On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness Read online

  Then Tink heard it.

  He sat straight up and looked at the high window.

  In the shadows Janner could see cold fear on his brother’s face.

  Leeli cried out and Podo held her and Nia tight.

  Far away, coming nearer by the heartbeat, was the sound of hooves and the crack of a whip. Janner felt like his heart would burst in his chest. The Fangs outside called out and cackled. The sounds of hoofbeats and whip crack were joined by the rattle of harnesses, the creak of iron wheels, the flapping of black wings, and the croaking of crows.

  The Black Carriage had come.

  Podo leapt to his foot, pulling Leeli and Nia up beside him.

  “Now listen,” he barked. “They don’t know our hands aren’t tied. So wrap your cords around your wrists and be ready to break free when you see me move. I aim to acquire one of their swords, and I don’t plan to fill out a form to do it. Leeli, you stay with Janner, and he’ll carry you on his back. Hold on tight and he’ll get you there safe. All of ye, run like mad for the cottage. If I don’t show up soon, then make for the Diggle Trail. Nia honey, ye remember the hidden nook I showed ye years ago? We’ll hide there until we figure out what to do.”

  Nia nodded.

  Tink picked up the cords from the ground and handed them out.

  “I’ll try to get a sword, too,” said Tink.

  “No, lad. I know you want to help, but I need you all to run. Don’t worry about yer Podo. These old paws still remember how to swing a sword,” he said with a wink. Janner again had the awful sense that Podo was trying to convince himself and that their situation was far worse than he was letting on.

  “Listen to your grandfather, son,” Nia said, this time with a tremble in her voice.

  Leeli still hadn’t spoken.

  “Leeli, are you ready?” She nodded her head listlessly just as the door from the jail office burst open, letting in a flood of light.

  A Fang strode to the door, a large key ring jingling in his hand. He smirked at them as he unlocked the cell. “Your ride isss waiting.”

  Podo went first and the others filed after him, hands behind their backs. All the Fangs were outside, lined up in two rows that formed a sort of corridor that led to the open door of the Black Carriage. Even Podo shivered when he saw it.

  Four sleek black horses were harnessed to the carriage, their eyes like empty graves. The steeds’ nostrils flared as they pawed at the ground and whipped their manes and tails. Sitting atop the carriage was a ghostly, hooded figure in a long black robe that swayed like a banner in a slow wind. A crow perched on its shoulder. The Fang, or man, or ghost, or whatever it was, sat looking forward with the reins in whitish, bony hands. The bowels of the carriage were fathomless, and around the doorway were slick black stains that ran down like dried blood. A chorus of flies buzzed in and out of the carriage door and the occasional whitish worm wriggled forth, plopped to the dirt, and was gobbled up by one of the many crows fussing about.

  Commander Gnorm stood by the iron door, a smirk on his saggy face. The Fangs jeered and hissed at them as they inched their way toward the open door.

  Janner could barely feel his feet as he walked, just inches behind Podo, nearer and nearer to the Carriage. Janner fingered at the bonds wrapped loosely around his wrists, anticipating with dread the moment when Podo would make his move. He could hear Leeli behind him, whimpering as she limped along, leaning on Nia for support.

  As Podo neared Commander Gnorm and the Carriage, he said in a loud voice, “Ah! A fine day for a ride through the country, eh, lads?”

  For a split second, Gnorm lost his smile. Most prisoners were either unconscious or hysterical and had to be forced into the Carriage. He wasn’t used to prisoners making jokes as they approached it.

  In a blur, Podo freed his hands, lunged forward, and seized Gnorm by his breastplate. Podo spun him around and into the line of Fangs, at the same time grabbing the dagger at his belt.

  “RUN—” Podo bellowed, and the Igibys broke away with a scream, pushing through the line of startled Fangs. Nia held Leeli with one arm and half-dragged her as she fled with the boys. But Podo’s yell was cut short. A Fang clubbed him in the head with the pommel of a sword, and he crumpled to the ground.

  In a matter of seconds, Janner, Tink, Leeli and Nia were subdued and tied up again. Podo lay in the dirt, unconscious.

  The hissing and cursing of the irritated Fangs was silenced by Gnorm’s grating chuckle. “Fools,” he said, bending down and wrenching his dagger from Podo’s limp hand. “Pick him up and throw him in.”

