The Secret Burial Grounds of Knocknakil Page 10

It was too late; Graham was running like an express train in his direction. The screeches became louder as the attackers quickly approached.

  Graham grabbed his accomplice and turned towards the safety of the stream.

  The screeches were inches away as he hurtled himself forward. Lepy tucked tightly under his arm looked back just as the nearest Shrake attacked, his claws coming together in a pincer movement.

  Lepy kicked out, sweetly connecting with its jaw, and it rolled onto the floor colliding heavily with its counterparts.

  Graham dived into the safety of the stream, still tightly clutching Lepy.

  “You are a brave man Graham!” Carragah said, greeting them both.

  “Thanks,” Lepy said, staring deeply at Graham, his eyes expressing the gratitude he felt.

  Graham acknowledged by just smiling, a little surprised with himself.

  “What about me!” Lorna shouted.

  “You, too, are a brave woman!” Carragah replied, smiling at Lorna who was now looking very pleased with herself.

  “I would have grabbed Lepy, it’s just Graham was closest.”

  “Of course Lorna, of course.” Carragah turned and quickly prompted them to follow.

  A short distance down the dark passageway Lorna noticed something ahead slouched against a wall.

  “What’s that?” she asked, pointing at her find.

  “It looks like a skeleton of a large kind of beast,” Graham replied with his best guess.

  “It’s a cow, or should I say it once was a cow,” said Carragah. “Unfortunately, every year or so one would step on a swallow hole and end up down here. After roaming around for some time the Shrakes would eventually track it down. That meal would enable them to survive for the next six months.”

  “Carragahhh,” echoed through the passageway.

  “That’s Iroquois and he sounds angry if you ask me!” said Lepy, looking in the direction of the voice.

  “Time to go!” said Carragah.

  “Yeah, good idea, but what about the key to the chambers?” Lepy replied.

  “We will try and circle back later, it’s too risky to open the vault now with Iroquois around,” Carragah replied, sharply moving away.

  Chapter 12

  Devil’s Point

  Their pace quickly changed into a jog, a small dot appeared ahead of them in the distance. Moonlight was penetrating the passageway so there was a way out. Lepy navigated through all the fallen and lose rocks leading out of the tunnel.

  There was a slight howl as Graham bounced onto a large rock; a fresh ocean gust blasted into his face, driving salt water onto his lips which he could taste instantly. It was a great sensation, the strong Atlantic wind shook his hair, leaving him liberated and for a short time free.

  The ocean waves crashed against the jagged rocks, leaving white distinctive foam rising briefly in the air. The crisp white waves surged through the fresh dark air to repeat the sequence; the atmosphere was intensely mystifying as the Moon urged the ocean to crash against the towering cliff.

  “Graham,” Lorna shouted, beckoning to her friend.

  Glancing around, Graham noticed Carragah, Lorna and Lepy climbing up the rock face above. Realising he had slipped into a trance, reality soon returned and he quickly ran to catch up with them, slipping on a couple of loose rocks on the way. It was quite a steep climb; rocks were being knocked down by Lorna, narrowly missing Graham, much to his annoyance.

  “Watch it Lorna!” Graham shouted as another rock bounced narrowly just past him. Cautiously and against his better judgement, he peered over his shoulder as it crashed into hundreds of pieces on the jagged cliff face far below.

  “Be careful Graham!” Carragah warned.

  Graham gasped as his heart started beating hard; there was no margin for error on this steep rock face with no barrier between him and certain death.

  Lepy was now climbing over the ridge. Lorna’s hand came down shortly afterwards and helped pull Graham to safety. “What a view!” Lorna exclaimed excitedly, pointing out towards the ocean, her dark brown hair blowing right across her face as she watched energetic wave after wave surge inland.

  “Magnificent,” Graham replied, scrambling away from the edge looking around.

  “No time for sightseeing, we must keep moving!” demanded Lepy, ascending further.

