“But can’t I go back?” Liam protested.
“No,” said Connie firmly, steering the boy farther from the blaze. “Thanks, Argand. You were brilliant.” The dragon bobbed her head, accepting the praise as her due. “I’ll see you soon. You’d better get home, too.”
Towing Liam down the hill, Connie had not gone far before she ran into a group of Society members, led by Gard, hurrying up from the farm. Bounding along behind them was Rat, perched on the back of Icefen the frost wolf. Rat broke into a relieved grin when he saw Connie.
“So, you don’t need us then?” he said, his eyes shifting curiously to the boy at her side.
“No, thanks to Argand. I’d have been toast by now if she hadn’t pitched in just in time.” Connie felt numb. Though quite capable of talking, even able to speak lightly of what had happened, she could not take in the fate she had so narrowly escaped.
Gard, usually so calm, was visibly shaken by the near miss. “Are you unscathed, Universal?” he asked in a cracked voice.
“I’m fine.”
“I tried to find a winged beast, but there were none on the farm.” The polished facets of his coal-black face gleamed as if catching light from the glow of the flames behind Connie. “All we could do was call the fire brigade and hope it was not too late.”
“Let’s not talk about this now,” said Connie, with a shiver. “Liam’s injured. Let’s get back.”
“Liam?” asked Rat.
Connie nodded to the boy who was holding tightly onto her hand and gazing fearfully at the strange collection of beasts and beings around him.
“Here, Liam, I’ll give you a ride back to the farm,” said Rat cheerfully, holding out a hand to the boy.
Liam took one look at the slobbering jaws of the wolf and gave a whimper.
“It’s fine. You can trust Rat,” Connie coaxed. She pushed him forward. Mr. Masterson stepped out of the crowd and helped lift Liam up in front of Rat. “I’ll see you in a few minutes—I promise,” she said.
With a whisk of his brush-like tail, Icefen bounded down the road. He took the shortest path back to the house, eager to put distance between himself and the punishing heat of the fire.
Gard turned to Connie. “So, Universal? What happened?”
Mr. Masterson gave Connie and Liam a lift back into Hescombe. They had to pull over several times to let the fire engines pass—the second major incident in as many days. Connie sat on the backseat with her arm around the sleepy boy. She was feeling tired, too, having just relived the events up on the moor for Gard and the other Society members. Her numbness was fading, and her body began to tremble. She had almost died and had only herself to blame—for she had dropped her guard, arrogantly assuming she could cope with anything, and had walked straight into danger. But what creature was it that wished her dead?
“Liam?” Connie said gently. “What were you doing up on the moor?”
“Followed you.” Liam yawned, snuggling down against her. “Followed Col out to that farm, then followed you.”
Connie was shocked. Liam was not a member of the Society yet, but this meant he had seen many of their secrets.
“What did you see?”
“Oh, loads of brilliant creatures. I liked the dragons best—after the fire imps, of course.” He stretched like a cat settling itself to sleep on a welcoming lap.
“Did you see anything on the moor—when you followed me, I mean?”
“Nope.”
“Promise you won’t tell anyone about what you saw today?”
“’Course not. It’s our secret, isn’t it?”
“Yes, that’s right. Our secret.”
Silence fell in the back of the car, broken only by the purr of the engine. Connie bent over Liam and could tell from his even breathing that he had fallen asleep. What were they going to do about him?
4
Bite, Burn, or Venom?
The next evening, Connie spent a long time sitting on her great-uncle’s doorstep contemplating the plantation, trying to pick the safest spot away from the beast for Anneena’s wildlife watch. Its presence was very faint tonight; if it was in the trees at all, it was far away on the side fringing the open moor and nowhere near the cottages. If they camped near the wind farm, they should have an uneventful night. But how was she to persuade Anneena and, more importantly, Simon to adopt this plan?
Anneena and Jane biked up at eight o’clock. Anneena’s front basket was weighed down with blood-stained white plastic bags. She brandished them triumphantly at Connie.
