admitted.
Sparking, crackling, snapping, a sheet of stinking yellow-white flame winked
into existence between Josh and the Disir. The heat was so intense it drove
him back onto Nidhogg s clawed feet and crisped his hair, scorching his
eyebrows and eyelashes. The Disir too staggered back, blinded by the foul
flames.
Josh!
Someone called his name, but the terrifying flames were roaring right in
front of his face.
The proximity of the fire roused the monster. It took a shuddering step, the
movement of its leg thrusting Josh forward onto his hands and knees, pitching
him dangerously close to the flames which died as abruptly as they had risen.
He hit the ground hard, hands and knees stinging with the contact. The smell
of rotten eggs was appalling and his eyes and nose were streaming, but
through his tears, he saw Clarent and attempted to reach for it just as
someone shouted at him again.
Josh!
The Disir threw herself at Josh once more, sword thrusting at him. A solid
spear of yellow flame struck the woman, exploding over her chain mail, which
immediately started to rust and fall away. And then another wall of flame
roared into existence between the boy and the warrior.
Josh. A hand fell on Josh s shoulder and he jumped, shouting aloud with
fright and the pain in his bruised shoulder. He looked up to find Dr. John
Dee leaning over him.
Dirty yellow smoke dribbled from the Magician s hands, which were barely
covered in torn gray gloves, and his once-elegant suit was now a ruined mess.
Dee smiled kindly. It would be best if we left right now. He gestured
toward the flames. I can t keep this up forever. Even as he was speaking,
the Disir's blade cut blindly through the fire, flames curling around the
metal as it sought a target. Dee hauled Josh to his feet and dragged him
backward.
Wait, Josh said hoarsely, voice raw with a combination of fear and the
smoke. Scatty He coughed and tried again. Scatty is trapped .
Escaped, Dee said quickly, putting an arm around the boy s shoulder,
supporting him, leading him toward a police car.
Escaped? Josh mumbled, confused.
Nidhogg lost its grip on her when I created the curtain of fire between you
and the Disir. I saw her roll away from its claws, jump to her feet and race
down the quay.
She ran she ran away? That didn't sound right. She d been limp and
unconscious the last time he d seen her. He tried to concentrate, but his
head was throbbing, and the flesh on his face felt tight from the flames.
Even the legendary Warrior could not stand against Nidhogg. Heroes survive
to fight again because they know when to run.
She left me?
I doubt she even knew you were there, Dee said quickly, bundling Josh into
the back of a badly parked police car and sliding in beside him. He tapped
the white-haired driver on the shoulder. Let s go.
Josh sat up straight. Wait I dropped Clarent, he said.
Trust me, Dee said, you don't want to return for it. He leaned back so
that Josh could look out the window. The Disir, her once-pristine white chain
mail now hanging in tattered and rotting shreds about her, strode through the
dying yellow flames. She spotted the boy in the back of the car and raced
toward it, shouting unintelligibly in a language that sounded like wolves
howling.
Niccol , Dee said quickly. She's rather upset. We really should be going
now, right now.
Josh looked away from the approaching Disir at the driver and was horrified
to discover that it was the same man he'd seen on Sacre -Coeur's steps.
Machiavelli turned the key in the ignition so savagely that the starter
screeched. The car lurched, jerked forward, then died.
Oh great, Dee muttered. That' s just great. Josh watched as the Magician
leaned out the window, brought his hand to his mouth and blew sharply into
it. A yellow sphere of smoke rolled from his palm and dropped onto the
ground. It bounced twice like a rubber ball, then exploded at head height
just as it reached the Disir. Thick, sticky strands the color and consistency
of dirty honey splashed over the Disir, then dripped down in long streamers,
gluing her to the ground. That should hold her , Dee began. The Disir's
broadsword sliced easily through the strands. Or maybe not.
Through his pain, Josh realized that Machiavelli had tried and failed to get
the car started again. Let me, he muttered, scrambling over the back of the
seat as Machiavelli slid over to the passenger side. His right shoulder was
still aching, but at least feeling had returned to his fingers, and he didn't
think anything was broken. He was going to have a massive bruise to add to
his growing collection. Turning the key in the ignition, he floored the
accelerator and simultaneously slammed the car into reverse just as the Disir
reached it. He was suddenly thankful that he d learned to drive a stick shift
on his father s old battered Volvo. The warrior s flailing sword struck the
door, puncturing the metal, the tip of the blade inches from Josh's leg. As
the car screeched backward, the Disir set her feet firmly and held on to her
sword with both hands. The blade tore a horizontal rip right across the door
and into the wing over the engine, peeling back the metal as if it were
paper. It also tore apart the front driver's-side tire, which exploded with a
dull bang.
Keep going! Dee shouted.
I m not stopping, Josh promised.
With the engine whining in protest and the front tire flapping and banging
off the ground, Josh tore away from the quayside
just as Joan wheeled the slightly scratched Citro n in at the other end.
Joan hit the brakes and the car screeched to a halt on the morning-wet
stones. Sophie, Nicholas and Joan watched in confusion as Josh reversed a
battered police car at high speed away from Nidhogg and the Disir. They could
clearly see Dee and Machiavelli in the car as he executed a clumsy handbrake
turn and sped from the parking lot.
For a single heartbeat, the Disir stood on the quayside, looking lost and
bewildered. Then she spotted the newcomers. Turning, she raced toward them,
sword held high over her head, screeching a barbaric war cry.
