still lurching towards them, picked up another remnant of the earlier battle, a gargorilla head. He flung it with all the speed and power of a cannonball. The Keepers were forced to dive out of the way.
‘Keepers!’ roared E’Jaaz. ‘This way!’
He still rode his original gargorilla, which was badly dented and chipped. About thirty more ran, lumbered and limped by its side. Some were missing limbs, others had large cracks across their torsos, all proof of the viciousness of the battle for Sylvaris.
‘Yaaa!’ shouted E’Jaaz, slipping from his mount. He slapped it on the back, urging it and its brethren on. Running to Charlie and Marsila’s side he watched as the gargorillas converged on Fo Fum.
‘Do you think that will work?’ asked Marsila.
E’Jaaz watched as Fo Fum sliced one in half and smashed another two into rubble with a stamp of his huge foot. ‘Er … I think the answer is going to be no. What’s next?’
Marsila and E’Jaaz shared a look, then both turned to Charlie. She stared back at the adults with an open mouth.
E’Jaaz frowned. ‘Really? No ideas?’
‘We could always go out in style?’ suggested Marsila, her old scowl returning.
‘What?’ scoffed E’Jaaz. ‘After all we’ve gone through? Not a chance. Besides you still owe me a kiss.’
‘Brain-rattled fool, you were asking for a dinner date in the Jade Tower and now you want to up the stakes to a kiss?’
Charlie wanted to sit down and rest for a minute. She needed the chance to recuperate, to think and to plan. The cost of sustained action over the last few days was taking its toll, but she suspected that if she lay down she might not be able to stand again. She didn’t think that would be a dignified way to go; being beheaded by a raging smoke-filled giant while she sat on her backside.
Rubbing thoughtfully at her head she did her best to block out the clumsy attempts at witty interaction between Marsila and E’Jaaz and tried to think.
‘Got to have a plan. Got to have a plan,’ she whispered.
An image bubbled up from the deep recesses of her tired brain. Slowly it swirled into focus. She and Crumble by the riverside, discussing her fighting style. Charlie rubbed harder at her head in an attempt to hasten the process.
Slowly, like a musical chord echoing over the distance, Crumble Shard’s words came to her.
‘Be sneaky or more aggressive!’ she cried.
E’Jaaz and Marsila gave a start.
‘Oh my gosh! OK, OK,’ gushed Charlie, her tongue suddenly unable to keep up with brain. ‘We’ve got to …’ She paused to look around. ‘We’ve got to get out of the city. We need more room and less people.’
The last of the gargorillas flew through the air, knocking E’Jaaz off his feet. Rolling over and over in a cloud of dust and a nimbus of Will, the Keeper eventually staggered to his feet. They all turned to watch Fo Fum. Smoke still haloing round his head, he dipped his hand into the pile of gargorillas that lay broken at his feet. Grabbing an assorted handful of bits and pieces he flung them at the Keepers. Hands up, Will blazing, they were forced to retreat from the onslaught.
‘We’ve got to –’ Another deluge of missiles punched Charlie further back. Her shield of gold flashed and sparked as it was struck. ‘Ah forget it! Just follow me!’
Pushing her tired limbs into motion and using her Will to the very best of her ability, Charlie led the two Keepers through Sylvaris. Tumbling and spinning, jumping and somersaulting they pushed their way across the city, leaping over broken bridges and ducking through towers with gaping excavations. The crunch, crunch of Fo Fum’s measured step pursued them as did the occasional projectile of a flung wall, behemoth limb or Stoman corpse.
‘What are we doing?’ panted E’Jaaz.
‘Getting rid of –’ Once again another thrown missile cut her short. Charlie smashed the next aside with a flurry of Will.
‘Getting that –’ The bridge they were running on crumpled and partially collapsed as Fo Fum put his weight on it. Helping each other they clambered on to another.
‘Just run!’
Onward and onward they went until they reached the city limits and the towers grew further and further apart. Sliding down the outside of a severely damaged building that leaned at an extreme angle, they tumbled into Deepforest. Checking that Fo Fum was still chasing them they raced across battlefield debris, past groups of Treman soldiers who were being assisted by healers, skipped