Wraith(57)

Ghrashbreg stepped forward, his eyes glittering. ‘So you have.’ His hand snapped out and I just caught the glint of a blade before he plunged it deep into Pat’s chest. I let out a cry and lurched forward but Gabriel pulled me back behind him.

Ghrashbreg smirked. ‘He was helpful,’ he admitted. ‘But I don’t like traitors. You can never trust them.’

Pat let out a choking groan and a small bubble of blood formed at his lips. He sank to the ground and collapsed.

‘You two have been remarkably helpful. I have to thank you for sending everyone else to the castle. It means I’m free to make use of the Stone.’ Ghrashbreg looked down at the slab of sandstone. ‘Quite an ugly thing, isn’t it?’ He reached down and placed a hand on top of it, as if hoping to feel its power through his skin.

As he did so, several other Filit goblins appeared, brandishing lethal-looking weapons. I recognised two of them – Boxburn, the goblin who’d been posted outside my building to keep an eye out for Becky, and the guard who had let me into the castle under false pretences. Their expressions were stony.

Gabriel raised his voice. ‘You’ve not brought many goblins with you, Lord Ghrashbreg. Can I assume that you’re hoping to crown yourself King before anyone notices?’

Ghrashbreg snorted. ‘Can you blame me? Three years I’ve been looking for this damn thing. I’m not hanging around while the others decide which one of us is worthy. There’s nothing wrong with taking a bit of initiative – it’s what all good rulers do.’ He bared his teeth. ‘Not that I’m planning to be a good ruler. Not for the likes of you, anyway.’ He stroked the stone as if it were a pet. ‘I wonder what it will be like. Will I feel a sudden rush of power? Will sparks fly from my fingertips? I’m hoping for the ability to cause sudden death. Surely this old Stone is worth that much.’

I swallowed. ‘You don’t have to do this,’ I said. ‘We can bring down this roof and bury the Stone and no one need ever know it’s here.’

He let out a short laugh that echoed round the room. ‘Why on earth would I want to do that?’

‘No one person should possess so much power over an entire country. The responsibility will drive you mad. You can still do the right thing. This isn’t just about you, Ghrashbreg.’

The goblin Lord raised his eyebrows at Gabriel. ‘Can you believe her? First of all it appears that she’s the wraith we’ve all be searching for and now she thinks that my better nature will make me walk away from all this. As if I’m going to do anything of the sort!’

‘You should think about it,’ Gabriel said quietly. ‘You’ve persecuted the people in this city for three years. They’re starving and terrified. If you think that the power this Stone will give you will allow you to persecute the rest of the country, then you’re not thinking clearly. It won’t happen. The rest of the world won’t permit it.’

Ghrashbreg laughed again. ‘Just like the rest of Scotland didn’t permit what happened here? They’ll stand back and let the dice roll. Before too long, I’ll have such iron control over Scotland that it will be too late, even if anyone wanted to step in.’

‘You’re turning an ancient democracy into a dictatorship. How many dictators do you know who have come to happy ends?’

Ghrashbreg licked his lips greedily. ‘I think I’ll manage. I’ll have more power than anyone else has had in the last thousand years. It’s going to be quite a ride. Not that you two will be around to see it.’ He sniffed loudly, sat down on the Stone and gestured to Boxburn. ‘Come on then, let’s not waste any more time. When I have the Stone’s gifts for myself, I’ll experiment on the two of you first. You’ll go down in history, if nothing else.’ He leaned back and gave a cold, heartless laugh. ‘I can’t wait.’

Boxburn pushed back Gabriel and I and stood in front of Ghrashbreg. ‘Sire, are you willing to take this burden?’

Ghrashbreg beamed. ‘I am.’

Boxburn placed a gnarled hand on Ghrashbreg’s head. ‘Receive the magic, the power and the strength which is embedded in this Stone. Receive the glory and the righteousness of the crown. Receive the strength of this land and stand firm in the state of imperial dignity. The gathering here bears witness to your coronation. Arise King Ghrashbreg, ruler of Scotland!’

Ghrashbreg stood up, blinking slowly, before stretching out his arms. ‘I feel…’ he boomed ‘…no different.’ He glared at Boxburn. ‘You said the words wrong.’

The goblin stammered, ‘I said them as you instructed me.’

