Darkmoor by Victoria Barry Page A

were drowned out by the sound of the roaring beasts.
    Catherine’s scream screeched throughout the theatre, “No, I don’t want to die! Matthew!”
    Looking towards Darkmoor, Matthew pleaded, “Kill me instead, it’s me you want!”
    Darkmoor’s deadly black eyes darted towards him.
    “Don’t you understand, Matthew? I need you alive, Catherine was the bait to get you here.” Then Darkmoor let out a roar of laughter before continuing, “Master of tricks, I tell you fool.”
    Stepping closer to Mathew, Darkmoor looked at the wolf-lizards and smiled, “They’re hungry you see, I couldn’t let them eat you in the forest, I wanted you alive, but Catherine,” tilting his head, Darkmoor looked at her then back at Matthew, “she looks tasty don’t you think?”
    “Please Darkmoor, please!” Again Matthew pleaded, but his words were ignored. “Please I’m begging you, she doesn’t deserve to die!” Matthew shouted.
    “Believe me Matthew, to have you killed as well would give me great pleasure, but after waiting ten years for you to come, I’m not going to let you go that easy,” Darkmoor said wickedly.
    “Why? What do you need me for? Who are you?” Matthew demanded again, hoping to get some kind of explanation, but Darkmoor turned his back and encouraged the hungry wolf-lizards to feed.
    “No!” Matthew cried looking on at a helpless Catherine, who was hunched over on the floor.
    As Matthew’s voice spiralled up in the night sky, suddenly a blinding white light streamed over the crumbling castle walls. Filtering down through the theatre, it caused the wolf-lizards to stop their torturing, and immediately they dropped to the floor.
    “No!” Darkmoor whined covering his eyes to block out the powerful light.
    Unaffected by the light, Matthew looked up towards the top of the castle. Sat perfectly still upon one of the towers, was Dove. Beautiful, glorious, radiant light spiralled down from her wings, illuminating the darkness.
    With a graceful flutter, she lifted herself up into the sky. Swooping down towards Matthew, Dove released a protective fairy dust blanket over him.
    Dove glided peacefully towards Matthew. She was double his size, and her white calming eye’s smiled softly at him. Instantly the fear of Darkmoor washed away, and allowing himself to be wrapped up in Dove’s angelic wings, she cocooned Matthew into safety. Dove tilted her head and gently flapped her wing, taking Matthew to the calm sky above and out over the castle walls.
    Dove’s lightness faded and darkness returned. Darkmoor looked up at the calm sky and grunted. Clouds gathered above and a trace of fairy dust danced in the night sky.
    “No! That flaming Dove!”
    Turning back towards a whimpering Catherine, who was still hunched over on the theatre floor, he angrily commanded, “Throw her into the dungeons, he’ll come back for her. Then I will kill him!”

    ‘My head ... my head is throbbing!’
    I can feel the ground is soft underneath me, warm and soft. I slowly open my eyes.
    “What?” I’m back in my bedroom, quickly I jump to my feet. The sunlight is pouring in through the grubby old windows, that lovely homely smell of dirt, damp, dust and rot lingers through the air.
    ‘Was it all a dream?’ I think to myself whilst looking down at my hand. The cut from Crow’s razor shape beak has completely vanished, not even a scar is present.
    Not taking any chances I quickly flash my eyes along every tree branch, thankfully that clever crow is nowhere to be seen.
    ‘It seemed so real, but it can’t have been.’
    A faint knocking at the door interrupts me from my thought. Suddenly, I hear my Dad speak, so quickly I jump to my feet and race towards the top of the stone staircase.
    “Hello,” Dad’s voice says softly, then sure enough another person’s response.
    Breathing out a sigh of relief, I wait eagerly, anticipating Catherine’s voice. I wait, and wait, and wait, but nothing.
    ‘What are they talking