Chapter 4
Don’t Look Now
‘Hank?’
It looked as if the Ranger was frozen in place, his face drained of all emotion.
What am I going to do? (We need to get moving!) THINK OF SOMETHING TO SAY! (We’ve got to get out of here!) YES! THINK OF SOMETHING TO SAY!
‘Sheila, must… she must… be,’ said Presto, struggling to continue the sentence, ‘She… might…’ Hank hadn’t moved, not even to turn round and face him, or look at him, or anything. For a moment, Presto just stared in confusion, then noises from close by brought him to his senses. ‘Hank! C’mon! We need to get them out of there!’
Presto looked back into the hut. The others were looking angry and bored and frustrated; Presto recognised the expressions as they had been in this sort of situation before.
But before he could do anything to help, there was the sound of voices from the street nearby. Some of those little gnome-creatures were coming this way!
Hastily, Presto pulled Hank back away from the window, just in time.
The little creatures didn’t notice them and unlocked the door of the house, muttering to each other. As they went in, Presto leaned forward again to see what was going on inside. They didn’t seem interesting in Eric and his biting sarcasm and demands for a lawyer, Bobby’s shouting, or Uni’s plaintive bleat. Instead, they went straight to the weapons!
The (small) amount of confidence that Presto felt vanished almost instantly. They had found the others, well most of them, and they had a good chance to get them free without anyone seeing. But they couldn‘t go chasing after lost weapons as well as their missing Thief. He couldn’t let that happen, not when they were all in the one place at the moment!
Instinctively, his hand went to the Hat.
Keep them handy, keep them near! Keep the weapons close by us here!
As a spell, it wasn’t great, but it was the best he could do at such short notice. The Hat glowed, but nothing seemed to happen. (Please work, please work, please, work!)
The creatures went over to the weapons, and Presto held his breath. One reached down to pick up the Club, but it didn’t move! It gripped the handle with both hands and tugged as hard as it could, but still the weapon didn’t move an inch.
There was a burst of frightened babbling, and the other creature came forward and tried ineffectually to help. The Club couldn’t be moved; neither could the Shield, Cloak or Javelin. It was as if they were fastened to the floor with glue.
Presto’s friends had stopped complaining to stare at the creatures in confusion. Then the Magician saw Eric suddenly smiled and looked around. He caught sight of Presto and his grin grew wider. He winked.
The creatures had started to argue.
‘It’s magic,’ one of them hissed. ‘Bad power! Bad magic! They are sorcerers with bad power!’
The other looked furtively around, then glared at their prisoners.
‘You have bad magic!’
Eric gave a cocky smile.
‘Well, maybe we do! Or maybe we just don’t like being locked up by such poor excuses for dwarves!!’
The first creature didn’t seem to like that comparison one little bit, and scowled at the Cavalier.
‘Bad magic,’ murmured the other one breathlessly. ‘The Shadow! The Shadow will be angry. The Shadow doesn’t want bad power. The Shadow will…’
The two creatures looked at each other in terror, and for a moment the Magician felt quite sorry for them. Though they were grubby, and small and sorta mean-looking, there was nothing actually nasty about them. As he looked, Presto saw the fear in their eyes. That, and the way they shuffled around nervously made him feel uneasy. They were definitely afraid of something, and he suspected that it was a something he and his friends should be afraid of too!
The two gnome-creatures hesitated for a moment longer, then bolted for the door, to enthusiastic cheering from the three imprisoned kids and Uni.
But it was clear to Presto what they were going to do; they were going back to the main gathering to tell the others creatures, and they would soon be back with reinforcements! So he and Hank had to get the others out of there, as soon as possible.
He turned to say as much to the Ranger, but the words didn’t come out of his mouth, the expression on Hank’s face stopped him.
He’d never seen Hank like that before. He was terrified, yes, but there was something beyond that as well. It wasn’t just fear for his friends; it was fear of losing Sheila. That look suddenly brought home to Presto realise what Hank must be feeling.
