The Coldstone Conflict Read Online Free

anyone who gets in your way. The dragons will assist you … as will I.”

Three
    “T HAT WAS FIRE!” EFFIGY screamed, as the group thundered around Oval Square. “Actual, real, genuine, burning flames! I felt the heat on my face.”
    “That’s because it wasn’t an illusion,” Obegarde yelled. “The dragons were REAL … and Groan Teethgrit has become something … terrible.”
    “You think so?”
    “We all do! He’s become Vanquish.”
    “Yes! That’s the name he used …”
    The group ran on, Effigy still struggling to free himself from Nazz’s grip. “But who, or what, is Vanquish?”
    “Somebody who commands dragons,” Jimmy panted. “We probably don’t need to know any more than that.”
    “Vanquish is a god,” Nazz managed, lowering the freedom fighter on to his feet as he continued to pound the cobbles. “My people in the hills used to speak of him on cold winter nights. He’s very old; possibly as old as Illmoor itself. The good news is that, as I recall from the legends, at that time he took the form of an immense, multi-tentacled mutation. So let’s look on the bright side here: at least he’s not totally manifest at the moment!”
    “ That is the bright side?” Obegarde panted. “Terrific. Absolutely terrific.”
    “Can today actually get any worse?” Jimmy screamed. “We’ve got two dragons after us, possibly controlled by a dark god, both Groan’s companions have been turned into demon zombies and there’s an impostor sitting on the throne.”
    “Doubt that,” said Nazz, mockingly. “If what I’ve heard about Vanquish is true, it’s probably already eaten him.”
    “Where can we go?” Effigy blurted. “The sewers?”
    Jimmy shook his head.
    “No. The sewers in Illmoor are all linked to the streets: we can’t use them to get out of the city.”
    “Where, then?”
    “I don’t know!”
    The group ran on, particularly aware of the shadows rising in the skies behind them.
    Vanquish returned to the throne room, his new face set in a grim smile. Concentrating hard, he raised one hand and snapped his fingers: a ball of energy formed on the air, twisting and turning until it shaped itself into a cone of light.
    The dark god took a breath. Then he spoke into it:
    “People of Dullitch, hear me now. Your ears do not deceive you: I speak directly into every mind within the city walls. CLEAR THE STREETS: YOU WILL ALL RETURN TO YOUR HOMES AND AWAIT MY INSTRUCTIONS. DO NOT STRUGGLE, FOR TO DO SO AGAINST MY MIGHT IS FUTILE.”
    Vanquish smiled. Of course, he wouldn’t get all of them to obey, not immediately … but the weak and feeble-minded would bend to his will like thin-stemmed florets in the wind.
    The dragons swooped and soared over the empty streets of Dullitch, belching flames at every quarter in order to underline the threat. Far below, Gape and Gordo stalked the streets around the palace, kicking down doors and hunting through any houses that looked like convenient hiding places. The inhabitants of these unlucky dwellings sat, mesmerized—entire families of the chosen possessed, awaiting new orders from the voice that had so terrified their souls …
    Soon, the streets of Dullitch were deserted and the city was gripped in an icy fist of terror.
    The secret army had sensibly decided to split up in an effort to leave the city undetected. Nazz and Effigy had gone west, choosing to negotiate the tree-lined walks of Sack Avenue instead of heading directly for the North Gate. Jimmy and Obegarde had moved in the opposite direction, picking their way toward the Rotting Ferret and, ultimately, the Market Gate.
    Unfortunately, they found that route barred.
    “It’s one of the dragons!” Obegarde whispered, peering from the mouth of an alley that ran alongside Finlayzzon’s. “It’s landed on the gate tower: we can’t get out!”
    Jimmy rubbed his chin with a trembling hand. “Do you think the other one’s on the North Gate?”
    “Of course it is! Gods damn it!