A Voyage Through Air Read online

  This one is for Sophie and Felix,

  who in real life are far more awesome than

  anything I’ve written about them in here.

  CONTENTS

  Prelude: The Vital Message

  1 Secrets New and Old

  2 History in the Annexe

  3 The Letter

  4 Preparing for War

  5 Visitors

  6 Dawn Departure

  7 The Angelhawk

  8 The Enchantments of Deceit

  9 The Voyage Begins

  10 Gone Surfing

  11 The Isle of Banmula

  12 Isle Ho!

  13 A Long-Ago Voyage

  14 The Heirs

  15 Into the Fourth Realm

  16 Betrayed

  17 A New Ally

  18 The Sea Globe

  19 Battle Stations

  20 Monsters of Air

  21 Where Nobody Wants to Be

  22 The Resting Place

  23 Rothgarnal Once More

  24 Truths Revealed

  25 Party Time

  THE SECRET THRONE

  THE HUNTING OF THE PRINCES

  THE VITAL MESSAGE

  The lands and seas of the First Realm formed the inside of a sphere many thousands of miles across. Right at the centre, far above the air and clouds, a little sun burned brightly, its golden rays stroking the rambling emerald forests and expansive meadows in a warm haze. This solitary sun was surrounded by the heavy weave of multi-coloured streamers that the First Realm’s inhabitants called moonclouds, which cast thick nightshadows across vast swathes of the sphere’s surface. Cities and towns glimmered like jewels among the darkness.

  Captain Feandez of the Second Realm’s Blue Feather regiment stood on the prow of the Lady Katherine, watching keenly as the ship approached a small island just offshore. The helmsman was steering them into a rocky inlet where the stark cliff walls on either side rose higher and higher, growing narrower as they did so. A huge waterfall tumbled down the far end of the inlet. Captain Feandez tried not to appear nervous at how fast they were approaching the thundering torrent of water.

  ‘Most august Harrolas,’ the schooner’s bosun called out behind him. ‘We request passage to the Second Realm, and ask that you kindly grant us this privilege.’ The bosun held his fist out over the gunnel. Captain Feandez saw a glint of coins tumbling into the water. He imagined that the inlet’s floor must be a thick blanket of gold and silver by now, as for century after century captains made their respectful offering to the Great Gateway.

  The addition of a few more coins seemed to appease the Great Gateway. With the prow now only metres away from the vertical spray, the waterfall began to part, revealing only darkness behind. A fast swirl of droplets, half-spray half-rain, drenched Captain Feandez. The schooner sailed into the gap – and immediately emerged into another, very similar, fjord to the one they’d left behind in the First Realm, with a waterfall divided on either side of the ship like a liquid curtain being held open.

  Captain Feandez let out a relieved breath, and started shaking out his pale blue shirt, whose ruff neck and wrists were completely sodden and limp. The wonderfully familiar hot sun of the Second Realm warmed his skin. It would dry him out soon enough. Instinctively, he patted the little leather purse hanging round his neck, containing the very special bullet which had been entrusted to him by the Queen of Dreams herself.

  It was his mission to ensure the bullet was presented to the War Emperor himself, thus exposing the full treachery of the Karrak Lords and Ladies. If the armies of the War Emperor, armed only with their usual mage-enchanted swords and arrows, came up against modern machine guns they would be slaughtered. The fate of so many people depended on him accomplishing that one task. It was a heavy responsibility.

  Reassured the purse and its precious bullet was still around his neck, Feandez scanned the horizon beyond the end of the fjord. The sea into which they were sailing was relatively calm, and there was a good wind blowing.

  ‘How long to Shatha’hal?’ he asked.

  The bosun made a show of sniffing the air. ‘Half a day, maybe less.’

  Captain Feandez let out a long breath of relief. Soon now, and a terrible disaster would be averted.

  The Lady Katherine cleared the fjord, and swung round to sail parallel to the coast. In a short while they would reach the estuary of the river Zhila, which led inland to Shatha’hal. Gulls wheeled high overhead, squawking loudly. An extra set of sails were unfurled on the mainmast, and they picked up speed, cutting cleanly through the water.

