Faerie Lord

Eighty

‘Who are you?’ Blue screamed. She felt suddenly furiously angry. With the Abbot and the Purlisa who had sent her here. With their charno, who had transformed into this clown (or this clown who had disguised himself as a charno – she wasn’t sure which). With Madame Cardui for transporting Henry. With Mr Fogarty for dying just when she most needed his advice. With Pyrgus for getting ill. Most of all with herself for somehow walking into this incredible, bewildering, nonsensical, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid situation. Then, because it was all she really cared about, she shouted, ‘Where is Henry?’

‘Ah, Henry,’ said the clown. ‘The hero of our tale.’ He looked around ostentatiously. ‘Henry?’ he called. ‘Where are you. Henry?’ Then, ‘Henry, Henry, Henry’ as if calling to a cat. He turned back to Blue and smiled again. ‘No one of that name here.’

Blue opened her mouth, then closed it again. The clown hadn’t said, Who’s Henry? or Who do you mean? Instead he’d done his stupid clown act, playing games with her as if he knew exactly who Henry was. This had to be a set-up. The clown had been sent by the Purlisa, disguised as a charno, to… to… to what? Lure her into the cavern? She’d already agreed to go into the cavern. Make sure she did? The reverse psychology business? But why a disguised charno? Or a disguised clown? And why send her into the cavern in the first place if Henry wasn’t here? The more she thought, the more confused she became. What was going on here?

It occurred to her suddenly that in her confusion, she was missing out on the biggest, most obvious puzzle of the lot. The clown was sitting on the head of the most massive reptile she’d ever seen in her life. Was this the Midgard Serpent the Purlisa had talked about? Had he been telling the truth about that at least? But if it was the Midgard Serpent – or even if it wasn’t – why didn’t it attack the clown?

‘Serpents eat charnos.’ The remark made by the charno echoed in her memory. But the charno had still followed her into the cave, then turned into a clown and stolen her only means of leaving and…

She stopped the train of thought. Maybe it wasn’t like that at all. She’d briefly seen a charno in the passageway before it turned itself into this clown, but maybe that wasn’t the same charno who’d accompanied her from the monastery. She wasn’t sure she could tell one charno from another in bright sunlight, let alone in the depths of a gloomy cave. Suppose her charno was still outside, waiting patiently. Suppose this clown thing had taken the shape of a charno – a simple illusion spell would do it – just to confuse her?

Then why turn back to a clown the minute she stepped out? And if the clown wasn’t sent by the Abbot or the Purlisa, who was the clown? And whoever the clown was, how did he manage to sit on the head of the world’s largest serpent without being eaten like a charno?

It was all too much for Blue. Too many questions, not enough answers. But there was an answer to the only question that mattered. Henry wasn’t here.

‘I’m going,’ Blue said shortly and turned to leave the cavern.

The serpent twitched and a segment of its enormous tail closed off her exit.

Blue swung round again. The serpent was staring at her with vast, glittering eyes. The clown hadn’t moved. His legs dangled down on either side of its nose.

‘Do you control this thing?’ Blue demanded. ‘Tell it to let me out!’

Back into the passages, Blue, with the catsite worn off and no filament to guide you? her mind whispered. She pushed the thoughts aside. First things first.

‘Control?’ asked the clown, affecting a look of astonishment. ‘He’s an adolescent, bless him. Nobody controls an adolescent.’ He shook his head sadly. ‘Stays out all hours. Keeps bad company. Gets innocent girl serpents pregnant.’ He pursed his lips, opened his eyes wide. ‘Won’t do a thing I tell him.’

Blue pulled the Halek blade from her belt, turned and in a single movement plunged it into the serpent’s tail.

The energy discharge was massive. It poured from the knife like a lightning bolt, twisting and crackling. An overwhelming smell of ozone filled the air. The clown jerked suddenly and looked down as if something had bitten his bottom, then slid from his perch on the serpent’s head and leaped nimbly onto the floor. ‘That tickled!’ he exclaimed.

Blue withdrew the knife. The crystal blade was intact, but dull and lifeless as if every ounce of energy it had contained was now discharged. The serpent watched her curiously. It had not moved so much as a single coil.

Blue dropped the useless Halek knife and ran. She could not leave the cavern the way she entered, but there might be other exits. Maybe the light was sunlight after all, pouring through the roof of a side-chamber. She ran towards it.

Without haste, the serpent coiled itself around her and held her fast.