The sound of breaking wood continued. Then there was a sound from outside the door.
"I've done it. Can I come in?"
"Yes - but don't close the door completely." There was a scuffling in the darkness.
"I'm in!" the man's voice said.
Graham and Darach dropped the cloak, and the moonlight poured in. Seven arrows hit the door, one after the other.
The sound of chopping and splintering from down the stairs ceased. "They're coming up," said Colin.
"Quickly man!" ordered Darach. "Light the trail and hurry."
They could hear hushed whispers, and boots on the stone steps. The oarsman fumbled with the flint.
"Hurry, man!"
The oarsman reached through the door and touched flame to the trail of powder leading down the stairs to the silver bottle.
At that moment, the first horseman reached the top of the stairs, and grabbed the oarsman's arm. The well-muscled oarsman pulled his assailant's hand through the door and closed it on the black-gloved wrist as hard as he could. There was a muffled yell, and the horseman released his grip. The hand was hastily withdrawn.
Immediately, the oarsman slammed the door, and as he did so a handstroke cleft the wood three or four inches above his head.
"Did you light the powder?" said Darach.
"I think so!"
Another handstroke. The wood split.
"Close your eyes everyone. Tight! And keep them closed."
There was a short, sharp explosion and a high-pitched shattering sound. Even with their eyes tightly closed the company momentarily saw a flash, with thousands and thousands of tiny fragments of pure light spiralling off in all directions.
Something heavy slumped against the opposite side of the door, and slowly slid down it.
There was a great deal of confused shouting from outside the tower. "A light!" one voice cried. "They have alchemy!"
"Back! Back!" shouted another. "They may attack again."
"It is the wizard's doing," cried a third.
They opened their eyes, the flash still making strange patterns in front of them, as if they had been staring at the sun. A few wisps of pale blue smoke drifted in from under the door. "Three down," said Darach, "three to go."
"What did you do?" asked Colin.
"A little alchemy," he explained. "As the rider said. Light is their enemy. It can destroy them if it touches them."
"Have you any more?"
"Unfortunately no. Still, perhaps we've scared them off." His optimism was short-lived.
Presently a voice was heard calling up through the window.
"You are armed, wizard," it said, "but your tricks have only won you a temporary respite. We can wait. The hour is close at hand when all light will be extinguished. Then we will destroy you - not with swords, but with hooves!"
[The Tower Falls!]
Hooves & Arrows
On the top of the tower the Keeper watched the events below with glazed eyes.
He saw the arrows fly, the horsemen hacking at the door, heard the explosion, and saw the shaft of light that poured out of the door. He staggered back as if struck by an arrow, the tiny pieces of light flashing before his eyes like the shards of a broken mirror.
He sat down on the cold stone while the moon slipped away westward, and he knew the hour was approaching when the horsemen would gather their powers and destroy the very tower on which he stood.
The tide had turned, and was safely edging in. He sat like a child on the top of the tower and the fragments of light whirled in his head.
The gloom was upon the world. The horsemen set up an eerie chant, and began to ride around the tower, quite slowly.
The Keeper knelt by the grey embers on the tower-top, which glowed when the breeze passed through them, and saw ash fly up into the sky, but his mind was in shadow.
The chanting was louder now, and the riders were spurring their horses on to a faster pace.
Then, it seemed, a fragment of light in the old Keeper's mind lit a memory. He gazed into the embers, and though the darkness forbade him to do so, he made faces of the embers, faces familiar to his old self.
Darach, he thought, he is a friend.
No, no, the darkness said, you are a shadow, you hate him. Children, there are children, good children.
No, no, the darkness demanded, the children are vile, they will destroy me.
I will help them, thought the Keeper.
No, cease this immediately, the darkness told him, or you will be punished.
The horsemen were now galloping around the tower, and their unearthly chanting filled the night. The hooves of the horses began to smoke, and hiss as they touched the sand.
Round and round they rode, while the Keeper fought with the darkness on the tower-top.
Round and round, until the hooves burned with black heat and turned from hooves to engines of destruction.
Round and round, while the sea whispered closer and there was a smell of burning in the air.
Still they chanted. Still they rode. And the minutes passed. Suddenly they stopped, and the horsemen surrounded the tower.
They screamed one final chant to the sky, the horses reared and the hooves of doom came down upon tower walls. The tower shuddered as if it had been hit by a huge wave. The stone cracked. The beams shook and creaked.
The horses reared again. The hooves connected with the stone and it shattered. The tower lurched.
Then there was a voice in the gloom. "I renounce you, darkness!" the Keeper yelled, and stood upon the tower and hurled stones and branches from the top, in blind and hopeless anger.
"Stand away, Keeper," said one of the horsemen.
The Keeper didn't listen, but continued to throw bits of stone down.
The horses shied away, and the riders all came round to the front of the tower once more
"Very well," said the horseman, and the three riders took out their bows.
On the other side of the tower, now out of sight of the horsemen, the occupants slipped out into the darkness.
As they pushed the Keeper's little rowing boat into the water they heard the sound of arrows flying. The Keeper made no sound, but fell back dead into the cold ashes of the beacon-fire.
