Mark Chadbourn - The Hounds of Avalon

‘So what are you saying? If there aren’t five of you, it’s all over?’ Mallory could see Hunter’s mind whirring. ‘What about the last five? The ones who fought at the Fall?’

‘You know the stories — two of them are dead-’

‘But three of them are still around somewhere.’

‘I don’t think it works like that.’ Mallory was going to say more, but he could see that Hunter was no longer listening to him. After a moment, Mallory continued, ‘So all this, Sophie’s death, it’s all about the Brothers and Sisters of Dragons. Because you short-sighted, meat-headed, pig-ignorant politicians and soldiers think you need to control us to get us to do the job charged to us by some authority much higher than you.’

Mallory had clearly struck a nerve. ‘There’s been a lot of stupidity done in the name of politics. Don’t expect any better of this regime,’ Hunter said.

As Hunter stood up to leave, something struck Mallory forcibly. ‘What’s going on here?’ he asked. ‘This chat wasn’t sanctioned, was it? If you’d been sent here by your superiors, you wouldn’t have come alone. There’d at least have been someone taking notes.’

‘You’re not as dumb as you look.’ Hunter smiled, giving nothing away, and slipped quietly out of the door.

Hunter raced through the empty halls. He found Hal drinking whisky alone in his room, staring out through the frosted panes at the snow-swept college grounds.

‘Everyone’s looking for you,’ Hal said, his words slurred. ‘The troops are shipping out tonight.’

‘Never mind about that.’ Hunter snatched the whisky bottle from Hal and took a long draught. ‘I’ve got a job for you while I’m gone.’

‘What? Refile your CD collection?’

‘Stop feeling sorry for yourself. You’re not the one going to his death.’

‘Don’t say that!’

Hunter was taken aback by Hal’s unusual passion. ‘I want you to use all the many — and I’m sure there are many — skills at your disposal to find out what you can about the Brothers and Sisters of Dragons-’

‘What?’ Hal’s face looked unnaturally white in the candlelight.

‘Old members, new members. There’s supposed to be five of them. We’ve identified two. See if you can dig up any secret files-’

Hal shook his head. ‘I’ll never be able to do it.’ It was a lie: Samantha had already offered to help.

‘Don’t be so defeatist. I know I love drama, but this is for real: it’s life or death. I’m counting on you, Hal.’ Hunter’s eyes narrowed; he could see something in his friend’s face. ‘What is it you’re not telling me?’

‘Nothing.’ Hal looked back out of the window.

‘If you know anything about these people, now’s not the time to keep it from me-’

‘I don’t know anything,’ Hal replied firmly. ‘I just don’t think you’re going to have much luck finding the other three. Needles in a very big haystack.’

For the first time, Hunter felt a barrier between himself and the man who had been his only real friend for the last few years. He was surprised how sad it made him feel.

‘Come on, you’d better see me off,’ Hunter said. ‘I don’t want you developing a Wilfred Owen complex later, so best get all the tears out of your system now.’

They made their way out of the college buildings in silence. The troops were preparing for dust-off in the Deer Park behind Magdalen, the stink of oil and gasoline on the night wind powerfully evocative in a way they would never have imagined a few years ago, when it was commonplace. There were twenty troop choppers lined up on the makeshift airfield, the snowy perimeter marked by flares and burning oil drums.

‘Not much of an army,’ Hal said.

‘This is just the top brass and intelligence.’ Hunter mentally checked off his ammunition and felt the weight of the pistol at his hip. ‘We had troops stationed in Rochdale and Barnsley and they’ve already been mobilised. Should have made camp by now.’

‘You think you’ve got enough men?’ They both knew the fatality figures during the Fall and there’d been numerous problems with recruitment since.

‘We have what we have. They’re well armed.’

‘I don’t know how you can be so optimistic, Hunter.’

‘Nobody ever achieved anything by aiming low.’

The General marched past with his coterie, heading towards the nearest chopper, then paused and came back to Hunter. ‘We’re counting on you.’

‘I know.’

The General met his eyes for a moment, and Hunter was pleased at the degree of defiance the General saw there.

‘What was that all about?’ Hal asked when the General had disappeared into the chopper.

‘I’m going to be leading a small team behind enemy lines once they start the frontal assault. Cut a few hamstrings, that kind of thing.’

‘You’re mad. That’s suicide.’

‘It’s my job. I can’t start moaning about it when it gets tough.’ He shrugged. ‘Actually, it’s the job of the Brothers and Sisters of Dragons, but in their absence it looks like it comes down to me. Chief substitute for the saviours of the universe. I suppose that’s something.’ Hunter thought Hal was going to cry.

Before Hunter could ask what was wrong, he heard the crunch of footsteps in the snow behind him. He turned to see Samantha, buried in a massive fur-trimmed parka, her arms wrapped across her chest. She paused uncomfortably before him.

‘You look even more gorgeous than usual in that,’ Hunter said. It wasn’t a line: the oversize parka made her features more fragile and beautiful and emphasised the intelligence in her pale eyes.

Hunter expected to feel the sharpness of her tongue, but all she said was, ‘I heard what was happening.’

‘You can’t keep anything a secret around here.’

Samantha visibly steeled herself, then grabbed Hunter’s head and planted her lips on his. They felt full and hot, and he was suddenly aware of a depth of emotion coming up through her skin like the heat from a fire. When she broke off, she stared deeply into his eyes for the briefest moment, but it was enough to underline everything he had sensed in her kiss.

‘You’d better come back, Hunter.’ She spun round and marched away towards the buildings.

For the first time in his life, Hunter was lost for words.

‘She didn’t even know I was here,’ Hal said, but Hunter was distracted by the jumbled thoughts rolling through his mind as he watched Samantha’s form become obscured by the swirling snow.

‘Bloody hell. I think she likes me,’ he said, amazed.

The choppers’ engines fired up one after another, the whirling blades raising a snowstorm around them. Hunter ducked down, covering his face with one arm, and clapped Hal on the shoulder; his friend appeared dazed.

‘Don’t worry, mate. How can I not come back after that?’ Hal stared at him, troubled and distracted. ‘Don’t worry, I’m not going to hug you.’

‘Take care, Hunter.’ Hal forced a smile, then ran for the cover of the college buildings.

Hunter hurried, keeping low, to climb into the second chopper, his heart racing. He felt strangely out of sorts, excited yet unsettled by the discovery of some so far unconsidered part of himself. As the chopper rose on the unsteady currents, he stared down at the snow-swept field, then at Magdalen as it dropped away below him and finally at the disappearing city. He could still taste her on his lips.

The army had dug in along a ridge of hills south-east of Moffat in the Scottish Borders, but they were barely prepared for the near-arctic conditions. The ground was as hard as iron, frozen to a depth of at least twelve inches underfoot, and the wind that blew from the north felt harsh enough to take the skin from their faces. Overnight the temperature plummeted to minus ten, worse with the wind-chill factor.