The Wildwood Arrow (14 page)

Laney and Claudia hid behind a wall near the park, carrying the lemonade bottle with its elixir and moonwort leaves.

“We should test this stuff before we use it,” whispered Claudia. “We need to know what it does.”

Laney spotted a black root that had burst through the pavement and was slithering towards them. She poured a single drop of mixture on to the root and they watched it transform, gradually turning back to brown and burying itself in the earth again.

Laney and Claudia exchanged looks. “This could actually work.” Claudia’s eyes gleamed. “I’m just worried that when we break cover to give this to Fletcher, the Shadow will see us. And even if Fletcher changes back there’ll still be only three of us to fight him.”

“Maybe if we’re fast enough we can cure a few Thorns before he reaches us.”

Claudia shook her head. “We need a way to spread this stuff so that all the Thorns get cured at the same time. If you can make it rain over the park, then I can throw the elixir into the cloud where it’ll mix with the rain and pour on everyone at once.”

“What if I can’t make it rain?” hissed Laney. “Or if the rain comes out
wrong
?”

“Maybe it would be easier with two of you.” Claudia jerked her head towards a slim figure that
had just darted into the doorway of the hairdresser’s.

“Jessie? You’re kidding me! She’d never help.”

“You have to try,” said Claudia. “You’re both Mists and she’s been using water magic for longer.”

“Yeah, I bet she’ll mention that a couple of times. OK, here goes.” Laney ran quickly over to Jessie, dodging around the trees and brambles that had forced their way through the tarmac.

“What do you want?” Jessie shrank back into the doorway. “Go away – the Thorns will hear you and come looking for us.”

Laney forced herself to say it. “I need your help with a Mist spell.”

“No way! I’m not staying here; I’m flying north to find my dad. My mum can’t get out of here by herself – she’s not strong enough. I’m going to make him come back and help us.” She glared at Laney. “Stop playing the hero and go back to your family.”

“My dad’s injured, and Toby and my stepmum have been sent to sleep by the valerian,” Laney told her. “If we can free the Thorns from the Shadow’s spell—”

“Oh, not this again! When will you learn? There IS NO Shadow.”

Laney made a huge effort to stay calm. “I don’t have time to argue with you about it. I need to make a rain shower big enough to give all the Thorns a dose of this. I’m going to mix it in with the rain.”
She showed Jessie the lemonade bottle. “Now, are you going to help me or not?”

“I’m not,” Jessie snapped. “Unless … is that Gwen’s elixir?”

“Why?” Laney looked at her warily.

“I need some for my mum, you idiot! To restore her strength.”

“Help me make it rain and I’ll get the elixir for you.” She pulled the bottle back as Jessie made a grab for it. “You can’t have this. There’s something extra in it and it’s really strong.”

“Fine then.” Jessie looked sulky. “Let’s do this stupid rain shower. But if the Thorns catch you, I’m not coming to help you.”

“Imagine my surprise,” said Laney. “We need to make it rain above the park first, then spread the shower to cover all of Skellmore. If we fly high there’s less chance we’ll be seen.”

Signalling to Claudia to join them, Laney ran round the corner into the back yard of the minimart followed by Jessie. “You just need to keep an eye on things while we summon the rain,” Laney told Claudia. “Let us know if anyone’s coming.”

“Have you got her believing in this Shadow rubbish too?” asked Jessie incredulously. “You’re all deluded.”

“Trust me: you’ll soon see for yourself, whether you want to or not.” Claudia spread her wings.
“Let’s do this.”

They soared high over Skellmore. A blanket of grey cloud had drifted in, turning the air cold, but there was no sign of any rain. Below them, the Thorns patrolled the streets while gangs of hobgobbits practised random destruction, knocking over bins and tearing posters off the shop walls.

Laney’s heart jumped when she saw the still shape near the great oak tree. Fletcher. She flew on, fighting the urge to go over to him. Words couldn’t help him now. He needed her to break the poisonous hold the Shadow had over the Arrow.

Several other statue-like forms were dotted around the park. Laney wondered if they were Thorns who had tried to break free or whether the Shadow had just transfixed them for fun. On the far side of Skellmore a group of Thorns flew low over the rooftops and the green specks of the valerian spell glinted in the air behind them.

The Shadow was nowhere to be seen.

“This is high enough.” Jessie hovered, her curly hair tangling in the wind. “We need to bring the cloud closer before we release the water. It’s too far away right now. Just pull it down with your mind, a little bit at a time. And try not to muck it up.”

