The Cold Light Fades - Book 1 of the Crystal Chronicles

Chapter Six - Retreat to the Throne Room

Linta stood at the window, paralysed with fear as the monstrous creatures ran riot beyond her kingdom's walls. When the first blinding blast of lightning hit the outer wall and the deafening crash rumbled through the city of Scorvain, it made Linta jump, pulling her out of her state of shock. She screamed again, this time her vocal cords sprang to life and a shrill shriek escaped her lips. She fell back onto the bed as if she had been pushed by the sheer force of the blast. Her body trembled on the bed, she found it hard to breathe, and for a second the princess felt like she was going to pass out.

Then the door to her room splintered into bits as Lars leapt through like a coiled spring to protect his friend from the imminent threat. The snake's vine like body landed in a mass at the end of Linta's bed and made a loud hissing sound at the window. The snake's head then poked up over the edge of the bed and the pale white lily petals receded back from his face to peer at Linta. An image popped into Linta's mind as Lars asked her if she was ok.

"I... I... don't know Lars." she whispered as she raised her head. Her words came out in short bursts as she struggled to breathe and focus her mind enough to draw the pictures in her mind to communicate with her companion. "What are those... those things out there?"

Lars slithered up onto the bed and came alongside Linta, as she was pushing herself up into a sitting position. Then the snake climbed up her arm and draped itself over her shoulders to assume his customary perch, and Linta felt his clammy reassuring weight around her neck. A blank image came into the young girl's mind, and Linta took this to mean that the bright green snake did not know the answer to her earlier question. Linta was still shaking but the weight of Lars and his musky mossy smell was helping to calm her shattered nerves. She dared to push herself up onto her unsteady feet and took a few careful steps toward the window, preparing herself for the sight beyond it.

She peeked round the thick red curtains and saw her home burning. Many of the houses near the great wall were on fire and clouds of thick black smoke were rising from them. The swirling mass of demonic beasts was still surging over the edge of the city, but they were moving much faster now and Linta found it difficult to make out any of their features. The copper haired girl then looked back down at the city and saw the crowd of people, her people, all desperately pushing their way back towards the relative safety of the palace. In the distance, Linta could hear bells and horns sounding, trying to rally the soldiers of Scorvain into battle against the terrible monsters.

"Linta, are you there?" said Alesson's young boyish voice, coming from the main living area beyond her splintered door. He sounded shaken and tired and when he appeared in her doorway, he looked worse than he sounded. Her brother was just in his sleep shorts and his thick black hair was tangled and messy, his face had lost its colour and his body glistened, covered in a cold fearful sweat.

"Yes, I'm here," the princess replied.

"Who or what is that thing out there?" Alesson said, his adolescent voice cracking outrageously through his fearfully excited sentence.

"I don't know Alesson, one moment they were in my head and the next they were really here," Linta blurted quickly, tears starting to form in her emerald eyes.

"They do seem like something out of a nightmare, don't they?" Alesson said, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Alesson, Linta!" came a shout from the next room. It was their father, King Trengar and he sounded frantic.

"We're here, father," Alesson called back, and the twins stepped through the remains of Linta's doorway into the royal apartment.

"Thank the Crystals, you're both safe," said the king in a calmer, relieved voice.