‘What kept you?’ demanded the charno.
‘You can talk!’ Henry said breathlessly. Despite his surprise, he found it comforting. Somehow a creature that could talk seemed a bit less likely to attack him.
‘Think so,’ said the charno. ‘Are you going to answer my question?’
‘You mean you were expecting us?’ Henry asked. He found himself wondering if life could get any stranger. He was in fairyland, halfway up a mountain with a little blue boy, talking to a giant hare.
‘Not him,’ said the charno, nodding towards Lorquin. ‘Just you.’
‘Why?’ Henry asked, bewildered. ‘Why were you expecting me?’ Or how? How could this creature be expecting him?
‘Purlisa told me to keep an eye out.’
Henry stared at it. After a moment, he said, ‘Who’s Purlisa?’
‘Holy man,’ said Lorquin. ‘He lives with the monks in the monastery.’
What monastery? Henry thought. But that could wait. He’d opened his mouth to ask something more relevant, without quite knowing what it would be, when the charno said, ‘Blue’s inside.’
‘Ah,’ Lorquin said.
For some reason it hit Henry like a thunderbolt. Although they’d been following what Lorquin believed to be Blue’s tracks, the confirmation brought a stark reality. Blue was inside and in need of rescue. He felt sudden, overpowering fear mixed with an almost overwhelming excitement. Above it all was a sensation he’d never experienced before. It was as if he’d become the focus of the universe. His entire life had coalesced into a single point.
Without a word he turned and began to walk towards the cave.
‘Serpent in there,’ said the charno.
Henry stopped. ‘Sorry?’
‘She’s in there with the Midgard Serpent,’ said the charno.
Henry stared. After a moment he asked, ‘What’s the Midgard Serpent?’
‘Big snake,’ said the charno. He glanced briefly at the sky and added, ‘Very big snake.’
Lorquin shook his head. ‘If the charno speaks the truth, we face one of the Old Ones.’
Henry didn’t like the sound of that. ‘How do you know this stuff?’ he asked almost angrily.
Lorquin shrugged. ‘The stories of my tribe.’ A sheepish look crept across his face. ‘Not a snake but a sea serpent. I listened well.’
Not a snake but a sea serpent said the boy who’d never seen the sea. Blue was in there with one of the Old Ones in the shape of a… big… monster… thing… sort of Old One god serpent snake, which was insane except he realised suddenly it didn’t matter. Whatever it was, it didn’t matter. However scared he was, it didn’t matter. He had to get Blue out. He loved her, that’s what mattered. He turned again.
The charno sniffed. ‘You tackling it without a weapon?’
Henry stopped dead. For the first time since they’d set off from the deep desert, he realised he was unarmed. It was incredible, but until this very moment the thought of weapons had never occurred to him. He had been thrown by Mr Fogarty’s communication, then utterly focused on Blue and the fact she needed rescue. How stupid could you get? What did he think he was going to do – steam in and fight the serpent with his bare hands?
Lorquin said, ‘I have our weapons, En Ri.’
Henry looked at the boy and was swallowed by a wave of pure and utter love. Of course Lorquin had their weapons! Lorquin was the child-man who survived the desert, killed the draugr, saw the trails, saved Henry’s life and thought of things like that. Lorquin was his Companion in this bizarre ordeal, just as Henry had been Lorquin’s Companion the day he became a man. ‘Lorquin has my weapon,’ Henry told the charno proudly.
Lorquin pulled two short flint blades from his pouch and solemnly handed one to Henry. It was only inches long. Henry stared at it. ‘This is my weapon?’ he said softly, as much a question as a statement.
‘The blade I used to gain my manhood,’ Lorquin said. He smiled fondly.
‘Won’t work,’ said the charno.
Lorquin’s eyes narrowed as he turned. Henry caught his arm quickly. ‘No, it’s all right, Lorquin,’ he hissed. Then, to the charno, ‘He killed a draugr with this knife.’ He looked down at the blade, feeling considerable sympathy for the charno. Henry couldn’t help feeling Lorquin had got lucky – very lucky. The blade looked as if it would give problems killing a rabbit. But he had enough on his plate without a hassle between Lorquin and the charno.
The charno said, ‘Hammer’s the only thing that will hurt the Midgard Serpent.’
There was something about the flat certainty in the creature’s voice that stopped Henry dead. ‘You mean a war hammer?’
‘Something like that.’
Henry looked at Lorquin. ‘We don’t have a war hammer, do we?’
Lorquin shook his head.
The charno said, ‘I have.’
There was an uncomfortable silence. Was he waiting for an offer? After a long moment, Henry said, ‘Do you think we might borrow it?’
For an answer, the charno reached into his backpack and withdrew an ancient hammer. He handed it to Lorquin, who happened to be standing closest. There was a loud clang as Lorquin dropped it on the rock. ‘It is too heavy for me, En Ri,’ Lorquin said.
Henry stepped forward and tried to lift the hammer. By using both hands and holding his breath, he managed to move it an inch or two. He let it drop again. ‘Strewth, that’s heavy!’ he exclaimed. He looked at the charno accusingly.
The charno shrugged. ‘Special metal,’ he explained.
Henry looked at the weapon. He could probably carry it if the charno helped him get it on his shoulder, but there was no chance at all that he could actually use it in a fight. The thing was far too heavy. ‘This is no good to me,’ he said reluctantly. ‘I’ll have to stick to Lorquin’s knife.’
‘Serpent will kill you,’ said the charno with no particular inflection.
Henry turned towards the cave mouth. ‘That’s a chance I’ll have to take,’ he said.