Then the hooves rose and fell against the tower once again, and it toppled and fell with a great roar. There was absolute silence for a moment, and then the sun rose from behind the Cloud.
On the island, the horsemen were standing around the smoking ruins of the tower. The men pulled on the oars for their lives.
"They'll see us," said Benedick. "They're bound to."
He was right. One of the riders chanced to look up from the ruins to see the tiny, over-laden boat escaping from the shore. He let out a shriek of fury.
"Hurry up!" said the Queen.
The boat was small and very low in the water. It rocked and lurched dangerously.
The horsemen galloped down the beach, swords raised, but they had lost their advantage. The sun was up and they were weak. As they tried to coax their mounts into the water, the horses reared and kicked the air, mad with magic, their hooves steaming. One of them managed to drive his horse forward and bore down on the boat, but the water swirled around him, and he was pulled from his mount, and sank beneath the icy tide. The remaining two horsemen watched from the beach as their companion was lost, unwilling to share his fate.
"We've escaped," cried Graham. "We've escaped!"
"Yes," said Darach grimly. "With one dead and one wounded. Remember that before you grow too jubilant."
"I'm sorry."
"We had best head towards the coast," said Darach, "and not risk deep water with such a full cargo."
"I resent being referred to as cargo," said the Queen. "And I'm most uncomfortable."
"Well, Ma'am, I shall arrange for you to disembark as soon as is possible."
"Thank you. Benedick, beat a rhythm for the oarsmen. If we have to travel in such an undignified vessel, let it at least be with
a little style."
Benedick began to beat a rhythm on his knees. Slowly the boat edged out of the estuary, until the ruins of the Beacon-Tower were lost behind them.
Hot Air
They sailed on around the coast for about an hour when Gwen saw, coming towards them, a small fishing-boat.
"It's Wake-Robin!" said Colin. "With the oarsmen."
"Hardly a timely arrival," commented the Queen.
They came alongside.
"We bought this from a fisherman, ma'am," one of the men explained. "It was all we could find."
"Bought?" said the Queen.
"Yes, Your Majesty. It was the only way we could get him to part with it."
"I see."
"So as you were so desperately in need of a vessel, we purchased it for the Crown."
"You mean it's mine?"
"Yes," replied the oarsman with a grin. He was clearly proud of himself.
"Where did you get the money?"
"We didn't. The fisherman is going to the Palace to collect it."
"Very well. If you will kindly assist me, I shall now take charge of the Crown's newest acquisition," she said, with a raised eyebrow. "Will you and the children come too, Darach? You all have a long journey to make."
"Time, Ma'am. Time," said Darach. "It is our enemy from now on. We really dare not linger."
"Of course. Well, this is goodbye then. At least a temporary one."
"Let us hope it is temporary, ma'am."
"It will be, it will be," said the Queen, and turning to the children said, "When I came here I didn't really believe there was anything you or anybody could do. I was quite prepared to witness the end. Now I think perhaps that end may be averted. I have faith in you all. God bless you."
She shook hands with them all, and made the move between the boats with as little loss of dignity as she could manage. Benedick contrived to put his foot into the water and lose his hat, which floated off before it could be retrieved.
"Can I lend you my oarsmen?" offered the Queen.
"Thank you, but no," replied Darach. "The smaller our party, the safer, I think. Colin and Wake-Robin can row."
By now the two boats had drifted apart. The Queen with the oarsmen and Benedick in the fishing boat. Darach, Wake-Robin and the children in the Keeper's little rowing boat.
"Goodbye," said Gwen.
"Goodbye, my dears, and look after that old fuddy-duddy in the boat with you. He really used to be a charmer once upon a time, and he makes me feel young again. God speed, my dears, God speed."
The boats were now quite a distance apart.
"I think she's rather sweet," said Gwen.
"Yes. She certainly must have been beautiful once," said Graham.
"She was," said Darach, gazing after the disappearing boat rather sadly.
The children all looked at him. He turned, feeling their smiles.
"Well - what I mean is -" he coughed and looked embarrassed. "Well - I was young once, you know."
They headed North up the coast, with the cloud on their right, Colin and Graham taking turns at rowing with Wake-Robin, who never seemed to tire.
Imperceptibly, the wind began to rise. Rain-clouds began to drift across the sun. The sea-smell grew heavier.
"I feel sick," said Graham, after a while.
"Yes," said Darach, "I feel a little queasy myself. I've never been a good traveller."
"There are clouds coming up," said Gwen. "Can't we land? The sea is getting rougher."
"Not just yet," said Darach. "The further from the estuary and the horsemen, the better, even if it does mean a little sea-sickness."
Quite suddenly a grey veil of rain swept across the face of the sea, and the wind began to whip the waves into a white fury.
"Oh dear," said Darach, the rain dripping off his nose. "I think we'd better head for the beach."
But the sea was too strong, and however hard Wake-Robin and Colin rowed, they could get nowhere. The coast was lost in a haze of rain.
"Hold on!" said Darach, as the tiny boat was pitched mercilessly from wave to wave. "It's just a squall!" he assured them.
"Squall, my foot," shouted Colin above the wind. "It's practically a force nine gale."