  It was the fall of silence which made Captain Feandez realize something was wrong. He turned to see the bosun staring anxiously up into the sky.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ he asked.

  ‘The gulls,’ the bosun replied.

  Captain Feandez glanced upwards. The swirl of gulls which had accompanied the Lady Katherine since she had emerged from the fjord had abandoned them. ‘There aren’t any,’ he said as orders were given to furl the sails.

  ‘Yes,’ the bosun agreed with a grunt. ‘All gone.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘We don’t know. That’s bad.’

  Sailors were scrabbling nimbly up the masts. The big white sails flapped loosely as they were furled. Then there was a shout. Arms were raised, pointing.

  Captain Feandez squinted up into the sky where so many fingers were jabbing. A lone black dot was visible in the bright azure sky. It grew fast, resolving into a big bird.

  An eagle, Captain Feandez recognized with growing unease. A big black eagle.

  Captain Feandez didn’t know much about birds, but he was sure eagles didn’t normally fly over the sea. He hurriedly put on a pair of revealor glasses; crafted by the anamages of the Second Realm, they showed up any spells as a glowing light.

  At first he thought he was looking straight at the sun, so bright was the eagle shining with magical power. His hand automatically went to his sword hilt.

  A destruction spell stabbed out from the eagle to hit Lady Katherine amidships. The explosion blew a gaping hole in the hull. Chunks of smouldering wood spun through the air like scythes. Captain Feandez ducked—

  SECRETS NEW AND OLD

  Lorothain, the capital city of the First Realm, was on the edge of an approaching nightshadow. As the vast border of shade drew closer, tiny sparks of bluish lightstone illumination began to prickle the windows of the exuberant domes and elevated towers of the grander mansions, while the neat streets of terraced houses glowed a rich sapphire from the wakening streetlights.

  In the private wing of the capital’s royal palace, Jemima Paganuzzi, the Blossom Princess of the First Realm, got ready for bed. ‘I’m so tired,’ she told Taggie, her older sister, and the First Realm’s Queen of Dreams. ‘Do you think Dad will mind if I don’t do my teeth?’

  ‘I’m sure he won’t mind you missing one night,’ Taggie told her. ‘Hang on, I’ll shut the curtains.’

  As the Blossom Princess, Jemima was entitled to her own suite of rooms in the palace. They were rather sumptuous for a twelve-year-old, with ornate furniture and marbled floors and gilt-edged paintings.

  ‘I’ll do them twice tomorrow,’ Jemima promised unconvincingly as she climbed into her huge bed and pulled the duvet up.

  Taggie grinned as she walked over to the tall window. ‘There’s probably a spell for teeth cleaning,’ she said as she pulled the long velvet curtains shut.

  She smiled to herself. It had been an incredible day for the two of them, ending in a thrilling and at times utterly terrifying showdown with the Grand Lord’s forces in London’s docklands. Their ordeal had proved worthwhile, for they’d found Lord Colgath, the one Karrak Lord who might be able to help them prevent the com
ing war between the Grand Lord and the War Emperor.

  Outside, the moonclouds were expanding across the entire First Realm. Taggie nodded in satisfaction. As Queen, her magic controlled the First Realm’s nature, of which the moonclouds were an important part. Normally only half of the First Realm was in darkness at any one time, but these weren’t normal times.

  ‘If that’s a real spell, Mum will know it,’ Jemima said drowsily. Their mother was a Third Realm sorceress, who seemed to know just about every sort of magic.

  ‘When she gets back, we’ll ask her,’ Taggie said.

  ‘Do you think she’ll be back soon?’

  ‘With any luck, she’ll be able to leave the Gathering as soon as Captain Feandez hands over the bullet to the War Emperor.’

  ‘I hope so. I really miss her, Taggie.’

  ‘Night, Jem,’ Taggie said, and leaned over the bed to kiss her sister.

  Jemima’s eyes were already closed. ‘Are you going to dream tonight?’

  ‘Of course I am,’ Taggie said. ‘I’m the Queen of Dreams, it’s what I do. And tonight I’m going to reassure everyone about the war.’ Whenever she slept in the First Realm, Taggie would drift into the dreams of everyone else, soothing away their troubles and offering all the comfort only a truly kind heart could.

