CHAPTER Thirteen
Using his index finger, Alex held the wichtlein pebble in the palm of his hand and circled it several times. A smoky blue snake of light escaped from it, just as before with the shape of the woman. This time it wound its way into the wood, heading away from the beach. Without saying anything further, we followed it.
It took us along the path that led to the keep for a few hundred metres before curving to the right – and the eastern perimeter where I’d last seen John. We ended up being forced to pitch into the tangled undergrowth.
“Your trailing spell doesn’t pick easy routes to follow, does it?” I was suddenly starting to feel very tired. It felt like such a long time since I’d had any proper rest, and I was well aware of the continuing ache in my side. As far as my memory went, the fight with Anton could have been last week for all that had happened since, however the pain in my body reminded me that it had just been that morning.
Behind me, Alex gasped in exertion. “It’s not GPS, dude. It doesn’t conveniently pick the nearest motorway to drive along.”
The blue snake took that moment to decide to dive through a patch of nettles. Great. So far, I’d been cut by briars, beaten up by Anton and Theresa, attacked by a giant horned quake beast, chewed out by Nick, almost killed by Corrigan and now I was trying to commit death by stinging plants in the middle of night. Oh yeah, and John was still dead.
Alex muttered further complaints from behind me. “Get with the programme, surfer boy,” I said, trying not to snap. “We’re going to follow this if it kills us.” Under my breath I cursed that it just might.
The wood around us was alive with the sounds of the night fauna. A midge buzzed by my ear and I slapped at it in irritation as I ploughed behind Alex’s blue trail. I wasn’t happy about being eaten alive on top of everything else. Then, without warning, I found myself being forced to steady my body briefly against a tree as a light wave of dizziness caught me unawares.
“Feeling tired, human girl?” There was definitely a note of sulky petulance in Alex’s voice. I gritted my teeth and pushed myself away from the tree, carrying on into the wood and ignoring him. If we could catch the wichtlein then it would all be worth it. I just prayed that we found it soon or I wasn’t sure that I’d manage to stay conscious for long enough to do anything.
After what seemed like an age later, we came to a stream. The trail passed directly over it and I felt my heart sink. Oh for f*ck’s sake. I placed one foot into the icy water and gasped as I felt it seep slowly through my trainer. The stones underneath were slimy and slippery and, even though it was only about calf deep and two metres wide, it took everything I had to get across. I tried desperately to find my bloodfire so I could heat it up and fire it through my body but even my insides felt dull and damp. By the time I reached the other side of the stream I was panting with exertion. Sweat clung to my forehead as I struggled to stay upright.
And then I heard something. I clutched Alex’s arm behind me and pointed, holding my breath. There, just up ahead and not far from the clearing of a few days ago, sat what I was suddenly sure was a wichtlein. It was eating something, gnawing at it with sharp teeth that gleamed in the moonlight. I tried not to look too hard on whatever it had decided to snack on for dinner and instead focused on the fact that I finally felt a flicker of heat in the pit of my stomach and the surge of imminent success.
It appeared to be about two feet high and was completely covered in inky dark fur. It had a pointed nose and clawed fingers that were gripping its evening meal whilst behind it lay a short stubby tail. I was fairly certain that with its underground habits it was bound to be almost, if not completely, blind. That meant that its hearing would overcompensate for this shortcoming. Even the slightest rustle would warn it of our approach. So how to get close enough to catch it without scaring it off? I certainly didn’t want to harm it – well, not yet anyway. I needed to find out what it knew and if it had targeted John specifically. As a harbinger, maybe it even knew exactly what was going on and who the blue cloaked bitch was. I was very much aware that I might not get another shot so I had to make this count.
Thoughtfully, I ran through a mental checklist of the tools in my backpack. There was definitely a rope in there somewhere. I wondered if I’d be able to lasso the creature from this distance. My line of sight was clear enough to swing it through and hook round the wichtlein’s body but I didn’t dare take another step towards it in case it heard me, and I wasn’t sure the rope I had would reach it from this distance anyway. Could I even unzip my backpack to find the rope quietly enough? Damnit. But then, I remembered that Alex was here too and that I was still gripping his arm tightly. I could perhaps use him somehow. If I could send him round to the other side of the wichtlein, where he’d be upwind of it, then it might smell him and run in my direction. Then I could nab it.
I released my grip on his arm and half-turned towards him, motioning with my hands that he should move back out of the stream the way we’d come, and skirt round to the other side of wichtlein. He looked confused and I felt a spark of exasperation. Hadn’t he ever watched any war films for goodness’ sake? I tried again, making two little feet motions with two fingers and pointing round the surrounding to the back of the little creature. Unfortunately at this point I’d forgotten that he was still stood in the stream. He shifted his weight slightly to see where I was pointing towards and, at that moment, slipped and landed with an almighty splash on his back.
