Evelyn shook her head.
“But you can’t do this!” Rat cried. “There must be another way!”
At that moment, the door to the kitchen banged open and Mack staggered in, dripping wet.
“I spoke to her!” he spluttered, interrupted by a fit of coughing. He recovered himself. “We got her out briefly: she’s still there. If only we could reach her for a few more seconds—give her a chance to defend herself.”
“You’ve got to listen to him!” said Col, hands clenched by his side, determined to fight in Connie’s corner. “We’ve got to work as a team to give Connie a few seconds.”
Gard banged his mallet on the table, shattering the plates. “They’re right. I am not prepared to give up on the universal, yet. We must risk one more attempt.”
“I think we need to go back into her mind,” said Col desperately, “but not just one of us: we need to overwhelm his presence with ours.”
Kinga’s eyes lit up with this suggestion. “Yes!” she said. “We left her mind so quickly, she had no time to end the encounter—the door is probably still open.”
“What are we waiting for!” said Mr. Masterson, pushing Mrs. Ratcliff’s hand aside and pulling himself up. “Let’s get as near as we can and make a final attempt.”
“Everyone to the beach!” cried Kinga.
There was a mass exodus from the kitchen. Col whistled to Skylark and leapt on his back; Rat vaulted onto Icefen. Soon all the creatures still able to move were pouring down to the beach—boar and frost wolf, dragon and pegasus, selkie and Storm-Bird, unicorn, rock dwarf, and many more.
Out on the horizon, the storm had swollen to a gross size. The thin funnel was now a huge inverted cone the size of the Great Pyramid.
It weaved drunkenly, bloated with water, waiting to discharge its burden to sweep away the creatures that stood in its way. Col could no longer see Connie: the twister had completely swallowed her.
“Your dad said she’s out there?” Rat shook his head in disbelief.
Kinga stood on the top of the wooden steps with Sentinel by her side and held up her hand for silence.
“On my signal, all creatures are to reach out through their bond to the universal. If she hears us and lets us in, follow the minotaur!” She turned to where Dr. Brock, Argot, and the other dragon riders were gathered, and said in a lower voice, “If this fails, stand ready to follow Morjik and me to do what is necessary.” Kinga raised her arm, held them for a second with her stern gaze and then dropped her hand. “Now!” she commanded.
Col could sense Skylark galloping in his bond toward Connie’s presence. He could feel her ahead—a white mist in the darkness, indistinct but definitely there. As they got closer, he became aware of the other creatures: dragons swooped down from above, selkies swam beside him, Icefen loped past, the shadow-Rat clinging to its back. The mist resolved itself into the portal Col had once entered through. Sentinel was already waiting for them as more and more creatures crowded up.
“The way is still open!” Sentinel cried. “Follow me!”
The minotaur plunged inside Connie’s mind. Col, following close behind, was astounded to find that the dark corridors he had visited last time had disappeared. All they could see now was a vast stretch of black water that lapped hungrily around their ankles, sticking to them like oil.
As soon as the minotaur’s hooves touched the water, Kullervo was alerted to his presence.
Who is this trespasser? He sent a wave of malice to crush the creature that dared encroach on his bond with his companion. The minotaur was washed away, sent reeling back out of the portal. But then Kullervo became aware of more, and yet still more, creatures creeping into the universal’s mind. None of them individually strong enough to defeat him, but there were so many of them he did not know where to start. Distracted, like a bear driving off a swarm of bees from his honey, Kullervo tried to eject the myriad attacks from rock dwarf and water sprite, banshee and boar, with wave after wave. He roared. Dark waters swatted the crowds. Rat could see that Kullervo was holding the breach against them.
We need to give our friends a chance, he told Icefen.
The frost wolf nodded, at one with his companion’s daring thought.
Together, wolf and boy let out an exultant howl, defying Kullervo.
She’s our pack leader, shouted Rat. Give her back!