  It took four Fangs to lift Podo and hurl him into the waiting mouth of the carriage; he landed with a damp-sounding thud.

  Gnorm motioned for Janner to follow. Quaking, Janner stepped slowly to the open door. A sickening smell, the smell of dead and rotten things, oozed from the carriage, and Janner could hear Podo moaning and retching from within. With a last look at Tink, Leeli, and his mother, all of whom were pale and trembling, Janner stepped up into blackness.

  “Wait,” Gnorm said, grabbing Janner’s arm.

  The Fang grinned at Nia, his yellow fangs glistening in the torchlight. “I’ll give you one last chance, woman. Tell me where the jewels are, and I’ll spare your precious children. The old man dies either way, of course.”

  Nia looked from Janner to Tink to Leeli, tears welling in her eyes.

  From the belly of the carriage, Podo moaned, “Nia, no…tell them nothing…”

  “But Papa, I don’t know what to do!” she cried, trembling. “I don’t know what to do!”

  Podo’s weak voice echoed from the carriage again, “Daughter, tell them nothing! We can’t leave them.”

  Gnorm and the Fangs watched all this with smiles on their faces.

  Finally, Nia staggered to her feet, her chest still heaving. She stood up and brushed her hair from her eyes. With a heartbroken look at her children, she said in a strong voice, “We’ll be riding in your carriage, Commander. Together.”

  She glowered at Gnorm, lifted her dress, and stepped into the carriage as nobly as if it were a queen’s coach. From the shadows of the doorway, her long, slender hand emerged, beckoning in the children.

  Janner took her hand and once again stepped up to the carriage on trembling legs. There was no turning back now. The carriage would take them away to their dark fate.

  Unable to breathe, he took the first step.

  Suddenly, a piercing cry tore through the air. It sounded to Janner like a giant eagle, or a hundred giant eagles all screaming at once. Seeing the look of confusion on Gnorm’s face, Janner turned from the carriage just in time to catch a white-haired blur streaking toward them from Vibbly Way.

  37

  Talons and a Sling

  Running faster than Janner believed possible, Peet the Sock Man bore down on them, mouth open in a vicious cry, wildness in his eyes.

  The Fangs watched him come, unable to understand what they were seeing, too shocked to react. Peet leapt into the air with an animal-like grace and spread his socked arms wide, his screech still filling their ears, the crows scattering before him.

  Peet fell on three of the Fangs nearest to him in a fury of talons and shrieks. The talons, Janner saw, were Peet’s—three long talons, in fact, that tore from within the socks on both arms and shredded them to pieces. The remains of the stockings floated to the ground like feathers. The Fang company stood motionless as their fellow soldiers crumpled to the ground, sliced and bleeding from a hundred wounds. Peet wasted no time. Slashing and spinning, his talons now covered in green blood, he felled two more Fangs before any of them had the sense to draw a weapon.

  Tink and Leeli ducked beneath the Black Carriage. Janner followed, unable to believe his eyes.

  Commander Gnorm sputtered and growled as he watched his soldiers fall, one by one, to the swift talons of Peet the Sock Man. More than half of the Fangs were either dead or dying. The remaining ones had come to their senses and were advancing in a half circle
on Peet, who was backed up against the wall of the jail.

  Peet screamed at them, the swipes of his talons keeping them at bay.

  “Kill him!” Gnorm bellowed from a safe distance.

  The Fangs closed in, jabbing at Peet with spears.

  Janner shut his eyes, waiting for Peet’s final wail, but it never came. Janner heard Gnorm grunt with surprise.

  Podo, covered with grime, had shot from the carriage and was wrestling Gnorm’s sword from him. Gnorm’s fangs were bared and oozing venom. He snarled and thrashed at Podo, who was trying to hold him down, avoid his fangs, and draw Gnorm’s sword from its sheath. They struggled in the dirt while Peet fended off the surrounding Fangs.

  “Come quick!” Nia told the children. She climbed out of the carriage, also covered with black grime, and bustled them away from the fight, making for the shadows on the opposite side of the street, beside Books and Crannies. Janner knew that neither Peet nor Podo would last much longer, so with a prayer to the Maker he shot away from Nia.

