The Wrath of the Lizard Lord Read online

  Dakkar rummaged in his pockets and found a small penknife. He paused. ‘The only trouble is,’ he said, pressing a hand on the door, ‘what do we do if we get free?’

  ‘Go home of course!’ Mary said, her eyes wide.

  ‘Do you know the way?’ Dakkar said, arching his eyebrows at her. ‘And would we survive that deadly jungle if we did find the right route back?’

  ‘You’re right, I suppose,’ Mary said, pouting her bottom lip. ‘What d’you suggest, then?’

  ‘I’m not sure,’ Dakkar said. ‘Maybe we can persuade Gog that we aren’t a threat. He might let us go.’

  ‘’E didn’t seem too fond of us “small ones”, as he put it!’ Mary said. ‘Perhaps we could tell ’im that we’ve buried some treasure back where ’e found us.’

  ‘I don’t think he’s that interested in treasure,’ Dakkar said. ‘Besides, think what he might do once he realised it was a lie.’

  ‘Well, I’m not ’angin’ around ’ere to be eaten – or worse – just cos you can’t think of a plan,’ Mary said, snatching the knife out of his hands. She began sawing at the dry reeds that bound the door together.

  ‘Wait!’ Dakkar said, leaping forward. ‘Look!’

  A pair of dark, gentle eyes peered through the gaps between the planks of the door. They were smaller and younger than Gog’s or the other giants.’

  ‘A youngster!’ Mary said, poking a finger through the gap. ‘Hello, littl’un. What’s your name?’

  ‘Careful,’ Dakkar whispered. ‘It may bite.’

  ‘It’s a boy, I reckon, and only a baby,’ Mary said, laughing as the young giant hooked a finger round hers. ‘’E don’t mean any ’arm.’

  Mary pulled her finger back and the baby giant gave a snort and a giggle. Dakkar pressed his eye to another gap. The child sat outside the door, a small replica of its parents but still equal in height to Dakkar or Mary. His long, matted hair covered his shoulders and his fur wrappings hung a bit looser. He looked up at Dakkar and gave a gap-toothed grin. Dakkar couldn’t help but smile back.

  Dakkar scanned across the clearing. ‘So many women and children,’ he said. ‘Where are all the men?’

  ‘Huntin’, perhaps?’ Mary suggested, reaching out and tickling the baby’s palm.

  ‘How long have we been here?’ Dakkar asked, glancing at the cloudy sky. ‘Shouldn’t it be dark by now?’

  ‘We’re underground,’ Mary said simply. ‘And it never goes dark.’

  ‘But where does the light come from?’ Dakkar said. ‘How can there be a sky with clouds in it?’

  ‘There’s no sky,’ Mary said. ‘Look. It’s just a solid bank of cloud. I reckon it’s a gas of some kind.’

  ‘A gas that glows?’ Dakkar said, curious.

  ‘I once saw a gentleman make an explosion usin’ gas and a flame,’ Mary said, her eyes wide. ‘He was a nat­­ural philosopher. I took ’im some of my petrified shells and he showed me his workshop. Nearly blew it up, ’e did!’

  ‘Explosions I can understand,’ Dakkar muttered. ‘They’re common in mines where underground gas builds up, but to be constantly combusting like this? Amazing!’

  ‘Do you think . . .’ Mary began to say but something stopped her. The child had turned to look behind him and gripped her finger tightly. ‘What’s up, fella?’

  Gunfire crackled from the forest and Mary cried out as the child scurried away, wrenching her finger.

  Dakkar stared out as giants scurried this way and that. Screams filled the air. More gunshots rang out and Dakkar watched in horror as figures began to fall to the earth.

  ‘They’re killing everyone!’ he gasped. ‘Quickly – give me that knife.’

  With trembling hands he sawed at the door’s thick reeds, which seemed to be tough as iron. More gunfire echoed and then a deep hissing roar made Dakkar pause and stare out between the boards.

  In the clearing stood a lizard, a biped, smaller than the one that had chased them up the tree. It pinned a wounded giant down with one powerful leg and sank its teeth into the poor man’s neck. Dakkar stared in horror – the lizard was harnessed and bridled like a horse, and a man sat on its back, wearing the black uniform of Count Cryptos.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Cold Fury

  Dakkar slashed at the door’s bindings with trembling hands, pausing to rattle at the planks now and then in the vain hope that they had come apart.

  ‘What’re you playin’ at?’ Mary said. ‘There’s shootin’ goin’ on out there!’

