Chapter 24

Escape

ANTIMONY loaded her slingshot with another skull and aimed at the raven diving towards her.

‘Eighteen,’ she said as it dropped to the ground.

She was finding the battle strangely exhilarating, a nice break from all the complicated feelings she’d been struggling with. She kicked at the giant spider that tried to ambush her from behind and grabbed another skull to launch at its eye. She waited until it had turned red and released.

‘Nineteen,’ she said as the spider keeled backwards.

The Book of Magic had shrunk to its normal size but some of the spiders refused to return to their regular form and the battle continued in the Morrígan’s chamber. Antimony hadn’t seen what had happened to Oisín and Stephen. It was hard to see anything in the swirl of battling bodies.

‘Twenty,’ she shouted as she managed to knock out another spider with some smoke from her nose.

‘Eleven, twelve,’ Raqib said as his tie sent two ravens spinning to the ground.

Antimony was keeping score with Lysander and Raqib. Caoimhe was looking after Ben Washington, while Tom was trying to befriend some of the spiders. The Houlihans did not have the right idea about battles, in Antimony’s opinion. Even Sorcha was fighting, using her ballet moves to take out some of the smaller spiders.

Raqib dropped some of his spice into the well where the spiders lived and jumped back. There was a huge explosion and a silver cloud mushroomed up, scattering spindly legs across the chamber.

‘That has to count for more,’ Raqib said.

‘Not bad,’ Antimony conceded. ‘For a Quint.’

‘Maybe you’ll think before you throw us into a cobweb next time, Ogoni?’ Raqib said. ‘My side still hurts from where you kicked me.’

‘It’ll hurt a lot more if you don’t pay attention,’ Lysander said, flicking his tie at a spider that was about to attack them. ‘Fifteen,’ he added as it tumbled back into the hole.

Lysander looked at his watch. Its hands were turning rapidly, sensitive to any shift in the magical air.

‘Madame Q’s here,’ he said, looking around the chamber.

Antimony followed his gaze. Two huge ravens had swooped into the chamber. One was sleek and silver, the other was short and black with only one green eye.

‘Macha and Badb,’ Antimony said, staring at the ravens in awe. The Morrígan hadn’t been lying. Madame Q and Mrs Fitzfeather really were shape-shifters. And the Morrígan’s sisters.

Lysander wasn’t the only one to sense the shift in energy. There was a cry from the far side of the chamber as the Morrígan realised who had entered. She transformed into a large raven in a swirl of feathers. The other two ravens dived towards her, chasing her into a side-chamber.

‘We should get everybody back to the library,’ Lysander said.

‘You can’t. The passage is blocked,’ another English voice announced.

Antimony was surprised to find that Cassandra Quicksilver had arrived behind them, looking even paler than usual. She must have come with Madame Q and Mrs Fitzfeather.

‘Those spiders caused a cave-in,’ Cassandra said, knocking out a raven with her scarf. ‘It was lucky the wrens got through.’

The wooden wrens from Eachtra had also entered the chamber, led by the large statue from Eachtra’s prow. Antimony was impressed that the tiny birds could be such fierce fighters.

‘We’ll get out, though,’ Cassandra said, using her telescope to trace a circle on one of the walls. She directed Raqib to sprinkle some of his spice on a skull and handed it to Antimony, who placed it into her slingshot and aimed at the silver circle.

There was another explosion and a blinding burst of daylight. Antimony felt a surge of hope as she saw the sky. It might all be OK.

‘We could have used some help earlier,’ Lysander said to his sister.

‘I’ve been consulting the prophecy,’ Cassandra answered. ‘One part keeps coming up: brother will fight brother.’

‘You might be too late,’ Lysander said, looking over at Ben.

‘It’s not about the Washington brothers,’ Cassandra said, looking across the chamber. ‘Where’s Stephen? And Oisín?’

‘They were over there,’ Antimony said, feeling her stomach drop as she saw the look on Cassandra’s face. ‘Stephen has An Freagarach. They’ll be OK.’

