The Doomspell by Cliff McNish

Author:Cliff McNish [MCNISH, CLIFF]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cliff McNish
Published: 2010-08-04T23:00:00+00:00

12

The Kiss Breath

After Dragwena shut the escape exit Morpeth ran for his life carrying Eric, still half-asleep, down the narrow tunnel. A few moments later he stopped to listen, holding his breath, expecting to be chased by Dragwena and an army of Neutrana. Hearing nothing, he collapsed on the floor, safe for a moment at least.

You fool, he raged at himself, thumping the wall. You were supposed to protect her. Now Dragwena has Rachel and you will never get her back!

Eric, now wide awake, watched him fearfully.

‘What happened?’ he asked. ‘Where’s Rachel?’

Morpeth pressed his thumbs against Eric’s temple, but felt no trace of Dragwena’s magic left inside. The spell Dragwena planted, he now understood, must have been shallow, snapping as soon as Eric awakened. Morpeth groaned. Why hadn’t he thought to check the boy properly earlier? Eric was the perfect spy, a neat snare leading Dragwena to Rachel and the Sarren. All along, he thought, perhaps long before Rachel arrived, Dragwena must have recognized his treachery. The Witch had used Rachel and Eric to flush out the secret locations of the Sarren, trapping them together under the Palace – a place they could easily be slaughtered.

I was too confident, he realized. I believed I could conceal my thoughts from the Witch. Rachel knew I was wrong!

He forced himself to calm down, knowing he needed help quickly if there was to be any hope of recapturing her. Picking Eric up he headed swiftly down to the deep caves where Trimak was hiding. As he got closer he heard anguished sounds – the screams of men and the ring of metal.

A fight was taking place.

Morpeth padded towards the sounds and drew his own short narrow sword. He had never used it before in a real battle. He had not bothered to sharpen it for years. Beyond a final door he could hear voices clearly now. A deep voice, Trimak’s, barked desperate orders.

‘We must go inside,’ Morpeth told Eric. ‘I may not be able to protect you if I have to fight in hand-to-hand combat. Stay behind me, close. If I’m injured you must find other Sarren to look after you as best they can. Do you understand?’

Eric nodded his head, intensely frightened.

Morpeth thought bitterly: thanks to my stupidity there is no safe place for you now, boy.

He pulled Eric against his back and put his shoulder against the door.

He gripped the haft of his sword tightly.

And leapt into the battle.

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