‘Well, try again!’ Ghrashbreg seated himself once more.

Boxburn coughed. ‘Sire, are you willing to take this burden?’

This time Ghrashbreg didn’t smile. ‘I am.’

‘Receive the magic, the power and the strength which is embedded in this Stone. Receive the glory and the righteousness of the crown. Receive the strength of this land and stand firm in the state of imperial dignity. The gathering here bears witness to your coronation. Arise King Ghrashbreg, ruler of Scotland.’ The words might have been the same but his tone was considerably less dramatic this time around.

Yet again, Ghrashbreg stood up. He pointed a finger at Gabriel. ‘Die,’ he commanded. ‘By the power of the throne, I order you to die!’

Nothing happened. Gabriel smiled and made a show of feeling for his pulse. ‘Hmm. I don’t think it worked. What do you think, Saiya?’

Ghrashbreg growled and lunged for him. The other goblins stood back and watched while their Lord wrestled with Gabriel. The goblin let out a strangled curse. ‘Help me, dammit!’

I did what I could to stop the goblins but the nearest one slammed me to one side. They rushed forward, grabbing hold of Gabriel. ‘Stop and think about what you’re doing,’ he hissed at them. ‘You’re making a mistake, maybe the worst one of your lives.’

‘Shut up.’ Ghrashbreg brushed himself down and glared. ‘We probably need to take the Stone into the daylight. Being underground may be stopping it from working.’

‘Or you’re not worthy,’ Gabriel said, relaxing against his captors rather than fighting them. It made me think he still had a plan.

‘Don’t be ridiculous!’ Ghrashbreg snapped, but I could see the flare of panic in his eyes. I wasn’t the only one; the goblins around us shifted and murmured.

‘He’s right,’ I chimed in. ‘The Stone of Scone isn’t recognising your authority. You’re not meant to be King.’

‘Kill both of them now,’ Ghrashbreg snarled. ‘I’ve had enough of these two to last a lifetime.’

‘Sure,’ Gabriel said easily, ‘kill us and get some peace. It won’t last long. The Prime Minister knows we’re here. If we don’t signal him in the next hour, he’s going to level the entire city to the ground. Without the Stone’s power, you can’t do a thing to stop him. Scotland is a free country and it’s going to remain so, regardless of Stirling’s fate. The only thing to decide is what happens to the goblins who dared to threaten that liberty.’

‘I said kill them!’ Ghrashbreg screamed.

Boxburn and the others raised their weapons and my heart sank. By killing us, they were consigning Stirling and all her citizens to hell. We’d stopped Ghrashbreg but we hadn’t saved the city.

‘You can’t do this,’ I began.

‘We already have,’ Boxburn said.

He swung his blade round in Ghrashbreg’s direction and cut through his neck.

The goblin Lord didn’t even have time to shriek or make the same groan that Pat had. He simply fell to the ground, blood spattering against the Stone of Scone. He lay there twitching. All I could do was stare.

The goblins exchanged looks, then the guard who had felt sorry for me at the gates to Stirling Castle cleared his throat. ‘You will remember that we helped you.’

Helped us? They’d held us captive in our own city for three years. I swallowed back the retort on my lips and gave a tight nod. One by one, they turned and stepped over the fallen bodies of Pat and Ghrashbreg before filing out.

‘I can’t believe that just happened,’ I whispered after they had gone. I reached down into the shadowy corner behind me and, using the tip of my index finger and thumb, pulled up the Stone’s shadow. I’d managed to yank it away in the nick of time.

‘Self-preservation,’ Gabriel said. He let his fingers fall through the dark shape then shook his head in amazement before dropping his hand to his side. ‘When the Stone failed, the others knew what choices they had.’ He held out his hand to me. ‘Come on. We need to get back up to the surface so I can tell Holyrood what’s happened. Stirling is safe.’

***



Boxburn and his cronies worked fast. By the time Gabriel and I reached the surface, both the Filits and the Gneiss goblins were fleeing the city, large convoys racing to get out as quickly as they could. They didn’t even pause to glance in our direction – they were hell-bent on saving themselves. I didn’t think they’d run very far. Only minutes after Gabriel’s signal, Scottish troops were piling in and replacing the goblins’ fearful frowns with brilliant smiles.