Cassandra didn’t seem to agree and ran in that direction, swishing her scarf at the ravens.

‘Come on,’ Antimony said, gathering the others. ‘We’ve got to get out of here.’

She raced across the skulls as fast as she could. The pyramid’s shape had been disturbed by the Book of Magic’s expansion and retraction, so it was like running over a series of uneven hills. On the other side of one of the mounds, Antimony saw why Cassandra was so worried: Stephen was on the ground, crying, holding his brother’s body in his arms.

Suddenly the battle didn’t seem fun any more and Antimony didn’t care how many spiders she had knocked out. Her stomach plummeted, like an elevator that had forgotten how to stop. She had used béal tine to keep the Book on the island. Oisín had saved her in the Underwater Caves. And now he was dead.

She turned around to face the others.

‘Tom, mind Sorcha for a minute. Caoimhe, bring the ashgrass.’

She skidded down the mound, Caoimhe following. It was quieter now that the wrens were battling the ravens. Most of the spiders had followed the Morrígan when she left. It didn’t matter though: Oisín’s eyes had already glazed over. Caoimhe pressed some ashgrass into his side but Antimony could tell it wasn’t working.

Stephen looked up at her, his face red with tears. An Freagarach lay beside him on the ground, a horrible red colour on its tip.

‘I didn’t mean to,’ he sobbed. ‘The sword just brushed against him and …’

Tears took over his words and he collapsed on top of his brother, rocking back and forth. Antimony took his hand, tears swelling in her own eyes. She didn’t think she had any left but then she thought of Oisín, of how brave he had been against the Morrígan, of how brave everybody was, and down they came, streaking down her cheeks and onto Oisín’s body.

The Keanes would be safely back in Dublin if she’d never used the béal tine. She’d destroyed a family by trying to bring back her own, and she hadn’t even done that right.

‘Wait, something’s happening,’ Caoimhe said.

Antimony and Stephen looked up.

‘His fingers moved,’ Caoimhe said.

‘Then put on some more ashgrass,’ Antimony almost shouted.

‘It’s not the ashgrass,’ Caoimhe said.

‘Then what is it?’ Stephen asked, looking at Oisín’s hand slowly moving.

‘Magical tears,’ Cassandra answered, suddenly realising. ‘Ordinarily, it wouldn’t be enough. But in a place with very deep magic, with tears from somebody very close to the person, somebody who felt a lot … it might be enough.’

Another tear rolled down Stephen’s cheek and onto Oisín’s chest.

The wren pendant on Oisín’s chest flickered slightly.

‘The wound’s closing,’ Caoimhe said, kneeling beside them. She extended some aloe vera from her pen and started to rub it into Oisín’s wound.

‘He’s going to be OK?’ Stephen said, standing.

‘I think so,’ Cassandra answered.

Antimony felt a surge of relief. She found her feet uncertainly. Stephen was still shaking, looking like he could use a hug.

It was Cassandra Quicksilver who embraced him, though, wrapping her arms around him tightly.

‘I was so worried,’ she said. ‘I was sure the prophecy meant that one of you was going to die.’

‘I’m glad you were wrong for once,’ Stephen said.

‘Well, I suppose he did die for a moment, so the prophecy wasn’t technically wrong, but …’

Cassandra stopped herself, deciding that the prophecy wasn’t the most important thing at that moment.

‘Oh, Stephen, you were so brave!’ she said, wrapping her fingers around his Wren pendant and pulling him towards her.

Antimony stared at them as they started to kiss: they looked very comfortable together, as if it wasn’t their first time.

‘Er, I’ll get the others,’ Antimony said, when it became clear that they would be occupied for a while.

Both Tom and Sorcha were very upset to see Oisín’s condition and added a good few tears to his wound before Caoimhe convinced them that he would be fine. It took almost as long for Lysander Quicksilver to come to grips with who his sister was dating.