It had been obvious over the past few days in the clearing that Hank and Sheila had been spending a lot of time together; everyone had given them a bit of space, but this was the first time Presto had really put two and two together and got four!
‘I… um, she’ll… um,’ This isn’t going to help! (Those nasty little gnome-things are gonna be back any minute) Do something! (Quick!)‘Hank, we’ve gotta get the others out of there! As quick as we can! Before those things come back!’
Presto grabbed Hank’s arm and gave it a little tug, and he could feel his friend shaking. But that small gesture of help seemed enough to rouse the Ranger from his blank stare, and they both headed for the door at the same time. As they pushed it open they were greeted by cheers from their friends.
‘Way to go, Presto!’ exclaimed Eric with a wide grin. ‘And nice timing! I was getting pretty bored of waiting for you guys to show up! C’mon get us out of here!’
Presto was just about to answer back when Dungeonmaster’s warning popped back into his head, and he was instantly on the alert. One of them wasn’t who they appeared to be. He glanced towards the weapons, and frowned.
‘Where’s Sheila!’ shouted Hank striding towards the cell door. ‘What the hell happened!’
The Magician didn’t like the way Hank was looking at the others, especially the way he was looking at Eric. They had been on reasonably good terms for some time now, and this wasn’t the time or the place for an argument!
‘Take it easy,’ said Presto, ‘we…’
It was clear that Hank wasn’t listening. He glared at the others, and fixed the Cavalier in particularly venomous stare. Eric, being Eric, glared back, as sarcastically and arrogantly as he could. (This is going to go wrong!) Yep! This is all going to go totally wrong… any moment… now...
‘What happened to Sheila?’ the Ranger demanded again.
‘Get us out of here, and we’ll all go and…’ started Eric
‘You’re not going anywhere until I know where she is!’ hissed Hank. He turned to Presto, and pointed. ‘Get the weapons.’
The Magician barely had time to register the words before Hank had a great golden arrow pointed right in Eric’s face through the bars of the cell.
‘What! Hey! No!’ said Eric in surprise. ‘What’s going on?’
Hank frowned furiously at Presto, and the Magician was compelled to do as Hank asked, even though he didn’t quite agree that this was the right way to do things. He could feel Eric and the others watching him as he collected the four weapons from the ground and gathered them up in his arms.
‘So, you gonna get us outta here, now?’ said Eric as sarcastically as he could manage while facing a flaming energy arrow. ‘Or are we just gonna stand around getting arrows pointed at us until the Duegars get back? Won’t that be fun!’
‘Open the door,’ Hank told Presto.
For a moment, Presto thought Hank was meaning he should use the Hat, but then he saw the glint of a metal key on the wall nearby. Fortunately, it opened the cell door.
The three inside didn’t look particularly pleased though, especially Eric who was still glaring at Hank.
‘Where’s Sheila!’ he demanded.
‘Those creatures took her!’ answered Bobby with a growl.
‘Hank!’ said Diana, eying the nocked arrow warily. ‘What’s going on!’
‘I don’t care,’ said Bobby brusquely, pushing Eric and Diana out of the way. ‘I gotta find Sheila!’
‘Meeah! Mee-Maa!’ echoed Uni, following him.
‘What’s going on, Hank?’ repeated Diana. ‘Why are you acting so…’
There were noises from nearby outside the door, perhaps the sound of raised voices. Presto looked at Hank.
‘We’ve gotta get out of here!’ he hissed. ‘Hank! Let them go!’
‘Where’s Sheila!’ he snapped at Eric. The Cavalier didn’t get much of a chance to answer, as Bobby cut in.
‘They took her! We’ve gotta find her!’ The diminutive Barbarian turned to Presto and gave a thunderous scowl that would have stopped almost anyone (except maybe Tiamat) in their tracks. ‘Gimme my Club!’
For a second, Presto hesitated. He knew that “Bobby” might not actually be Bobby, and he couldn’t use the Club anyway. (You were right!) What?? (This is not the right place to find out!)
Swallowing hard, and overcoming the powerful look Hank was casting at him, Presto gave the Club back to the Barbarian, who immediately tapped it on the ground, causing it to glow brightly.
