The Magician

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

N idhogg s sticky tongue unfurled through the air toward Scathach, who was

still pinned against the kitchen wall, wrapped tightly in the creature s

claws. The Warrior fought in complete silence, struggling in the monster s

grip, wrenching herself from side to side, boot heels scrambling for purchase

on the slippery tiled floor. With her arms pinned to her sides, she was

unable to use her short swords.

Josh knew that if he even paused for thought, he was not going to be able to

go through with what he meant to do. The smell of the creature was making him

sick to his stomach, and his heart was thumping so hard he could barely catch

his breath.

The forked tongue brushed across the table, leaving a deep burn mark on the

wood. It punched right through a wooden chair as it headed straight for the

Warrior s head.

All he had to do, Josh kept reminding himself, was to think of his sword as a

football. Holding Clarent high above his head in the two-handed grip Joan had

shown him earlier, he launched himself forward in a move that the coach at

his last school had spent an entire season trying and failing to teach him.

But even as he was jumping, he knew he d miscalculated. The tongue was moving

too fast, and he was too far away. With a last desperate effort, he flung the

sword from his hand.

The flat of the blade struck the side of Nidhogg s meaty tongue. And stuck

fast.

Years of tae kwon do training took over as Josh crashed onto the tiled floor.

He hit it hard but still managed to slap it with the palm of his hand,

sending his body forward into a neat roll that brought him back to his

feet within inches of the meaty acid-dripping tongue. And the sword.

Catching hold of the hilt, he used all his strength to pull it away from the

tongue it came free with a sticky Velcro sound, and the tongue sizzled and

hissed as it snapped back into the monster s mouth. Josh knew that if he

stopped, both he and Scatty were dead. He plunged Clarent point first into

the serpent s arm just above the wrist joint. As the blade sank smoothly into

the alligator-like hide, it began to vibrate, a high-pitched keening sound

that set Josh s teeth on edge. He felt a rush of warmth flowing up his arm

and into his chest. A heartbeat later, a surge of strength and energy wiped

away his aches and pains. His aura blossomed bright blinding gold, and there

was a tracery of light curling around the gray stone blade when he wrenched

it out of the creature.

The claws, Josh. Cut off a claw, Scathach grunted as Nidhogg shook her

hard. The two swords fell from her hands and clattered to the floor.

Josh lashed out at the monster, trying to cut off a claw, but the heavy stone

blade turned at the last moment and bounced harmlessly off its foot. He tried

again, and this time the sword struck sparks off the creature s armored hide.

Hey! Be careful, Scathach yelped as the swinging blade came dangerously

close to her head. That s one of the few weapons that really can kill me.

Sorry, Josh muttered through clenched teeth. I ve never done anything like

this before. He slashed out at the claw again. Sparks flew into the

Warrior s face. Why do we want a claw? he grunted, hacking at the iron-hard

skin.

It can only be killed with one of its own claws, Scathach said, her voice

surprisingly calm. Look out! Get back!

Josh turned just as the thing s huge head lunged forward, pushing into the

side of the ruined house, its white tongue darting forward again. It was

coming for him. It was moving too fast; there was nowhere to go and if he did

move, it would just hit Scatty. Planting his feet firmly, both hands wrapped

tightly around Clarent s hilt, he held the sword before his face. He closed

his eyes at the approaching horror and immediately opened them again. If he

was going to die, he d do it with his eyes open.

It was like playing a video game, he thought except that this game was

deadly. Almost in slow motion, he saw the two ends of the forked tongue wrap

around the blade as if it was going to wrench it from Josh s hand. He

tightened his grip, determined not to let the sword go.

When the flesh of the creature s tongue touched the stone blade, the effect

was immediate.

The creature froze, then convulsed and hissed, the sound like escaping steam.

The acid from its tongue bubbled on the blade as the sword trembled in Josh s

hand, vibrating like a tuning fork, growing warm, then hot, and started to

glow with a stark white light. He squeezed his eyes shut

and behind his closed eyes, Josh glimpsed a series of flickering images: a

blasted and ruined landscape of black rock, pockmarked with pools of bubbling

red lava, while overhead, the sky boiled with filthy clouds that rained ash

and cinders. Spread across the sky, dangling from the clouds, were what

looked like the roots of a huge tree. The roots were the source of the bitter

white ash: they were dissolving, withering, dying .

Nidhogg jerked its blackened tongue free.

Josh gasped and opened his eyes just as his aura flared again,

stronger brighter this time, blinding him. Panicked, waving the sword before

him, he backed up until he felt the kitchen wall against his shoulder blades.

He kept blinking furiously, wanting to rub his eyes, but he didn't dare

loosen his grip on the sword. All around him, he heard stones fall, plaster

split, wood creak and snap, and he hunched his shoulders, expecting something

to come crashing down on his head. Scatty? he called.

But there was no reply.

His voice rose. Scatty!

Squinting hard, blinking away the spots dancing before his eyes, he saw the

monster dragging Scathach out of the house. Its tongue, now black and brown,

was hanging loosely out of the side of its mouth. Holding the Warrior in a

crushing grip, it turned on its own length and pushed through the devastated

garden, its long tail slicing chunks out of the side of the house, smashing

through the only unbroken window. Then the creature rose up on its two hind

legs, like a collared lizard, and clattered down the alleyway, almost

trampling underfoot the figure in white chain-mail armor standing guard.

Without hesitation the figure disappeared after the creature.

Josh stumbled through the gaping hole in the side of the house and stopped.

He glanced over his shoulder. The once-neat kitchen was a shredded ruin. Then

he looked at the sword in his hand and smiled. He d stopped the monster. His

smile widened to a broad grin. He d fought it off and saved his sister and

everyone else in the house except Scatty.

Taking a deep breath, Josh jumped down the steps and raced across the garden

and out into the alley, following the monster. I can t believe I m doing

this, he muttered. I don't even like Scatty. Well not that much, he

amended.