  ‘Those men are evil,’ Dakkar spat. ‘They’re slaughtering Gog’s people. We’ve got to stop them.’

  ‘Stop them?’ Mary said faintly.

  ‘At last!’ Dakkar hissed as the reeds finally snapped and the door sagged on one hinge. He gripped it and threw his weight backward, tearing the door out of its frame.

  The scene outside horrified him. Giant bodies lay strewn around the camp. Fires smoked in the rush roofs of the huts. Dakkar swallowed hard and blinked back the stinging sensation in his eyes. Anger boiled up inside him.

  Scanning around, he counted six mounted Cryptos guards harrying a circle of giants that strove to protect the remaining children. He noticed that the women had grabbed spears and clubs too. One Cryptos guard lay crushed under his lizard, obviously a victim of Gog’s mighty club. Another lay further away, nearer the scrum, a huge spear pinning him to the ground.

  ‘Dakkar, you can’t!’ Mary shouted behind him. ‘It’s too dangerous.’

  ‘I’ll not stand by and watch women and children being murdered,’ he snapped, running over to the fallen guard.

  Dakkar squatted down, snatching the rifle from the dead man’s hands. He pulled the pistol from his belt and grabbed the powder horn. Then he backed into the hut, dragging Mary with him.

  ‘Load this,’ he said, pushing the pistol into her hands. ‘If any guards come in here, shoot them.’

  Once he’d loaded his rifle, he ran out into the clearing again. The Cryptos guards were occupied with attacking the giants and wouldn’t expect an attack from behind. Even in the short time it had taken Dakkar to load the rifle, two more giants had fallen. He needed to use the element of surprise to fullest effect.

  Glancing down, he saw that the other fallen guard’s rifle lay primed and ready on the ground. The dead man held a round metal ball in his hand. A grenade!

  Six guards, Dakkar thought, grabbing the grenade. Two rifles and this. I’ll have to shoot well!

  He straightened the fuse on the grenade and poked it into the fire that smouldered nearby. The fuse spat and flicked into life. Dakkar’s heart pounded as he waited. If he threw it too soon, the men might have time to kick it away or rip out the fuse. If he waited too long, it would explode as he threw it, maiming or killing him. The spark ate through the black fuse. As it reached halfway, Dakkar threw the grenade as hard as he could.

  The grenade whirled across the clearing and cracked one of the guards on the back of the head. Another turned as the bomb exploded with an ear-shattering bang. Shards of hot metal peppered the next guard, sending him flying from his saddle. The lizard he had been riding gave a shriek and fell on top of him, lashing its tail into a third rider.

  Dakkar dropped to the ground and fired the first rifle. He grinned as his shot clipped the fourth rider, who fell. Dakkar snatched up the second gun.

  The confusion had stunned the guards but also some of the giants, who cowered as the last roar of the grenade faded. But Gog had recovered and swung his huge club at the fifth Cryptos guard, sending him spinning from his mount. The guard landed on his back with a loud thud and didn’t get up. Two female giants stabbed their spears into the lizard’s throat, knocking it backward off its feet.

  The final guard pulled out a pistol and pointed it straight into Gog’s face. Everyone froze. The women held their spears level and Gog braced himself to die.

  Dakkar gritted his teeth and squeezed the trigger.

  The rifle jerked in his grip, numbing his shoulder and m
aking him think he’d missed. A spurt of red in the man’s arm told him he hadn’t, and the pistol fell from his useless hand. Dakkar winced and looked away as the giants fell upon the wounded man, stabbing with spears and pounding with clubs.

  Gog stood still and stared over at Dakkar. The giant’s eyes burned with anger. Dakkar glanced around for the powder horn but saw only scattered ashes and the dead Cryptos guards. He’s going to kill me, Dakkar thought as the giant turned and stamped towards him.

  Dakkar stood, gripping his empty rifle in trembling hands. Maybe I can use it as a club, he thought hope­­­­lessly.

  Gog towered over him now, staring down and frowning. Dakkar stiffened and met Gog’s gaze. At least I’ll die with dignity, he thought, as a prince should!

  Then, to his surprise, Gog squatted down and brought his face close to Dakkar’s.

  ‘You hate Rohaga too,’ he said, pointing at the fallen rider. It was a statement, not a question. ‘You save Gog’s life.’ He bowed his head and thumped a fist to his chest. ‘Bukkah!’

  Dakkar bowed back. ‘My pleasure,’ he said. He tried not to think of the riders. Although he’d only wounded them, some had already died at the hands of the giants and the other riders would too. There was nothing he could do about that.