  ‘Oh good.’

  Jemima dreamed, as did everybody in the First Realm that strange all-encompassing night. In her dream she walked through the halls and corridors of the palace she’d grown familiar with in the year since she and Taggie had overthrown the Karrak Lords and Ladies who had tried to usurp the First Realm.

  But in this dream, on this unusual night, other people were walking through the palace with Jemima. Holvans with their four arms, giants with their green hair, ordinary men and women and children, the folk who were almost spherical, a few centaurs, some hearty trolls. Much to Jemima’s delight there were even elves sharing her dream, tall and ebony-skinned with long plumes of hair reaching all the way down their backs.

  Thousands upon thousands of people streamed into the throne room, which in her dream was much bigger than it was in real life. Yet Jemima along with everyone else was standing close to the dais which held the shell throne. Taggie sat on the purple and scarlet silk cushions of the throne, watching serenely as every dreamer appeared before her. When Jemima waved excitedly, she didn’t notice.

  Taggie stood up and looked round the dream throne room with its weirdly insubstantial walls. ‘I cast this night across the First Realm because I have something to tell everybody who lives here.’ Her voice carried clearly across the room. ‘A War Emperor has been anointed once more. He has summoned together all the armies of the realms so he may lead them into battle against the Grand Lord. Well, I will not be ordering any soldier of the First Realm to fight in this war. We have fought the Karraks in a conflict which has lasted for generations. This has to end. Too many have died already. There has to be another way. I intend to devote myself to finding a peaceful answer to the conflict between our kinds once and for all.’ She inclined her head at the massive audience. ‘Thank you for attending. May the Heavens guide us all safely.’

  Jemima saw many smiles of gratitude and relief among the crowd. As she started to walk out of the throne room she caught sight of a dark motionless figure. It was an old woman in a black dress made of some stiff fabric. A veil covered her face, which instantly made Jemima curious to know what she looked like.

  Everyone else was flittering away from the dream like ghostly moths, but the old woman remained still and solid.

  ‘Hello,’ Jemima said.

  ‘Dear Blossom Princess,’ the old woman replied in a thin voice. ‘How nice to finally meet you.’

  ‘Who are you?’

  ‘A messenger. Your mother asked me to seek you out.’

  Jemima looked round frantically for Taggie, but her sister was nowhere to be seen. ‘You know Mum?’

  A chuckle emerged from behind the veil. ‘A very long time ago I was her nurse. Now I’m just a simple seer, helping out where I can in these troubled times.’

  ‘Gosh, really?’

  ‘Your mother wants to know if you are all right.’

  ‘Yes, tell her we’re fine. Tell her we’re going to stop the war.’

  ‘I will. She’ll be so proud of you. And she asked me to say she thinks she may have found a cure for the curse which turns Felix into a squirrel.’

  ‘What?’ Jemima squeaked. ‘I thought only the Karraks can lift that curse.’

  ‘The sorceresses of the Third Realm have studied Karrak wizardry ever since the Dark Lords and Ladies first emerged through Mirlyn’s Gate. It is not easy, but some sorceress mistresses now believe they can cure their evil curses. It is one of these academy mistresses that your mother has sent for.’

  ‘Really? Mum can do that?’

  ‘You are very fond of Felix, are you not?’ the old woman said in a sympathetic voice. ‘I heard he single-handedly saved you from the gols in Shatha’hal’s docks.’

  ‘Well, yes, he did. What did Mum say? It would be so fantastic if we could cure him. I can’t imagine what it must be like to live like that every day. I so want to help him,’ Jemima said eagerly.

  ‘The sorceress mistress is on her way to your mother, and should arrive quite soon. Will you be here? These sendings are difficult for me, especially if you’re moving around.’

  ‘Er . . . Taggie said we might be travelling again soon.’

  ‘Oh, perhaps you could let me know where you are,’ the woman said smoothly.

  ‘Well, it’s kind of a secret.’

  ‘I understand. I’m sure Felix can wait until you get back.’