The wichtlein immediately looked up in our direction with a wide-eyed yellow stare and then heaved itself up, discarding the carcass it had been gnawing on and started running in the opposite direction. F*ck f*ck f*ck. Without pausing further, I sprinted after it, pulling the rope out of my backpack as I did so. At least it didn’t move that fast – thanks to the fatigue and pain I was pretty sure that even with the aid of the bloodfire I wouldn’t be able to keep up with it for long. I sped up slightly, shaking my head to clear the fuzziness and focusing my vision on the small ball of black fur. I began to swing the rope overhead. Up ahead was a clump of close-knit trees. I had to reach it before then as I knew I’d never be able to snag it with the rope with all those other obstacles around. I looped the rope faster in the air and then let it go.
The noose sailed through the air and, for a moment, I was sure that I’d missed. Then it arced downwards just in time to catch the wichtlein. As soon as it curved over the small running body, I yanked hard. The creature was suddenly pulled backwards and let out a high-pitched shriek. I wrenched harder on the rope and dragged it towards me for a few more feet, then walked unsteadily towards it, keeping a tight hold of the end of it. When I reached the wichtlein, I paused at looked down at it squirming uncomfortably. Its little clawed paws were scrabbling at the tight lasso, trying in vain to get it off, and it made little huffing sounds that were becoming more and more panicked. I bent down and scooped it up, then held it in front of me at arm’s length.
Yep, its eyes were a dull opaque so it was a given that its vision was virtually non-existent. Nonetheless, I hardened both my eyes and my voice.
“You set a stone here, two days ago, for a shifter. Why?”
It wriggled in my hands, still trying to escape and squeaking incessantly. I squeezed its body.
“Answer me!”
“Won’t speak. Let Craw go!” The wichtlein spat, shrilly.
Alex appeared at my shoulder, dripping wet. “Craw will speak or wizard will act.” He spun his pinky in the air, generating more blue smoke.
The wichtlein cowered and clawed at my arms. “Let Craw go!”
Alex jerked his pinky forward and the blue snake floated steadily towards the little animal.
“No no no no no no no no! I speak! I speak! Stop!”
I briefly wondered what it was about Alex’s magic that had the wichtlein so terrified. Perhaps there was more to my rather unfit newfound friend than I had previously thought. I couldn’t worry about that now though. The night air around me was starting to feel heavy and oppressive and I was fairly certain that it wouldn’t be long before I passed out in a heap. I concentrated on the flicker in my stomach, encouraging it to rise and keep me going long enough for me to get the information I wanted. It gave a feeble answering warmth in return. That would do for now.
I shook the wichtlein and repeated myself. “You placed a doom stone here two days ago for John Arton. Why?”
“He die soon. She kill him,” it squeaked, still squirming.
“Who she? I mean, who is she?” I tightened my hands on the wichtlein.
“Iabartu! Iabartu!”
“And who is Iabartu?” growled Alex.
“Sky god human woman.” The wichtlein stopped its pointless clawing and fumbling and raised up its head. “She seek wyr blood.”
“What? You mean dragon blood?” I was confused. We had a few little dragons occasionally rear their heads in Cornwall, but they popped up all over the country, much like the one I’d bagged for my first kill. This neck of the woods wasn’t special in that regard at all, and I couldn’t think for the life of me why John’s life would have been forfeit for one.
“Not little wyr, fire girl. Draco Wyr.”
“What did you call me?” Fire girl? How the hell did it know about my bloodfire? And what on god’s earth was a Draco Wyr? I shook the little beast, hard.
The wichtlein cackled unpleasantly. “Craw know many lots. Craw know who Draco Wyr. Man beast know who Draco Wyr. Man beast try stop Iabartu take Draco Wyr. Man beast die.” A single claw scratched my arm with intent. “You fault man beast die.”
My heart thudded. “My fault? Why my fault? I don’t know this Draco Wyr! What do you mean?” It couldn’t be my fault he’d died, could it? But why should I believe the wichtlein? I shook it even harder. “You’re lying. Tell me the truth.” My fingers curled round its whole body and, despite my condition, my bloodfire rose even further. The wichtlein shrieked in answering pain and began struggling again.
“It’s telling the truth.” Alex’s voice was quiet.
“You’re wrong!” I snarled, trying desperately to think of what I could to get the wichtlein to stop prevaricating and ‘fess up without killing it.
“Mack, I’m not.” He touched my arm. I turned and looked at him and saw it in his eyes. I stared at him dully for a second, then back at the little black creature.
The heat was gone. “Why is it my fault? What did I do?”
But there wasn’t any answer. I dimly heard Craw cackling again. Blood was thumping in my head and the edges of the world were going blurry. I couldn’t keep my head clear this time. I shook myself but the edges blurred further and I heard a roaring in my ears. My grip on the wichtlein loosened. Then everything went completely dark.