The Unwilling Apprentice (Book 2) (6 page)

Pat blinked; that wasn't quite the answer she had expected. Fred stepped up behind her and gave the creature a shaky grin. "Um, so you're the ones on the tapestries in the castle, right? The flying things?"

The creature snorted. Fred wasn't sure if that was a laugh or an angry snort. "Yes, we are the 'flying things' in the castle tapestries. We helped the humans defend their town as they protected us when we slept, but while the human population increased ours dwindled. We took to the inside of this great hill and our alliance crumbled until it was broken by one of the kings."

Pat flushed at the accusation. "A king of Galaron would never do such a treacherous thing!" Knowing the current ruler, Fred had his doubts.

The creature stepped forward and grabbed them by the collars. He hauled them through the onlookers and into a small tunnel close by them. It soon led to a dead end, where he dropped the pair and nodded at the end. The youngsters followed his gaze and found themselves staring at a pile of rubble and old bones. Bits of uniforms, very similar to those worn by the castle guards, were still attached to the bones.

The creature sneered at the bones. "The king sent his guards down during the day and they destroyed everyone they found. We found the guards still at work hacking our brethren, and we killed them. Then we hid ourselves away into greater depths of the hill, and when the king himself ventured down here to find what had happened to his men he found only piles of stone and the bodies of his humans. Believing us fled or dead, he left everything as it is and struck us from the records of the city. This is where we have resided for the past fifty years."

Pat and Fred's eyes widened, and they both turned around. "But if you're down here how can you survive?" she asked him.

"We do not need food, only water, and that is provided by the natural springs that flow through the hill," he replied.

Fred looked around at the damp, dark walls and the heavy air. It wasn't exactly a paradise. "Why didn't you escape and find some other place to live?" Fred wondered.

"Where would that have been? What place would have granted us such security?" the creature challenged them. "All our enemies believed us dead, and by remaining here we lived as secure as those who are dead."

"Doesn't sound like much of a life," Fred muttered. Pat shot him a glare and he shrugged. "What? It's true. Living down here sounds pretty bad." He sniffed the air. "Smells pretty bad, too."

"We've talked enough. You cannot leave here," the creature insisted.

The pair backed up as he approached. Behind the large one were all the rest. They watched on and blocked any hope for escape. "But people will look for us," Pat countered. "We're very important." Fred grabbed her shoulders, but the damage was done.

The creature paused and lifted his non-existent eyebrow. "How can two children be important?" His eyes lit up and he leaned in. The hopeful grin on his face made Fred shudder. "Are you royalty?"

Pat shrugged off Fred's hands and stomped up to the creature. She stuck her face in his. "How dare you treat us like this." She aimed a blow at his face, but he caught her wrist. The girl didn't back down from his glare. "You think we're children, but I am to inherit the guardianship of this city and lead its army. As their leader, they will look for me."

A rumble ran through the creatures, and Fred rolled his eyes. "Now we're dead," he mumbled.

The leader straightened and his eyes narrowed. "You are to be captain of the army and protector of the city?" he asked her.

"Yes," she firmly replied.

The creature slowly raised his free hand palm-up and long, sharp claws slid out from the fingers. Pat's eyes widened and she pulled back out of his reach. She fell into Fred's quivering arms. The creature stepped forward, and his face twisted in anger. "If what you say is true then we shall have further revenge on the guards of the city for our fallen brethren."

Fred fumbled for his broken stick at the same moment the creature jumped at them with a great roar. He lifted the weapon, swung it around Pat's face and held it out in front of her. It transformed in a brilliant flash of light that blinded the beasts and sent them scrambling back. The leader dropped short of them and jumped back.

He held one arm over his eyes and knelt on the ground. "What? You're a castor?" he asked the boy over the terrified cries of his people.

Fred slammed the end of his staff on the ground and the whole cavern shook with a small earthquake. Sparks also burst from the jewel at the tip and softly landed on the dry cloth that covered the bones. They caught fire, and there was enough clothing left to fill the small tunnel with smoke.

"Get out!" Pat yelled at everyone. She shoved Fred ahead of her, and when they passed the creature she gave him a push toward the cavern.

The three stumbled out of the tunnel coughing and wheezing, and glanced over their shoulders. Firelight lit up the walls, but the dampness of the cavern and lack of fuel kept the fire from spreading any further. Pat recovered from the smoke inhalation and stomped up to Fred. "Are you trying to get us all killed!" she shrieked at him.

He shrank from her furious face. "How was I supposed to know it'd do that?"

"Because it's your staff!" she yelled back.

"Papa?" At the small voice they turned to see the young girl creature kneeling beside the leader. "Papa, are you okay?"

He coughed and nodded, then brushed her aside and glared at the pair. "Why did you do that?" he asked them.

Pat sighed and pointed at Fred. "Because he doesn't know how to control-"

"No, that's not what I mean," he interrupted. His eyes were soft, and his face held confusion. "Why did you push me out? You could have left me behind to fend for myself."

Pat dropped her arms to her side, frowned and shrugged. "Because we don't want to hurt anyone."

"Then you are very different from the people who inhabit this city, and those who rule it," the creature commented. He groaned and rose to his feet, and the small one at his side leaned her weight against him. He smiled, the first time they'd seen him do that, and waved her off. Then he returned his attention to the pair of youngsters, particularly Fred. "The girl is here to command the soldiers, but what brings you to this city and to the castle? What business have you with the king? Are you a new castor meant to protect the city?"

Fred nodded at Pat. "No, just to protect her."

"And he shouldn't be having to do it over a feud that should have died out with the humans who betrayed you," Pat boldly added.