  ‘W-el-come.’ Gog rolled the word around in his mouth. Then he glanced at the bodies scattered about them.

  Dakkar felt a pang of sadness at the carnage. About twenty giants remained. Dakkar counted six men, eight or so children and six women. Dakkar could hardly bear to look but estimated that around thirty giants had fallen. The survivors of the attack hurried from body to body, hoping to find life. Women wept and sometimes a giant would cry out in rage, beating the ground with his fists. Some huts blazed and cooking fires lay scattered across the clearing.

  ‘Cryptos hunts your people?’ Dakkar said. ‘The Rohaga – they try to kill you?’

  Gog paused for a moment, then nodded. ‘Always. They kill the Sarba tribe. They kill all. We . . .’ Gog searched for the word. ‘We hide.’ He wandered off, pausing at the body of a friend.

  Mary stood at the door of the prison hut, her face pale and drawn. The pistol hung in her fist. Dakkar walked over to her and prised the gun from her grip.

  ‘It’s terrible,’ she whispered.

  ‘This is what Cryptos does,’ Dakkar said, almost to himself. He’d seen the ruthlessness of Oginski’s brother and his own father, the Rajah of Bundelkhand, taking life, but this went beyond anything Dakkar had ever experienced. He thought of Oginski. Was he this ruthless once?

  ‘We not stay,’ Gog shouted over to him, whirling his club over his head. ‘Rohaga have found us. To caves!’ He pointed a blackened fingernail to a distant rocky outcrop that poked above the treeline. ‘Samblaya! A Khav Suum! More Rohaga be here soon. You come with us.’

  Dakkar stood, uncertain for a moment, and glanced at Mary.

  ‘Well, I’m not waitin’ ’ere to be killed!’ Mary snorted, hitching up her skirts and stamping over to Gog’s side.

  The remaining giants gathered food, pots, skins and weapons on to their backs. Dakkar hurried from one fallen rider to the next, salvaging rifles, pistols, powder and musket balls. The giants had smashed most of them but he managed to gather two pistols and two rifles and plenty of ammunition. In addition, he found a sharp knife and a machete for hacking down thick foliage. He passed a rifle to Mary, who slung it over her shoulder.

  While Dakkar was searching for weapons, the giants lay the bodies of their dead in rows in the clearing. Dakkar rejoined the giants and watched Gog’s people hurl the bodies of the Cryptos guards unceremoniously into the bushes.

  Dakkar looked puzzled and Gog joined his thumbs together, flapping his fingers so that they looked like the wings of a bird. ‘Gacheela take ours,’ he said solemnly. He pointed to the pile of dead Cryptos guards. ‘Rohaga. Saranda have them.’

  ‘Sounds like being eaten by the lizards isn’t good,’ Mary said, pulling a face.

  ‘Would you like to be?’ Dakkar replied.

  ‘If I was dead then it wouldn’t matter,’ she said, shrugging.

  ‘I wonder what Gacheela is,’ Dakkar murmured.

  ‘A flying lizard is my guess,’ Mary said, shivering. ‘I saw one once. A horrible thing with a long pointy beak full of teeth. Looked like the devil, all claws and batwings!’

  Weeping, the party moved out of the clearing, their steps leaden. Dakkar and Mary followed in silence.

  Time dragged on again and weariness weighed Dakkar’s feet down. Mary looked exhausted too. She tripped over a root, bumping into Dakkar and waking him from a stumbling doze. In his waking dream, Oginski had been calling to him from his deathbed. Dakkar could see his mentor’s pale face and pleading eyes. Is he still alive? Dakkar wondered. How long have we been down here?

  Gog raised a hand and the party stopped so suddenly that Dakkar staggered into the legs of the giant in front of him. They had come to a cliff face with huge steps worn into the stone. High above them, Dakkar could see cave mouths dotting the rock.

  Gog weaved in and out among his fellow giants and crouched down to talk to Dakkar. ‘Cave is high,’ Gog said. ‘Climb on back. Gog will carry.’

  Dakkar felt a flush of embarrassment but looked at the steps. Each one would require him to pull himself up using both arms and legs. It would be exhausting. Dakkar looked at Mary, who shrugged.

  ‘Thank you, Gog,’ Dakkar said.

  Gog turned and Dakkar put his arms round the giant’s thick neck. Gog’s skin felt rough and bristly as the giant stood up, supporting Dakkar’s legs.

