Ilse Of Illusion

16 - Terror

With a low growl, the Arach forced itself fully through the gap in the dome. It rose on its back legs, huge, dwarfing the towering clumps of fungus that dotted the horizon.

It lurched forward abruptly, and to his horror Lief saw that another Arach was pushing through the gap behind it. Rainbows shone briefly through a tangle of black legs and a bloated body. Then the second Arach was through the hole, which was quickly blocked by a third.

‘They are escaping from the light!’ exclaimed Jasmine.

Of course! Lief thought. The Arach came from caves. They live and breed in dimness. They cannot bear bright light. Now that the caverns are lit by magic once more, the dome is the only place left for them to hide.

For the dome had not been brightened by the rainbow brilliance that shone behind the tear in its fabric.

It was as though the half-light that hung above the island stifled the brighter light, and prevented it from entering.

Five Arach now loomed on the horizon. And more were coming. The first arrivals had begun moving forward. Their massive bodies swaying on their long, spiny legs, they were feeling their way, moving awkwardly on the unfamiliar, solid ground.

‘They are coming this way,’ Jasmine exclaimed. ‘Perhaps the statue attracts them. Or perhaps they can smell prey.’

‘That is not a pleasant thought,’ said Barda grimly. He looked thoughtfully at his sword. Large and heavy as it was, it seemed as small as a needle compared to the approaching beasts.

‘We cannot fight them, Barda,’ Lief muttered. ‘Any more than we could fight the Sand Beasts in the Shifting Sands, or the Glus in the Maze of the Beast. We would not last a moment!’

‘What else are we to do but stand and fight?’ Jasmine hissed furiously. ‘You have seen them run, Lief. They would catch us in an instant if we tried to flee! Are we just to lie down and wait for them to eat us?’

‘We must hide,’ said Lief. ‘The light is poor. We must hide and hope they pass us by so that we can creep away.’

‘Hide?’ Jasmine exclaimed, looking around at the low ferns, the sparse clumps of fungus. ‘There is nowhere to hide!’

Lief pulled off his cloak. ‘There is,’ he said. ‘Just as there was, not long ago, in the River Broad when an Ak-Baba was overhead. Just as there was in the Shifting Sands when Grey Guards were approaching. Have you forgotten so soon?’

Jasmine’s green eyes flashed. ‘I have forgotten nothing,’ she said abruptly. ‘I thought you had, however.’

Lief stared at her, hurt and confused. He could not understand her meaning.

Barda cleared his throat. ‘If we are to hide, we should do so at once,’ he said. ‘The creatures are moving slowly, but their strides are huge. They will be upon us very soon. What of Auris?’

Lief tore his eyes away from Jasmine’s and glanced over to where Auris lay beside the statue. He thrust the cloak into Barda’s hands. ‘You and Jasmine take cover,’ he said. ‘If he still lives, I will fetch him.’

‘Keep low! Take care!’ Jasmine called softly after him as he began to run.

Obediently, Lief lowered his head. At least she cares whether I live or die, he thought. But why did she say that, about my forgetting our quest for the Belt? How could I ever forget?

Auris was rigidly still, and his eyes were closed. But as Lief drew near enough to the statue to feel its strange, radiating warmth on his skin, he realised that the last of the dome-dwellers was not dead, or even unconscious.

Auris was chanting under his breath—so softly and rapidly that Lief could not catch the words.

‘Auris,’ Lief urged, touching his arm. ‘Auris—come with me. There is danger here.’

Auris screwed his eyes more tightly shut, but made no other sign that he had heard. He did not lift his head, or move his fingers from the hem of the statue’s robe. Did not stop, for a moment, his frenzied whispering.

Lief glanced nervously at the approaching Arach. The creatures were closer now. There were at least ten of them, crawling in a wedge-shaped pack with the first, and largest, in the lead.

‘Auris!’ he said sharply. He tried to pull the Piper away from the statue, but the thin fingers immediately clutched at the razor-sharp glass and gripped it tightly. Blood ran in streams into the ground, but still the whispering voice did not pause.

Lief bent closer, straining to hear.

‘Thespellmustholdthespellmustholdthespell …’

One phrase, endlessly repeated.

‘Lief!’ Barda and Jasmine were beckoning urgently from behind the fungus where they had taken cover. Lief could hardly see them. As always, his cloak had taken on the colour of its surroundings. It was disguising them perfectly.

He turned and was shocked to see how close the Arach were, how far they had crawled in just a few moments. They had quickly become used to the solid earth under their feet. They were moving steadily, confidently.

They still had not seen him. But any moment …

Desperately, hissing warnings and commands, Lief tried again to drag Auris free. But the Piper’s bleeding fingers gripped the warm glass like steel bands, and his babbling chant did not cease.

It was no use. In despair, Lief left him and crawled to where Jasmine and Barda crouched anxiously waiting.

‘He will not move,’ he said, creeping under the cover of the cloak with them.

‘It is his choice,’ Jasmine answered calmly. ‘Perhaps he thinks the magic of the statue will offer more protection than a hiding place.’