  “You’re right Lepy,” Carragah shouted, ensuring his voice was heard over the thunderous Atlantic wind.

  Graham and Lorna glanced at each other as another rock was knocked from above.

  Standing there proudly on a slight incline was a ram; his horns were completely turned in on themselves and his wool all ragged and torn. He nodded his head a couple of times, showing his horns in all their glory and his intent to attack imminently.

  “Stand over there!” ordered Lepy, taking control of the situation.

  They followed his orders without question; taking orders from a mini leprechaun without even flinching an eye. The ram dropped his head and scraped his feet, accelerating in the blink of an eye he launched at Lepy. At the very last second, Lepy dropped to the floor, his low centre of gravity enabling him to drop below the despairing charge of the insane ram. The ram fought valiantly to regain his foothold with great determination and just as he regained it the last rock gave way. His cry carried on the wind for a few seconds and then fell silent. The rocks below had claimed him for the Atlantic. “Rams don’t like us leprechauns,” Lepy said, clambering to his feet.

  Carragah led the way up the steep grass hillside littered with featureless rocks. Rams held their ground until the very last second, before darting further up the uneven mountainside.

  The countryside was very harsh, only mountain sheep could survive this environment. Lepy stopped and looked back,

  “Look at how high we are now!” he said, pointing down some considerable distance.

  “Wow, I don’t think I have ever climbed this high before,” Lorna added, standing proudly.

  Sudden movement caught her eye, she fought with the low light to see if she could identify what it was, again it quickly moved some distance below.

  “What are those black specs moving down there?” Lorna continued.

  “Shrakes!” shouted Graham as his heart sank.

  “Now what do we do, we don’t have our blackthorn sticks?” replied Lorna, lifting her hands.

  Lepy paused for a few seconds, staring downwards as the shape of the Shrakes became clear.

  “Quick, grab a rock!” Lepy ordered bending down to grab the nearest boulder.

  He tussled to lift it above his head as if he was in an Olympic weightlifting competition.

  With the satisfaction of breaking the Olympic record, he hurled it down the steep hill. It quickly picked up momentum and bounced with great bounds as it made its way down the hillside.

  Lorna held her breath in anticipation as she watched the progress of this projectile; it bounced right over the Shrake.

  “Ah, unlucky Lepy, have another go,” Lorna shouted.

  “Come on, you grab one too,” Lepy shouted, struggling with his second.

  “No way, there are loads of sheep droppings!” Lorna replied, holding her hands tightly together.

  “I tell you what Lorna, you leave it to the Shrakes to get up here instead!” Graham replied, lurching a rock with a football throw.

  “Oh, OK then,” she replied picking up the smallest rock she could find.

  Just exiting the passageway, another cat-like image appeared, followed immediately by another, and they started to run up the hill.

  Graham launched his rock, stopping to see if it achieved its target. It homed in on its target which instantly changed direction, avoiding the impact. Hurriedly, they threw rocks but these beasts were so fast it appeared like an impossible task.

  “Yes!” shouted Graham as a Shrake took a direct hit and collapsed to the floor.

  “That was my shot!” Lorna exclaimed, frowning in Graham’s direction.

  Graham just smiled
, satisfied her little rocks were not going to do much damage, as he quickly threw another.

  “It’s like ten-pin bowling this,” Lorna said, looking for her next bowling ball.

  The Shrake that was hit was not moving and there were several rocks bouncing vigorously towards the other two. The nearest black image managed to dodge left as a large rock narrowly missed him, straight into the path of a much larger one. Crash, it landed right on top of him, violently pushing him back in the opposite direction.

  “Yes, that was mine as well!” shouted Lorna, throwing her hand in the air as if she had scored a goal.

  “No way, I’m claiming that one,” replied Graham.

  “We can discuss credit later, keep throwing,” urged Lepy.

  Determined, the remaining Shrake snarled as it dodged all incoming rocks with great agility.

