The first wave hit Em in a blast of scarlet and exploded against her in robust pops of red light. The second swiftly followed. Wrapped in a red fog, Em’s skin felt oddly chilled, as if she had jumped into the sea in winter. Although she felt no pain, her knees started to resemble toffee as the number of arrows mounted: thirty, forty, fifty. She wanted desperately to lie down. She could no longer see the wall through the cloud of red that surrounded her. When she turned to look for Zach, it was like looking down the lens of a kaleidoscope, the scene in front of her fragmenting in slivers of colour. She thought she saw him on his phone, but everything was becoming so red and she was so tired.
She collapsed to her knees. Her eyelids felt like tiny fingers were holding them closed. She shivered, then giggled for no reason. Forcing her eyes open, she lifted her hand to Zach’s terrified face. An arrow shot into her palm and disappeared, leaving a tiny print of light on her skin before fading to nothing.
And then as quickly as it had started, the barrage stopped.
Her eyes fluttered shut.
All was darkness.
Can you hear me, Em? Em!
Panicking, Zach shifted Em’s head and shoulders on to his lap.
Why did you do that, Em? I would have been OK!
He gently brushed her forehead, releasing a puff of red dust into the air. It smelled of lavender and fresh air, of soap and… and sadness. It smelled of Em.
Through the gravel, Zach could feel the vibrations of a vehicle coming down the lane. The Land Rover skidded to a stop a few feet away, and Simon flew out of the car towards them.
‘Will she be OK?’ Zach’s hands were trembling so violently he could hardly form the words.
‘We need to get her back inside the Abbey,’ Simon answered, his fingers a blur. ‘I de-animated the shield as soon as you left the house, and had no idea it hadn’t switched off before you called. Then Vaughn found this, jammed in the shield on the south-west corner of the compound.’
He handed Zach a large medallion. It was identical to the coins Renard had shown them up at the house but for two crucial differences. One side showed a black peryton instead of a white one. The other showed an inverted silver spiral. ‘He says it matches the one that Malcolm stole from the cottage of a dead Animare years ago. Renard believes there were only a handful of them forged in the nineteenth century.’
‘It was enough to disrupt the stream without disconnecting it completely,’ Simon signed.
Zach dropped his eyes back to the coin. ‘I don’t understand. Who put it there?’
‘Renard sensed it belongs to Henrietta de Court,’ Simon signed grimly. ‘Her emotions were so focused when she planted it that he felt their residue on the coin. She’s somewhere on the islands. And she has help.’
Zach felt Em’s pulse strong and steady beneath his fingers.
‘I think she’s asleep, son. We forget how much creative energy it takes for an Animare to animate.’ Simon gazed thoughtfully up at the warrior princess, blood-red and quiet, her arrows back in her quiver.
‘Can we move her?’ Zach signed.
Simon looked more carefully at Em’s arms and legs. ‘She doesn’t seem to have any injuries, so I don’t see why not. She’d certainly be more comfortable in her bed than on this gravel.’
Zach still felt confused and frightened. ‘But how is it possible she has no injuries? At least a hundred arrows must have hit her body.’
Simon looked again at the warrior princess above them. ‘Em touched the shield, yes?’
‘She cut her hand on one of the leaves.’
Simon nodded. ‘Yes, blood would do it. By touching the shield in that way, Em changed it. It must’ve absorbed something from her extraordinary imagination.’ He paused and smiled at Zach. ‘I’ve a feeling that in time, we’re going to witness a lot more of the impossible from Matt and Em.’
Dimly, Em could sense Simon kneeling on her left, and that she was cradled in Zach’s lap. She felt safer than she had in months. But the longer she stayed in this place between consciousness and unconsciousness, the more Zach’s anxiety and fear were infiltrating her senses, creeping slowly and deliberately up her spine.
Oh, Em! Why did you save me?
Em’s eyes opened. She smiled up at Zach.
Because I knew I could.
The air cleared of the lingering red fog, and the sun came out as Simon and Zach helped Em into the back of the Land Rover. Simon was about to start the Land Rover and turn the vehicle round when Em strained against her seatbelt.
‘Simon, stop!’ she croaked. ‘We never checked to see if Grandpa’s folder was on the postbox.’
Zach jumped out of the Land Rover and punched in the code again, unlocking the gates. He was gone for several minutes. When he returned, with a shake of his head and empty hands, Em noticed he was limping. A red gooey gash gleamed on his leg, shining as if illuminated beneath the skin.
Minutes later, as they pulled up in front of the Abbey, the only evidence that Zach’s injury had ever existed was a smudged red tattoo on his calf. It was the size of a penny and the heart shape of an ivy leaf.