Gripping his sides, Fandel roared and he feared that he might just pee himself as the excitement that he felt bordered on ecstasy. Even as he stood and pulled on his overcoat, his lips trembled as he tried to control himself. He couldn’t very well stroll into the local police station and report his nephew missing while he screamed with hysterical laughter. Placing the letter into his coat pocket, he rummaged through his desk drawers. He knew there were some pictures of his nephew and niece in there somewhere. His idiotic brother would send him pictures each year so he could see how much they had grown. Fandel had never put any of the pictures on show; he had thrown them into the drawer and forgotten all about them – until now. Now they would come in handy. Now those pictures of his nephew would be priceless. Spying one of Zach under a pile of notes and old correspondence, he picked it up. Holding it out before him, Fandel looked at it with disgust, as if some putrid smell were emanating from it. Placing it in his pocket with the letter, he stepped out into the cold.

Fandel was sure he had thought of everything. A letter in his nephew’s own handwriting declaring his love for his uncle and his desire to runaway, and a picture for the missing person’s poster the police would want to make.

Trying to stifle another fit of the giggles, Fandel pulled his collar up against the snow that had begun to fall and made his way into town.

Chapter 14

Within minutes of waking, Zach, William and Neanna had gathered together the supplies Warden had left them. They read the note he had attached to the slings, and looked at each other.

‘Explosives? Handle with care?’ William said aloud. ‘Use with catapult if necessary!’ Grinning, William folded the piece of paper and stuffed it into his trouser pocket. ‘Awesome!’

Without looking back they left the clearing and made their way deep into the Howling Forests.

Racing through the trees and undergrowth, Zach sensed an urgency from his two new friends. William led the way; his strange looking spectacles helping him navigate in the darkness. Through the bulbous lenses he saw his path amongst the trees as if wearing a pair of night vision goggles.

Zach still found it hard to believe that just hours ago he had been unaware of Endra and his new friends. They hadn’t existed. Well, not to him anyway. It seemed incredible to him that while he had been living his life on Earth (or was that in Earth), William and Neanna had been racing each night across the desert in search of the doorway that he was to appear through. Another thing that puzzled him or rather troubled him if he were being honest with himself; he didn’t know if he was up to the task of saving his sister and the Queen of Endra.

He had never done anything heroic before and the quest that lay before him made his stomach churn like a cement mixer. It wasn’t that he feared for his own safety. What worried him was that his friends seemed to have placed all their hopes on him saving their Queen and he didn’t want to let them down.

Pushing his fears to the back of his mind and with his crossbows slamming against his thighs, Zach ran behind Neanna and William into the darkness that awaited them.

High up in the Splinter, Throat stood at the end of the bed and looked down upon the Queen of Endra. She seemed almost lost in the huge, oversized bed. Her perfect white hair fanned out across two velvet pillows like wings. Her perfect face looked peaceful as she slept, unaware that her kingdom was being ripped apart. She had fallen asleep a month ago and her hazel eyes hadn’t opened since. Maneuvering around the edge of the bed, Throat’s spiderpedes worked overtime as they repaired his cloak which continued to disintegrate all around him.

With his skeletal fingers, he took hold of the Queens wrist and felt for her pulse. Just beneath her delicate skin he felt the faintest of beats. He grinned in the knowledge that every day it grew weaker and slower.

Smiling beneath the hood of his cloak, he let her arm drop onto the bed.

‘Not long now my Queen. The box is almost open,’ he gasped. ‘And with its opening your reign will close.’

Shuffling away from the bed, Throat went to a large set of windows. Pushing them open, he stepped out onto a balcony that jutted from the side of the Splinter. The wind grabbed at his dark robes and the spiderpedes worked faster. Looking out across the desert, he felt a twinge of excitement gnaw away at his rancid innards. It wasn’t just the knowledge that soon the whole of Endra and Earth would be his; it was the beautiful sight of the Demonic Guardians marching in their thousands across the desert below him. Even though he stood miles above Endra, he could hear their feet thundering in unison as they began their search for the boy.

‘Zach,’ Throat hissed across the desert, ‘Zach Black!’

‘What was that?’ Zach asked his companions, running towards the edge of the forest.

‘What was what?’ William said, starting to slow.

‘I thought I heard somebody say my name.’

‘Wasn’t me,’ Neanna assured him.

‘Not me,’ William added.

Shivering, Zach looked back into the darkness. ‘I’m sure somebody whispered my name.’