‘You’ve been sneaking off to meet that Milesian muppet?’ Lysander said as they clambered through the hole they had made in the wall. ‘He’s who you were meeting in the Forest of Shadows?’

‘I hardly think this is the right time to discuss it,’ Cassandra said briskly.

She had a point, Antimony thought. The hole led to a narrow ledge on the side of Cnoc na gCnámh. Neither Oisín nor Ben was able to walk, let alone cross Droichead an Chlaímh. Nobody was able to use Ben’s calculator croíacht, so the Quints weren’t able to use magical mathematics to travel. Raqib was doing a good job of holding off the remaining ravens and spiders, but they needed to get off the mountain fast.

In the end, it was Tom who came up with the solution. He convinced some of the spiders he had befriended to weave ropes between two clouds so that they formed a makeshift air-balloon. Raqib did some quick magical chemistry on the bottom cloud so that it would hold their weight and Tom got the wrens to help steer them. It wasn’t bad work for somebody who didn’t have a croíacht.

‘Are you sure we can trust those spiders?’ Antimony said, as the cloud left the side of Cnoc na gCnámh.

‘They’re grand,’ Tom said, holding the small creatures fondly. ‘Just a bit peckish sometimes,’ he added as one of them nipped at his arm.

Antimony leant back into the soft cloud. The sun was setting and the fire-fields glowed in the dusk. Caoimhe was looking after Ben Washington and Oisín. Stephen was holding a sleeping Sorcha. Lysander was too busy arguing with Raqib about who had killed more ravens to notice that his sister’s arm was looped around Stephen.

Nobody had said anything about Antimony stealing the Book. She supposed Mrs Fitzfeather would, when they got back. She’d probably have to leave Eachtra. And the Houlihans. Nobody would want to be associated with somebody who’d done the kind of dark magic she had.

She stood up. The cloud had drifted off towards the north-west volcanoes, where the fire dragons lived. Tom was helping the wrens steer them back towards Eachtra. Caoimhe had come over to suggest a quicker route.

‘Can you get them to drop me off here?’ Antimony asked, interrupting their argument.

If she had to go it alone, she might as well be somewhere she could use her Fire Magic. And after Scathach’s training she was sure she could tackle a dragon or two.

Tom and Caoimhe looked puzzled.

‘I can’t go back to Eachtra,’ Antimony said. ‘Not after what I did.’

‘You took the Book of Magic to bring back your parents, didn’t you?’ Caoimhe said after a moment.

Antimony nodded. She had definitely cried enough for one day.

‘But you gave it back,’ Tom said. ‘You did the right thing when it mattered.’

He looked at the spiders playing hopscotch along his arm.

‘I think everybody has some good in them,’ Tom said quietly.

Antimony wasn’t sure if she agreed, but she didn’t say anything. Their cloud drifted over the volcano, meandering slowly towards the fire-fields. They could just make out Eachtra in the distance, a host of strange colours in the middle of the ash. Antimony was surprised at how affectionate she felt towards it.

‘Anyway,’ Tom said in a brighter voice ‘I need a sibling who doesn’t treat me like a petri-dish.’

‘Mum and Dad will definitely let you stay,’ Caoimhe said. And if they don’t, I’m sure I can find a potion that can make them.’

‘They have to let you stay,’ Tom said. ‘They didn’t kick Caoimhe out after she turned Granda Houlihan’s head into a pumpkin when he had a cold.’

‘That was only for a day!’ Caoimhe protested.

‘He still turns orange when he sneezes,’ Tom countered.

‘Yeah, well, remember the time your cute little baby wolf nearly ate me?’

‘You were probably talking too much.’

Antimony let the Houlihans argue and settled back down into the cloud. They weren’t the worst brother and sister you could hope for. And she could probably let the fire dragons live for another year or two.

Antimony watched the sun set over Cnoc na gCnámh, far in the distance now, and, for the first time in a long while, she fell asleep without a single worry.