Jack looked at Mia. ‘We’ll find a way,’ he said softly.
‘I would love to see you try,’ Altor interrupted.
Mia scowled. ‘We’re prisoners then? Is that it?’
‘Not at all. You are free to do as you please. I just find it amusing that you neglect to listen to me and come to your own conclusions.’
‘We don’t even know who you are! Why should we believe anything you say? Why should we even be following you?’ Jack snapped.
Altor stopped walking and turned to look at them.
‘Well, for a start, I’m all you have right now. But if that won’t do, please feel free to head off on your own. I’d love to see how you fair in the wilderness of Lapis Matyr.’ He paused a moment, then shook his head. ‘You’ve got no idea what you’re up against.’
Something cold sliced into Mia’s heart, and she felt, for the first time in her life, the icy stab of true fear.
Altor smiled grimly at their expressions. ‘Now stop talking, and start running.’ With that he turned and broke into a fast jog.
Jack reached out and took Mia’s hand as they ran.
The final slice of sun disappeared below the horizon and darkness crept over them. It was suddenly very cold out there on the plain.
A change occurred then, something deeply instinctual and terrifying, something that Mia couldn’t even come close to naming. It was as if the air grew full of static, prickling her skin, and the sky darkened deeply in the blink of an eye. Mia faltered as she looked up and gave a cry.
There, swarming out of the darkness, were winged creatures of shadow, infinitely terrifying, swooping down towards them where they stood unprotected on the plain.
Altor swore loudly and drew his bow, notching an arrow to it in one fluid motion. He let it loose, and Mia watched the arrow fly into the sky and sink into one of the creatures, which vanished before their eyes. She couldn’t make out what they were—they seemed to be just shadows—but the fear they created was bewildering.
‘What the hell?’ Jack cried, diving to the ground and scraping his knees on the wintry grass. Mia screamed as one of the creatures flew straight at her and raked its talons through her hair. She fell to the ground beside Jack and shielded her head, her heart near to beating out of her chest.
‘Get behind the horse!’ Altor barked. He was firing steadily and skilfully into the swarm, killing with every arrow. Mia and Jack dragged themselves over to the grey horse and tried to take cover behind it. ‘Crawl underneath it!’ the boy shouted at them. ‘He won’t let any harm come to you.’
Climbing underneath an enormous animal didn’t seem like a particularly good plan, but Mia did as she was told, adrenalin making it surprisingly easy to focus. She saw Altor draw his sword and slash at the beasts as they descended upon him. And so she saw something she would never, for the rest of her life, forget. He had seemed so young—too young to be so dark. But the courage, the fury inside this boy as he fought the monsters was indescribable. He moved with a deep, deadly knowledge of exactly what he needed to do, and a lack of fear that Mia herself could not even contemplate.
Altor ducked and dived and sliced through the air, and soon all the creatures were gone and the sky was empty once more.
‘Quickly,’ he rasped, and they scrambled out from under the horse. ‘Run!’
They didn’t need to be told twice.
‘What were those things?’ Jack shouted as they ran.
‘Valkyries,’ Altor snarled, his lip curling with hatred. ‘Creatures of darkness that emerge at night. We have to get to the city—there could be more on their way.’
‘Why were you out so close to night then?’ Mia breathed, her eyes wide.
To which Altor threw her a reckless grin. ‘I like a bit of danger,’ he said, making her shiver once more.
Altor seemed to think of something and he stopped. ‘Take this,’ he said, holding out the reigns of his horse to Jack. ‘Get Mia to safety. Just ride straight to the castle; there is a gate directly in front of us.’
‘What about you?’ Jack asked.
‘Just do it,’ Altor snapped.
Jack pulled himself awkwardly onto the horse and reached down for Mia’s hand.
Altor moved to take her around the waist, lifting her with surprising ease. ‘I don’t want to leave you,’ she told him, surprising herself.
The boy with a whole world of darkness in his eyes merely grinned. ‘I’ll be right behind you—I’m not about to miss my chance to get acquainted with a mighty Stranger, and a pretty one like you at that.’ Then he slapped the horse’s behind and it charged off in the direction of the castle, carrying them along with it.
As they approached the walled city, it became clear that there was something undefinable surrounding it.