  “We’re not going to get this one,” shouted Lorna concerned, as she stared at the sharp fangs protruding menacingly; it sprang the last few feet to attack Lepy who was closest.

  With his last effort before the immanent attack, Lepy threw a rock.

  Bang, he was hit, but precariously the beast clambered back to his feet, shrugged his head and with his glaring red eyes launched at Lepy for the kill.

  Crash, another rock hit his head; again it slowly gained control of his feet with great resolve and took a few steps forward. Whack again he went down; this time, blood started pouring from its head, it was fatally wounded.

  “That was close,” said Lepy, moving towards his victim.

  “Good work you three, Iroquois won’t be far away we must move,” Carragah said, starting to move up towards the summit.

  “Did you see my shots, three out of three!” claimed Lorna.

  Lepy looked at Graham and they both started laughing.

  Ascending further up the rock face, Graham occasionally peeked, still memorised by the spectacular views.

  “Does this hill never end, every time we get near the top another hill appears; it’s never ending,” whinged Lorna, her head drooping towards the floor.

  “You do complain for a young lady Lorna,” replied Carragah.

  “Try this walk when you’re several hundred years old, like me,” he continued.

  Lorna didn’t reply, choosing to conserve her energy.

  Eventually reaching the ridge, Graham looked back to where they started their ascent.

  “We must have climbed nearly a thousand feet to reach this ridge,” Graham shouted, the wind still making it difficult for them to hear each other.

  “Carragah, what’s that over there?” Lorna asked, pointing down towards the ocean.

  They could just distinguish a large rock the size of a house shrouded by low mist in a small bay silhouetted against the moonlight. It was a crystal clear night and visibility from their vantage point was unsurpassed; the only hindrance was a low dense mist hovering around this uninviting bay.

  “That’s Devil’s Point, Lorna,” Carragah replied.

  “For centuries, Viking and pirate ships landed there; it is not a very nice place. The bay is littered with shipwrecks. During bad weather, pirates forced ships laden with treasure into the bay. The strong winds from the ocean would smash the wooden hulls to pieces. After the storms, the pirates would collect all the treasure and leave no survivors alive.”

  Just as they started to move off, Graham noticed some of the dense mist clear for a second.

  “Did you see?” he said, looking to Lorna who had already moved away.

  Graham’s thoughts worked overtime; he was sure for a split second he saw something.

  “We need to head south,” Lepy replied, pointing in that direction. “Across that ridge and towards Crough Patrick in the distance.”

  “My legs are aching after climbing and walking for so long, I’m so hungry too,” said a very glum-looking Lorna.

  “Trust you to think of your belly!” Graham replied, rubbing his.

  “I bet you’re hungry too Graham, we really should go home,” Lorna said, hoping for Graham to agree.

  “It’s better to go back late rather than not at all,” interrupted Carragah.

  “You cannot return there tonight. Iroquois is certain to have someone watching over your place.”

  “Talking about watching, get down,” shouted Lepy. They all dropped to the floor, looking around the empty fields. Lepy peeked over a large rock just ahead before quickly dropping back down. “There is one of Iroquois’ soldiers over that ridge.”

  Graham slowly stood cautiously; over the ridge he noticed what at first glance appeared to be a Viking soldier.

  “Bloody hell, I was right!” he exclaimed, dropping to his knees.

  “What is it Graham?” Lorna whispered.

  “I was sure at Devil’s Point I saw a Viking ship through the mist, you better check yourself,” Graham replied.

  Lorna peered slowly over and dropped instantly like Graham.

  “It’s a man dressed as a Viking,” Lorna said, pausing for a few seconds.

  He had thick metal armour on his chest, by his side was a round shield made from wood with spiky steel pieces set into it. Sharp pointed horns appeared to protrude from his helmet.

  “Trust me, he is very real,” Carragah said, after quickly looking himself. “Iroquois is a very influential and desperate man; he will stop at nothing to capture us.

