier opened his mouth wide to reveal a throat full of wriggling, black tentacles.

‘It is time for you to join us,’ the soldier said, his voice oozing up through that crawling, slimy throat. ‘It is time for you to serve the master as we do.’

‘It doesn’t matter what you do to me,’ Nimbus said. ‘Don’t you understand? Look around you. See what’s happened here.’ Hawk and the others were climbing down into the courtyard, occasionally pausing to fire more arrows. The few stray survivors of the spider–soldier vanguard were scuttling backwards and forwards, looking for a way out that didn’t exist. ‘We’ve won. You’ve been beaten.’

The soldier grasped Nimbus’s throat. ‘You can’t beat us.’

Lightning arced across the sky, and in that heartbeat of light a shadow appeared behind the soldier.

There was a suggestion of movement in the gloom, and a faint swishing sound. The spider–soldier jolted, his legs went into spasm, and his head fell off.

Nimbus stepped away as the jittering body dropped to the floor, and the parasitic blob crawled out. He covered his mouth when that familiar dead smell reached his nostrils. ‘Good timing, Captain,’ he gagged. ‘That was a close thing.’

Captain Obsidian of the Landmark garrison stepped from the gloom, thrusting his sword through the parasite that was desperately seeking a new body to clamber inside. ‘I’m never one to miss a good party. How’s that arm doing? It looks bad.’

‘It’s fine. I’m good.’ Even as Nimbus spoke, his legs buckled. Obsidian quickly caught the Wing Warrior before he hit the ground. ‘I’m fine,’ Nimbus repeated. ‘Just get me across the courtyard. Get me to Cumulo.’

He leaned his full weight against Obsidian, who half dragged and half carried him past the crumpled piles of silver armour and tragic human remains: All that was left of the terrifying spider–soldiers. Hawk was poking one of the motionless bodies with his foot. ‘What do we do now?’ he asked.

‘Search the fort,’ Obsidian said. ‘Find Cloud.’

‘And what if he’s...?

Nimbus shot Hawk a glance that would have sent a giant screaming in terror. ‘Just find him.’

‘Of course.’ Hawk saluted smartly and dashed off.

‘And be careful,’ Obsidian shouted. ‘We don’t know what else might be here with us.’

Nimbus’s head sagged against his chest, and the world swam out of focus. ‘Cumulo,’ he slurred.

‘Stay with me, Nimbus,’ Obsidian said, guiding him towards the ruin of the tower. ‘We didn’t do all this so you could go and die on me now.’

‘I can’t feel my legs.’

‘It’s hardly a scratch. Come on.’ He scrambled over the cracked masonry, looking for signs of life among the piles of bloodied stone. The body of the wyvern was flopped over a slab, its tongue lolling horribly, and its wings all twisted up and snapped in funny angles. Slow, rasping breaths wheezed from its rising and falling chest, and one clawed foot kicked uselessly.

‘Kill it,’ Nimbus said, leaning against a stone column and closing his eyes. ‘Put it out of its misery.’

As Obsidian raised his sword, there was a terrific scream, and a wyvern came rushing out of the sky. It swooped on the captain, with its talons poised to snatch him away.

At the same time, the wounded wyvern squawked in alarm, and the stone it had been sprawled across erupted. In the shower of rubble, Cumulo rose up: A gigantic white phantom with blazing eyes. He bellowed, generating a powerful blast of air that carried Obsidian halfway across the courtyard, leaving the attacking wyvern to snatch angrily at the space where the captain had been standing only moments before.

‘I thought I asked you to deal with those things?’ Nimbus said.

‘I’m working on it,’ Cumulo said, shaking the last of the stone splinters off his wings.

‘Well, don’t let me stop you.’

Cumulo leapt at the wyvern, smashing it into the ground with his massive claws and then grabbing it by the throat. The poor thing scrabbled and pecked, and its eyes rolled insanely, as Cumulo violently shook and ripped it until it was horribly unrecognisable.

A wave of unsettling nausea swept over Nimbus, and he slumped among the rubble. ‘Cumulo,’ he gasped, listening to the wyvern’s last grim breaths being smashed out of it. ‘Cumulo, I think you’ve won.’