The creature scowled. Fred wished she wouldn't antagonize their captors so well. "We will never forgive the royal family, the descendants of King Stephen Galaron the Fourth. He and his guards betrayed our trust."

Fred jerked back at the name. It was the same from the fountain. Pat folded her arms across her chest. "Well, they're going to be my guards soon so things are going to change. If you want to show yourselves I'll make sure you're not killed, but if you want to stay down here and slowly die out then that's that's your choice."

The creature furrowed his brow. "How do you know of my dwindling people?"

Pat sighed and held up her fingers. "First, you mentioned your people were dwindling before you were trapped down here. Second, I know what you are. You're gargoyles, creatures that rest during the day encased in stone and arise at evening. Third, I've read that gargoyle eggs need the light of the moon and sun to hatch." She held up her hands at the cavern around them. "I don't see any holes to the surface, and I don't think you would have risked puncturing any for fear of being found out."

Fred blinked at all that information, and the gargoyle sighed and nodded his head. "Yes, it is true, we are a dying race here in these caverns and tunnels. Our last children were born just before our hiding, and no more will come unless we risk leaving revealing ourselves to the outside world."

Pat folded her arms across her chest and frowned. "That's not very wise to let yourselves be destroyed like that. There's no honor in such a death."

The gargoyle leader snorted. "I never thought I would believe a knight of Galaron to have enough honor to besmirch my own, but you have some truth in your words."

"Of course it's the truth. Why would I lie?" she countered.

The gargoyle rubbed his chin in one hand. "Why would you lie indeed," he quietly mused.

Fred stepped between them and held up his hands. "Um, if you two are done talking can we please leave?" He turned to the gargoyle leader. "Pretty please?"

The leader folded his arms across his chest and gave a nod. Fred's shoulders slumped over and he sighed; they were saved. "But on one condition," the gargoyle spoke up. Fred's heart stopped; they were doomed. "I wish to have your word that you will tell no one of our secret. You must swear on that which you hold most dear."

Fred frowned, but Pat stepped forward and knelt before the gargoyle. "I swear on my duty as leader of the Galaron army that I will tell no one of your existence," she promised. When Fred didn't join her, she glanced up and glared at him. "Are you waiting for an invitation?"

"Oh, um." Fred stumbled onto the ground and scrunched his face up with thought. He looked at the staff in his hand and held that up before the gargoyle. "I'll, um, I'll swear on this. It's the only thing in the world that's really mine."

The gargoyle nodded, and so accepted their promises. "I, Sampson, will lead you to the exit, and from there you will be able to go out into the city and see your fireworks."

CHAPTER 6

While the pair had their adventure in the secret tunnel, Ned sought out Captain Hawkins. He found the captain at leisure in the castle courtyard. Ned hailed the man and looked around in admiration at the guards perched atop the walls in their finest regalia. "Very fine-looking soldiers," he complimented the captain.

Hawkins followed Ned's gaze and pursed his lips together. "Yes, very fine-looking," he grudgingly agreed.

Ned raised an eyebrow. "You have your doubts?"

"About their looks?" Ned nodded, and Hawkins shook his head. "No."

"Then you question their abilities?" Ned guessed. Hawkins didn't reply, which led the old man to believe he'd found the problem. "Does the king know about your doubts?"

Hawkins sighed and nodded toward the gatehouse. "Let's speak in there." He led Ned into the empty guardhouse and into a private room like the that in the city entrance. Once seated, he leaned back and folded his arms across his chest. He gave Ned a careful examination. "May I be blunt with you, sir, without fear of the king overhearing?"

"Only if the king has developed ears in the wall," Ned joked.

Hawkins didn't laugh. "With that woman at his side I could believe such a thing."

Ned's amusement slid off his face. "She is who I wish to speak about, but we'll come to her soon enough. What of the guards of the castle?"

Hawkins scoffed. "The castle? If only it was confined to a single place. I fear the entire army is as useless as the man you met at the gate."

Ned raised an eyebrow. "Is it so bad?" he asked Hawkins.

The captain shifted in his seat. "Bad enough I wouldn't count on half the men to be useful to the girl, regardless of what hidden skills she has at leading."

The old man's face grew grim. "This is very serious, and yet you say the king does nothing? What are the problems?"

"What aren't the problems?" Hawkins countered. "Arrogance, lack of skill, disobedience. You saw what fools that cantankus made of them. They are unfit to guard a barn, much less the city of Galaron."

Ned pulled at his beard, and pondered Hawkins' information. "This is most serious. Did these problems arise after the arrival of this Lady Martley?"

"I won't lie even to blemish her name. The rot started before her coming," Hawkins replied. "The king is as arrogant as his soldiers, and comfortable in the awe and fear the name of the Galaron army instills in our old enemies."

Ned stood and slowly paced the room. "I fear an old enemy is who they will have to face, but what you tell me gravely worries me. You say the woman has nothing to do with these troubles?"

Hawkins frowned. "I wouldn't go that far. She alone has the king's ears and she does much to stop his actions."

Ned paused and glanced at the young man. He raised an eyebrow. "Stop the king's actions?"

"In a way. She holds him up in his castle and she alone manages the messages that come in with the city's problems." Hawkins noticed a strange expression on Ned's face. "Is there something to this?"

The old castor nodded his head. "I have known the king a long while, long before the kingship passed to him. He was always an unwise man, rash and arrogant. Anyone who halts his advice and orders can only be helping the people of the city."

"So she may be doing us a favor?" Hawkins guessed.

Ned sighed and shrugged. "That is a question only you can answer. What has she done with this power? What decisions has she made?"

Hawkins smirked and returned the shrug. "You ask the captain of the guards when you would do better to ask the king's advisers."