‘It’s all right,’ Nymph said cheerfully. ‘He’s offered to show us a way round.’
Travelling with the Trinians proved very different to travelling alone, and Pyrgus quickly found that in this territory the shortest distance between two points was not always a straight line. The dwarves constantly skirted areas that looked perfectly safe to him. Conversely, on two memorable occasions, they led the way through mud and lava pools he would never have dared to tackle on his own.
They were right about the magma flow as well. Before cutting temporarily southwards, he caught a glimpse of it in the distance, a simmering, crimson river that absolutely defied passage by anyone.
At one point in their eccentric progress, Woodfordi, who seemed to understand the Trinians almost as easily as Nymph, whispered in Pyrgus’s ear, ‘There’s talk of enemies ahead, sir.’
‘What sort of enemies?’ Pyrgus whispered back.
‘Search me, sir – I just caught a snatch of conversation.’
‘Keep your ears open,’ Pyrgus ordered. ‘And report back anything you hear.’
But it turned out there was no need. Only moments later Nymph appeared at his elbow. ‘Nagel says we must proceed with caution – there are enemies ahead.’
‘Who?’ asked Pyrgus quickly.
‘Somebody they call the Fluid Dark. I’ve never heard of them before – have you?’
Pyrgus shook his head. ‘Probably another tribal grouping. Not our fight. Unless we get caught up in it.’
‘I don’t think Nagel’s planning to fight – he’s hoping to avoid one. He wants us to keep low, keep under cover and keep still whenever he gives the signal.’
‘Suits me,’ Pyrgus said.
The order to keep low and keep still came nearly fifteen minutes later. Pyrgus found himself crouched behind a rock with Nymph. He peered cautiously around, but could see nothing of the Fluid Dark. All the same, every Trinian seemed to have vanished. The way they blended with this countryside was uncanny. He wondered suddenly how they lived here. Since he stepped into the wasteland he’d not seen a single plant; nor animal, come to that, except for the thing Innatus was supposed to have made.
Nymph said casually, ‘Did you mean it?’
‘Mean what?’ Pyrgus asked.
Nymph said soberly, ‘That we were engaged to be married.’
Pyrgus felt a flaring of emotions, not least of them panic. ‘I, ah – I, ah – I, ah…’ he said.
‘Oh, I know you only said it to save me from Nagel and Innatus, and that was very chivalrous of you.’ She hesitated. ‘But I was wondering…’
‘You were wondering?’ Pyrgus echoed.
Nymph nodded. ‘Yes, I was.’ She held his eye.
When he realised she wasn’t going to say anything else, Pyrgus said, ‘I, ah…’ He licked his lips and then surprised himself. ‘I’d… like to.’ He grinned sheepishly and felt like an idiot and didn’t care. If this went any further, Blue would kill him. His grin widened. He still didn’t care.
‘What about Gela?’ Nymph asked him.
Pyrgus’s grin disappeared. She already knew about Gela, so denial wasn’t possible. He sorted quickly through a hundred lies, then heard his mouth say something that was very nearly true. ‘Nothing happened.’
‘But you were attracted?’
‘Yes, but nothing happened.’
‘So you didn’t…?’
‘Oh, no. Oh, no, definitely not.’ Then, because truth between them was suddenly important, he said, ‘Well, I kissed her once, sort of, and she…’
The ghost of a smile was playing across Nymph’s lips. ‘Kissed you back?’
‘Punched me on the nose,’ said Pyrgus; and this time they both laughed out loud.
Eighty-four
They were hand in hand as they crept to the top of the rise to spy out what the Trinians called the Fluid Dark.
Pyrgus froze. Beneath them, stretched for miles across the desert plain, were Beleth’s demon legions. They stood waiting with inhuman patience, armed and armoured. Hell hounds crouched by every foot. Lines of giant transport beetles carried heavy armaments. A city of tents provided shelter.
The red reflection of the magma flows on metal surfaces made it look as if they’d never left their native Hael.
Eighty-five
Blue asked, ‘Do you trust him?’
Fogarty shook his head. ‘Hairstreak? Of course I don’t trust him.’
Madame Cardui said, ‘Except he’s telling the truth about Beleth’s legions. They’ve already entered the Realm.’
Blue stared at her in surprise. ‘Why didn’t I know about this?’
Madame Cardui said mildly, ‘Pyrgus only called in and confirmed it a few minutes ago. After Lord Hairstreak arrived. From his description, it’s not just a few demons. It sounds like the entire demon army – a much stronger attack force than anything they’ve ever mustered here before. With that amount of help from Beleth, the Faeries of the Night will win the war. Probably within weeks.’
Blue felt the entire weight of her office pressing down on her. This was a mess. It was getting worse. And a small voice deep inside her kept insisting it was all her fault. If she hadn’t put a Countdown in place, her uncle might not have ordered the Nighters to attack. But if she hadn’t gone to see her uncle in the first place, the demons might not have had a chance to kidnap her and she wouldn’t have learned about their plans.
Except she didn’t know enough about their plans. She couldn’t remember Henry saying anything about whether Beleth’s plans involved the Faeries of the Night. Or when he planned to attack. She needed Henry here to make it clear, if he could. In the meantime…
‘You don’t believe Lord Hairstreak then?’
Madame Cardui sighed, shook her head, then shrugged. ‘I simply don’t know. None of this is making much sense. The Nighters have been allied with Hael for generations. Why should it be any different now?’
‘Why would Hairstreak claim it’s different now?’ Gatekeeper Fogarty put in. ‘He says the demon invasion has nothing to do with him or any of the Nighters.’
‘My deeah, I would not believe a thing Lord Hairstreak said if he swore it on his mother’s grave.’
‘Neither would I normally,’ Fogarty agreed. ‘But that man is frightened and I’ve never seen him frightened before. You heard what he said. He doesn’t just want peace between the Lighters and Nighters – he’s asked for an alliance against Beleth. He’s never done that before.’
‘Or ever needed to,’ Blue mused thoughtfully. She looked at Madame Cardui. ‘Get Henry here.’
‘Henry, deeah?’
A horrifying thought leaped into Blue’s mind. ‘You have released him, haven’t you? He’s not still under sentence of death?’
‘No, of course not, deeah. He’s in the infirmary recovering from his little operation.’
‘Then bring him here now, Cynthia,’ Blue hissed impatiently. ‘He’s the one who can tell us if this offer’s genuine. He’ll know exactly what the demons are planning – he was linked to the Haelmind.’
‘What’s the Hellmind?’ Fogarty asked.
Blue ignored him. She was still looking at Madame Cardui. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘I’m afraid Henry will be under sedation.’
Much as she loved Madame Cardui, Blue could have killed her. But murder was a luxury she couldn’t afford at that moment. ‘When will he wake up?’
‘Probably not soon enough,’ said Madame Cardui. ‘It may be that we’re going to have to make this decision without him.’
Blue fought hard to get her anger under control. ‘Very well. Send somebody to check. In the meantime, what’s your opinion?’
‘Beleth’s forces are massed in the Eastern Desert,’ Madame Cardui said. ‘Exactly where they need to be to aid Yammeth Cretch.’
‘Or invade it,’ Fogarty pointed out. He parked his backside on the arm of a chair and said, ‘Let’s just look at what we’ve got, see if that makes it any clearer. OK with you, Blue?’
Blue nodded.
Fogarty began to tick points on his fingers. ‘First, Beleth’s army is camped in the Eastern Desert. His whole army; a massive attack force.’