Cumulo spat out a piece of tattered wing. ‘You are wounded,’ he said, nuzzling Nimbus with his snout.

‘I was hoping you might be able to help me with that.’

Cumulo took a close look at Nimbus’s arm, then drew a deep breath. His white scales turned brownish–green, and his eyes shone like emeralds. ‘Am I going to have to keep saving you?’ he asked, before breathing on the wound.

Almost immediately, the skin around the bloody cut knitted together, and Nimbus felt the strength flowing back into his body. ‘Would you go and check if Captain Obsidian is okay?’ he asked, flexing his newly repaired arm.

‘Don’t worry, I’m fine,’ Obsidian said, emerging from the darkness. A black horse was cantering along beside him, shaking its sleek mane and snorting happily. ‘And look who I found. I think Cumulo must have smashed open some of the stable blocks when he took a dive.’

‘Onyx!’ Nimbus said, jumping to his feet and throwing his arms around the horse’s neck. ‘Onyx is here, that means my father must be here too.’

‘That seems logical,’ Cumulo said.

Nimbus looked around the courtyard, at the crumbling walls, tottering towers, and broken scaffolding. Some of the children from the archery class could be seen darting in and out of doorways, but other than that the fort was gloomy and lifeless as a crypt.

The last few drops of rain came spiralling out of the grumbling purple sky, shattering on the sleek black surfaces of the fortress in tiny, shimmering explosions.

‘So where is he?’ Nimbus said.

CHAPTER TWO

Nimbus was sitting on the ramparts of the fort. It was impossible to see more than a few feet beyond the walls, and for all he knew the darkness was teeming with the limitless masses of Crow’s undead army.

A wry smile twitched the corner of his mouth as he realised he did not fear whatever was waiting for him out there in the wilderness. He was no longer so different to the enemies he faced. He was a zombie now, after all.

He drew Venom, examining his reflection in the blade.

‘Lord Nimbus,’ Obsidian said, approaching along the partially collapsed wall.

‘He’s not here, is he?’ Nimbus said, his gaze remaining fixed on the shadowy mirror image of himself trapped within Venom’s sharp edges.

‘We’ve searched everywhere.’

‘They must have moved him.’

Obsidian rested a hand on Nimbus’s shoulder. ‘Perhaps we should consider the possibility that Private Clay was lying. Maybe your father was never held here.’

‘What about Onyx?’

‘A distraction? Something to mislead you, perhaps?’

‘No. He was here.’

‘Lord Nimbus, I just think...’

‘Thank you, Captain. That will be all.’ Nimbus rose, sheathing his sword. ‘Would you please make sure Hawk and the children get back to Landmark safely?’

‘Of course. But then what?’

‘There’s something funny going on. There was only a handful of troops posted here, nothing more than a vanguard. That means their army is probably already on the move. We need to make preparations. Return to the village and wait for me.’

Obsidian inclined his head slightly, and then strode away. Just before he vanished into the gloom, Nimbus shouted after him. ‘Captain, take Onyx. I think my father would have wanted you to.’

Obsidian saluted, and then he was gone.

‘I guess neither of us found what we were looking for tonight,’ Captain Spectre said, materialising beside Nimbus.

‘I’m sorry,’ Nimbus said. ‘This hasn’t exactly been one of my greatest successes.’

‘Nonsense, you reclaimed the fort with just a handful of archers, many who have only a few weeks of training with a bow. Great tacticians of my time would bow before you for this deed.’

‘I nearly got my arm cut off.’

‘A calculated risk.’

‘A stupid mistake.’

‘You’re too hard on yourself.’

‘I have to be. Without my father here... He used to be hard on me. I know now why that was. When he’s not here, it feels like...’ He sighed heavily. ‘I’m lost.’

‘Lost as you may be, your people are still going to be looking to you for their answers.’

‘Answers I don’t have.’

Spectre chuckled. ‘Now is not the time for this, Nimbus. We have won a victory today.’

‘And what was the point? I have won this fort, yet have no men to hold it. There has been no word from Crystal Shine for days. No soldiers to help us.’

‘You forget one thing, Nimbus. This fort is of great tactical significance. Making sure it does not fall into the hands of the enemy can be just as important as holding it yourself.’