“Look, I got this from our restaurant kitchen! My uncle said the meat might lure a few foxes our way. It might attract something bigger, but I didn’t tell him that.”
Jane was checking her camera, changing the lens for poor light conditions. “Ready, Connie?” she asked with a commiserating smile.
Simon came out of the house with a pack on his back and a flashlight strapped to his belt. His eyes were shining with excitement.
“Uncle Hugh’s packed some supplies for us—a thermos and some chocolate,” he said. “He thinks we’re just camping out. I’m so looking forward to this!”
“Where’s Rat?” asked Anneena. “Shall I go and get him?”
“No,” said Connie quickly. “He’s tied up tonight. He’s sorry he can’t make it.” Rat was on patrol with Icefen. The wolf and rider were currently hidden in the northern part of the plantation, watching the edge of the wood that was nearest to the sheep, thinking that this was the creature’s most likely evening hunting ground. Col was doing an aerial sweep of the area on Skylark before coming along to join them later.
Anneena clucked her tongue in disappointment. “I thought he was eager to help out. So no Rat and no Col.”
“Col’s coming, just held up,” Connie added.
“Oh? He didn’t tell me. He never said he had something else to do tonight.”
This gave Connie an idea. Here was her excuse. “He has. But he’ll be finished by eleven, and he’ll meet us up by the wind farm. I said we’d start our watch there.”
“Is that a good idea?” said Jane. “I mean, a wild creature will probably be spooked by those masts. We’re not likely to see anything there.”
Be quiet, Jane, thought Connie. Did her friend always have to be so clever? “Oh, I don’t know. Let’s give it a few hours. Anyway, we’ve got Anneena’s bait, haven’t we? It might come out for that.”
Simon began to grumble his disagreement.
“Fine,” said Connie sharply. “If you want to leave Col wandering around looking for us all night, then go ahead, choose another spot. I’m going to stay where I said we’d be.”
Faced with this ultimatum, the others had to agree. With no further arguments, they set out, past the humming transmission station, across the field under the wind turbines, arriving at the southern edge of the plantation. It was already night under the closely grouped boughs of the pine trees.
“Where shall we set up camp?” asked Anneena.
Before Connie could speak, Simon jumped in. “I think we should skewer the meat on sticks along the edge here, not far from these bushes. The creature’ll want to feel he’s got cover nearby if he’s to come out.” He looked up into the sky, feeling for the wind. “And the breeze is coming in off the sea. We should place ourselves downwind. What about by that fallen trunk there?” He pointed to one of the many trees that Connie had felled earlier in the year when she and Kullervo raised a whirlwind.
It was a good plan, thought Connie. Too good, for it had a chance of working. But, unfortunately, Anneena had also noticed that Simon knew what he was talking about.
“Great. Let’s do that. Would you put out the bait for us, Simon?”
With a grin, glad to have his plan approved under the nose of his supposedly more experienced sister, Simon took the bag and proceeded to peg out the meat. The three girls took the rest of their stuff over to the trunk.
“I didn’t know Simon was so clever,” Anneena said to Connie, “you know
, switched on to animals like you are.”
Connie did not share Anneena’s obvious approval. In her eyes, her brother was being a complete pain, making her life even more difficult, but she bit her tongue, knowing that she would only make it worse by saying anything now.
Simon jogged back to where they were hiding, wiping his hands on his jeans.
“There, that’s done. Not the best spot, but give it time, we might draw him out,” he said.
The four sat in silence, watching the night grow darker and darker. Connie handed around cups of coffee when an hour had passed. So far so good: no sign of anything. There was a rustle of wrappers as each broke into their chocolate and then silence again. Connie sat with her senses fully tuned. Col and Skylark were patrolling the moor between here and the Devil’s Tooth, just in case the creature decided to roam that way again. Gard was not far away, his presence felt through the soles of her feet. Sentinel the minotaur waited alert just inside the entrance to the old tin mines over the hill. Icefen and Rat had become distracted; Connie could sense they had left their post and were now running through the flocks of sheep, Icefen unable to resist his instinct to give them a fright. And the creature? She was almost sure that the creature was waiting in its lair in the heart of the plantation. Connie allowed herself a small smile. Soon Col would be here to help.