On and on they were swept by the wind and water, until at last, after almost an hour of tossing and whirling, the sea subsided and the wind died down.
The coast was now a distant line on the horizon – an unfamiliar line. "Drat it," said Darach. "We've been blown too far North. Where on earth are we, Wake-Robin?" The little man shrugged.
"Oh that's a blow," said Darach. "If he doesn't know, who does? Well we'd better make for the land and try and find someone to tell us."
A few minutes later they had landed on a sandy beach, with a fly- infested line of seaweed stinking in the sun.
The cloud was still directly inland, so they set off over the dunes towards it, leaving the battered boat on the sand.
The wind whistled in the grass as they walked, and hares bounded up in front of them.
"I'm hungry," said Graham, after a while.
"I'm starving," said Colin.
"Me too," agreed Gwen.
"I must admit I'm rather peckish myself," said Darach, "but I'm afraid -" He stopped. "What on earth -"
Rising up over the next dune was a vast green and yellow shape, undulating and flapping.
"What's that?" asked Colin.
"It's like a huge jellyfish," said Graham.
They stood and watched the thing grow bigger and bigger, becoming rounder all the time. Then Colin began to laugh.
"It's a balloon," he said. "It's a hot air balloon."
He ran up the dune and sure enough, not a hundred yards ahead of him was a large green and yellow painted balloon, being inflated by means of a fire.
Two men were trying to control its antics as it swelled, but they were quickly losing their mastery over the monster. "Marius," cried one, "I can't hold her!"
"Nor I, Montgomery, she's going," the other replied.
"Quickly," said Colin to Graham, who had by now joined him on the top of the dune. "Let's give them a hand."
They sprinted across the sand to where the men battled with the balloon.
"Can we help?" asked Colin.
"Good man," came the breathless answer. "Grab a line and fasten it to one of the mooring pegs. And you too, sir."
With a great deal of struggle they tamed the bucking creature, which was by now fully inflated. While one of the men extinguished the fire that had provided the hot air to inflate the balloon, and roped up the basket, the other thanked Colin and Graham profusely.
"I'm Marius, by the way," he said, "and that's my brother Montgomery."
The brothers were almost identical, both tall and skinny, with slightly vacant expressions and weak chins, each with a long scarf wrapped around his neck, blowing in the wind.
"We're explorers," Montgomery explained.
"Hopping here and there," said the other.
"Free as a bird."
"Devil may care."
"Catch us if you can."
Darach had joined them towards the end of the conversation. "Can you tell us where we are?" he asked hurriedly.
"I believe I can, sir," said Marius.
"I'm very much afraid this is the Northern Marches, the realm of the Black Wolf. We landed, you understand, to make a few repairs, and have no intention of staying. They'll have seen us land, of course."
"We're rather conspicuous," said Montgomery. "Quite."
"So we'll have to be off." Darach turned to the children.
"So will we. It's as I feared. We've come too far north for safety. Back to the boat!"
"But why?" said Gwen.
"The Black Wolf is in league with the Cloud. He'll be on the lookout for us – the horsemen will have warned him. Come on!"
Suddenly there was a shout.
"Halt!"
"Whoops a daisy!" said Marius.
"Surrounded," said Montgomery.<
br />
"On all sides," added the other.
Soldiers appeared from over the dunes, dozens of them. Each of them bore the design of a wolf's head upon his chest.
"What now?" hissed Colin.
"The balloon," whispered Darach. "Back off towards the balloon." Slowly they edged towards the balloon. The soldiers advanced. "Don't make a move if you want to live!" the leader of the soldiers ordered. "You're a fine catch. I think the Wolf'll be pleased with you lot."
"Now!" yelled Darach, and bundled the children into the basket.
"The ropes, Robin! Cut the ropes!"
Wake-Robin slipped a knife from his belt and cut the nearest of the four ropes.
The soldiers rushed down the dunes, but the dry, loose sand gave way under their heavy boots and many of them fell flat on their faces.
Marius and Montgomery ran around in circles shouting: "Stop thieves! Our balloon! What are you doing? Stop it!"
The second rope was cut. The basket lurched, and the balloon pulled at the remaining ropes, sensing freedom.
The third rope was cut. Graham nearly fell out of the basket.
Robin began sawing at the final rope. A soldier ran towards him, his sword slicing the wind.
"Stand away from that rope," he shouted. Robin took no notice. Darach looked on, helpless. Suddenly he remembered something.
He rummaged in his pocket and, yelling "Catch!" to the children, threw a white object into the air.
Colin leaned out of the lurching basket and caught it. It was the candle.
At that moment the soldier swung his sword at Robin's head. The little man ducked between the soldier's legs and his sword blade slashed through the final mooring rope.
The balloon surged upwards.
"Light the candle in the Darkest Places!" cried Darach, as the soldiers swarmed around to overwhelm him. "To the pit! Go!" He went down in a sea of uniforms.
The last thing they saw before they were swept off Eastwards was Robin sprinting away across the dunes, pursued by a horde of soldiers.
Over the Mountains
The journey now before the children inspired awe, fear and excitement in them.