Page 84 of Fiendish Delights
The Fachan reached across and poked me. I jerked away. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Whatareyou?’
I stared at him.
‘The fiend is dead,’ the Fachan said.
My lip curled. ‘Yeah, yeah.’
‘Check for yourself.’
I peered again at Baltar. Sure, he looked dead, but fiends didn’t die.
Horst’s voice rose. ‘Shekilled him? That bitch killed Baltar?’ He sounded angry. But he didn’t sound surprised.
I flicked a look at his decapitated head which still lay several metres away. His patchy golden skin was very pale – I supposed that was to be expected, given his condition. But the fear in his eyes surprised me. I raised Gladys and stared down the length of her blade. So fiendscouldbe killed.
‘Gladius Acutissimus Gloriae Et Sanguinis. Who would have thought it?’ I looked at the Fachan. ‘This was a powerful gift you gave me.’
He didn’t say anything, just continued to look at me. Gladys hummed happily.
The ground beneath my feet started to tremble, then the tremble evolved into a shake. Several pieces of rock broke off from the cavern walls around us. ‘Is this you?’ I growled at the Fachan.
‘No.’ He pointed down at Horst. ‘The fiend is doing this.’
He was right. Horst’s eyes were closed and his mouth was moving as he whispered words that would invoke earth magic. I reached for him to try and stop him somehow, but before my fingers could so much as brush his hair there was a powerful jolt and I was thrown sideways.
This time it was the Fachan helping me up. ‘You must leave,’ he told me. ‘Now. The cavern is going to collapse.’
More rocks were breaking away from the walls and tumbling down. There was a thunderous bang and a loud crack appeared above us, starting from the hole that displayed a glimmer of the outside world and leading right across the roof.
‘I’m not abandoning you here,’ I protested.
He scowled as if he were mortally offended by the suggestion that he needed my help. ‘My wounds will heal. There are many underground passages leading from here that will allow me to return to my home in the north. It will take me many days but I will manage on my own. If we are to survive, we must both leave now.’
I gazed into his one massive eye to try and ascertain the truth. Eventually I nodded. ‘Alright,’ I said. ‘Alright.’
‘Go now, Daisy Carter. We shall do battle together another day.’
I frowned, but the Fachan had already turned towards the back of the cavern. I waited a beat before looking again at Horst. Gladys had killed Baltar; perhaps she could do the same to Horst. It would be better for us all if he and his fiendish companion joined Baltar in hell.
Fortunately for him, there was no time. The ground moved again and more rocks started to rumble. I had seconds to get out of there with my life intact.
I pulled a face. And then I ran.
Chapter
Twenty-Seven
Isprinted out of the old dragon’s lair as if the Wild Hunt itself were after me. The crescendo of collapsing rock spurred me on and I pumped my short legs for all they were worth. By the time I threw myself out into the fresh night air my lungs were burning and searing pain was jolting through every muscle, but I didn’t stop and I didn’t look back. I kept going until I was absolutely certain that I was a safe distance away.
I ended up halfway down the hill that led to the lair, flung myself behind a boulder covered in damp moss and only then did I raise my head to survey the damage.
Initially, it didn’t look too bad. The lair wasn’t at the summit of this hill – it was barely three-quarters of the way up, with an entrance that had been concealed from view until you were right beside it. When I looked for it now, there was nothing but a cloud of dust. The ground beneath me continued to shake but the scene above didn’t appear to be disastrous.
Then the clouds shifted and the almost-full moon shone its glory down on the hillside as the dust cleared. Bloody hell: itlooked like some sort of gigantic rock-eating monster had wandered by and taken a massive bite out of the hillside.
I thought of the damaged fiends trapped beneath the weight of all that stone and couldn’t muster up even a trace of sympathy for them. Horst was the one who’d started the earth magic that had made the lair collapse on top of him and his buddy. He’d clearly decided that being buried by half a mountain was preferable to the lethal risk that Gladys presented.