Lief shook his head. He had a lump in his throat which made it hard to speak. ‘I do not think so,’ he said. ‘I think he is using the last of his power, and the power of the Pipe, to try to hold onto all that remains of his world.’

He had a sour, burning taste in his mouth—the taste of defeat, anger and guilt. He thought of Penn and the Piper. Were they still watching from their boat beyond the seaweed band? Or were they already hastening back to the rafts, delirious with joy because they had regained for their people the light and magic so long denied them?

‘For all the Piper of the rafts knew, there were thousands of people inside the dome,’ he muttered, his eyes on the approaching Arach. ‘Thousands, whose lives would have been destroyed by what he did. By what we did, in ignorance.’

‘He was fighting for the lives of his own people,’ said Barda in a low voice. ‘Like any good commander, he seized a chance for victory when it came.’

Lief thought of the Piper’s glowing eyes as he spoke to Penn about the visitors.

They could be our salvation.

‘And like any good commander,’ Barda went on, even more quietly, ‘he knew that sacrifices would have to be made in the cause. Unfortunately, we seem to be the sacrifices in this case. The beasts are not going to pass us by.’

The Arach were almost upon them. They had slowed as they neared the statue, and now they had stopped completely.

‘It is the warmth,’ breathed Jasmine. ‘They stayed close beside the dome not just because of the food, but because it was warm. They like the statue for the same reason. They will probably try to nest around it.’

Lief felt sick. Was it so? Were they condemned to crouch here, with no chance of escape, helplessly watching the slaughter of Auris? Knowing that the second part of the Pirran Pipe was lost forever because of something they themselves had done?

He watched with horrified fascination as the largest of the Arach moved closer to Auris’s motionless body.

The creature was gigantic. Monstrous. Its eyes bulged from its glossy black shell, gleaming red. Its fangs slowly opened and closed, dripping venom.

Its two front legs reached out delicately, took Auris in their grip, and tugged. Auris’s hands tightened on the glass. He did not stir.

‘No!’ Lief whispered in agony. He tensed himself to rise.

Barda’s hand clamped firmly on his wrist. ‘Be still! We cannot help him! There is still a chance we can get you out, Lief. You, at least.’

‘That is not important any more,’ Lief hissed back. ‘All that matters is—’

But at that moment, the Arach lost patience. With a low growl, it tore Auris away from the statue, and lifted him high into the air.

Auris’s shriek of terror and despair chilled Lief to the bone. Cold sweat broke out on his brow, and he began shivering violently. He wanted to cover his ears, but his hands were rigid. He wanted to look away, but he could not move.

The beast rose on its hind legs and pulled its victim closer. Auris screamed and screamed again, writhing in an agony of fear. The monster’s red eyes watched him closely, almost as if it was enjoying his terror. Then suddenly its fangs lunged forward and sank into his neck, mercifully ending his struggles.

The spiny, clawed legs instantly began tearing the limp body apart, shredding it exactly as they had shredded the boat.

The other Arach closed in, scrabbling for a share of the prize, fighting over every dripping scrap of flesh that fell from their leader’s jaws.

Sickened, Lief at last managed to look away.

And only then did he see what had been right in front of his eyes since the moment Auris was plucked into the air.

The statue’s arms were rising. As Lief watched, astounded, the hands covered the serene face. Then—suddenly—the glass was no longer clear and gleaming. It had become thick white.

Lief pressed his hand over his mouth to stifle a cry. Glancing sideways, he saw that Jasmine and Barda were also staring in amazement.

There was a strange, grating sound. Then, with no further warning, the statue simply crumbled, collapsing in an ear-splitting, thunderous shower of shattered glass.

‘Beware!’ Lief shouted, pulling Barda and Jasmine with him to the ground.

They lay there under the cloak, eyes tightly closed as jagged fragments sprayed upwards, then fell again, pelting the ground like deadly hail. They heard the Arach bellowing, the cracking sound as shooting glass cracked the beasts’ shells like darts.

And then, at last, all was still once more. Cautiously Lief lifted his head. His mind filled, echoing, with the sound of the Pirran Pipe. The Pipe’s stem was there, somewhere, buried deep in shattered glass. It called to him, beckoned him. But he held himself rigidly, knowing he could not stir.

The two Arach which had been closest to the statue lay where they had fallen, their legs kicking and tangling uselessly. But the others, despite small cuts and cracks in their shells, had been injured only enough to drive them into a fury. Growling they rose onto their back legs, their front legs pawing at the air.

Barda cursed under his breath.

But Jasmine was looking up. ‘The dome,’ she said softly. ‘The dome …’

There was a low, sighing sound. And then the dome—simply melted away, disappearing like mist.

The light was blinding, filled with rainbows, glittering, dazzling. Lief, Barda and Jasmine buried their faces in their arms. The Arach shrieked and scurried frantically away, leaving their two injured fellows to die where they lay.

And Penn, standing panting in the place which once had been the gap in the dome, a bone spear clutched awkwardly in her hand, sobbed part in frustration, part in relief, for there was nothing, now, for her to do.