‘Just let ‘em come back in here! I’ll teach them to hurt my sister!’
(Hurt??) Hurt?? (HURT??)
‘Hurt!’ exclaimed Hank, looking back round at the Cavalier. ‘What do you mean! What happened!’
‘Stop pointing that goddamn arrow in my face and I might tell you!’ snarled Eric. ‘And gimme my Shield.’
The noises outside grew louder, and there was the sound of frantically chattering voices.
‘Good, they’re coming!’ bellowed Bobby, waving his Club belligerently and just missing Uni’s nose. ‘I’ll teach them to mess with us!’
‘No,’ said Presto, grabbing his arm. ‘Let’s just get out of here! Quick!’
‘I don’t wanna end up stuck in the cells!’ said Diana firmly. ‘Presto’s right. Let’s get out of here. Whatever it is can wait!’
She looked at Hank for a moment, then turned and headed for the door, Bobby following. The Ranger gave Eric one last angry look then followed them. The Cavalier was by Presto’s side the instant Hank’s attention was elsewhere, and he yanked the Shield out of the Magician’s grip.
‘I’ll take that, thank you!’ he said pointedly, before turning on his heel and following the other three out of the door.
The Magician stared after him, but barely had time to the in about how much Eric had changed over the past few months (not running away at the very first opportunity for one thing) before the shouting grew much louder. (Time to leave!!) RIGHT NOW!
He ran.
Diana and Hank were at the front of the group, and Diana seemed to know the fastest way out of the village; Presto wasn’t close enough to hear what she was telling Hank, but she seemed pretty sure of herself. Bobby sprinted after them, with Uni galloping along by his side and Eric ran after, holding on to his Shield for dear life.
Presto didn’t dare look back.
Besides, he didn’t need to, as he could hear the sounds of pursuit close behind; (Being chased again!) How familiar! (But would I miss it if it didn’t happen?)
They were out of the village in a few minutes, and into the dark, shadowy caves once again, this time on the opposite side from where Hank and Presto had come in.
The Magician was prepared for a long chase and then a fight at the end, but the creatures didn’t follow them into the caves, they didn’t go further than the edge of their village, and instead contented themselves with hurling insults and shouting after them.
Eric it seemed was finding it hard to keep up with the others, and Presto had soon overtaken him. But the kids still ran on for a while, Hank seemed to be driving them forward to make sure they were not going to be followed.
At last they stumbled to a halt in a random cave, breathless and disorientated.
‘I… think… we lost them,’ gasped Eric as he staggered up holding his side.
He had barely spoken when Hank turned furiously to Eric, staring at him in a very unpleasant manner. Presto was thinking about Dungeonmaster’s warning, and it seemed likely that Hank was too; it seemed likely that he’d already made up his mind about who the Doppelganger was as well!
‘Where’s Sheila! What did you do to her? What happened?’
‘Don’t bother to ask nicely or anything!’ the Cavalier snapped, obviously angry himself now. ‘She was taken to the Shadow by those Duegars. I’d told her going there to help was a bad idea! And it was! But no one ever listens to me, do they!’
Aware that they still didn’t know who was who, the Magician made a snap decision to ignore that fact for the time being. He knew Hank wanted to find Sheila, more than anything else. That was the Ranger’s top priority. Besides, Hank looked like he wasn’t gonna listen to any one else at the moment anyway!
‘What happened?’ Presto asked. ‘How did you get there in the first place?’
‘When the wall came down,’ started Diana, ‘at the bridge, we had to run to get out without being trapped. We didn’t get the chance to go and look for you, there was something chasing us.’
Presto could remember a big, black something that had swooped down from the heights of the cave as he had been running across the bridge.
‘What was it?’ he asked.
Diana shrugged.
‘We couldn’t see.’
‘How did you end up in the village?’
‘That was Sheila’s idea!’ chipped in Eric. ‘There seemed to be some sort of panic in the village, and Sheila thought we could help! And get help to find you as well.’
