Cavern Of Fear

10 - Pursuit

Marilen shivered and wrapped her cloak more closely around her. It was not yet dawn, but Lief knew that she was shuddering not with cold, but with anxiety she was trying desperately to disguise.

‘Do not fear, Marilen,’ he said gently. ‘You need do nothing but wait. Doom is staying here, to prepare for a journey. He will watch over you. And Barda and I will soon return.’

He hoped that she would not ask him where he was going. Even in Tora, she might have heard the evil stories of the Os-Mine Hills. He smothered a sigh of relief as she nodded silently.

‘I had not planned to leave you so soon,’ Lief went on carefully. ‘But I do not think that Jasmine will return for anyone but me, for I am the one who offended her.’

‘I do understand, Lief,’ Marilen said in a low voice. ‘And you must not think I am a coward, who will always panic as soon as you leave her sight.’

Torn between fury at Jasmine’s stubbornness, and a terrible fear for her safety, Lief was impatient to be gone. But there was one thing left to ask.

‘Very few people know that we returned with Doom last night, Marilen,’ he said. ‘Most think we are still in Tora. It is safest if they continue in this belief for now. Will you remain out of sight while I am gone? Mother will see to your meals.’

Marilen raised her eyes to meet his anxious gaze. ‘Do not worry about me, Lief,’ she said quietly. ‘I will occupy myself in the library.’

Lief smiled, hiding his doubts. He had not remembered the library. But he could not bring himself to forbid it to Marilen.

As he left her, he told himself that all would be well. The guards would not allow Marilen to stray into the forbidden hallway. And Josef could surely be trusted to keep her presence secret.

What of Ranesh? Doubts stirred again, but Lief forced them out of his mind, and hurried down the stairs.

He was approaching the kitchen, where he had arranged to meet Barda, when he heard a muffled scream. He quickened his pace and as he threw open the door a startling sight met his eyes.

Barda had Jinks by the collar, and was shaking him. Jinks, wearing a red nightshirt, his mouth smeared with jam, was howling, trying to kick the big man’s legs.

‘You knew they had gone, you miserable worm!’ Barda was thundering. ‘Yet you said nothing!’

‘Am I Glock’s keeper?’ screeched Jinks. ‘He is old enough and ugly enough to look after himself. And as for that green-eyed minx he went with—’

His voice broke off in a high-pitched squeal as Barda jerked him upward, nearly strangling him.

‘Barda, put him down!’ Lief begged. ‘He will wake the whole palace!’

Barda swung around, hauling Jinks with him. Jinks’ eyes widened. ‘I did not know you were home, your majesty!’ he spluttered. ‘Call off your bear, I beg you. He has gone wild!’

‘I can go wilder yet, Jinks,’ growled Barda. ‘Do not tempt me. Would you care to explain to “your majesty” why you were stealing food while the rest of us tighten our belts and eat only our fair share?’

‘I am in delicate health,’ Jinks whimpered. ‘I need frequent small, tasty morsels to keep body and soul together.’

‘Indeed?’ said Lief coldly.

‘I found him guzzling jam,’ said Barda, looking at Jinks with contempt. ‘To get himself out of trouble, he accused Glock and Jasmine of being traitors.’

‘It was very wrong of them to set out for the Shadowlands when your majesty has forbidden it,’ whined Jinks to Lief. ‘Why, torn as I was between loyalty to them and loyalty to your majesty, it is no wonder that I became dizzy, and needed a taste of sweetness.’

Barda snorted. Lief moved closer to Jinks. ‘Glock and Jasmine are free to go where they wish,’ he said. ‘We are simply concerned for their safety. Do you know the way they have taken?’

‘They did not take the trouble to inform me,’ Jinks snapped, forgetting that he was supposed to be ill.

His face creased into a furious scowl. ‘That animal Glock cares nothing for anyone else’s comfort! My fighting spider lost to his in our last contest, and is mad for revenge. She kept me awake all night, beating at her cage. That is why I needed—’

‘Jinks!’ Lief began in exasperation. But Barda’s voice, tight with excitement, drowned him out.

‘Glock took his spider with him, then?’ he snapped.

‘Yes,’ said Jinks sullenly. ‘And what if he is away for weeks? Or never returns at all? What am I—?’

He squeaked as Barda began to haul him towards the door. ‘Where are we going?’ he cried in panic. ‘Not the dungeons, surely? It was just a few spoonfuls of jam! Your majesty! Stop him! Have mercy!’

‘Be silent!’ growled Barda. ‘I am not taking you to the dungeons, you fool. You are going to dress and put your spider on its chain. Then you are coming with us.’

The journey to the Os-Mine Hills was the strangest Lief had ever made.

Barda held the whining Jinks on the saddle in front of him. Jinks held the end of a long, fine chain. And at the other end of the chain, scurrying in front of the horses, was a huge, spotted brown spider called Fury.

