'Emma, no!' yelled Declan.
Catching up to her, he grabbed her arm and pulled her to a standstill.
'No, you can't just go running in there. That thing could kill you.'
'It could kill Lana, and Daisy too,' she breathed, trying to pull away from him.
'He's right, Emma. Stop... stop!' Barber shouted. His voice echoed throughout the square.
Emma did as she was told and watched as Lana slowly lifted her head. She could see the realisation of what was happening dawn on her face.
Lana gasped as she looked around.
'Daisy?' she murmured.
'It's the Krakor isn't it?' Daisy whispered.
'Yes.'
'How did we get here?'
'I... I don't know. I don't remember. They must have drugged us.'
Focussing past the beast, Lana noticed the other Watchers keeping their distance.
Her eyes lit up. 'Daisy, the others are here. Look.'
Daisy looked across the square and saw them, all of their fellow Watchers from the academy, with most of the Mentors with them.
She tried to smile, 'They'll save us, I'm sure they will.'
The Krakor let out a deep snarl as it turned to face them, its angry tail whipping from one side of its body to the other.
'Whatever you do, don't get whipped by its tail. It can kill,' Lana whispered as she tried hard to loosen the rope around them. But it was no use, they were firmly tied to the statue and no amount of friction would release it.
As the beast slowly moved towards them, Declan and the other Watchers attempted to get a little closer, but the moment they began to move, the Krakor turned back, thrashing its tail.
'How are we going to do it?' asked Emma.
'I'm not sure,' Declan said as he scanned the area.
'The problem is all the tourists trapped in there,' Emma pointed to all the poor people locked in time. 'It looks as if many of them have already been knocked to the ground. I'm sure I remember being told that its tail isn't deadly to humans.'
'We'll need a distraction,' Declan said to the other Mentors, who nodded and headed away from the square so they could distract it from the other side. But as they moved, it became apparent that the Krakor wasn't their only problem.
There was more than one beast.
Two others, slightly smaller in stature, appeared from across the road, heading towards them as the sound of evil laughter echoed throughout the silent city.
'Sthenelaus,' whispered Declan as he scanned the unmoving crowd, trying to spot him. But he was nowhere to be seen. He did, however, spot several people running away from them: Skulls.
'They must have released the Krakors,' he whispered to himself.
Looking upwards, Declan spotted further movement on the rooftops of several of the buildings. Glancing around, he saw hundreds of them watching them.
'Great,' he muttered before shouting, 'Get back!' to his colleagues as they took several steps backwards.
'I can probably get past the beasts,' Cassie said eagerly. 'I'm quick enough to do it. I could try and release the girls.'
But Declan shook his head. 'No Cassie. It's too dangerous. Just give me a moment.'
He stood assessing the situation when a strange noise began to fill the air. Looking around, Declan saw nothing, when suddenly his head began to fill with hundreds and hundreds of thoughts. One in particular, was familiar.
'Jimble?' he asked, looking confused.
'Jimble?' asked Emma. 'Where?'
And then, from around a building to their left, hundreds of pixie trolls appeared, led by their dear friend, Jimble.
'Jimble!' shouted Emma as she ignored the Krakors and pelted towards them. 'I'm so glad to see you,' she said as she rushed to him and knelt down as he held out his arms with a grin. Hugging him tightly, she beamed with tears in her eyes.
'You're little again,' she smiled.
He grinned and nodded. 'Looks like you've got yourselves into a bit of a predicament, Emma,' he whispered. 'Well, we're here to give you a hand.'
'YYou're speaking in perfect English!'
Jimble beamed at her. 'I always do when I'm with my queen. And speaking of my queen. I'd like you to meet Ethelle, the Queen of the English pixie trolls.'
Ethelle stepped forward and Emma smiled, attempting a kind of curtsey, which was a little difficult considering she was already on her knees.
'It's a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness. Thank you so much for coming.'
Ethelle chuckled as she shook her hand, 'Oh don't be worrying about all that ’Your Highness’ business. Just called me Ethelle.'