‘You just got the heebie-jeebies,’ William said. ‘C’mon. I can see the trees thinning out over there.’

William and Neanna set off again and Zach followed, but not before he had glanced back into the dark again.

They reached the edge of the Howling Forests to find themselves faced with a vast area covered with slabs of black granite stone. The slabs protruded from the ground like gravestones and disappeared into the distance for as far as the eye could see. They glistened in the rain that had started to fall and the moonlight glinted off their razor-sharp edges.

Without wasting any time, William started across the barren landscape.

‘What is this place?’ Zach asked, navigating his way through the bladed rocks.

‘It’s a Grey-yard. Better known in your world as a graveyard,’ Neanna whispered.

‘You’re kidding me right?’ Zack said back.

‘Shhh!’ William hissed. ‘You don’t want to be disturbing them!’

‘Disturbing who?’ Zach persisted.

‘Them!’ William said, coming to an abrupt halt. ‘I told you to be quiet!’

Zach followed William’s stare as several apparitions spiraled up from the ground like steam from an overflowing kettle.

‘Stay still!’ Neanna said, gripping Zach’s arm. ‘If you don’t move they might not see you.’

Zach watched as the wisps of smoke floated up into the air and entwined with each other. His heart began to race so fast in his chest he was sure the spirits, or whatever they were, would hear it slamming against his rib cage.

The smoke began to separate like liquid and take on the form of several individual shapes. They twisted and contorted like tormented souls until they had taken on the silhouette of several knights dressed in classic medieval costume. Each of them wore a chain-mail uniform and carried a long, see-through shield and sword.

‘Who dare disturb the rest of the Cathedral Knights?’ one of them growled as if woken from a deep and peaceful slumber.

Zach and his friends stayed still and silent.

‘Who’s there?’ boomed another of the knights and this one had a long translucent beard that floated in the wind.

Again they remained silent, the rain lashing against them, running down their faces in icy rivulets.

Swooping through the rain, the Knights legs seemed to melt away and turn into wispy tails that floated behind them in tendrils. They hovered above the heads of Zach, William and Neanna. Zach’s fingers twitched over his crossbows without him even knowing it. William glanced at Neanna who in turn glanced at Zach. The tension was unbearable. Spiraling above them like a twister, the Knights descended with such speed that Zach wondered if they didn’t possess the power to blink.

Pressing the tips of their swords against his throat, Zach was surrounded.

‘What is your name?’ the bearded knight roared, pushing the point of his sword against Zach’s Adam’s apple.

Even though the swords were see-through, Zach could feel the blade pressing into his throat.

‘Black,’ he answered. ‘Zach Black.’

Hearing his name, the Knights reared back and their faces screwed up as if consumed by pain.

‘He’s been sent by the sorcerer!’ one of them cried.

‘He’s an agent for the evil one!’ another screamed.

‘The evil one reigns supreme!’ the bearded knight screeched.

Looking Zach in the eyes, they pulled back their ghostlike swords as they moved to strike.

‘Put your swords down!’ William commanded and all seven of the Knights whirled around in the air to find the wolf-looking creature and Neanna armed with catapults.

‘We have brave ones here!’ the bearded Knight said. ‘Do you think you can hurt us with those,’ he mocked and the rest of the Knight’s began to chuckle.

Aiming the catapult above their heads, William pulled back as far as his arm would go and released an inferno berry. It whizzed up into the rain soaked night, disappearing from view. All of them waited. Nothing happened.

Smiling at William, the bearded Knight said, ‘See, I told you…’

Then there was a hideous cracking sound as if the very fabric of the night were being ripped open. Everyone flinched, their faces a mask of surprise. The night sky lit up with a hint of vile green. This was followed by an almighty explosion. All of them spun around, just in time to see a shockwave of bright green energy whoosh through the air, slicing apart everything in its path.

‘Whoa!’ William howled, taking cover behind the huge slices of rock. Even the ghost’s who had been so confident in the knowledge that they couldn’t be harmed disappeared back beneath the ground.

The Demonic Guardians had marched through the night in their thousands. Somewhere in the desert they had split, sending armies to the four corners of Endra. Although heading in different directions all of them had one aim, one mission; to kill the boy Zach Black. They couldn’t be bargained with. You couldn’t reason with them and pleading just dragged out the inevitable. The Demonic Guardians were heartless and soulless. They were ruthless killers, and each and every one of them wanted to be the one that took the head of Zach Black to their master.