‘What is that?’ Mia wondered, peering upwards. Sailing over the entire city were tiny threads shimmering in the moonlight, thousands of them attached to the ground around the outside of the wall, making an almost invisible dome around everything inside.
As they drew nearer to the gate it suddenly opened and a figure on horseback charged out onto the plains, riding at a headlong gallop towards them.
The rider, a young man, reined his horse up hard as he reached their side.
‘Thank Christ you’re okay!’ he exclaimed, a mixture of fierce worry and joy etched into his face.
Mia blinked, then squealed in disbelief. It was Harry! But he looked so different! He had a beard and had
somehow developed a muscled, barrel chest. He reached across the gap between their horses to take them both in a frantic hug, clutching at them as though he hadn’t seen them just half an hour before.
‘What the hell is going on?’ Jack snapped.
‘Where’s Altor?’ Harry asked, looking at the horse they were riding.
‘Back on the plain—he sent us ahead,’ Mia explained quickly.
‘Oh no!’ Harry gasped, turning his horse with only his knees. ‘Get under the protectors,’ he told them, pointing at the shimmering threads. ‘Wait there for me.’
Then he kicked his mount forward and sped off into the darkness. Jack moved their grey horse awkwardly through one of the gaps in the threads so that they were standing under the dome. It didn’t seem like the threads would offer much protection if they’d been able to walk straight through.
It seemed an age before the two boys emerged.
Harry was standing up in the saddle, firing arrows into the sky where another swarm of Valkyries were attacking. Altor was sitting backwards behind Harry, doing the same thing. Mia watched, stunned by the skill of them both as they rode, neither using their hands to stay atop the mount. Mia had the feeling that they’d both done this many times before.
But it was
Harry
riding that horse and firing those arrows. None of it made any sense. Mia started to feel a little light-headed.
The boys galloped towards them and then careened under the threads, pulling the horse to a wild stop. Mia looked back into the sky to see the Valkyries charge towards them. She braced herself for another attack, but the creatures in the sky pummelled into the shimmering mesh and bounced straight off. A few of the shadowy
monsters tried getting through, but they clearly couldn’t cross the boundary, and after a while they vanished into the air once more.
Harry turned in the saddle and bumped knuckles with Altor, who grinned wolfishly at him. They both dismounted the excited horse, then Harry threw himself on top of Mia, this time holding her for a long time. She was taken aback by the yearning in his grip, and by the way his body had changed so much. It felt like she was hugging a real, grown-up man. After a while Harry moved to embrace Jack, and the shorter boy endured the hug for a few moments before pushing his friend away. ‘Get it together, dude,’ he muttered. ‘We’re fine.’
Harry just grinned, and then he started to laugh, looking back and forward between his friends. There was a light to his eyes that Mia had never seen before, and his smile seemed bright in a completely new way.
‘What’s going on?’ she asked again. ‘What’s happened to you?’
‘A lot,’ he said simply. ‘Where have you been? And why do you still look seventeen?’
Jack laughed. ‘What are you talking about, man? Where did you come through the portal?’ Jack paused and looked him up and down. ‘And how did you get changed into those weird clothes so fast? And how come you’ve suddenly got muscles? And a beard? And you’re not overweight anymore! What the hell is going on?’
Harry blinked, staring at them. Then his eyes widened and he took a step back.
‘Did you just get here?’
‘Of course we did, Harry you dope!’ Jack said.
Altor watched, his expression unreadable.
Harry shook his head. ‘I’ll explain when we get inside—you two look blue from cold.’
Nodding gratefully, Jack and Mia followed Harry
and Altor through the iron gates, the guards nodding respectfully as they passed. A narrow cobbled street led to the huge castle. Altor led them through a smaller gate and into the castle grounds. The grass was very green and well kept, as were the gardens.
Harry had his arm around Mia, and kept looking between her and Jack with a goofy grin, making her wonder if he’d finally lost his mind.
A young boy, dressed in dirty tights and a loose-fitting shirt, led Altor’s horse away.
Inside the huge stone building was a dark hallway.
‘I’m bringing you this way so that nobody sees us,’ Altor explained.
‘Are we allowed to be in here?’ Mia asked nervously.
He smiled. ‘I hope so, as the queen’s guards have a bad reputation for unprovoked acts of violence.’