'Ahem,' came a voice behind Emma. 'I'm sorry to break up this reunion, but we've got a bit of a situation here,' Declan said loudly as he approached them, keeping an eye on the deadly creatures just 50 or so metres away, as well as the Skulls who were watching from above.
Jimble scrambled forward and briefly introduced Ethelle to him before the pixie trolls joined the other Watchers.
Declan filled them in on the situation as the Krakors continued to pace around the base of Nelson's Column.
'...and their tails are deadly to us Watchers,' Declan summed up.
'But perhaps not deadly to pixie trolls,' Jimble suggested.
'No, you're not heading in there, Jimble. It's too dangerous. And what if it is deadly to you? It's not worth risking your lives, too. There's got to be another way.'
'And what about the Skulls? How are we going to handle them?' asked Emma as she glanced up and saw them standing, arms crossed, legs apart, watching... waiting. Waiting for what though?, thought Emma as she shivered.
'First, we deal with the Krakors, then we deal with the Skulls,' Declan said. 'Where's Sammy?'
'Over here,' she yelled as she bounded towards him. 'What can I do?'
'Can you communicate with the Krakors?'
'Oh!' she exclaimed, her eyes wide open. 'I haven't tried, but I'll give it a go.'
Declan nodded, while Jimble shuffled over to Ethelle and they began whispering.
Sammy closed her eyes and focussed on the terrifying beasts in front of them. All was quiet until the first Krakor began hissing. The other creatures' ears pricked and they all moved away from Daisy and Lana. Slowly, a low growl began to emit from their mouths.
Sammy gasped and opened her eyes, wiping her damp hands down her jeans.
'It's okay, Sammy. Don't give up,' Declan urged.
Nodding, she gulped and closed her eyes again but the creatures were having none of it. In fact, if anything, it made them angrier as they began to pace back and forth in front of the two girls, growling.
'I can't get through to them,' Sammy sighed. 'I don't know why.'
'Just keep trying, Sammy. They need to know we're not the enemy here.'
With a brief nod of the head, Sammy moved away and sat down on the pavement where she continued to try and get through to the Amazonian beasts.
Laughter broke out again, its echo bouncing off the buildings around them. Declan cursed. The Watchers stood behind him, all feeling completely useless as the Skulls enjoyed every single moment.
'I can't just stand here and wait for them to attack her,' muttered a voice from within the crowd. And before Declan could stop him, Barber had jumped right into the Krakor's path.
'Barber!' screamed Lana as he threw himself on top of the beast.
Throwing punch after punch into the Krakor's face, the other two beasts circled them, waiting to pounce. Barber, careful to avoid the sting in its tail, stopped momentarily to look up at Lana, whose eyes were filled with tears.
'No,' she cried.
With his attention distracted, Barber was knocked to the ground while one of the other animals pounced on top of him.
Lana's sobs and screams were the only sounds that could be heard in Trafalgar Square as the other Watchers looked on, waiting. Shaking his head, Declan ran towards them, creating a distraction as he shouted and waved at the creatures.
'Hey, you!' he ye
lled, 'Over here.'
The two Krakors stopped and looked towards Declan, while Barber managed to push the other one from on top of him. In that split second, he rushed towards the base of Nelson's Column and began trying to loosen the rope that kept Lana and Daisy firmly in place.
'Look out!' shouted Lana as the Krakor pounced towards him. Just centimetres away from his face, all three beasts suddenly stopped still, their ears pricking towards the sky.
Turning slowly, the Krakors stood facing Sammy who was just a few short metres from them.
'Sammy,' cried Declan.
Her eyes remained closed and she was muttering something under her breath, the same thing over and over again. Something unintelligible to the rest of the Watchers.
'What's she doing?' asked Emma.
The Krakors' ears dropped and the three of them began to slowly move towards Sammy. Everybody else held their breaths and watched in silence as she finally opened her eyes and continued to step forward until she stood face to face with the creatures. She held her arm outstretched as the first one approached her and sniffed her fingers. Then it closed its eyes and brushed its head against her before dropping to the ground and laying down. The other two followed, until all three curled up at her feet. Sammy smiled and sat down beside them, stroking their scaly backs.