  ‘No, wait!’ Jemima said, desperate for the chance to help Felix. It was just that she didn’t want to do anything that might cause a problem for Taggie’s quest. She tried to think of a way round it. ‘I can cast a wardveil that will let you sight me,’ she said slowly. ‘But you must promise not to tell anyone where we are.’

  ‘Your mother will want to know. She’s desperate for news.’

  ‘Well of course you can tell Mum,’ Jemima said, slightly indignant.

  ‘All right then.’

  ‘And you’ll give us the cure as soon as you get it?’

  ‘Absolutely.’ The stooped old woman bobbed about anxiously. ‘It is not my place to tell royalty what to do, but if I can give you one word of advice, Blossom Princess?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Don’t tell Felix that your mother is trying to find the cure. If it doesn’t work – and by all the stars in the Heavens let us hope it does – he will be so bitterly disappointed.’

  Jemima could well imagine that. Poor Felix. She couldn’t stand to raise his hopes only for them to be broken. ‘I understand,’ she said earnestly. ‘This’ll be just between you and me.’

  The woman bowed slightly, her black dress rustling. ‘You are so honourable, Blossom Princess. I consider myself fortunate to have met you. Goodbye, my dear.’

  ‘Goodbye.’

  ‘Goodbye?’ a familiar voice asked.

  Jemima sat up in bed. One of the palace maids was pulling the curtains back. Brilliant sunlight shone in through the tall arched windows.

  Felix, the white squirrel, stood on the bottom of the bed. He was about the size of a Labrador today – some days he was bigger, some smaller; there never seemed to be any pattern to it. His fur was so soft and fluffy it was always hard for Jemima to resist the urge to stroke it.

  ‘Pardon?’ she said.

  His nose twitched as if he was on the scent of something. ‘You said “Goodbye”. Are you going somewhere?’

  ‘It must have been a dream,’ Jemima said, suddenly feeling guilty, though she wasn’t sure why. She wanted to blurt out that she knew a spell to cure him – or at least knew there was such a spell.

  ‘A good one?’ he asked politely.

  ‘I don’t remember.’

  ‘Ah well. Who does, come morning? I’ll wait outside while you get dr
essed for breakfast.’

  HISTORY IN THE ANNEXE

  As dawn broke across Lorothain, the royal palace started to bustle with its usual activity. The night guard was replaced by the day guard, horses were brought out of their stables, and cooks prepared various meals.

  Inside the ancient collection of battlements, towers, halls and courtyards, three people made their way along the broad corridors to the Dalswath wing on the eastern side of the sprawling palace which housed the royal library.

  Taggie Paganuzzi, the Queen of Dreams herself, pushed open the high double doors and marched straight in. She always enjoyed the library which occupied a nice warm hall with two balconies running round the high walls, allowing scholars and historians to reach the highest shelves that covered every wall from floor to the vaulted ceiling.

  Following behind Taggie was Prince Lantic from the Second Realm. The third, and most unusual member of the group (at least from Taggie’s point of view), was Lord Colgath, a Karrak Lord. He stood an easy head taller than Lantic, with a smoke cloak constantly swirling round his body to protect it from the excessive light that pervaded the universe. Unlike the dense black cloaks of his brethren, his was flecked with small wiggling ripples of phosphorescence, which cast a weird aurora in the darker corridors of the palace.

  Mr Blake was the palace’s chief librarian, a quietly spoken scholar who had devoted his life to shepherding the knowledge gathered in the library’s books. He rose from his desk to greet his unexpected visitor, blinking behind his glasses. ‘My Queen, welcome.’ He bowed deeply. Then his mouth dropped open in alarm as he caught sight of the Karrak Lord behind her. ‘Ah, Majesty?’ poor Mr Blake stammered in confusion. ‘Your, er . . . that is, you have . . .’ Yesterday afternoon the palace had been alive with the rumour that the Queen of Dreams had brought a Karrak Lord back to the First Realm. As the news had filtered its way to the library via maids and footmen, Mr Blake had shaken his head in dismay and told his assistants to stop gossiping. Now it seemed he might have been hasty.

  ‘I know,’ Taggie said in sympathy. ‘Mr Blake, this is Lord Colgath. He is helping me to prevent the war that is coming between us and the Karraks.’