As Rat anticipated, Kullervo rose to the challenge to his authority, sending a wave to wash away the impudent wolf and boy. But instead of fleeing the attack, Icefen sprang upon the wave, unleashing his breath. The water crackled, turning to ice for a few precious seconds of forgetfulness before the full might of Kullervo reasserted itself. The frost shattered, and the wave expelled Rat and Icefen from Connie’s mind.
Those seconds were enough, however, for Col and Skylark to fly past unnoticed. They took refuge in the shadows with Dr. Brock and Argot, who had also managed to get across the threshold. Waiting till Kullervo was preoccupied by a concerted assault from the selkies, pegasus and dragon slipped past Kullervo’s vigilance and flew over the waters, hunting for any sign of Connie. At first all seemed black—an endless ocean with no life other than Kullervo’s. Then they glimpsed a small white figure, lying on the last patch of dry land still above the waves, like a castaway washed up on a desert island. They flew down to hover above her, stirring her hair with the downdraft of their wings.
Connie! Col shouted.
With an effort, the shadow-Connie raised her head from her arms.
Connie! You must drive him out!
I can’t, she said wearily, pulling herself to her knees, hands now over her ears, head shaking from side to side to rid herself of a pain that refused to go away. I can’t hear myself anymore.
You must! Grab your shield—helm—anything! called down Dr. Brock. We’re here to help you, but we need you to help us.
She opened her eyes and stared at the water surrounding her. But look at me! There’s nothing left. It’s all him—and her—his companion.
That’s not true, Col said desperately. We can see you. You’re still here. Don’t let him win.
Connie moaned in pain.
The hauberk! growled the shadow-Argot.
Yes! said Dr. Brock, his eyes alight with new hope. Argot’s right. Put on the hauberk. You said it gave you the protective powers of the creature you’re bonded with. Let us protect you.
I’m so tired, Connie sobbed. Just let me be.
No! Col slid off Skylark’s back and dropped down beside her. He pulled her up so that she could slump against him. Make this last effort for us—for your friends!
Connie closed her eyes again, leaning on him. I’ll try, she whispered.
Slowly, as if weighed down with lead, she raised her hands in the air and plucked an invisible garment from in front of her, pulling it down on her head. As she did so, the hauberk took physical shape before Col’s eyes—at first, a faint mist that faded out of sight, then reappearing more clearly in the form of a silver mesh stretching to Skylark and Argot.
Come, join us! growled Argot to the other mythical creatures.
As more beasts and beings hurried to attach themselves to the hauberk, the links wrapped themselves around Col and Connie. Col felt his excitement building.
Get up, Connie, he said, pushing her to her feet. Drive him out!
I can’t. Just let me sit here, she said, closing her eyes.
No, Col said fiercely. This was no time to give in to his pity for her suffering. He shook her awake. You are the most powerful being in the Society. You’re his match. I can’t believe that the Connie I know would just let him take her over without a struggle. We’re all with you.
Calling on the last embers of her strength, Connie stood up unsteadily and took a step off her island. The water parted at her feet, leaving bare rock floor. Gaining in strength, she swept her arms wide, forcing the waters back so she could walk dry-footed across the floor of her own mind. With each step, she claimed more and more space for hersel
f.
Kullervo, realizing that resistance to his presence was building within, turned from the creatures he had been trying to expel. He bore down on Connie in the form of a curling wave. But Connie was no longer alone. At the flick of her wrist, silver dragonfire scorched the surge, turning the crest of the wave to steam. Still it came. She bent her head. A corner of the hauberk lifted up and began to spin like dancing banshees. The twisting chain collided with the breaker, dispersing some of its force.
You are mine! cried Kullervo in fury.
But I’m theirs, too! Connie shouted defiantly.
As she punched her fist in the air, part of the mail unlinked itself from the rest and curled into the shape of a giant boar. The boar charged at Kullervo’s wave and smashed against it, blocking the wave’s path with its formidable bulk, so that the water washed against it and fell back. Then Connie pointed to the ground, and the mail struck down like a rock dwarf’s mallet. It split the rock floor, opening up a deep fissure. Kullervo’s flood tumbled over the edge, disappearing from view. As the last trickle of water was sucked away, she made a final effort to seal the fissure shut with another swipe of her mallet—and fell forward onto the dry ground.
