Dream Magic by Joshua Khan

Author:Joshua Khan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Disney Book Group
Published: 2017-03-29T04:00:00+00:00

“Tyburn will kill you the moment he’s back,” said Thorn to his companion.

Golgoth raised an eyebrow. “Will he now?”

Lily had told Golgoth the truth, that Tyburn was still alive, somewhere. Maybe she’d thought it would scare him to know that if he tried anything he’d face her executioner sooner or later.

The trouble was, Golgoth was an executioner himself. They didn’t scare easily.

Thorn continued. “He’s the greatest executioner there’s ever been. Better than you, that’s for sure.”

“If you say so.”

“I’ve seen him kill seven men with nothing but a branch.”

“Why’d he use a branch?”

“Er…” Thorn decided that telling the truth—that Tyburn had fought with a branch because Thorn had stolen his sword at the time—wasn’t such a good idea. “Because he’s amazing.”

“Clearly,” replied Golgoth, sounding anything but amazed.

“So if you want to run off and hide in a cave somewhere for the rest of your life, I won’t stop you.”

“Thank you for your concern, but for now, until Gabriel is safe, I’ll be sticking around.”

“He thought you were his fool.”

“I am. Is that so bad? The boy’s been raised with the burden of being the only son of Duke Solar, the first boy after twelve daughters. He’s spoiled, foolish, arrogant, and a sharp pain in the backside, but I was there when he first laughed. When his eyes lit up with something other than fear and worry. And I aim to get him back.”

“I ain’t heard no one speak about Gabriel like that before.”

“I doubt his own father knows him half as well as I do.”

No wonder Gabriel was so messed up. His only friend was an executioner.

Webs hung from the trees, and Thorn thought he’d heard the fateful chiming of jewel spiders moving, sometimes nearby, sometimes not. And Bone-Tree was too quiet. No birdsong. No animals moving through the foliage. No calls of deer, no foxes barking.

Thunder shifted uneasily, sensing the unnatural atmosphere as keenly as Thorn. Golgoth’s right hand rested on his ax, and his left kept tight hold of the reins of the skittish Lightning. The sun, weak as it was, glowed above the treetops and was on its way west. Thorn wanted to be back within the walls of Castle Gloom before the shadows grew much longer.

But if the spiders did attack and Golgoth happened to get caught…

Thorn smiled.

“Lady Shadow’s days are numbered anyway.” Golgoth offered him a slice of cheese. “Now that everyone in the New Kingdoms knows she’s a witch.”

“Let’s hope the other houses send better assassins than you.”

Golgoth laughed. “Oh, it won’t be the executioners you need to worry about.” He drew his fingers through stands of spiderweb dangling off a branch. “It’ll be armies.”

“We’ll beat whatever anyone sends.” He hoped he sounded more confident than he felt. Gehenna was in dire straits. Lily played it down, but she was desperate. No Skeleton Key meant no help from her father. With trolls marching down from the north and these jewel spiders falling out of the sky, Thorn feared it wouldn’t take much more to bring House Shadow crashing down.

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