Read Song to Wake to - Levels # 1 (Paranormal Romance) Page 24
Chapter 23: Armour
My stomach rose to my throat, stifling my scream, as I rocketed high into the night. The two iron arms locked around my chest and midriff didn’t shift; they were like the protective harness on a rollercoaster ride. Hard metal pressed against my back and my legs swung free. I looped back to earth ten feet away from Camelot, and two legs beneath me cushioned the landing, then instantly sprang forward. I lost consciousness.
The fog in my mind lifted slowly.
I rose and fell.
Was I riding Boxer across the countryside? No chestnut back beneath me though. Instead two armoured legs flashed over the fields in gigantic strides.
The memory of being snatched from the Camelot common room surged back into my mind. Freezing wind whipped my tears around the sides of my face and I screamed again. I jerked and bucked, but the iron arms had me imprisoned, like being held by a machine. A tall, broad, armoured man carried me with the kind of ease I had only felt once before, in the strength of Eddy Moon. The running was incredibly smooth, as if the legs were on springs.
I craned my neck upwards and saw a metal helmet above me, with slits in it for eye-holes.
I screamed again, the effort sawing at my throat. We were crossing empty countryside. Nobody heard.
As I paused for breath I caught the roar of car engines. Looking to my left I saw headlights slicing along a country lane. Tires screeched as a sports car followed a big four-by-four around a tight bend. The Four Horsemen were pursuing us.
The lights of a village approached quickly, and the knight altered his line slightly to avoid it. He leapt a hedge and entered what I realised was a park. Cropped grass stretched in a large rectangle, bordered by the road. The horsemen’s cars howled into sight, driving at twice our speed.
The armoured helmet turned to the right, watching Kieran’s Range Rover Sport bump up the kerb and fly across the grass. It tore up a long curve of turf as it screeched to a halt. The doors opened before it stopped moving and Kieran and Gennady jumped out.
We didn’t slow. My heart sank. My kidnapper would just keep running. Maybe he could jump right over them both. We neared at breathtaking speed.
Kieran darted back towards the car, leaving Gennady by himself. My heart sank further. Three strides away, Kieran threw something from the car to Gennady, who caught it one handed, then jumped straight upwards as we soared past him.
I sobbed, then caught my breath as we hit the ground. The legs jerked, and looking down I saw the long leather straps that entangled them. Gennady had lassoed the armoured feet in a length of horse bridle. Still holding me, the entire suit of armour toppled to the grass. Kieran and Gennady leapt onto us, grabbing at the arms that confined me.
“Get off her!” Kieran pressed his face to the armour mask.
I screamed again. “Help me, Kieran! Please help me!”
As I thrashed from side to side I saw Tiago and Rami run from the Aston Martin. Tiago wielded a baseball bat. “Madeleine, are you okay?” His voice was loud and urgent.
“My ribs hurt.”
The metal legs scrabbled at the ground but couldn’t get purchase. Tiago smashed at them with the baseball bat, but the only effect seemed to be a loud clang, as if the suit was completely empty. Even in my terror I wondered how we would explain all this to the four of them.
If I ever escaped.
Kieran bashed at the monster’s head. Gennady and Rami heaved on the arms around my chest, then tumbled across the grass as one arm abruptly loosened. The other tightened around me, to compensate, and the suit of armour levered itself upright, then to its feet and began marching away.
A clang sounded from where Tiago must have hit it in the back with the bat. Another clang and the arm whipped around, caught the bat, and hurled it into the distance. We gathered speed.
“Don’t let him get away.”
I heard a grunt and the machine toppled forward, catching itself with its free hand. It bounced upright and we turned. Kieran clambered to his feet. He must have rugby-tackled the thing. As he straightened an iron gauntlet smashed into the side of his head. He dropped to the grass.
The machine turned away.
Gennady and Rami stood in its path. “Stop! We’ll take you down.”
The armour legs strode forward. Gennady stepped towards us. With an enormous stride the machine got within reach of him, grabbed his shoulder and threw him sideways. He hit the ground with a thud.
We walked on, almost at the edge of the park. Again the legs staggered, one of them slipping out to the side.
Panting, Tiago held the length of bridle, the other end looped around a metal foot. We dropped forward, the machine catching itself and pushing itself upright before marching on. The bridle stayed around the ankle, and Tiago was pulled along behind us. Nothing could halt the iron creature.
We reached the hedge bordering the park and pushed straight through it, into meadowland beyond.
The machine’s stride lengthened and we accelerated again. I sobbed. The suit of armour must be bearing me away to Morgan le Fay. There could be no other explanation. I shuddered at the thought of what she might do to me.
We reached another hedge and this time leapt across it. Across a field we pushed through a small wood, and into another meadow. By the time they got back to their cars the Four Horsemen would have no idea where we were.
I heard tires screaming again. Had I underestimated them? The tires sounded in a lane ahead of us, but the iron legs didn’t alter their course. There was a screech of brakes, and headlights lit up the road, now only twenty metres away.
The strides lengthened further. It felt as if the machine was gathering itself to cross the road, the car, and the hedges on each side in a single leap. I screamed for the millionth time. A car door opened and I heard the bang of somebody jumping onto a car hood. A male figure stood on the roof, directly in front of us. Whoever it was would just get battered aside with iron force.
At the same moment the suit of armour leapt, and the boy on the top of the car drew a sword. I recognised the grace with which the massive frame dropped into a crouch.