Before Nimbus could say more, there came the heavy flapping of gargantuan wings as Cumulo swooped down to perch on the edge of the wall, causing the stone to crack as his massive claws clamped on. He pumped his wings one time for balance, and then settled into a majestic pose, as noble as any dragon Nimbus had seen painted in Mother’s temple.

‘Bad news,’ Cumulo said.

‘They’re out there, aren’t they?’ Nimbus said.

‘There is an army on the march, pouring out of the Spine Mountains,’ Cumulo confirmed. ‘Whatever forces attacked Landmark and this fort must have been nothing more than a raiding party.’

‘How many troops are coming?’ Spectre asked.

Cumulo snorted, and a puff of smoke drifted out of his nostrils. ‘Viewed from above, it was as if the very ground was moving. A dozen dragons could not stop their advance.’

‘They will take back Flint Lock,’ Spectre said.

‘They will swallow it,’ Cumulo corrected.

‘Then the time has come,’ Nimbus said. ‘I cannot spend any more time looking for my father.’

Cumulo leaned in close. His breath was hot. ‘But, Nim. We need him.’

‘I know that, but I can’t keep chasing after phantoms and rumours. We need to accept that maybe he... Maybe he can’t be with us right now. I need to get back to the village. Move the people on somewhere safe.’

‘Where?’ Spectre asked.

‘The Grey Mountains. A hundred men could hold the passes there against thousands of invaders.’

‘But the vampyr.’

‘The vampyr and I have an arrangement. He will not risk harming my people until I have done what he asks.’

‘And what about Flint Lock?’

Nimbus looked around at the tumbled bricks and mortar, the angular spikes of shattered scaffolding, and crumbling stone. ‘Burn it,’ he said.

‘But, Nimbus...’ Cumulo began.

Nimbus shook his head. He knew what he was asking the dragon to, and he understood the enormity of the request. His father had designed and built this fort. If it burned, then his father’s legacy burned with it. All that was left of the old order of Wing Warriors would be destroyed.

‘Burn it all, Cumulo,’ he said. ‘Leave nothing behind that they can use against us.’

***

Nimbus and Cumulo arrived back at Landmark shortly after Obsidian and the triumphant archers. As the dragon landed in the village square, men, women, and children of all ages came rushing out to greet them, despite the late hour.

‘People of Landmark,’ Nimbus shouted, trying to think of the words his father might have used in this situation. ‘Listen carefully. We’re in great danger.’

The villagers murmured and glanced at each other nervously.

‘An army is approaching. More spider–soldiers, like the ones that attacked us before.’

‘Are they coming here?’ someone asked.

‘Their numbers are great enough that no town or village will be spared.’ His gaze was drawn to the West, and the red glow of the burning fort. Hot tears filled his eyes.

‘What do we do?’ one of the villagers cried, clutching her baby tightly.

Nimbus wiped his eyes and grabbed Venom’s hilt for reassurance. ‘We must leave this place immediately. Leave behind anything that isn’t important.’

There was a commotion in the crowd as the mayor of Landmark pushed through to the front. ‘Now look here,’ he said, waving his finger in an authoritative manner, ‘you’re talking about leaving our homes. Some people have lived here their whole lives.’

‘I’m sorry, Mr Mayor,’ Nimbus said. ‘It is absolutely necessary we get everyone to a safer location.’

‘You are the Wing Warrior. It is your responsibility to protect us. Are you incapable of doing so?’

Cumulo growled deep in his throat, and his eyes narrowed to blue slits. Nimbus patted the dragon’s neck. ‘It’s okay,’ he whispered. ‘He’s just scared. He doesn’t intend to offend you, or even me.’ To the mayor, he said, ‘I am sorry, Mr Mayor. There are too many soldiers. Had all of the Wing Warriors been alive to defend us, we could not hope to win this fight.’

‘And what of your sister, the witch?’

‘My sister is not a witch.’

‘She was able to stop these creatures before. Can we expect her help?’

‘My sister is not here. We cannot rely on her support.’ He hesitated, realising that the more questions he answered, the more scared the villagers were becoming. He spotted Sky in the crowd, and her wide eyes told him everything he needed to know about how terrified she truly was. ‘Neither can we rely on reinforcements from Crystal Shine,’ he added, reluctantly.