Cavern Of Fear

18 - Rainbows

A black shape streaked upward. It was Kree, his golden eyes fixed and savage. He did not attempt to attack the vast coil that held Jasmine, but instead swooped fearlessly at the tentacle’s tip, stabbing and tearing at the hooked white fingers that wriggled there.

But this time The Fear did not loosen its grip. And more tentacles were curling back, their tips whipping through the air, striking at the darting bird, reaching for Jasmine’s dangling feet.

Lief plunged wildly forward, aware of nothing but Jasmine’s peril. He seized a bone from the scattered pile on the rock and, left handed, threw it as hard as he could into the squirming maze of tentacles above his head.

The bone hit one of the tentacle tips. The tentacle jerked and recoiled. Shouting savagely, Lief threw another bone, then another.

From the corner of his eye he glimpsed a figure moving near him on the ground. He could not pause to see who it was. A tentacle was coiling directly towards him. He spun a bone at it, and caught it on the tip. Some of the white threads curled back, jerking and oozing slime.

Lief shouted in triumph. But the sound died on his lips as another tentacle reared up from the churning water in front of him. It lashed at him with such speed that he barely saw it before it had wrapped itself around him. His head spun as he was swung off his feet, struggling and kicking.

The tip of the tentacle which was holding him bobbed beside his shoulder. White stubs waggled there, dripping slime. This was one of the arms that had been injured. But, injured or not, it had him. He could feel its coils tightening around his chest, crushing his ribs, squeezing the life from him.

Struggling for breath, he was swept up into the squirming centre of the tentacle mass. And it was then that he heard a bellowing cry from below.

And saw, in the very midst of the place where the tentacles began, directly in front of the beast’s gaping beak, the hulking, swaying figure of Glock.

Glock had crawled from hiding. Crawled, ignoring agony, ignoring fear, into the centre of the terror.

Now, bent and staggering, he raised his shattered sword. ‘So you tear us apart, and cast away our bones!’ he roared. ‘You like your meat soft, do you? Well, see how you fancy this!’

And he fell forward, plunging his arm and the jagged stump of his great blade straight down the beast’s throat.

A ghastly, bubbling roar echoed through the cavern. The tentacle holding Lief seemed to freeze in the air. Then it began to shudder and jerk. Lief heard Kree screech, felt the coil that held him loosening, felt himself slipping. His fingers scrabbled on the slimy, ridged skin of the tentacle’s underside as he plunged down into the water.

He rose to the surface spluttering and swung around, frantically trying to see Jasmine among the foam and the twisting coils of the beast.

‘Lief! Here! Make haste!’

Barda was splashing towards him. Barda was seizing him by the waist and hauling him recklessly over the squirming tentacles towards the rock.

Lief struggled weakly. ‘Jasmine!’ he choked.

‘She is safe! There, see? By the shell!’ Barda shouted.

Lief twisted his neck, blinking through a haze of water. He saw Jasmine kneeling by the heaving body of the beast.

Jasmine’s hair was streaming with water and blood. But she was alive. Alive!

Filli was clasped in her arms. Kree was on her shoulder. As Lief watched, she raised her head, looked straight at him, and then up, above his and Barda’s heads.

Her face changed. She stumbled to her feet.

‘Lief!’ she shrieked. Lief himself looked up and suddenly understood.

Above his head great tentacles were curling inward. And they were swaying, like great trees about to fall.

To fall!

Lief twisted free of Barda’s clasp and began clawing his own way through the water, heedless of the pain in his arm. Together he and Barda struggled forward. Together they reached the rock, sprawled to safety, just as the giant tentacles began crashing down, carving great furrows in the water. Water shot to the roof and rained down again, pounding on the rock, beating on the quivering, dying body of The Fear.

And then, quite suddenly, it was over, and there was silence.

Lief, Barda and Jasmine crawled to their feet. Nothing moved in the cavern but the water lapping against the rock. Red light flickered feebly. The tentacles, already paling to shades of grey, lay half-submerged, like the trunks of vast, drowned trees.

And Glock lay still, crushed beneath the mass of mottled flesh at the heart of the Fear. Only his head and shoulders were free. His eyes were closed.

They clambered over to him, and knelt by his side.

‘Glock,’ said Lief softly.

Glock’s eyes opened. They were glazed, but a small spark burned deep within them.

‘It is dead, then?’ he asked.

‘Yes,’ said Barda quietly. ‘You defeated it, Glock. Single-handed. As you always said you would.’

Glock nodded slowly. ‘That is good,’ he said, ‘I thought—there is one place where the beast is not protected. One place. If only I can reach it. If only…’

The light in the cavern was slowly brightening. The jewel-like colour fell on Glock’s face. ‘I am dying,’ he murmured, almost in wonder. ‘But that is good also. For what use is a Jalis without his sword arm?’

‘You will fight again, Glock,’ said Lief.

Glock’s mouth twisted into a mocking smile. ‘Not in this life,’ he said. His eyes shifted to Jasmine’s face. ‘The girl knows. She does not lie to me, or to herself. She knows I am finished.’

Jasmine met his gaze. Her eyes were burning with unshed tears, but she moved her head slightly in a nod.

‘I have called you weakling more than once, girl. But that—was sport,’ the dying man said huskily. ‘You have the heart of a Jalis. Take my talisman from my neck. It is yours now. May it serve you well.’

Jasmine’s eyes widened, but she did not stir.

A flicker of impatience crossed Glock’s face. ‘Take it!’ he muttered. ‘Take it now, so I may see it in your hands.’

Jasmine reached forward and did as she was told.

Glock stared at the small, faded bag, and again his mouth twisted into a smile. ‘You may think that it did not serve me so well,’ he said. ‘But remember this. The dearest wish of a Jalis is to die fighting in a great cause. And that I have done.’

The light in the cavern grew brighter, brighter, and suddenly it seemed to Lief that rainbows began to dance within it. Blinking, dazzled, he looked up.

His eyes had not been deceiving him. Visible at last, on the other side of the slowly collapsing body of The Fear, was the mouth of a tunnel. And from the tunnel streamed rainbow light that mingled with the cavern’s scarlet so that it seemed that the very air was shining.

‘The Glimmer,’ Jasmine whispered.

A faint sound reached their ears. The sound of the Plumes cheering wildly on the shore. They had seen the light.

‘Lief.’ Glock’s voice was very low. Lief bent over him.

Rainbows played on Glock’s ravaged face. ‘The way to the Shadowlands is open,’ he murmured. ‘Now—you can find my people. You can bring them home.’

Lief nodded. His heart was so full that he was unable to speak.

‘When you find them,’ the dying man said, ‘I would like you to—tell them of me.’

Lief found his voice. ‘I will tell them, Glock,’ he said. ‘I swear it.’

Glock nodded slightly with satisfaction. Then his eyes closed, and he spoke no more.