Another hour crept past, and the coffee was all drunk. Simon began to get restless.
“It’s not working,” he said abruptly. “He’s never going to come so near to houses. Let’s go in a bit further and see if we can lure him out.”
“No!” said Connie. “What about Col?”
“Oh, stuff Col,” said Simon. “Why waste our evening’s watch if he can’t be on time? You stay here for him if you want. I’m going in.”
“You’re right,” said Anneena, the boredom of watching nothing having got to her, too. “I’ll come, Simon. Jane and Connie can wait for Col.”
“I think we should all wait here,” repeated Connie, but she knew she was losing the argument: Anneena and Simon were already on their feet. Jane looked torn, not wanting to be left behind if there was a chance of really seeing something. She fiddled with her camera strap.
“Look, if we don’t go far, Connie can wait on her own for Col and then give us a shout when he gets here,” she suggested.
“Yeah. Give us a shout, Connie,” said Simon, hurrying off to pick up one of the meat lures to carry with him.
“But it’s not fair!” protested Connie to her friends. “You said you’d listen to me. It’s not safe.”
“Don’t be silly,” said Anneena in exasperation. “The creature won’t be interested in us if there’s a ready supply of meat waiting for it.” She set off on the heels of Simon who, to Connie’s horror, was already striding purposefully into the plantation as if he knew exactly which way to go. She’d lose him if she waited any longer.
And somewhere in the thicket of trees, the creature was on the move.
“You’re not leaving me behind!” she called, stumbling along after the three of them.
Simon laughed, already lost in the shadows ahead. “I thought you’d change your mind if you saw there was any chance of missing out on the fun!”
“Fun!” Connie shouted back with disgust. “This isn’t a joke, Simon!” She caught up with Anneena and Jane.
“Sssh!” hissed Anneena. “You’ll scare it off with all that racket.”
“Good,” Connie replied bitterly. But in her bones she knew that the creature was not frightened away: it was slinking closer and closer. “We’ve got to get out of here. Where’s Simon?”
But Simon had gone. The tall, slim trunks of the pines stretched away on all sides like gray pillars in a dark hall. The darkness was almost tangible under the trees; Connie felt she was taking it in with every breath so that it filled her lungs, drowning her.
Anneena was no longer so confident now that they had lost the youngest member of their team. “Simon!” she called out. “Simon!” Her voice was swallowed up in one gulp by the night.
A tangle of bushes on their left rustled, but there was no breeze under the trees. Connie felt an ominous presence drawing closer. What was it? Cat, but not just cat.
“I don’t like this,” said Jane in a small voice. “It’s creepy.”
Connie closed her eyes. If Simon had a gift, surely she should be able to sense where he was just as she could with other companions? As soon as she turned inward, she heard Gard’s voice in her head.
It’s near you, Universal. Get out of there!
Gard, quiet! I’ve got to find Simon. A pause. Both of them sensed him, Gard through Simon’s footprints, Connie through his gift.
Twenty paces ahead, Gard confirmed. But the creature’s moving swiftly; you haven’t got time.
But it’s heading for him, isn’t it? Not for me. Connie began to run toward her brother.
“Simon!” she shrieked into the darkness. The stifling blanket of night seemed to muffle her call. Jane and Anneena were searching for Simon behind her. Not understanding that Connie knew exactly where he was, they had turned the other way. At least they were heading away from danger. “Simon!”
She almost ran into her brother. He was standing stock-still with the pathetic meat lure held out in front of him.
“He’s coming, isn’t he?” he said triumphantly. “You know it, too, don’t you?”
“Yes, I know,” she said, grabbing his arm. “And we’ve got to get out of here.”
But it was too late.
Out of the trees bounded a huge leonine creature, the size of a shire horse, with a mangy black mane. Its muzzle was open in a roar, displaying a row of yellow-white teeth. Connie glimpsed the malevolent gleam of amber eyes and caught a whiff of its hot breath.