At that moment, Col was catapulted from the universal’s mind and crashed back to consciousness in his own body. All around him, creatures and people were groaning from their rude eviction.
“Did we do enough?” Col asked anyone who could hear him.
“You did something, that’s for sure,” said Rat as he helped Col to his feet. “The twister’s spun itself out. It vanished a moment ago.”
“Connie!” cried Evelyn, throwing off Ivor Coddrington’s arm and rushing to the sea.
Without another word, Col leapt on Skylark; Mack and Arran ran down the beach and dove into the water. The dragon and pegasus riders scrambled onto their mounts and took off. Col and Skylark were almost the first on the scene. Another creature had been there all the time. Connie was lying on her back in the water, eyes closed, supported above the waves by a tentacle of the Kraken. The seal-head of the selkie bobbed out of the water moments later. Grabbing Connie’s jacket in his teeth, Arran began to tow her back to shore, soon joined by Mack. Flying in a majestic circle, the dragons and pegasi turned for land.
A few feet from the shore, Arran rippled back into his human body and helped Mack carry Connie up the beach. A crowd of people rushed forward to lift the unconscious girl out of the water.
“Lay her on her side,” commanded Evelyn. “Give her room.”
Coughing, Connie opened her eyes and rolled onto her back, staring up at the clear sky fringed with familiar faces. She smiled slightly.
“Thanks,” she whispered.
Col helped her to sit up. Connie’s eyes fell on Icefen, sitting on his haunches behind Rat, tongue panting eagerly. “I s’pose I’m going to have to ask you to clear up my mess for me,” she said wistfully. It seemed so unfair now that her uncle and the others would suffer because of her.
“We thought you’d never ask!” said Rat with a grin. With an excited howl from the wolf, Rat leapt onto Icefen’s back and set off for the cottages.
“Don’t worry, Connie,” said Dr. Brock quietly as he helped her to her feet. “When they wake up, they’ll remember very little.”
Back at the cottages, Connie saw that Rat had begun with his own family. His mother was lying sprawled on the doorstep, a rolling pin still clasped in her hand. Uncle Hugh sat propped up against her, mouth open, snoring loudly.
Kinga turned to Connie. “We will clear this up,” she told her, hugging Connie tightly to her chest. “You go and get some rest. We’ll talk about what happened when you’ve had a chance to recover.”
Connie nodded wearily. She was now beyond the point where she could do anything more for herself.
Hugh’s cottage had been rendered uninhabitable by the storm, the ceiling of Connie’s bedroom open to the sky, so Mack drove her and Evelyn back to Shaker Row in her aunt’s VW. With her good arm, Evelyn helped Connie change out of her wet clothes and smoothed down her covers after she had fallen into her bed.
“Sleep now, Connie,” she said, opening the window to let in Argand. The little dragon curled up on Connie’s feet. Evelyn shut the door as she left. As Connie closed her eyes, she heard again the hiss of the black waters lapping in the depths, but then the glowing presence of the dragon burnt the darkness away, leaving only a sense of warmth and peace. At last, she slept.
18
Healing
“It’s good to see you up and around again!” said Hugh as Connie came down for breakfast on Monday morning. He was a refugee at Shaker Row while the builders repaired the damage to his home.
Outside, Connie could see two bemused council workers in the back garden, rolling up tape and shaking their heads over the curiously sound cliff. They had rushed around after the storm, expecting to find the slope had weakened still farther, but instead discovered a phenomenon previously unknown to geological science: the storm had somehow mended the faults.
“Are you sure you’re quite over your flu?” asked Hugh.
“Yes, thanks,” said Connie as she packed her school bag. “All I needed was a couple of days in bed.”
He handed her a mug of tea and looked into her face with concern. “Yes, you look well enough for school. A bit pale perhaps, but nothing serious.” He ruffled her hair. “Ouch!” Sparks had leapt from it and stung his fingers. “I keep forgetting about that strange mop of yours.”
