Herbie Brennan - Ruler of the Realm

‘What are you doing?’ Henry gasped. He jerked away and stared at her in astonishment.

Blue pulled him close again, but this time whispered in his ear. ‘They’re watching us. We need to make them think something’s going to happen.’

‘Why?’ Henry’s mouth was muffled by her hair.

‘To play for time, you idiot!’ Blue said in exasperation and kissed him again. After a moment he began to react as if he might be enjoying it. As they drew apart she murmured, ‘OK, let’s not overdo it.’ She manoeuvred so her body was between him and the screen. ‘Turn out your pockets.’

‘What?’

‘Turn out your pockets!’ Blue hissed. ‘We have to get out of here and I want to see if you have anything that might help.’ A thought occurred to her. ‘Where is here, anyway? Do you know?’

‘We’re in one of the demon ships. A transport. On Earth we call them flying saucers.’ He began obediently to turn out his pockets.

‘Was that funny square room part of it?’

Henry shook his head. ‘That was a storage cube in limbo,’ he said incomprehensibly. ‘The saucer picked us up from there.’

Blue stared at him with a sinking heart. ‘Where is the saucer now – in space?’

Henry nodded. ‘Yes, probably.’ He caught her expression. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘If we’re in space, we can’t escape. Unless you can fly a saucer.’

‘No, I can’t,’ Henry said. ‘But I remember how to work the blue light.’ He saw her blank look and added, ‘The light that pulled us out of the cube.’

‘We don’t want to go back to the cube!’ Blue hissed. Then, in a moment of uncertainty, ‘Do we?’

‘I don’t think so,’ Henry said. ‘But the light will send us anywhere, if I can figure the coordinates. There…’ He looked up at her and gave a little smile. He’d finished emptying his pockets.

Blue stared at the little heap on the bed. There were several unfamiliar coins, a piece of paper with writing on it, a small white packet of something that might have been a snack and several pieces of string. Not exactly commando gear to break out of – what did he call it? – a flying saucer.

She forced herself to think. The limbo cube place had been packed with demons, but she could only remember seeing three in the saucer – the two that accompanied Henry and the Black John creature. There were probably others – how many demons did it take to crew a saucer? She needed to know what she was up against.

‘What have you got?’ Henry asked in a whisper. He glanced around him. ‘You don’t think we should go back to… you know… kissing?’

‘What have I got what?’ Blue asked crossly, ignoring his second question. ‘Look, do you know how many demons are on this ship? Twenty? Thirty? A hundred? What?’

‘In your pockets,’ Henry said. ‘You might have something useful too. There’s just three.’

Did he mean what she thought he meant? ‘Just three of a crew?’

‘It’s all you need. Most of the ship is automatic. And, of course, they have me when the implant’s activated.’ He shifted to block the viewscreen. ‘Go on, you must have something.’

‘I have this,’ Blue said; and showed him the slim, sleek shape of the stimlus half concealed in her hand. She was feeling suddenly elated. Just three. There was a chance they might get out of this yet.

‘What is it?’ Henry asked.

Stimlus, Blue mouthed. It suddenly occurred to her that even whispers might be overheard. There was no way she wanted to throw away the element of surprise.

Stimlus? Henry mouthed back, frowning.

Oh, for Light’s sake, Blue thought. She scrabbled in the pocket of her tunic for a writing tablet and found the ornate purple thing she was supposed to carry at all times as Queen. She held it away from the viewscreen and stroked the spell coating. Words began to crawl across the surface.

Kills on contact.

Henry looked at the writing, then at her. ‘The stimlus kills on contact?’ he asked.

‘Kills on contact’ disappeared and was immediately replaced by glowing red capitals: DON’T SPEAK ALOUD. IF YOU WANT TO SAY SOMETHING, PLACE YOUR THUMB ON THE SURFACE OF THE TABLET AND THINK CLEARLY.

‘Cool!’ Henry murmured. He got the hang of it at once, for the tablet cleared, then showed the words, Will it kill them all?

Blue pushed his thumb to one side with hers. Kills one only. Single charge. Must have contact.

Henry moved her thumb aside. Better than a kick in the teeth from a wet haddock.

Blue looked at him in bewilderment.

‘It’s all right,’ Henry said sheepishly. He put his thumb back on the pad. What’s the plan?

Sometimes, Blue thought, it would be nice if someone else took charge. She shifted his thumb and her words began to fill the pad again. Stand by the door. We lure them in, then attack. Take them by surprise. Kill them.

‘Kill?’ Henry mouthed. His eyes were wide.

‘Oh, for heaven’s sake!’ Blue exclaimed aloud. ‘What did you expect to do – invite them to a ball?’

Henry gripped the tablet. There are three of them and only two of us.

They’re little skinny things.

I’ve never killed anything before.

You’ll be fine if you don’t look in their eyes.

Henry stared at her as if trying to make up his mind. After a while he nodded suddenly and moved beside the door. Blue walked over to the viewscreen and shattered the fragile glass with a single kick. The spell coating turned magenta and howled. She spun round and raced to join Henry at the door.

The plan unravelled at once. The demons burst in at a run, but only Black John was in his original form. The other two had transformed themselves into creatures from a nightmare, muscular and huge.

‘Yikes!’ Henry exclaimed.

He has no weapon, Blue thought. That was stupid. I should never have started this until he had a weapon. But there was no weapon for him, nothing in the room that might even have served as a club. She stepped forward and pressed the stimlus into the side of the nearest demon. There was a loud hiss and the smell of burning flesh, then the creature toppled, its eyes blank.

Blue spun round and saw to her surprised delight that Henry was clinging to the second nightmare demon, apparently trying to strangle it. The creature was threshing to and fro, trying to dislodge him. She winced as Henry’s knee cracked against the wall, but noted he never slackened his grip. Blue flung herself at the demon.

The stimlus was useless now, burned out after its single discharge. She knew she didn’t have the strength to kill the brute, not even with Henry hanging on to it, so she went for its eyes, the most vulnerable point.

The demon jerked upright and roared, scrabbling for her hands. ‘Good girl, Blue,’ Henry murmured. There was sweat beading on his forehead as he fought to increase the stranglehold. There was no way he could kill the thing like that, of course, but he might manage to distract it until she blinded it. A blind demon was almost as helpless as a dead one.

She reached for the eyes again, then there was a demon on her back, the furred imp with budding horns and pointed ears. Black John clutched her shoulders with slim, taloned fingers. ‘No more, Majesty,’ he hissed malevolently into her ear.

Blue flung herself backwards at once. They rolled together across the floor, Black John still clinging to her back. She could feel his claws shredding her clothing, then the sharp pain as they reached her flesh. She jerked her head back in the hope of connecting with his face, but missed. One of his slender arms went round her throat and tightened.

Almost at once, her vision began to darken. His other hand came round and raked her face. Blood spurted, half blinding her. In desperation she hurled herself backwards against the nearest wall. There was a sickening thud, the grip on her throat loosened and she felt Black John slide off her back. Blue stumbled and fell, then picked herself up. The black demon lay on the floor beside her. He was still breathing but looked dazed from his fall. Blue reached down and took his head and broke his scrawny neck. Then her knees began to give way.