  Gnorm was so consumed with fighting Podo that he didn’t notice Janner behind him, lunging for Gnorm’s dagger. Janner gripped the hilt, cold in his sweaty hand, drew it out, and ran it deep into Gnorm’s side. The fat Fang spun around, his black eyes wide with surprise and rage.

  “A boy!” Gnorm yelped, aghast. With the Fang’s own sword, Podo finished him off.

  Janner stood in shock over Commander Gnorm’s dead body.

  Suddenly, above the sounds of the battle, a high, steady whistling sound tore through the air. Fang and human alike stopped and covered their ears, but as soon as it started, the odd sound died away. They had no time to wonder about it. Podo howled and engaged the Fangs who had recovered from the noise and were closing in on Peet.

  Podo’s growl, Peet’s screech, and the snarls of the Fangs mixed with the racket of clashing steel.

  In a matter of moments, only Peet and Podo were left standing—the pirate and the Sock Man, covered in green blood and gasping for breath, knee deep in a pile of scaly corpses. The two warriors looked at each other without speaking for a long moment.

  “You all right, then?” Podo asked gruffly.

  Peet nodded. He was out of breath, but standing tall. The sadness in his eyes had been replaced with a piercing, almost noble aspect, though Janner noticed that Peet seemed unable to look directly at Podo.

  They turned their attention to the Black Carriage and the bodies of Fangs littering the street around it. The ghostly driver, forgotten in the battle, was still sitting on the carriage, holding the reins. The hooded head turned slowly their way and a chill ran through Janner.

  Podo took a threatening step toward the driver, gripping a Fang sword.

  “Zounds!” the driver said and whipped the black horses into a gallop. “Zounds!” it repeated, as the carriage sped away.

  “NO!” Podo cried. “We have to stop the carriage, or that critter driving it’ll get reinforcements!”

  Podo started after the carriage, but it was nearly out of sight.

  Janner heard an odd hissing sound from somewhere above him. He turned in time to see Zouzab Koit on the roof of the jail whirling a sling. The rock flew out of the sling and whizzed through the air, striking the ghostly driver with a dull thud.

  The driver of the Black Carriage fell limply from his perch, and the dark horses came to a stop, snorting and stamping the ground at the edge of town.

  “It was you!” Janner said, astonished. “You threw the stones at the Fangs in the alley!”

  Zouzab smiled his thin smile and bowed his head. “Yes, young Janner. Ridgerunners see many things. It wouldn’t do to let the Igiby children get hurt, now would it?” With that, he disappeared into the shadows.

  “It was him, it was, it was,” Peet mumbled. “I was there too, around the corner, but Zou-runner Ridge-zab slung his rocks first, first…” Peet’s words trailed off into murmurs when he realized that the Igibys were watching him. Already Peet’s eyes were sad and downcast again, and Janner wondered whether he had imagined the fire he had seen in them moments ago.

  A light breeze blew through the streets of Glipwood, where sixteen Fangs of Dang lay dead, and somehow the Igibys were still standing. Tink broke away from Nia, ran to Podo, and hugged him fiercely. Nia, Janner, and Leeli followed. They huddled in a long embrace while Peet kept at a distance, hiding his taloned hands behind his back, shuffling his feet.

  Finally, Nia looked over at him. “It’s all right, Peet,” she said.

  He stopped fidgeting and looked at the cluster of Igibys. Tears filled his eyes, and he looked down at his talons, covered with Fang blood. He wiped them on his shirt as if to make himself more presentable.

  “Peet,” Nia said gently. “It’s all right.” She beckoned him to them.

  Peet the Sock Man stared at her, eyes wide and shining. He tried to fix his wild, white hair and stood erect as he inched closer to the family. Peet reached out to hug them, still unsure of himself. He looked down again at his strange, clawed hands, and Janner saw a look of anguish pass over his face. His gaze met Janner’s. The large, teary eyes moved from Janner to Tink, where they lingered long as well. The Sock Man dropped to one knee and looked lovingly at Leeli, who for the first time since seeing Nugget’s broken body, smiled.

  Peet broke into sobs and commenced kissing the children’s feet in turn, pawing at their legs and mumbling through sobs. “Safe! Jewelbyfeathers! They’re safe, praise the Maker.”

  “That’s enough,” Podo grunted, toeing Peet away from the children. Podo glared down at the Sock Man. The look on the old pirate’s face was a confused mixture of anger and pity.