A chimera.
“Run!” she shrieked, dragging at Simon’s arm, but he was still holding out the pitiful bait, no more than a cocktail snack for this giant. The creature swept it aside disdainfully, catapulting the stick into the air and knocking Simon to the ground. It hesitated for a second, standing between the two of them; Connie on its right, Simon on its left. It seemed momentarily in doubt as to whom it should strike first, swinging its head to and fro, its whiskers twitching, its long black tail curling over its back like a scorpion’s sting. Connie stumbled backward, still screaming at Simon to move, but her brother was in a daze. He was staring at the creature as if it was a vision of beauty rather than terror. She realized that he was held in the spell of seeing his companion creature for the first time.
“Simon, move! It’s not trying to encounter you: it wants to kill us!”
Her shout seemed to make the creature’s decision. It took a pace toward her, its jaws gaping in a hideous grin of anticipation. She turned and fled, but almost immediately tripped over a tree root in the dark and fell spectacularly onto her face, stunned as her head made sharp contact with the ground. The creature gave a yelp of pleasure. There was no need to hurry: this little prey could not escape the chimera’s teeth, the nimble cloven goat’s hooves of its hind legs, nor its serpent tail. Pulling herself up onto her knees, Connie could sense dimly that her friends in the Society were mobilized to come to her aid. Icefen was even now leaping back into the plantation; Sentinel was charging up from the mines; dragons had been sent; but none were close enough to step between her and those jaws which must be mere inches from the back of her neck.
“Yah!” There was a yell behind her. Connie spun around to see Simon had jumped between her and the creature, brandishing a branch he had grabbed from the ground. “Get back! Leave her alone!” he shouted at the beast. He whacked it over the nose, shattering his defense into scores of splinters. His intervention gave Connie the seconds she needed to get to her feet. She turned to face the creature and saw immediately that Simon’s blow had riled it into madness. But it was not leaping on his throat: it was gathering itself for another kind of attack.
“Get behind me!” Connie cried, tugging at Simon. He resist
ed. “Don’t be an idiot! Get behind me.” As they scrambled away, she succeeded in pushing her brother so that she stood between him and the chimera.
Even as Connie did this, she was diving deep into her mind, swiftly conjuring up the universal’s shield. She raised it in front of her, the powerful mental tool taking shape in the air as a frail circle of silver mist. She had no idea if it would work against a physical attack, but it was either that or they would die. The chimera let out a roar of fury, releasing a lash of flame from deep in its throat. The fire licked at the shield, evaporating the mist in a hissing steam, but still Connie held it up. Her fingers could now feel the heat of the fiery breath battering against her protection, blistering the back of her hand.
Its fire resisted, the chimera drew breath, ending the outpouring of flame. It leapt forward and struck with its front paw, claws cutting into Connie’s side and sending her spinning into the undergrowth. It jumped after her, pouncing before she had even hit the ground. Grabbing her by the back of her jacket, it bounded into the trees and away from the annoyance of the other human.
Dangling in its mouth, Connie could hear Simon’s cries behind her and knew that he was following. She would have shouted at him to run for help, but she was nearly strangled by her own jacket. Her right side was in excruciating pain, bleeding freely from the deep scratches in her flesh. She knew she was going to die. Frozen with terror, she could not have cried out even if she had the breath.
Then, as rapidly as the creature had carried her off, it dropped her onto the ground and rolled her over with its paw. She was staring up into the chimera’s callous eyes, her senses almost overwhelmed by the reek of its breath. A heavy paw was placed in the center of her chest, pinning her down. A second head darted into view: the hooded cobra that formed the tuft at the end of the chimera’s whip-like black tail had come to gaze on its victim. A drop of venom dripped from its fangs and hissed like acid as it hit the ground by her ear. The paw pressed harder; Connie could now sense the presence of the creature trying to force its way into her mind. It wanted to encounter its prey. She let it in, thinking that this was her only hope of escape: maybe if she bonded with it, she could turn it from its determination to kill?