Barber held Lana in his arms, while Declan rushed to pick up Daisy, who was still weak from her stint in the nursing station.
The two men turned and slowly backed away from the Krakors at Sammy's feet.
Returning the girls to the rest of the Watchers, Declan carefully placed Daisy into Beau's arms before he turned back to Sammy.
'Sammy?' he shouted.
'It's okay,' she replied. 'Go deal with the Skulls. I'll stay and keep them calm.'
Declan hesitated before turning back to the others with a nod.
'It's time,' he yelled. 'Time to finish this.'
The Watchers roared in readiness for a fight they'd been eager to start, before they began to run towards the buildings where the Skulls had been watching. But when they looked up, the Skulls were gone.
Emma turned to find Jimble and the other pixie trolls gone too.
'Jimble?' she said.
'Emma?' said a voice to her side.
'Lana,' she cried as she turned to her sister as Barber gently placed her on the ground. 'I'm so glad you're okay.'
Lana virtually fell into her arms and sobbed, 'I thought I was a goner there for a bit,' she choked.
'I know, I know. Me too.'
Holding her hand tightly, Emma looked at Barber and smiled, 'Thank you,' she mouthed.
Barber nodded his head and stroked Lana's face as she slowly stood up, leaning on her sister.
Suddenly, the sound of an engine roared into life, rotor blades whirring as a helicopter began to lift into the air.
They looked towards the sound as they watched it hover from the other side of Trafalgar Square, slowing flying towards them. As it approached, Barber growled, 'Sthenelaus.'
'The stones,' whispered Lana.
Before Emma and her sister could barely even blink, Barber had run as fast as he could, climbing up Nelson's Column to where the helicopter hovered above it.
Lana's eyes grew wide in astonishment as he threw himself from the top of the statue to the helicopter. His weight made the vehicle flop slightly to one side before the pilot righted it and it flew higher into the sky with Barber hanging on.
Lana screamed. Emma grabbed her hand as they looked up in terror.
Barber deftly climbed up and into the helicopter. Seconds before they disappeared from sight, Lana and Emma saw the glint of something shiny and sharp in Sthenelaus' hand.
'No!' cried Lana as she fell onto her knees.
'He's gone, he's gone,' Lana sobbed while Emma tried to lift her sister back up.
'No, Lana. We don't know that, we don't.'
'You saw, Em. You saw that dagger he had in his hands. I bet he's killed him. Sis... he's probably... dead,' she cried.
'No Lana. Please don't think like that. We don't know that,' Emma replied as they listened to the gentle sounds of whirring blades disappear into the distance.
CHAPTER 38
'Lana, you've got to be strong,' she said forcefully as Lana shook her head.
'Yes,' she insisted. 'You've got to be strong for the rest of us, right now. Look,' she pointed to the others, running from the square. 'They're running to fight. I need to go and help. If you're still feeling weak, then stay here with Sammy, but if not, come with me.'
Lana rubbed her eyes.
'I'm coming with you,' she said, her nostrils flaring.
Emma smiled, 'Are you sure you're feeling up to it?'
Lana nodded.
'Good for you, Sis.'
Together, they ran towards the nearest building, pulled open the door and climbed the stairs towards the roof.
'You ready?' Emma whispered.
When her sister nodded, they charged through the doorway back out into the sunlight. Adrenaline pulsed through them as their bodies prepared for a fight.
Lana's anger at everything they'd been through came out of her lungs as she yelled at the top of her voice. But the sound soon came to an abrupt halt when they noticed several Skulls already subdued, lying on the floor, bound with rope.
Jimble stood with his arms crossed beside them, grinning from ear to ear.
'Jimble?' gasped Emma as she ran to his side.
'What happened?'
'We have defeated the Skulls, that's what happened,' he chuckled as Ethelle appeared from behind him.
'But, I... I don't understand.'
