the opposite way to human legs, and as he flapped his immense black and white wings, he kicked up and outwards with a terrifying ferocity.
But … he wasn’t very precise in his attacks. Not carefully targeting the bugs like Roshni and the others, but rather going a bit … berserk. His eyes were wild and frightened. He was out of control.
It was hard to tell through the green riverglass, but Morrigan was certain that if she could have seen them properly, his eyes would have been glowing emerald.
‘Miss Cheery?’ she called back to their conductor, who was in the corner helping Francis. ‘I think you should come and see—’
‘PUT THAT OUT,’ cried Lam, looking at Morrigan’s hands in panic.
But the warning came too late.
Three things happened in extremely quick succession.
First, outside the truck, Roshni screamed as Colin viciously lashed out at her chest with his clawed foot.
‘ROSH!’ cried Miss Cheery.
Morrigan felt a sudden jolt of terror. The tiny flame cupped in her hand roared in response to her fear, growing brighter and bigger. It singed Hawthorne’s eyebrows and engulfed Morrigan’s hands up to the wrists so that it looked like she was wearing gloves of fire. She gasped, shaking them out to extinguish them.
And lastly – the sudden flash of fire having caught his attention – Colin halted and turned to face the truck, lifting his beak into the air and sniffing like a wolf scenting its prey. He locked eyes on Unit 919 and, in an instant, was running towards the truck faster than Morrigan would have imagined possible.
The riverglass door lived up to Roshni’s promises; it was strong enough to withstand the sudden fierce assault. Colin leapt into the air with great flying kicks and threw his head against it repeatedly, hard enough to do some damage to himself if not the glass. But it didn’t stop him. He couldn’t stop. He had descended into madness.
‘Get back from the door!’ Miss Cheery shouted at Unit 919, rushing to stand between her scholars and the glass.
The bookfighters were clearly well trained to respond in an emergency. After a moment’s confusion they divided themselves into three groups: one still fighting the bugs, one trying to control Colin, and one helping Roshni, who had collapsed on the ground. The half a dozen who swarmed the ostrichwun managed to pull him away from the truck, pinning him to the ground. It took the strength of all six to hold him down, and Colin fought them even still.
‘Everyone get down on the floor,’ ordered Miss Cheery. She ran towards the front cabin and climbed through a little latched door into the driver’s seat. ‘I’m getting you out of here.’
‘But what about Roshni and the others?’ asked Morrigan. ‘We can’t just leave them!’
Thaddea reached out to slide back the metal bolt. ‘We have to get out there and help!’
‘Do not touch that door, Thaddea Macleod!’ shouted Miss Cheery as the engine roared into life. ‘Everyone get down NOW.’
Those who didn’t were instantly thrown to the floor as the truck lurched away from the scene. Miss Cheery careened down the aisle the way they’d come, swerving dangerously close to the towering bookshelves and almost crashing several times on their short journey back to the loans desk. Unit 919 was silent; they heard the crackle of the truck radio and, for the first time, a slight note of fear in the conductor’s voice as she called for an ambulance. In her head Morrigan could still see poor Roshni lying on the ground wounded, confused by her friend’s attack. She hoped the librarian would be okay.
‘Right. Everyone out,’ ordered Miss Cheery as they pulled up near the Mayhew Street entrance. ‘And I don’t just mean out of the truck, I mean out of the library. I’m going back for Roshni.’
Half the unit ran obediently to open the door and clamber out, while the other half shouted in protest.
‘Miss, we’re not leaving you!’
‘You can’t go back alone!’
‘We have to help—’
‘QUIET.’ They fell silent immediately. Morrigan had never heard her speak so fiercely. ‘You are to walk through that revolving door, and you are not to come back inside. I need you to stand guard outside the library. Don’t let anyone in. Wait for me on Mayhew Street, but do not come back inside, understood?’
‘But—’ began Hawthorne.
‘UNDERSTOOD?’
Mumbling their reluctant agreement, Unit 919 turned to head for the exit as instructed.
‘Morrigan, wait.’
She felt Miss Cheery’s hand grip her arm and turned back.
‘Take the Brolly Rail home, quick as you can,