The Witch's Warning by Joseph Delaney

Author:Joseph Delaney [Delaney, Joseph]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780241349960
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2019-05-02T00:00:00+00:00

Crafty released the bolt, then watched it hurtle towards its target and bury itself in the shoulder of the One-Bite. It wasn’t a fatal wound. Crafty’s heart jumped with fear as he realized that he hadn’t done enough.

The bolt didn’t bring the aberration down, but the creature staggered, gave a yelp of pain and lurched aside, missing Crafty’s leg by inches. He turned and watched with relief as it continued along the corridor, turned a corner and disappeared from view. For once the aberration hadn’t lived up to its name.

Crafty quickly reached down and pulled Lucky to his feet. He didn’t seem to have been hurt by the fall, but he looked bewildered. Crafty started to help him down the steps to the ground floor. At its foot was the long corridor that led to the various departments and the Ducal Chambers.

‘Keep going, Lucky,’ Crafty said, trying to encourage him. ‘We’re almost there!’

Getting his friend down those steps proved difficult: another dead guard lay across them, and the stone was slippery with melted flesh. Lucky seemed almost unconscious now, a dead weight.

Then, at last, they were moving along the corridor, passing the Forensics Room and the Grey Library. All the doors were closed and there were couriers outside the Menagerie and the Ducal Chambers. The Menagerie door had been boarded up – sealed with long planks of wood.

Still struggling to support Lucky, Crafty approached the nearest courier – the one outside the Menagerie – to ask for help with his friend, but the man snarled, drew his sword and pointed it at Crafty’s throat.

‘Keep your distance and keep moving!’ he growled.

‘We’re gate grubs and my friend is ill,’ Crafty protested. ‘I need help.’

‘I can see that. Keep moving. They’ll deal with you in the Ducal Chambers,’ he said, gesturing with his sword.

Crafty understood. They were taking no chances. No doubt they’d been warned to look out for humans in the early stages of transformation.

As he struggled on, he saw two dead bodies outside the door of the Ducal Chambers. The guard glared at him and Lucky, and he too drew his sword.

‘Stop! Wait there!’ he commanded. ‘State your names!’

‘I’m Colin Benson and this is Pete Proudfoot. We’re gate grubs reporting for duty,’ Crafty answered.

‘What’s wrong with your companion?’

‘He was in the Infirmary,’ Crafty explained. ‘I went to get him and bring him here.’

The guard eased his sword back into its scabbard, then reached round to rap on the door. It opened and another courier came out. It was Captain Clayton.

He looked them both up and down and grimaced. ‘Well, let’s get you both inside,’ he said decisively.

He picked Lucky up as if he was a baby and carried him inside. Crafty followed at his heels. ‘There’s an aberration loose in the corridors,’ he told the captain. ‘I think it was a One-Bite!’

‘That’s not the only aberration at large,’ he replied, not bothering to glance over his shoulder. ‘Many escaped from the Menagerie before we managed to seal it. For now, the only safe place is here in the Ducal Chambers.

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