  “We must continue this way, come on follow me quietly. Be sure, this brute will not hesitate to kill or maim you!”

  Graham gasped, realising the danger they were in. Lepy slowly started to crawl in the fiend’s direction.

  Slowly, with deliberate steps, Lepy edged down the opposite side of the stone wall where the man was guarding only two or three feet away. He turned and beckoned to the others to follow after successfully passing without a sound.

  Time moved slowly as Graham slowly managed to pass without drawing any attention to himself and survive for at least a few more minutes.

  Carragah urged Lorna to go. “No I can’t do it,” replied Lorna, shaking her head; her hands were starting shake with apprehension.

  “Well Lorna if you don’t, Iroquois will be along shortly and believe me, he won’t show you any mercy.”

  Lorna accepted her position, remembering the sword incident and slowly crawled forward. Pushing herself as tight to the wall as possible, she edged in the direction of Lepy and Graham. Her arms felt extremely heavy and she feared they would collapse under the weight of her body.

  “She is too close to the wall,” whispered Lepy in Graham’s ear.

  “Move out a little,” Graham whispered motioning at Lorna.

  “What?” Lorna replied silently, shrugging her shoulders. As her arm lifted it caught the dry stone wall and a small rock fell banging onto another.

  Instantly, the guard heard the noise and leapt onto the wall, weapon drawn and his evil eyes scouring the dark countryside.

  Chapter 13

  The Bottomless Lake

  The soldier stood on the dry stone wall scouring the surrounding area for any signs of life. His thick set legs with knee length sandals were inches above Lorna’s head. He walked along the wall towards Graham and Lepy who pushed themselves as close to the wall as possible.

  Lorna noticed his sword swinging from side to side as the guard continued looking for the origin of the noise. Stopping above Lepy and Graham, he started to peer over the wall at the exact spot they were hiding.

  Carragah noticed an owl sat in a tree a short distance away, placing his hands on the top of his staff he closed his eyes and they started to flicker as he fell into a deep trance.

  Just as the soldier’s view was about to reveal the helpless souls, the white owl swooped from the sky, screeching as it approached the unsuspecting warrior. In a flash his sword swung swiftly at the bird. Furiously the owl hurled its wings downwards creating enough draft to pull itself away from the cold steel.

  Collapsing backwards from the momentum of his swing, the Viking fell off the wall. In
stantly he was back on his feet scouring the sky for the surprise vigilante.

  He stopped for a few seconds, gazing back across the wall but soon moved off looking skywards as he walked.

  “Come quick,” whispered Lepy, beckoning to Lorna and Carragah.

  “Don’t need to ask me twice,” replied Lorna, finding new strength and moving sharply.

  They all looked at Carragah who was breathless; his face had turned cold and grey. Slowly his eyes opened from his deep daze and he watched as the owl landed back on its roost and gawked suspiciously at Carragah, unsure as to what had just happened.

  “We need to rest for a while,” replied Lepy, “in fact I know just the place,” and off he went, leading the way.

  After a short distance, a pointed round tower reluctantly divulged it’s location from the engulfing darkness.

  “Wow, a round tower,” exclaimed Graham.

  “A round tower, is this where they lock up the princess?” Lorna replied innocently.

  “No you dipstick!” Graham replied abruptly.

  “Well what do you know?” Lorna snapped back.

  “It’s where they kept lookout centuries ago for raiding Vikings,” Carragah interrupted.

  “Isn’t it funny all these years later we are using it again,” Lepy said, pointing to the old doorway which was at least fifteen feet off the floor. “Well it’s not actually funny,” he continued, mumbling to himself.

  The tower was circular in shape and about a hundred feet tall with a pointed roof similar to the shape of a rocket. Constructed from large ancient stones that appeared grey due to centuries of abrasion from the wind and rain. There were some small arches for windows high in the tower so the lookouts could watch the surrounding countryside for raiders.