  Dakkar looked up at the caves as they climbed, desperate not to show his fear. Gog moved swiftly, almost leaping from step to step, and Dakkar had to keep tightening his grip. Glancing back, Dakkar saw Mary clinging to the back of another giant. Behind her, the jungle spread out like a green sea. In the distance, Dakkar saw the canopy of trees shivering and moving where giant lizards made their deadly way. Then he glimpsed something else far off. It looked like a pillar of rock reaching up into the clouds.

  ‘Here!’ Gog announced, leaping into a cave mouth.

  Dakkar found himself inside a large cavern with a sandy floor. A few ancient stalagmites poked up to the ceiling. Somewhere water trickled over pebbles but the cave looked dry.

  Gog stooped again to allow Dakkar down. Dakkar stood, his head spinning for a second.

  Mary wandered over to him as the rest of the tribe began spreading furs and stashing food in carved-out alcoves in the cave wall. One of the women clashed flints together over a ready-built fire, filling the cave with flashing sparks. Soon the smell of woodsmoke tickled their nostrils.

  Dakkar looked up and blinked, transfixed by what he saw.

  ‘What’re you lookin’ at?’ Mary said.

  ‘That,’ Dakkar whispered, pointing up into the shadows of the ceiling. ‘How did that get there?’

  Dangling from the ceiling, by dried-out vines and creepers, hung a familiar shape. It looked huge in this enclosed space, like a small whale hung up on display after being caught. Brass rivets gleamed in the newly kindled firelight; polished boards reflected the dance of the flames.

  ‘What is it?’ Mary said, clutching Dakkar’s shoulder.

  ‘It’s a submersible,’ Dakkar said quietly. ‘Designed by my mentor and his friend. She is called the Liberty.’

  Chapter Fifteen

  The Whale in the Cave

  ‘A boat that sails under the water?’ Mary snorted. ‘That’s unbelievable.’

  ‘Says the girl standing in an underground world full of monsters and giants,’ Dakkar replied, folding his arms.

  ‘Where did it come from, then?’ Mary said, mimicking Dakkar’s stance. ‘And why is it hanging up in a cave all the way down here?’

  ‘A friend of mine sailed her,’ Dakkar muttered. His stomach churned. ‘Georgia Fulton, an American girl, the niece of the inventor.’ Dakkar ran over to Gog and pointed at the Liberty. ‘Gog, where di
d you find this?’

  Gog frowned. ‘Girl came,’ he replied. ‘Said to keep safe.’

  ‘A girl,’ Dakkar said, his heart racing. ‘With red hair?’

  Gog nodded then a look of sadness crossed his face. ‘She good, kind. She went to the Rohaga.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Dakkar said.

  Gog went to the cave mouth and motioned for Dakkar to follow. The giant pointed across the top of the jungle to the distant column of rock.

  ‘Rohaga live there,’ Gog said, a hint of awe in his voice. ‘Many of my people go there. Never come back. She go there. Never come back.’

  ‘It must be a Cryptos fortress,’ Dakkar murmured. He turned and looked up at Gog. ‘When did she leave?’

  Gog shrugged. ‘Long time,’ he said. ‘Many Rohaga hunt us when she go.’

  Mary appeared at Dakkar’s side. ‘You can’t be thinkin’ of goin’ to that place?’ she said, staring at him in disbelief.

  ‘She’s my friend,’ Dakkar said, running his fingers through his black hair. ‘I can’t just leave her there. I’ve got to find her.’

  ‘But we need to find a way to get back to Lyme,’ Mary said, gripping his elbow.

  ‘That’s true, and I must get back to Oginski,’ Dakkar said, his voice barely a whisper. ‘But I can’t walk away from Georgia. Anyway, she must have got here somehow – perhaps she knows another way out. You don’t have to come – I wouldn’t expect you to help.’

  Mary scowled at Dakkar and put her hands on her hips. ‘Then what are we waiting for?’

  ‘It’ll be dangerous,’ Dakkar replied. ‘Maybe we should wait here.’

  ‘I know most of the creatures round these parts,’ Mary said. ‘I can guide you –’

  ‘You guided me right up a tree last time,’ Dakkar muttered, shaking his head.

  ‘You wrecked our only way home!’ Mary snapped, the colour rising in her cheeks. ‘If you don’t let me come, I’ll just follow you.’

  ‘But why would you want to come along?’ Dakkar frowned.

  ‘I bet whoever lives in that built the cage in the shaft,’ Mary said with a shrug. ‘Finding them is my best chance of getting out.’