‘But,’ continued Diana, ‘the Duegars didn’t see it like that! They were all worked up about their Protector Shadow being disturbed, and they blamed us. And when we tried to leave to get back to help you on our own they grabbed us.’
Presto glanced up at Hank, and they were obviously thinking the same thing. How were they captured so easily? Why didn’t they use their weapons?
The Ranger beat him to the question.
‘How? Why didn’t you use your weapons?’ But instead of waiting for an answer, he pulled an arrow and pointed it at Eric once again. ‘Your explanation had better be very good!’
‘Hank!’ said Diana, ‘What’s happened? What’s wrong?’
Eric glared at Hank, a small sneer on his face. Presto saw the Cavalier tighten his grip on his Shield, but he didn’t use it or activate it’s magic. It could still be the wrong Eric. Of all of them, The Cavalier was the most likely target, after all. He was forever wandering off or getting captured, or running into some sort of trouble.
‘Put the goddamn arrow away and I’ll consider answering!’ Eric said, planting his hands on his hips. ‘What’s the matter with you!’
‘Answer the goddamn question!’ demanded Hank.
‘We didn’t get the chance to react,’ Diana explained, looking a little embarrassed. ‘They were too quick for us, even Sheila didn’t get to use her Cloak. They went for the weapons first.’
Hank’s grip on the Bow didn’t waiver, and he took a step towards the Cavalier, so the tip of his arrow was only inches away from Eric’s nose.
‘Why didn’t you look after her!’ he asked Eric in a low growl. ‘Why did you let them hurt her?’
Hank pulled the arrow back further and the low hiss of its magic was all Presto could hear. But Eric didn’t back down.
‘I think it’s him, Presto,’ said Hank. ‘I bet it is!’
‘“Him” what!’ demanded Eric. ‘Presto? What’s going on? You seem to have some explaining to do as well?’
‘Shut up!’ growled Hank. ‘Just give me one excuse and I’ll fire.’ This time, Eric blanched at the conviction in the Ranger’s voice. ‘Why didn’t you stop them taking Sheila?’
‘Don’t go blaming me for all this!’ replied the Cavalier. ‘I tried to help, and I tried to stop them. And I got punched in the stomach for my trouble too!’
‘They wanted something to placate the Shadow,’ said Diana, stepping up close to Hank. ‘A present, or something. They took the first one they could. We all tried to stop them, but there were too many of them.’ She reached up to touch his arm. ‘We tried. I’m sorry.’
‘Where are they taking her?’ asked Presto.
‘Into the centre of the mountain. I think they said something about a cave, or a nest, or something. It didn’t make much sense.’
For a few moments, Hank didn’t move, then very slowly he lowered his Bow and the arrow faded away to nothing. Then he looked up to Presto.
‘You’d better tell them what’s going on,’ said the Ranger, still staring. ‘We need to find out who we can trust.’
Eric’s expression turned from one of relief to angry indignation.
‘Who we can trust!’ he mimicked. ‘Whaddya mean by that!’
He glared at Hank, and then turned to glare at Presto.
‘Well…?’
‘I saw Dungeonmaster again,’ said Presto. Eric pulled a face. ‘He gave me a warning.’
‘So?’
‘One of us is a Doppelganger,’ interrupted Hank. ‘One of you two!’
Eric and Diana looked at each other warily, but Bobby just looked back at Hank, confused.
‘A doppel-what?’ the Barbarian asked.
‘A double,’ said Hank. ‘But it’s not you, Bobby.’
‘How did you figure that out!’ said Eric indignantly.
‘He used his Club,’ said the Ranger. ‘At the village.’
Eric looked doubtfully at Hank and Presto. He didn’t make any move to use the Shield. But Diana did react. She looked at Presto, who was still holding her Javelin, and held out her hand for Presto to return it.
‘I am me,’ she said firmly. ‘And I’ll show you!’
The moment the shrunken Javelin touched her hand, it began to glow and grow. Within a moment it was five foot, and Diana twirled it above her head.
‘Satisfied?’ she asked Hank. The Ranger nodded.
