‘There’s nothing there.’ Takada bit his knuckle in agitation.
He was right — there was no magic dark hole, or glowing doorway — just a damp, debris-filled tunnel.
Harper shook his head. ‘Gotta be, otherwise the signal would have no path back to us. We’ll find it. Focus — micro-matrix — analyse section by section.’
A mesh-like grid appeared across the screen, and each square was enlarged and briefly scanned in turn. Harper banged his fist into his hand.
‘Bingo.’
In the centre of the final quadrant, there was a slight swimming of the dark atmosphere, like steam rising over a hot bath.
‘That’s it. Lock it in.’
The location of the anomaly was recorded into the device’s memory. Harper spoke out of the corner of his mouth, not wanting to turn his eyes away from the screen for a second.
‘At least now we know we can find our way home. Drop a marker, just in case we need to find a way back in a hurry. Then take it back around and prepare to move forward.’
The floating electronic eye whined softly as its turned in the air.
‘Give me maximum illumination’. Circling the camera lens, an extra ring of lights shone deeper into the tunnel.
‘Jesus…’
Something the size of a large, pale, greasy-looking dog scuttled away into the darkness.
Takada grabbed Harper’s arm. ‘Did you see it?’
‘Hmm?’ Harper stared straight ahead. ‘Yes, I see it. Look.’ He tapped the bottom of the screen with his pencil.
For a moment, everyone was silent.
‘The ground.’ He continued to point.
At last, Takada murmured, ‘I see it.’
There were footprints leading down the centre of the tunnel. Harper nodded. ‘Size ten sneaker, wouldn’t you say? Follow them, ASAP.’
Chapter 26
Find Me This Traitor
Grimvaldr paced in the castle courtyard while several Wolfen followed him with their eyes.
‘Sire,’ Andrejk said at last. ‘We still need five days to bring in the entire outer ranks of Wolfen.’
Grimvaldr walked slowly towards his general. ‘I fear that events are not going to be ours to dictate anymore. We now know that the Panterran are aware we are calling for reinforcements — if they are going to make war, they will either head off our far Wolfen before they arrive, or they will seek to attack us long before we are ready.’
Grimvaldr turned to another of his generals. ‘Magnus, what say the scouts — where are the enemy encampments now?’
Magnus, a tall battle-scarred Wolfen, rested his hands on the hilt of his broadsword. ‘They are two to three days out… but many of our scouts failed to return — captured, most likely, and therefore we have to assume we have blind spots. The Panterran and Lygon could be even closer.’
Grimvaldr grunted. ‘They will attack us in two days. What will we have available?’ He turned to Karnak, his most experienced soldier. The Wolfen warrior was of the same age as Grimvaldr, and like him had seen war many times before. He smiled grimly as he stepped forward.
‘Ten thousand Wolfen elite, two hundred bowmen, five hundred fast riders… more than enough to roll over a million Slinkers, and just as many of their giants, sire. The Lygon caught our warriors by surprise in the fields. But it will never happen again. We’ll equip the front lines with lances — the great blunderers’ own body weight will carry them onto our pikes.’
Grimvaldr placed his hand on Karnak’s shoulder. ‘If only everything went to plan — we could win all our battles at the table.’
‘Yes, sire. The mists of war sometimes blur all.’
Grimvaldr turned to the other Wolfen and spoke in a loud and strong voice. ‘Valkeryn will not fall this season. Though I believe we have enough force to stop the enemy in their tracks, it is imperative that we hold them back for two, perhaps even three days, until our reinforcements begin to arrive. Then we will close around them like a fist.’
He turned back to Magnus. ‘The far troops need to be fully equipped and briefed — we can’t have thousands of Wolfen streaming into Valkeryn, unprepared. Ready some Wolfen to meet and organise them, so they are armed and ready for battle. Every Wolfen… and every second, will count. Go.’
The generals filed out, leaving only one remaining.
Grimvaldr sat heavily on a bench and rested an elbow on his thigh and his chin on his fist. He sighed long and wearily. ‘Do you think we can hold them? Could they possibly overwhelm us?’
Vulpernix sat down beside the king. ‘The Panterran have brought together every warrior in the land. All have been attracted by the thought of conquering Valkeryn.’ He looked off into the distance, as if gathering his thoughts. ‘The Lygon will come in their first attack — though Karnak may think we can spear the giants on our pikes, I fear that they will be ready with heavy armour. Their enormous strength will allow them to carry steel thicker than our weapons could ever hope to penetrate.’
He turned to Grimvaldr. ‘The pikes will break… but still, I believe we can repel them. All will depend on the reinforcements getting here in time. If not…’
The king nodded slowly. ‘If not, they will not be needed.’ He inhaled deeply and let the breath leak from his long snout. ‘I need to ask a favour of you, old friend.’ Grimvaldr gripped the forearm of the ancient counsellor and looked deeply into his eyes. ‘We cannot win this war, while our plans are being shared with the Panterran. Find me the traitor — find him quickly, before these devils are at our gate… and our throats.’
Vulpernix placed his hand over the king’s. ‘Trust me, sire.’
Eilif bounced around her large room, pulling open drawers and opening boxes. The armour she chose wasn’t her standard heavy battledress of polished steel with the crest of the raised wolf’s head. Instead, she chose fire- blackened leather, toughened and hard enough to deflect arrows. Tight chain mail covered her arms and long legs — it too had been stained to blend into the shadows.
She belted a medium-length sword to her waist, paused, and then added several more blades. She then strung one of her shorter bows, looping it over one shoulder with a quiver of arrows over the other. She was about to bound from the room, when she stopped and went back to the shelf. She reached in among the bottles of potions and powders, and her hand closed on a small leather box. She rattled it and a hissing came from within. Nodding, she stuck the small box in a pouch that she had tied over the small of her back.
There was a knock on her door and she froze. She thought quickly and looked around her room at the disarray she had caused. If it was the queen, she could never explain her attire.
The knock came again.
Eilif went to the window and pushed it open. Without a second thought, she leapt out.
The two brothers, Strom and Sorenson, moved quickly and quietly through the dark forest, making note of large trees and landmarks as they went. No moon meant tracking and travelling fast had to be accomplished with sharp night vision, smell, hearing — and caution. They needed to track their quarry, but not stumble into them. They also needed to find their way back, as they expected to be moving fast.
Both Wolfen knew that the Panterran’s night vision was twice as good as their own, and if they were detected, their mission would be a failure. It would also mean capture and a very unpleasant death.
After a while, Sorenson stopped and motioned for them to still. He moved his head slowly in an arc, listening. ‘Something,’ he whispered to his older brother.
Strom’s ears flicked forward and then back, and in another moment he whispered in response, ‘I don’t sense
