Sixty-eight

‘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.

The last thing she saw before losing consciousness was Henry standing over her. He was grinning broadly. Against all odds, he’d strangled his demon.