‘So, that just leaves you, Cavalier!’ he said. Presto glanced down at the Bow in Hank’s hand. Presto could see that his friend was just a fraction away from pulling another arrow. He had already made up his mind about “Eric”.
The Cavalier just stared at him, with a familiar arrogant expression.
‘You are really gonna make me do this?’ he asked, barely bothering to hide his anger.
‘Yes.’
‘Fine.’
Eric glanced down to the Shield on his arm. Then he lifted it up, and it began to glow.
‘Satisfied?’
Presto nodded and smiled at his friend, but Hank just stared. (Um, shouldn’t he be pleased?) But if it’s not Eric, then… (If it’s not Eric it could only be…) Uh oh! (Oh no!) Sheila!.
The others had figured it out too. Diana glanced between Hank and Bobby, her face filled with worry.
‘Wh-what are we gonna do? Hank?’
‘What about Sheila!’ demanded Bobby. ‘Where is she? What did that doppel-thing do to her?’
There was silence. (This is bad) This isn’t good. (What are we gonna do?)
‘It must be Sheila,’ said Hank, in a broken voice. ‘It must be… but…’
The Ranger sudden looked up, gripping the Bow as tightly as he could and Presto could see the white knuckles. When he next spoke, it was in a low growl.
‘Let’s find that Doppelganger and wring the truth out of it!’
He stormed off, and Bobby and his unicorn and Diana darted after him, leaving Presto staring at a very bemused Eric. Then the Cavalier shrugged.
‘I don’t have a better idea, do you?’ he asked Presto. ‘So let’s go!’
Presto shook his head. There was nothing else to do but follow the trail into the mountain.
But as he turned to follow the others into the mountain, there was a nagging little voice in the back of his head… something wasn’t quite right. There was something they had forgotten about. But for the life of him, he couldn’t think what it was.
= = =
Time was dragging.
Her head hurt, her arms hurt.
The Duegars had frog-marched her through the labyrinthine cave system at double-speed; she had no idea things so small and scrawny could move so quickly. They chattered away to each other as they went, and it became obvious to Sheila that they were scared. Whatever was ahead of her scared these creatures to death.
She wished she had managed to defend herself better, at least to try and keep the Cloak. But they could move so fast.
And she had been distracted. She was so worried about Hank. When the roof of the cave had started to fall she had skidded to a halt, and turned round, only to see a flash of green as Hank dived towards Presto, pulling him out of harms way. The rocks were falling thick and fast, and the dark Shadow loomed above them.
She closed her eyes, feeling tears starting. She had hoped to find help in the village, but instead, now, she was further away from him than ever. She could only hope that he was alright, and Presto too. She could only hope that they had fond the others and were following her.
The Duegars marched on, and Sheila could barely keep up.
Then, quite suddenly they slowed.
There was a smell like nothing she had ever smelt before. Disgusting; repulsive; horrendous; vile; they were all too mild to describe it properly. Rotting meat, mixed with vomit and sh… she didn’t want to think about what else!
She fought the urge to be sick.
The Duegars shuffled forward, looking around nervously. Just ahead was the entrance to a large cave, or so it seemed. There was a narrow fissure that ran from roof to floor letting a small amount of natural light in, and filling the cave with shadows. Not far from the entrance to the cave she saw a cage.
Though she tried to struggle again, the Duegars were too strong. They shoved her forward into the cage, slammed and locked the door and ran as fast as they could. It took only moment before they were out of sight and the noise they had made was gone.
The first thing she did was to try to move the door, but whatever the cage was made of was strong and sturdy stuff. She couldn’t move it.
She slumped down to the ground and put her head in her hands; tired, lonely and miserable. She knew that the others would try to find her. She just hoped they would find her quickly, before she found out what was making that awful smell.
And she thought of Hank, diving to save his friend from the falling rocks. I hope he’s alright, I really, really hope he’s safe.
There was a noise and she jerked round, looking to the shadows at the back of the cage.
But instead of more Duegars, or something hideous and monstrous, something small and white crawled into view; something that had been hiding.
Sheila frowned, confused.
It was Uni!
= = =
= = =