The wind whooshed through Aidan’s and Antoinette’s hair as they clung to Falon and watched her myriad legs rise and fall rhythmically like pistons. They had long since seen the Cold River come and go, and Aidan knew Alleble was close.
The storm overhead was beginning to intensify. Lightning bathed everything in putrid shades of green. Thunder rumbled and crashed. “Thingsss go ill with the city,” hissed Falon. “Paragor has been busy . . . too busy.”
Aidan and Antoinette saw the silhouette of Alleble, but there was fire and smoke. And surrounding the entire city like a pool of oil was an army larger than either of them had ever seen. “Look! Look at the walls!” Aidan said.
“They’re white!” Antoinette yelled. “When did—?!” But then she looked off to the side. “Oh, no! There’s a huge crack in that wall!”
“Falon, hurry!” Aidan cried.
“Do not fear,” Falon said. “They will pay for all they have done.”
At last, they came to the edge of battle, and Falon slowed to a stop. She stretched out a foreleg and Aidan and Antoinette reluctantly climbed down.
“Falon, what are you doing?” yelled Aidan.
“We can’t stop here!” Antoinette exclaimed. “You’ve got to take us to the gates!”
“Patience, young warriors,” Falon said, and she brought her broad face close to them. “The forces of the enemy are thick here like a carpet of ssspiders. Allow old Falon to clear a path for you. Wait here for now, hmmm? Things are about to get nasssty.”
Robby felt kind of useless as he marched around on top of one of the southwestern walls. He couldn’t throw a spear or fire a bow. And the enemy never made it to the top of a ladder—the Baleneers made certain of that!
Suddenly, a trumpet sounded. Robby turned and looked to the north. There was frantic activity at the area nearest the main gate. He started to run toward the gate. I can’t believe this! Archers choked off the passage along the parapets on both sides. And the massive Glimpse warriors from the Blue Mountains were blocking the castle towers. Robby spun around in restless circles, not knowing what else to do. Then a ladder clattered to the wall right beside him. Robby leaned over and looked down. He saw two enemy knights rapidly ascending.
But before Robby could do a thing, a warrior hurled a spear down upon the climbing knights and then gave the ladder a mighty shove. It flew backward and landed in a sea of enemies.
Robby drew his broadsword just as another ladder appeared on the wall a few yards away. A Paragor Knight appeared, his head just cresting the wall. Robby ran and went to kick the ladder, but the weight of his armor gave him more momentum than he could handle and he overextended his leg. The Paragor Knight fell backward off the ladder, but for a horrifying moment Robby had one foot on the castle wall and one foot on the ladder. He leaned toward the ladder, grabbed a rung, and held on, riding it as it fell into a crowd of enemy knights.
Robby shook his head and realized he was more or less unharmed. He sprang to his feet and saw why. There were at least a dozen dead Paragor Knights lying beneath the ladder. Quickly, Robby dove just ahead of a slash that would’ve taken his head. He rolled and came up with his broadsword ready. Several enemy knights stood facing him. Robby knew there were some closing behind him also, so he did what he did best: he bull-rushed the knights in front of him and swung his heavy broadsword with all his might. He slammed the first enemy with the first blow, smashing a dent into his helmet. Then he sidestepped a thrust and knocked the second knight down with a kick. The third knight tried to circle around to get behind Robby, but Robby was too quick. He spun and swept the legs out from under him.
In just a few moments Robby had taken out three of the enemy soldiers, but many more were charging up to take their place. There could be no winning this battle behind enemy lines. Robby backed toward the wall of Alleble, and the enemy closed in.
Then something drew the knights’ attention. They turned from Robby and saw rows and rows of knights turning their heads and looking into the gloom. A huge shadowy shape came forth, and enemy knights were grabbed up and launched violently into the air, cartwheeling into their own forces. In just a few seconds hundreds of knights had been destroyed. The vision! Robby remembered in a rush. It’s happening!
The knights scattered and tried to get away, but it came upon them with lightning speed. A large serpentine creature with huge slanted yellow eyes rose and began grabbing up Paragor Knights in each of its huge claws. The monster hurled them away and raced toward Robby. Robby backed away in fear, slamming into the wall. He closed his eyes and suddenly felt himself being lifted from the ground. The taloned fingers of the beast clenched in. Robby screamed and dropped his broadsword. He expected any second to be cast into the air or smashed into the wall.
“You are not a Paragor Knight, are you, hmmm?” Robby felt warm breath wash over him. He opened his eyes to a squint and saw nothing but huge yellow eyes and jaws filled with teeth as big as knives. “I sssee that you are not! It is a good thing for you that Falon’s eyes are still keen.”
Several Paragor archers fired upon Falon from what they thought was a safe distance. Falon didn’t even glance in their direction. She simply slithered the back end of her body around behind them and crushed them in her coils. “Pesky, aren’t they?” she said with a mischievous laugh. “Now then, who are you?”
“My name is Robby,” he replied. “You aren’t going to eat me . . . are you?”
“Eat you?” Falon smiled. “Nay, young Robby. I have already had my fill of these black-armored folk. Not terribly tasty . . . no. But, perhaps I will go back for more later.”
Robby felt a chill run up his back.
“Wait,” Falon said. “My eyes may not be as good as I claimed. You are not Glimpse-kind! You are from the Mirror Realm, hmmm?”
“Righ-ight!” Robby nodded. “I’m from Maryland.”
“The land of Mary?” Falon asked, scratching her chin with one of her talons. “Never heard of that, but I have met others from the Mirror Realm. You do not by any chance know Sir Aidan, do you?”
“Aidan!” Robby’s eyes lit up. “Yes, he’s my best friend!”
“Your best friend? Really?” Falon smiled. “Oh, this is getting interesting now, isn’t it, hmmm?”
“Is he here?”
Falon nodded. “I left Aidan and Lady Antoinette in a valley behind the enemy’s flank, out of harm’s way . . . for the moment.”
“But I thought,” Robby stammered, hardly believing his ears. “I mean, Aelic was near death, . . . and that means—”
Falon looked at Robby strangely. Slowly she lowered Robby to the ground. “Pick up your sword, young Robby,” she said. “Where we are going, I have a feeling you are going to need it.”
