The Golden Anchor by Cameron Stelzer

Author:Cameron Stelzer [Stelzer, Cameron]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Juvenile fiction
ISBN: 9780994248657
Publisher: Daydream Press
Published: 2017-02-02T16:00:00+00:00

‘Not that way!’ Ruby yelled, fending off the first wave of attackers with her swords. ‘Up the tunnel. Hurry!’

Whisker hurled the empty oil lantern at the closest vampire bat and took off after Benny and Horace.

‘Come on,’ he hissed, grabbing Ruby by the arm. ‘We have to stay with the light.’

The bats came thick and fast, honing in on the animals as they tried to escape. It was as if the entire ceiling had fallen at once. Whisker and Ruby were forced to run backwards, slashing at the air with their scissor swords in an attempt to stop the black wave that threatened to engulf them. The sound was almost deafening – a hundred shrill voices, echoing around the tight space.

Whisker didn’t hear Horace’s cries of alarm until he reversed right into the small rat.

‘Keep going!’ Whisker shouted, almost losing his balance. ‘We can’t stop now.’

‘But there’s nowhere to go,’ Horace exclaimed, walloping a large bat with his hook hand.

Whisker spun around to see a solid wall of volcanic rock blocking the entire tunnel. They had reached a dead end.

‘Ratbeard be kind,’ he hissed. ‘We’re trapped.’

Before he had time to face his attackers, he felt a sudden impact in the centre of his back and he was thrown to the ground. In the same motion, the tip of his scissor sword collided with the wall and it spun out of his paw.

Winded and without a weapon, he lay pinned to the floor as the bat on his back crawled slowly up his body, searching for the veins on the side of his neck. In panic, he forced his head around to see its hideous open mouth preparing to sink its teeth into his flesh.

Acting instinctually, Whisker wrapped his tail around the creature’s neck and jerked its head backwards. The bat’s jaws snapped shut around thin air and it squealed in anger.

Seizing his opportunity, Whisker dragged himself off the ground and, with the bat still clinging to his shoulders, slammed himself, back-first, against the wall. The bat let out a pitiful whimper and collapsed in a daze on the ground.

It was only then that Whisker realised just how dark it had become. Benny’s lantern was nothing more than a tiny flame and Whisker knew that in a few short seconds the oil would be gone and the entire tunnel would be plunged into blackness.

‘One of your cunning plans would be good about now, Whisker,’ Horace shouted as the stunned bat tried to haul itself up Ruby’s leg.

Ruby let out a high-pitched scream and, for a moment, the advancing bats seemed to falter in the air. They quickly recovered their senses and resumed their wild attack as Ruby battered the bat free with the hilt of her sword.

‘Noise!’ Whisker shouted, pulling Ruby back to the wall. ‘We can confuse them with noise. They’re using echolocation to find us. If we make enough noise, they’ll become disoriented.’

‘Echo what?’ Horace said in confusion.

‘Oh, for Ratbeard’s sake, forget the science!’ Ruby screeched. ‘Just be yourself and make a racket!’

‘That I can do,’ Horace said, raising his sword.

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