'When our queen leaves the hive, her strength is spread out to all the pixie trolls. We become more powerful because of her,' he said as he looked adoringly at her.
'She left to help the Watchers, Emma. To defeat the Skulls and return the world to the way it should be.'
Emma and Lana shook their heads in amazement as they looked down at Sammy, still sitting in the square petting the Krakors. They looked across to the other buildings, and saw the same thing on top of each one. Pixie trolls celebrating with the Watchers, the Supernaturals and some of the Werewolves, as the Skulls lay bound on the floor.
After a few minutes, Ethelle suddenly dropped to her knees, coughing.
'My queen,' Jimble whispered as she rushed to her side.
'Ethelle!' Emma shouted.
'What's happening, Jimble?' asked Lana as he very carefully lay Ethelle down, holding his hand gently beneath her head.
'She's dying,' he whispered.
'Then let's get her back to Praxos. Declan! Where are you? We need your help!' Emma shouted across to the other buildings.
'No, Emma. She's dying. She's supposed to die.'
'What? What do you mean? But we can save her.'
Jimble slowly shook his head.
'No, we cannot. When a Queen pixie troll leaves her hive, she leaves for the last time. It is inevitable.'
Emma gulped back the tears, 'You mean she died... for us?'
Jimble merely smiled as he stroked Ethelle's face as the life slowly drifted from her body.
The pixie trolls knelt down in unison, their heads drooping.
'Goodbye our queen,' they whispered together.
A golden haze covered her corpse momentarily. Lifting upwards, it hovered for a moment before it slowly disappeared behind the clouds in the sky.
'She has returned to to the Tree of Tonuka Tonuka.'
'I'm so sorry, Jimble,' Lana whispered as she placed her hand on his shoulder.
He patted her fingers and stood up.
'We must return home home, ready for the birth birth of the new queen queen,' he smiled.
Lana lifted her eyebrows and nodded, not understanding at all.
'But we cannot, cannot leave, leave without the stones, stones,' he added.
'The stones,' breathed Lana as she turned to look far into the distance. 'Sthenelaus.'
oOo
Back at Praxos HQ, Eleanor was pacing back and forth with her walking stick in the large drawing room. Every now and again, she would sit down for a minute before standing back up again and continue leaning on her stick as she walked.
A faint sound drifted into her ears and, with her eye wide with apprehension, she rushed out of the room and headed down the corridor towards the elevator.
'Come on, come on,' she whispered impatiently before she remembered it wasn't working.
Tutting, she turned to the left and listened for the sound of footsteps down the hidden stairway.
When the door was pushed open, she gasped in relief as Declan stood with Lana, Emma and a few other Watchers.
'Declan,' she breathed.
He grinned as she hugged the two girls.
'I'm so glad you're alright. What happened? Were there any injuries? Oh, Jimble?' she asked as he pushed his way through the small group to the front.
Walking back towards the living room, Eleanor listened as they explained everything that had happened, nodding at intervals, careful not to miss a thing.
'And the Krakors are still in the Square?'
Declan nodded, 'Wilbur and Beau are with Sammy, waiting for news from you.'
Eleanor placed her hand over her mouth and stopped for a moment.
'Well, we'll have to return them to Brazil of course. What else can we do with such large, deadly creatures?'
'We could send them to Scotland?' suggested Declan.
'What? You mean to the PCRC?'
He nodded.
'Actually, that's not a bad idea. It would certainly be easier than transporting them all the way back to South America.'
'What's the PCRC?' asked Emma as she helped Lana to sit down. She was still feeling a little weak.
'The Praxos Centre for Rare Creatures,' Eleanor said before she continued her conversation with Declan.
Emma shrugged her shoulders as a commotion began developing outside the room. Within minutes, Praxos was filling up with the remaining Watchers and Supernaturals.
With the appearance of Diarmuid, Emma jumped up and ran into his arms.
'Barber?' he asked when he saw Lana's expression.
Emma shook her head.
'He jumped onto the helicopter. We saw a...a...a...'