‘Fighting spiders cannot stand defeat,’ Barda explained to Lief as they rode. ‘A losing spider will not rest until it has tracked the victor and forced it to fight again. Fury will follow Glock’s spider’s scent to the end of the earth, given the chance. She is our best hope of finding Glock—and Jasmine—quickly.’

It was soon clear that Lief had been right in believing that Jasmine was aiming for the Os-Mine Hills. Without hesitation, Fury was leading them, towards those ragged peaks regarded with dread by all in Del.

She moved so fast that the horses, picking their way over the rough ground, could hardly keep up with her. When she was forced to stop, she fought furiously to continue.

At night she beat ceaselessly against the sides of the cage in which Jinks kept her while he slept. Not that Jinks, or either of his companions, could sleep. It was truly astonishing that a single spider, however large, could make such a din.

The second day brought them to the first low, rocky ridges of the Os-Mine Hills. The way was even more difficult for the horses now, and Fury strained on her chain as the pace of her followers slowed.

‘We might do better on foot,’ said Barda, as his horse stumbled for the third time in an hour.

‘No!’ Jinks squealed. He squirmed in the saddle, his face a picture of fear. ‘This is Granous country! Have you not heard the stories?’

‘Of course,’ Barda said grimly. ‘But so has everyone else. That is why there are no trails through this wilderness. On foot we can at least follow Fury more safely.’

Jinks opened his mouth to argue, but his words were never spoken. For abruptly a grey shape streaked from the bushes in front of them, sharp, yellow teeth snapped, and the horses reared, shrieking with pain and fright, tumbling their startled riders to the ground.

As Lief slowly came to his senses, he became aware that he was sitting on the ground, tied to a tree at the edge of a clearing. Something was panting close to his face. Its hot breath was foul.

Lief opened his eyes and saw grinning jaws, grey, matted fur, a wet, snuffling black nose. With sinking heart he realised that this must be a Granous. And there were more of them—several more, by the sound of the other mutterings and gigglings in the background.

The creature which had filled his vision moved back and squatted on the ground. Now Lief could see its companions—four of them. All had the same evil grins on their faces. Every now and then, one of them would snap its yellow teeth unpleasantly.

Lief struggled to free himself, but at once realised that it was impossible. His ankles were tied to pegs that had been driven into the ground. His wrists were lashed to heavy logs of wood that lay on either side of him. His sword was still at his belt, but he could not reach it.

Turning his head, he saw that Barda and Jinks were tied exactly as he was. Barda was still shouting furiously. Jinks’ jaw was gaping, his eyes mad with fear, the remains of Fury’s chain dangling from his wrist.

Fury’s chain must have broken when Jinks fell, thought Lief. She will catch up to Jasmine and Glock without us. Perhaps she already has. Again he vainly struggled against his bonds. They were only vines, but were as strong as the heaviest rope.

‘Free us, Granous, or it will be the worse for you!’ roared Barda.

Their captors laughed uproariously. ‘It will be the worse for you!’ mimicked one. ‘Oh, I am so afraid!’

‘This is Lief, king of Deltora!’ Barda growled, jerking his head at Lief. ‘You dare not harm him!’

‘We care nothing for kings,’ sneered the first Granous, who seemed to be the leader. ‘The dragons have gone. These are our hills now.’

It grinned at Lief, and bowed mockingly. ‘But if you are a king, you can be the one to play the Twenty Questions game with us. We have never matched wits with a king before.’

Its shaggy companions grinned, snuffled and snapped their jaws. A chill ran down Lief’s spine.

The first Granous moved closer, rubbing its hands together. Tufts of grey fur covered the backs of the hands. The fingers were thin as wires, tipped by nails that were long, yellow and rimmed with grime

Lief stared in fascinated horror. His own fingers tingled at the thought of those hands grasping his, the sharp teeth moving closer…

‘Rules are simple, king,’ said the Granous, grinning horribly. ‘We ask question, you answer. If answer is wrong, you pay the price. One finger from you, and one from each of your friends. Yes?’

Jinks began to wail piteously.

Fighting for calm, Lief concentrated on the birds chattering in the trees that surrounded the clearing. No doubt they were Os-Mine vine weaver birds, of which he had learned as a child. Their famous net-like nests strung many of the treetops.

He breathed deeply, feeling Barda’s eyes upon him. He knew that Barda was hoping against hope that the gems of the Belt of Deltora would help them now. The topaz that sharpened the mind. The amethyst that calmed. The diamond that gave strength…

He swallowed. ‘What if I will not play?’ he asked.

The Granous shrugged. ‘If you do not answer in the time it takes to count twenty, you lose. And you each give a finger. Then we ask another question. And so on. You see?’

Lief saw only too well.

‘And if I answer correctly?’ he asked.

‘Then no finger is taken,’ said the Granous, ‘And we ask another question. At the end of twenty questions, you are all free to leave us.’ Its face split into another hideous grin. ‘If you can,’ it added. ‘For when the fingers are finished, we begin on the toes.’

Jinks’ wails grew louder.