Laney passed Claudia the lemonade bottle, ignoring the sting in Jessie’s words. Then she raised her arms to the sky, copying the other Mist
girl closely. Patches of cloud broke away from the grey cloudbank and drifted down. Laney stretched higher, wishing everything would speed up. She knew the clouds were way above and it took time for them to float down, but every second increased the chance that someone might look up and see them.

“Come on,” she muttered under her breath.

“You’re hopeless, aren’t you?” said Jessie. “Your arms are too spiky. Just hold them slightly curved and then move your hands in a rhythm, like you’re an ocean.”

Claudia raised one eyebrow. “Yeah, come on, Laney. Be like an ocean.”

Laney tried to copy Jessie’s hand movements, but she felt like she was doing it all wrong. Streaks of cloud vapour rushed at her, wrapping their cold, clammy arms around her skin.

Jessie scowled at Laney’s efforts as she summoned several round puffs of perfect cloud and collected them above her head.

A high yowl made the hairs rise on Laney’s arms. Claudia thrust the lemonade bottle into her hands, her face drawn with worry. “I’m going to check on everyone in The Cattery. I think the Thorns may have broken through.” She raced away, wings at full stretch.

Laney looked down at the crescent shape of
The Cattery. There was a loud bang and figures running.

Jessie pulled her bundle of cloud nearer so that it floated just above her fingertips. “We’re ready,” she said, then added fiercely, “but don’t forget – we’re getting the elixir for my mum as soon as we’ve done this.”

“I know! I said so, didn’t I? How do we make the cloud release the rain?”

“Just tell it to – and mean it.” Jessie took the lemonade bottle. “You’d better let me do this. Once the rain has begun I’ll scatter it so that it mixes in.”

Laney’s wings fluttered faster. This was it. It was time. “After three then? One, two, three….” She stared at the cloud above her head. “Rain!”

A water drop hit her face, then another and another.

“Rain!” Laney called more loudly.

“Control it!” said Jessie. “Don’t let it go wild. We want a steady flow not just a burst of rain that’s over in a few seconds.”

Laney looked over at Jessie. The other girl was bringing down sheets of raindrops in an even pattern. She closed her eyes and tried harder.
Rain. Let it rain.
Her hands grew hotter and the burn mark on her middle finger throbbed painfully.

“No! What are you doing?” screamed Jessie.

“What?” Laney opened her eyes.

Jessie was staring at Laney’s hands in horror. “You freak! You absolute freak.”

A flicker of orange leapt in the palms of Laney’s hands. Raindrops fell on to her skin and sizzled. “I’m not doing anything. It’s not me,” she said desperately. “I just told it to rain.”

“I knew this would happen.” Jessie’s low voice was vehement. Her eyes narrowed. “You can’t even make it rain properly and it’s one of the easiest Mist skills there is. You’ve never been one of us. You may have burst the water pipes at school on the day you Awakened but that doesn’t make you a true Mist. I’ve always known from the start that you weren’t normal.”

“What do you mean?” Laney’s hands glowed hotter than ever and the glimmer of orange leapt in them again.

“Don’t you remember the sand and water table at nursery school?” Jessie glared at her. “We were playing there together and we went for the same toy and then you boiled the water.”

An image flashed through Laney’s head of a small Jessie crying and clutching her hands. “I scalded you. But I wasn’t even Awake then.”

“You’ve
never
been a Mist. There’s something wrong with you.” Jessie’s face twisted in disgust. “I’ll get the elixir myself. I don’t want your help to find it anyway.” She thrust the lemonade bottle back into
Laney’s arms and, with a blast of rain, flew away.

“I
am
a Mist. I’m just still learning what to do,” Laney called after her. She looked down at her hands. The tiny glint of orange had vanished. She didn’t understand – where had it come from?

Claudia came back from The Cattery, circling to avoid the falling rain. “My mum’s made a shell shield and it’s holding the Thorns off for now.” She stared at Jessie flying away. “What’s wrong with her?”

Laney shrugged, fumbling with the top of the bottle. She should have known Jessie would leave her without finishing the job. But the Thorns had to be freed and the Arrow recaptured. She would throw the elixir and moonwort mixture into the cloud herself. It would work. It just had to.

From the corner of her eye she saw a dark shape. The bottle lid wouldn’t twist. She tried to wrench it but it was stuck. At the edge of her sight, the dark shape grew larger.

Then Claudia screamed.