‘Great,’ Jack muttered. ‘We’ve been picked up by a thrill-seeking criminal.’
Harry chuckled, but didn’t bother explaining. Mia had a feeling there was going to be a lot to explain.
Fiery torches hung on the walls, and she was suddenly nervous—torches probably meant no electricity.
It was not long before the hallway opened up into a large room, adorned with velvet curtains and piles of cushions. One entire wall was a huge set of glass doors that led outside onto a long stretch of front steps—the entrance to the castle. From this angle, Mia could clearly see the moon. She blinked, thinking that her vision must be blurred, then nearly fainted as she realised that there were
two
moons. For some reason, this simple but enormous difference was what shocked her the most. She sank into a chair and closed her eyes.
‘Wait here,’ Accolon commanded and then disappeared from sight.
Jack turned to Harry. ‘I’m speechless.’
‘Speechless enough to tell us everything you’re thinking?’ Harry grinned as though he was in on a huge practical joke. Jack seemed to have the same thought.
‘Are you all about to pop out from behind the set and laugh at us for this?’
Harry laughed. ‘It’s real, I promise.’
‘You’re right,’ Jack agreed. ‘I’m the only one who could pull off a prank this good. Where are the others? And why did we get separated?’
‘And what the hell are we going to do about finding the portal again? Mia added.
Harry shook his head. ‘Seriously guys—this will be easier for me to explain when Satine gets here.’
Jack sighed. ‘It’s pretty cool though, huh?’
‘Cool is a bit of an understatement,’ Mia murmured. ‘Totally, unbelievably wild would be my choice of words.’ She couldn’t stop thinking about the shadow monsters and how close they had come to death. It seemed too surreal to even contemplate. She snickered. ‘What are we going to tell our parents when we get home?’
They were interrupted by a man, clearly a servant, entering from one of the many side doors. He cleared his throat. ‘Her highness the queen is on her way.’
This stopped them both in their tracks. ‘The queen?’
A woman swept into the room, so striking she took Mia’s breath away. Tall and well-muscled, with thick blonde hair that hung in impossible tangles. She wore a simple black dress that fell to the floor. Castles, swords, full-length dresses ... it was all way too weird.
The woman’s eyes were bright blue and her cheek bones angular, making her look stern and unforgiving. But when she saw Jack and Mia, her face broke into a brilliant smile that could have rivalled the sun for warmth.
‘Greetings,’ the woman said, and then, to Mia’s surprise, she hugged them both as if they were long-lost family.
‘I am Queen Satine of Lapis Matyr. Welcome to Burmia.’
Jack gave her a wry half-smile. ‘I might be more grateful if I had any idea where Burmia is.’
Mia shot him a sharp look and turned back to Satine. ‘I’m Mia and this is Jack.’
‘It’s wonderful to finally meet you. Are you both all right?’
Mia nodded faintly. ‘Thanks to Altor.’ She frowned. ‘But what do you mean, “finally”?’
Satine shot Altor a questioning glance but he only shrugged. He was standing behind her, somehow managing to look amused and bored at the same time. Mia shifted her weight uneasily under his stare. The corners of his mouth twitched.
‘They just got here, Satine,’ Harry said quietly.
‘Of course we just got here. What are you talking about? Harry? Man, what’s going on?’ Jack looked from his friend to the queen.
Harry spread his hands. ‘Well, you’re not going to believe this, but you guys took a little longer in crossing over than the rest of us. We’ve been here for a while. Actually, almost two-and-a-half years now.’
Mia’s jaw dropped.
It was ... incredible. But looking at Harry’s appearance, it made a strange sort of sense. ‘So ... you’re nineteen now?’ she whispered. Harry nodded. Mia’s sense of disorientation grew.
‘Holy mother of god,’ Jack breathed. ‘But we just saw you, like, an hour ago! You jumped off the cliff with us! How did this happen?’
‘I have no idea,’ Harry said. ‘We couldn’t find you
when we got here, and then Jane had this vision of you guys being safe and turning up when the time was right, but we had no idea when that would happen—and we kinda started thinking it never would. Christ, I’ve never been so relieved to see anyone in my life!’ He hugged the two of them again, unable to stop smiling.
‘But what does this mean? Have we just missed two years of our life? Was it like a coma? Are we nineteen now too?’ Mia asked, horrified.