Artemis did not wait for agreement. He turned and made for the crater lip. After a moment, the others followed, struggling with each footfall through the crust of ash. It reminded Artemis of a giant sand dune he'd trudged up with his father once. Here, falling would have harsher consequences.
It was a difficult and treacherous hike. The ash concealed grooves in the rock and small crevasses that vented warm air from the volcano.
Colourful fungi grew in clusters around these vents, and they glowed in the crater shadows like coral night lights.
Nobody spoke much during the climb. No.1 muttered his way through large tracts of the dictionary, but the others realized that this was his way of keeping his chin up.
Artemis glanced upwards occasionally. The sky was dawn red and glowed above him like a lake of blood.
That's a cheery metaphor, thought Artemis. Maybe it says something about my character that a lake of blood is the only image I can come up with.
No.1 's build was best suited for the steep climb. He had a low centre of gravity, and could rest on his stumpy tail if need be. His thick feet anchored him securely and armoured plates covering his body protected him from sparks or bruising in the event of a fall.
Qwan was clearly suffering. The old warlock had been a statue for the past ten thousand years and was still working the kinks out of his bones. Magic soothed the process somewhat, but even magic could not completely erase the pain. He winced each time his foot punctured the soot crust.
Finally the group reached the summit. If time had passed it was impossible to tell how much. The sky still had the same red tinge, and all timepieces had virtually stopped.
Holly jogged the last few steps, then raised her right hand, fingers closed in a fist.
'That means halt,' Artemis told the others. 'It's a military thing. Human soldiers use the exact same sign.'
Holly poked her head above the rim for a moment, then returned to the group.
'What does it mean if there are a lot of demons on their way up the mountain?'
Qwan smiled. 'It means our brother demons saw the flash of our arrival and are coming to greet us.'
'And what does it mean if they are all armed with crossbows?'
'Hmm,' mused Qwan. 'That could be a touch more serious.'
'How bad can they be?' asked Artemis. 'We've faced trolls together.'
'It's fine,' said Holly, powering up her handgun. 'They're not so big.
We're going to be fine. Really.'
Artemis frowned. Holly only bothered reassuring him when they were in deep trouble.
'That bad?' he said.
Holly whistled, shaking her head. 'You have no idea.'
Chapter 14: LEADER OF THE PACK
While Artemis and company had been zooming around the time tunnel, Leon Abbot had been in Council with the pride elders. Council was where all the big decisions were made, or more accurately, where Abbot made all the big decisions. The others thought they were participating, but Leon Abbot had a way of bringing them round to his way of thinking.
If only they knew, he thought, biting the inside of his cheek to prevent a smug grin spreading across his face. They would eat me alive. But they can never know, because there is nobody left alive to tell them. That dolt Number One was the last, and he's gone. What a pity.
Abbot had something big for planned for today. A big departure for the pride, the dawn of a new era. The Leon Abbot era.
He looked down the table at his fellow demons, sucking the bones from a bucket of recently live rabbits that he had laid on for the meeting. He despised the other Council members. Every one. They were weak stupid creatures, ruled by their baser appetites. What they needed was leadership. No arguments, no debates, just his word was law, and that was that.
Of course, under normal circumstances, the other demons might not share his vision of the future. In fact, if he suggested it, then they would most likely do to him what they were currently doing to the rabbits. But these were not normal circumstances. He had certain advantages when it came to negotiating with the Council.
At the far end of the table, Hadley Shrivelington Basset, a recent addition to the Council, stood and growled loudly. The signal that he wished to speak. In truth, Basset worried Abbot slightly. He was proving a little resistant to Abbot's regular powers of persuasion, and some of the others were beginning to listen to him. Basset would have to be handled soon.
Basset growled again, cupping both hands round his mouth to ensure that the sound travelled to the head of the table.
'I would speak, Leon Abbot. I would have you listen.'
Abbot sighed wearily, waving at the demon to go ahead.
The young ones certainly loved their formality.
'Things are happening that worry me, Abbot. Things are not as they should be with the pride.'
There were murmurs of assent from round the table. Not to worry. The others would soon change their tune.
'We are known by human names. We venerate a human book. I find this sickening. Are we to become human altogether?'
'I have explained this, Basset. Perhaps a million times. Are you so dull-witted that my words do not penetrate your skull?'
Basset growled low in his throat. These were fighting words. And pride leader or not, Abbot would soon find those words rammed down his throat.
'Let me try one more time,' continued Abbot, plonking his boots on the table, a further insult to Basset. 'We learn the human ways so we can better understand them, and so more easily defeat them. We read the book, we practise with the crossbow, we bear the names.'
Basset would not be cowed. 'I have heard these words a million times, and each time they seem ridiculous to me. We do not give each other rabbit names when we hunt rabbit. We do not live in foxholes to hunt the fox. We can learn from the book and the bow, but we are demon, not human. My family name was Gristle. Now that's a real demon name! Not this stupid Hadley Shrivelington Basset.'
It was a good argument, and well presented. Maybe in different circumstances Abbot would have applauded and recruited the young demon as a lieutenant, but lieutenants grew up to be challengers and that was one thing Abbot did not want.
Abbot stood, walking slowly down the length of the table, gazing into the eyes of each Council member in turn. At first their eyes blazed with defiance, but as Abbot began to speak, this fire faded to be replaced by a dull sheen of obedience.
'You are right, of course,' said Abbot, running a talon along one curved horn. An arc of sparks followed the path of his nail. 'Everything you say is exactly right. The names, that ridiculous book, the crossbow. Learning the language of English. It's all a joke.'
Basset's lips curled back over pointed white teeth, and his tawny eyes narrowed. 'You admit this, Abbot? You hear him admit it?'
Before, the others had grunted their approval of the young buck's challenge, but now it was as if the fight had gone out of them. All they could do was stare at the table, as if the answers to life's questions were etched into the wood grain.
'The truth is, Basset,' continued Abbot, drawing ever nearer. 'That we're never going back home. This is our home now.'
'But you said. .'