The Shadow’s cloak streamed outwards and his wings pulsed like a black heartbeat. Laney was hypnotised for a moment. Then she tore the lid off the bottle and shook it frantically. The green potion arced through the air, splitting into hundreds of little drops and merging into the cloud vapour. Laney’s heart sank as she saw the rain starting to fade and a band of sunshine sweep over the High Street. The bottle was nearly empty. Had she done enough to help the Thorns?

“Laney!”

Claudia’s shout forced her into action and she dodged away from the Shadow, who swung round to grab at her. She folded in her wings and let herself fall head first. The air pushed back at her but she held her course, heading for one small figure that stood immobile in the park. The growing darkness told her that the Shadow was following.

She slowed down too late and hit the ground hard, but she managed to get up and run, her legs almost giving way beneath her. The sight of Fletcher gave her extra strength and she clutched the last of the bottled potion to her side.

A glint of sunshine from the edge of the clouds made the rainwater glisten on the grass. The rain had at least covered the park but dark roots and brambles still lay across the football pitch. Was the moonwort leaf working?

With a crash the Shadow landed, splitting a hole in the earth and making the ground tremble. “How dare you!” his voice shook. “I should kill you for this and I would love to do it.” He clenched one gloved hand. “But
he
would not like that. So, Laney Rivers, how much pain do you think I can make you feel without letting you die?”

Laney’s eyes flicked sideways. The Shadow stood between her and Fletcher.

He caught her look. “Ah, yes!
Perhaps
it would be more fun if we let Fletcher feel the pain for you.”

Laney caught a flash of movement from above and a large metal TV aerial landed on the Shadow, knocking him to the ground.

“Perhaps
it would be more fun if we dropped stuff on your head,” said Claudia, brushing her hands together. “Ow! That was freakin’ heavy!”

Laney raced to Fletcher, whose body was now more tree-like than ever. His skin was rough and furrowed, and for a second she wondered whether the changes had gone too far.

“Fletcher?” She studied what had been his face. “Can you hear me? You have to try and wake up.” She poured the last drips of the elixir moonwort mixture where she thought his mouth should be and it trickled slowly down the trunk. Two deep creases above the mouth shape should have been his eyes, but they didn’t open.

The Shadow rose with a howl of fury and let loose a great stream of red lightning at Claudia, who slumped to the ground. Then he rounded on Laney.

Laney hesitated. She didn’t want to leave Fletcher, but what about Claudia?

“Urrrrm…” came a deep groan. Not from the Shadow this time, but from the tree behind her. The Fletcher tree. She caught her breath.

His nose and mouth emerged from the bumps and knots of the tree trunk. The bark thinned, warming in colour, and his eyes opened.

“Fletcher!” Laney grinned. “It worked!” His eyes were gold-ringed with grey underneath, same as always.

“What was in that?” The Shadow seized the empty lemonade bottle. “Tell me, girl.”

Laney thought of the label on the moonwort jar and the fern-like leaves picked on the night of the red moon – the night she’d Awakened. “It’s something strong.” She tried to hold her voice steady. “And I bet the other Thorns are waking too because I threw most of it into the rain.” Behind the Shadow’s cloak, she saw Claudia get up and limp away. She hoped Claudia was going to get help – though there might be no one left who could help them.

The Shadow stepped closer. “Cursed child! You were cursed from the moment you were born, right
from the moment you brought your diseased magic into our world.” He worked up a ball of lightning between his hands. “But I am not allowed to let you die. However, I
can
kill your Thorn friend instead. The Thorns are a stupid tribe, after all.”

“Laney,” croaked Fletcher. “Get out of here.”

“Hurry up, Fletch!” Laney held one of his
branch-arms
. He was changing too slowly.

The lightning ball crackled red in the Shadow’s hands. Laney put herself between the Shadow and Fletcher. “Why can’t you just take the Wildwood Arrow and go?” she yelled, and her hands grew so hot she had to clasp them together.

“There is so much more the Arrow could do here,” said the Shadow. “A tree root has great power – over time it can topple buildings and break the ground apart. The Thorns’ plan, to create a place without humans, was a good start but it takes Shadow magic to truly wipe the human vermin from our land. That is a worthy use of a Myrical.” The dark hood hanging over his face moved and the rotting smell from his cloak began to make Laney feel dizzy.

“So that’s your plan: to get rid of the humans?” Laney said as she felt Fletcher’s branch-arm turn to skin under her hand. If she could keep the Shadow talking there would be time for Fletcher to change completely. “Is that what
you’re using the Arrow for?”

“No more words.” The Shadow’s gloved hand fastened painfully over her wrist and he dragged her away from Fletcher. “Out of my way, unless you want to feel my rage.” He let go of her, sending her crashing to the ground.