  Suddenly a door creaked open in the shadows across the street. In the dim light they could make out a figure emerging from the entrance of Books and Crannies. Podo took a threatening step toward the shop and raised the crude sword he’d been using.

  “Who’s there?” he growled, his voice echoing in the deserted street.

  “Pssst! Come, quick!”

  It was Oskar N. Reteep.

  Podo snorted with relief. “Aye, come on children. It’s no good standing here in the open with all this filth lying about. Inside, and hop to it!”

  But Leeli broke away with a sob and hopped toward the cottage, where she knew Nugget’s body lay.

  “Lass!” Podo said. “This is no time to—”

  But Nia quieted him with a stern look, moved to Leeli, and put a comforting arm around her. Janner couldn’t hear what his mother was whispering to Leeli, but he saw his sister nod, stand up straighter, and take a deep breath as she and Nia turned back to Books and Crannies.

  The Igibys hurried across the street. Peet scampered along behind them, keeping well away from Podo. Oskar, wild-eyed, peeked out at them, spectacles twinkling in the moonlight. He beckoned for them to enter and opened the door as they approached.

  “That’s it, now. Inside, inside! What in blazes are you doing, you old pirate!” Oskar said with a laugh and a slap on his knee. “I heard a commotion and looked out just in time to see the last lizard go down! Why, nothing like that’s happened since the Great War! Come to think of it, nothing like that happened on this continent even during the war. That may be the most Fangs that Gnag has ever lost in Skree.1 And young Janner here! And Peet!” What little they could see of Oskar’s face showed that he was happier than they’d ever seen him.

  “Why, in the words of the Sage of Brivshap, ‘Exactly!’” Oskar laughed, clapping his hands. “Exactly, I say! Zouzab! Fetch some water from the cistern for these warriors, if you please. Zouzab!” he called.

  No answer came.

  Oskar scratched his head. “Now, I wonder where that little fellow’s off to?”

  “Outside,” Podo said. “He took out the carriage driver with a stone and a sling.”

  “Did he now?” Oskar said, looking at Podo with surprise. “No matter. Follow me, everyone.”

  Peet, who stood just inside the door fidgeting with his hair, sneezed, reminding
everyone of his presence.

  “You,” Podo said gruffly, pointing Gnorm’s sword at him. “You wait outside.”

  “But Grandpa!” Leeli said. “He just saved our lives!”

  “What was that bowing and kissing our feet about?” Tink demanded. “Did he say something about jewels?”

  “Tink,” Podo said, “you know the feller’s crazy in the head. A crazy old fool, that’s all.” Janner shuddered at the bitterness he heard in his grandfather’s voice. A sniff came from Peet’s direction.

  Oskar coughed. “Come now, there’s no use carrying on in the dark. Follow me. Peet, you too,” he said, turning to go.

  “No,” Podo said in a menacing voice. His face was as hard as rock.

  Ignoring her grandfather, Leeli moved to Peet and took his strange, reddish claw of a hand, drawing him past Podo.

  In one swift, terrible movement, Podo jerked Leeli away from the Sock Man, seized him by the shoulders, and thrust him out the door. “I said NO! You stay away from these children, do you hear? Away!”

  Peet lay sprawled on the ground. The look on his face in the dim light was one of torture, as if he hurt too much even to cry out. Podo slammed the door and leaned his head against it, panting. No one spoke a word. Leeli sniffled, trying to hide her sobs. Janner kept waiting for Nia to intervene, to talk some sense into Podo’s unfair treatment of Peet, but she was silent, her expression unreadable in the dark.

  “Now let’s go,” Podo said as he straightened and turned to them.

  No one moved.

  “Oskar!” Podo barked. Oskar leapt into action and beckoned them to follow.

  Through Books and Crannies’ front window, Janner caught a glimpse of Peet silhouetted by the lamplight of the street, walking away with his head bowed low. Janner’s heart ached for the poor man.

  Oskar led them past tottering bookshelves until they detected the soft yellow glow of the lamp-lit study ahead of them. Oskar disappeared for a moment and returned with a pitcher of water and five small clay cups.

  Janner was surprised at how thirsty he was. His stomach rumbled, and he realized that they hadn’t had food or drink since the snapping diggle stew at Peet’s tree house.