She smoothed her hair; it had become particularly lively after the multiple encounters of Saturday morning and still tingled with energy. In fact, every part of her being seemed to crackle with residual power as though her internal batteries had been overcharged.
“It was kind of you to stop me from coming in and catching your bug,” Hugh said, settling back in his chair. “I wouldn’t have minded nursing you, of course, but Evelyn said she could manage and, to tell you the truth, I’ve been feeling a bit odd myself since Saturday.”
“Oh yes?” asked Connie carefully, setting down her mug.
Hugh looked out of the window, deep in thought. “Yes, I caught a chill, and it brought on some very strange dreams. Must’ve been the storm. Maybe I took a blow to the head—not surprising with so much stuff flying about.”
“What kind of dreams, Uncle Hugh?”
“Funny ones, now I come to think of it. I dreamt that you’d become a spinning top, and I couldn’t catch you.”
“Oh?” Connie tried to keep her voice level. “That is strange.”
Hugh looked down at the tablets he took for his heart condition, arranged on the breakfast table in front of him. “Or maybe it’s the new pills the doctor gave me, because the dream got stranger and stranger—full of flying horses and dragons, if you believe me!”
“Oh, I believe you.”
“I haven’t dreamt of dragons since I was a child,” he mused. “And then there was Rat riding on some big dog—as if Wolf had grown overnight into a monster. Funny how the mind plays out your fears about things, isn’t it?” He looked up at Connie inquiringly.
“Yes, very funny.”
“Well, you’d better get ready. I’ll drop you at school.”
“I’ll just look in on Evelyn first,” said Connie, buttering herself a sandwich to take in the car. “I think she’s still in bed.”
“Good idea. Very unfortunate that she broke her arm. Blown over by the storm, no less. Whatever’s next?”
“I don’t know, Uncle Hugh,” said Connie. “I really don’t know.”
A full day at school tired Connie out, and she was looking forward to getting home. Col walked her to her door, carrying her bag for her.
“Are you sure you’re okay, Connie?” he asked. “I’m surprised your head’s stopped spinning after what you went through.”
“I’m fine. I feel all used up, but otherwise fine. To be honest, I prefer being at school with you all to sitting at home thinking about it.” She sighed. “Someti
mes, Col, I wish I was ordinary.”
“Nah, you don’t. Think what you’d miss out on!”
“Yeah, possession by Kullervo; almost wiping out the human race; having my mind be a battleground—what a shame that would be.”
Col looked at her sideways, trying to work out what she really felt under the irony. “Are you okay about us all invading you like we did? If it was me, I’d hate to have loads of people trampling all over my mind.”
Connie shrugged. “Of course, I don’t like being invaded. But I’m really grateful that you did what you did. And d’you know something?” She looked up at him. Her eyes were shining.
“No, what?”
“Though it’s been a rough ride for me in the Society lately, I was really touched by the way everyone in the end worked together to save me. That’s a very good memory—it helps.”
“I’m glad,” he said, wishing he was more eloquent and could put into words all that he had thought and felt about the events of Saturday.
They had reached her gate.
“And I won’t forget what you did for me—the way you refused to let me give up,” she said.
“’Course I wouldn’t let you. What are friends for?”
As he handed over her school bag, she leaned forward and quickly kissed him on the cheek.
“Thanks, Col. You’re one in a million,” she whispered in his ear. She went inside before he had a chance to reply, leaving him rubbing his face thoughtfully.
“Mind your step!” Sentinel called down the line of creatures and people following him into the mines. “There is a shaft on your left.”
Light from torches rippled over the walls and spilled onto the floor. Only a short way from Connie’s feet yawned a black pit. A frayed rope dangled down into it from a winch suspended over the hole, like a forgotten fisherman sitting at his rod. She did not like to ask herself what he might catch one day from the lightless depths of the mine.
“Where are you taking us, Sentinel?” she asked as she edged cautiously around the pit, her hand clasped in his.
“To my chamber. But we must go the long way ’round so that the larger creatures can reach it.”