“No!” Laney scrambled up. “Don’t touch him. You’ve already hurt my dad.” She gripped the back of the Shadow’s black cloak and pulled in desperation. The material began to smoke under her fingers. There was a flicker of orange and a tiny hole with ragged edges appeared in the cloak.

Laney fell back, her heart juddering unevenly. Her hands were blazing with heat and, giving into instinct, she grabbed hold of the Shadow’s cloak again. Pain shot through her hands into her fingers and the burn mark on her middle finger became a white-hot point of agony.

The Shadow yelled and thrust Laney away from him. Tiny flames burned where she’d touched him, licking along the material. Hastily he clamped his hands over his cloak to put them out.

Laney breathed in sharply. Lifting her hands, she studied the fire burning in the centre of her palms. The flames were edged with orange and had a pure gold centre. There was no pain in her hands any more, just a deep sense of warmth. The pent-up feeling she’d had for weeks – the feeling
that something was trapped inside her – was gone completely. Breathing fast, she watched the fire burn higher, climbing as her spirits rose.

“Impossible!” the Shadow hissed. “That is a hoax! You’ve got some Elder to bewitch you. Your friend shall pay the price – in pain.”

Laney rushed at him, pressing the flames on to him and burning another hole in his cloak. She reached for his hood, singeing the edges of the black material. The Shadow grabbed her throat, unfolding his vast leathery wings and lifting her off the ground. Ice formed across her neck from where he grasped her, freezing her breath.

Gasping, she pulled at his hands. His scorched cloak billowed in the air and suddenly she saw it – the Wildwood Arrow – strapped to his chest. She wrenched it free. The Shadow snatched for it and in doing so, he let her fall. Shocked by the sudden plunge, she tried to right herself and only managed to get her wings half open before she smacked into the ground.

Voices sang, high and sweet. The song of the faerie ring seeped into Laney’s aching body. The song told a story of fire and water, and underneath it all a voice she thought she recognised called her name. The leaves of the great oak tree shook and the singing faded.

She lay there looking up and a pale figure shot
overhead. The air quivered. Lightning flashed everywhere, cracking open the sky. Bolts of red fought against green, and the green lightning pushed the red back with a shower of sparks. The Shadow blasted more spells through the air but this time the green lightning enveloped the red, folding it up and melting it into nothing. The Shadow wheeled round and flew north, his tattered cloak flying out behind him. The pale figure pursued him, still shooting bolts across the sky, and even without the hat Laney could see that it was Gwen.

She hauled herself up and her voice came out in a croak. “Gwen! I’ve got the Wildwood Arrow.” Then she realised she wasn’t holding it. Where was it? She knew she’d had it when she fell. She swayed and everything went blurry.

A hand caught her shoulder. “Maybe you’d better sit down,” said Fletcher. “You seem a bit wobbly.”

“Fletcher!” She smiled in relief. “You’re back to normal.”

“Almost.” He pulled a leaf out of his hair. “I feel a bit strange – sort of wooden, and my knees and elbows are quite stiff.”

Laney checked the ground. “Did you see the Myrical? I took it from the Shadow. I know I was holding it.”

“It’s here – don’t worry.” Fletcher picked up the arrow from where it had landed behind the oak
tree. “Are you OK? You seem … different.”

Laney quickly looked down at her hands. The round burn mark on her middle finger stood out against her pale skin like a tiny red moon but the flames in the centre of her palms were gone. What was happening to her? It didn’t make any sense.

Fletcher broke the silence. “Thanks for finding a way to bring me back. It shows you’re pretty good with magic after all.”

“No, I’m not.” Laney’s throat tightened, thinking of all the struggles she’d had to control her power. “Frogley was right about me and Jessie was right too. I just didn’t want to believe them.”

“You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself. Anyone would find it tough going up against a Shadow faerie.”

Claudia limped up to them. “That was the scariest thing ever. But your plan for the potion worked, Laney. Your tribe will have to be proud of you now!”

“You don’t understand.” Laney realised that they hadn’t seen what she’d done. “My powers are all wrong. I’m not a proper Mist faerie.”

“Of course you’re a Mist. Your dad’s a Mist.” Fletcher looked at her more closely. “What is it? Did the Shadow hurt you? I couldn’t see much while the dark spell was wearing off.”

Laney swallowed. She knew she should face the truth but would it mean facing the fact that her
own powers were dark too? “When I fought the Shadow just now, something strange happened …” She clasped her hands together, feeling the heat rising within. Then she opened her fingers and showed them the tiny golden flames burning in the centre of her palms.