"Go on, Brutus! Go on, Rhino! Get 'em!" urged the brothers.
Runner Bean snarled bravely, encircling his people protectively, but they all knew he didn't stand a chance against the rottweilers. For a moment, no one could think what to do. Mrs. Kettle had drawn her sword, and Tancred was already calling up a storm, but even as the rain began to fall, Billy Raven suddenly stepped forward, whining, barking, and howling at the two savage dogs.
The rottweilers stopped abruptly, dropped to their haunches, and began to whine back at Billy.
"What was he saying?" Dagbert whispered.
"Haven't a clue," said Charlie. "But it seems to be working."
The Looms were furiously egging on their dogs to attack, but all at once, the rottweilers turned and leaped at their owners, their strong teeth sinking into bone and sinew. With piercing screams, Dorcas collapsed and then her brothers fell to the ground, one on top of the other. The rottweilers paced around the three forms, growling dangerously. When they were satisfied that their victims no longer posed a threat to their new master, they trotted up to Billy and licked his hands.
"Well done!" said Billy, first in his own language and then in theirs.
"Yes, well done, Billy," said Uncle Paton, and the group echoed his words, cheering, "Well done, Billy! Well done!"
Billy grinned and patted the dogs' heads.
"Three down and two to go," Charlie said, almost to himself.
"You're thinking of Manfred and Joshua," said Tancred. "But don't forget Mrs.
Tilpin."
"And Eric. We can't forget him. Look!" Lysander pointed at the fog that swirled above the field. And they saw that the shapes they had taken for rocks were now moving forward. As they came closer, the floating forms solidified into what appeared to be huge, lumbering creatures.
"Eric!" said Charlie. "What do we do now?"
"Stop them," said Tancred.
There was a violent clap of thunder, and a bolt of lightning shot through the fog, cracking into the skull of one of the stone beasts. It made no difference. The creatures came on and now they could see a small figure prancing before the line of beasts, drawing them forward, animating them to such a degree that they were not lumbering but running, their great feet sending shock waves through the earth.
Tancred had taken off his jacket and was now whirling it above his head. His yellow hair sparkled as a gale force wind tore into the fog. It thinned and lifted, revealing something they would rather not have seen.
The fog had hidden a ghostly army of trolls and beings that could be only half human. Every one of them was armed. Spears, pikes, and axes glinted in the weak sunlight. Some swung clubs, others slingshots.
"Harken's mercenaries," Paton muttered, and from his walking stick he withdrew a slim rapier-like sword. As soon as the sword met the air, a flash of electricity spun from Paton's hand down the narrow length of steel. "That should work," he said with satisfaction. "Let's go."
"Why, Paton Yewbeam, you've grown another foot," Mrs. Kettle declared, stepping up beside him.
Indeed, Uncle Paton did appear to be something of a giant, a rather thin one, Charlie thought, but a giant nevertheless, with a weapon that could surely deal a death to anyone it touched.
Tancred's storm was now raging above the stone beasts and, although the creatures still advanced, they had slowed down considerably and the troll army was not finding it easy to move through the icy wind that howled into their faces.
The group formed a ragged line behind the two leaders, and Charlie saw a determined smile on some of the grim faces around him. They had begun to believe that they could win.
And then, from somewhere behind them, a rock came hurtling through the air.
With a moan of pain, Dagbert fell to the ground. The others appeared not to have noticed, but as Charlie dropped to his knees beside Dagbert, he saw a row of wild figures on the road—the Piminy Street gang. An old woman with red ringlets was brandishing her slingshot and cackling with glee. Others held clubs, knives, and even hammers.
Charlie didn't know what to do. If he alerted his friends, they would turn back and the troll army would fly at them. But it was already too late.
Olivia had seen the gang on the road. "Look!" she screamed. "We're caught."
As the group turned, the gang on the road rushed to meet them. But before Charlie could get to his feet, he was knocked aside by a heavy club and he fell face forward onto the stony turf.
21. THE BATTLE
When Charlie opened his eyes, he could hardly take in the scene around him.
He'd read descriptions of battles, but nothing came close to this. Everywhere he looked, a savage fight was taking place.
He saw Lysander's spirit ancestors surround a group of roaring trolls; he saw Olivia conjure up a monster army only to have it vaporized by a gleeful Mrs.
Tilpin. The witch was sending showers of ice from her long white fingers. He saw Gabriel fighting Joshua, and a huge bird sweeping down, seizing Joshua by his neck and carrying him off the field. Mr. Torsson had arrived, and together he and Tancred were raining bolts of lightning upon the stone beasts.
Charlie dragged himself through the screaming, grunting, roaring crowd. He had lost sight of Dagbert and then he saw a leopard crouching by a boy's body. Was it Dagbert? He saw another two leopards attacking the stone beasts, and then Runner Bean and the two rottweilers came flying past with Billy Raven close behind, barking out orders.
Mrs. Kettle was laying into everything that crossed her path. Her heavy sword struck at heads, legs, and bodies. Beside her, Benjamin, Fidelio, and Gabriel used their fists and their feet to help subdue her victims.
Charlie stood up. His legs were shaking uncontrollably and he felt useless without a weapon. A hideous being with one eye lumbered toward him, wielding an ax. Charlie backed into the crowd, waiting for the ax to fall. But a man with a white cloud of hair seized the fellow by the waist and swung him around. The one-eyed creature growled in fury and raised his ax again, only to have his hand severed by a blow from Sehor Alvaro's slim silver sword.
Charlie blinked. "Th—" he began, but the two masters had run back into the battle. Charlie looked around for a friend to help. But his friends were hidden in the tangled mass of the battle. There was a sharp tap on his shoulder and he turned to face Mrs. Tilpin. Or was it Mrs. Tilpin? For this woman's features were all askew and he could hardly bear to look at her.
"This is the end for you, Charlie Bone!" the witch shrilled. She dug her claws deep into his shoulder. Deeper and deeper. And when the pain stopped, Charlie thought he must be dead, only he wasn't too dead to see Alice Angel reach over him and send a shaft of pure white light into Mrs. Tilpin's dreadful eyes.
The witch covered her face with her hands and reeled back, shrieking. A second later she was lying very still on the ground, and Alice had moved on.
"Charlie!" The call came from Uncle Paton, who was striding through the crowd toward Charlie. His uncle's sparking sword appeared to stun everything it touched and in his wake his victims lay withering on the ground.
With a surge of hope, Charlie rushed toward his uncle, crying, "We're winning, Uncle P. We're winning."
The arrow came from nowhere. One moment his uncle's triumphant smile was there before him, the next it had gone, and Paton was lying at Charlie's feet with an arrow in his chest.
Charlie's scream rang out above the sounds of battle, on and on and on. The sound wouldn't stop, even when Charlie had closed his mouth and dropped beside his uncle's motionless body. But when the scream finally ended, a deathly silence fell across the field. And he sensed an eerie, soundless movement all about him. When he looked up, the trolls and beasts, the Piminy Street gang, and all the enchanter's mercenaries had retreated. Charlie was surrounded by his friends, or most of them. He couldn't see Fidelio or Mrs.