by L P PATERSON
"Yeah." Sue chipped in again. "Maybe he used the Gates to get it to them." Then her eyes narrowed and she slapped her palm on her forehead and stared at us grinning. "The Gatekeeper would know."
My shoulders slumped as I remembered his words 'I know everything that takes place within my Gates'. Oh, how I hated this place. Why me? I did not want to see or be anywhere near that little man again.
"Yes. He would." said Cymon. "But we would need coin." Both of us looked at Sue. She stared back at us with a frown on her face as she pulled on her hair. Then her eyes widened and her mouth formed into a small and perfect circle.
"Oh..." she finally said. "Da has coin. Lots of it" I heaved a sigh of relief. If the River Lord gave us the coin then we could access the Gates and speak to the Gatekeeper. And maybe I could locate the scythe and go home. Today.
"So let's ask your dad for some coin and then we can go." I said.
"It's Da." she quickly corrected me, and then with a slight giggle she looked at me with a gleam in her eyes and said "And we don't ask him."
Coin was like gold in this world. It granted you access to most things and most places. Rogier had insisted on coin for us to use the time sphere and Famine had provided it. Then the Gatekeeper had to be paid by Oshun, or I would still be trapped inside there. Mother Annie had given me and Sue access without any need for coin. The river maidens had also allowed us into the water, but that may have had something to do with Cymon being shot and me being battered by Nero.
Sue now had six coins hidden away in her dress. She insisted on taking two for each of us in case we needed spares or had to pay again to get back. "We can use Buttolph gate. It's the closest one to our court." she said. I was nervous. Sue had not asked her father for the coin. She had left me and Cymon in the room returning a few minutes later with a small pouch.
"Sue. Wait." I said and I reached out and grabbed her. "You shouldn't come. You don't have to." Her mouth opened slightly and her arms dropped to her sides. Then with a slight tremble to her chin she bit down on her lip. "Okay. Okay. I know that you want to come... but it might be dangerous Sue."
Instantly a wide grin spread across her face and her eyes gleamed again. "I know!" she squealed. She bounced from foot to foot and practically danced towards me. "It's going to be so much fun Audrey. We can go to the Gates and speak to the Gatekeeper. And he will tell us where the death riser last used a gate and then we can track him and use the same gate. Then maybe we will find out who has Cymon's scythe and then we can get it back. Come on. Let’s go before the other maidens come back." She said all of this in one breath, and then with a quick glance at the door and then back at me she whispered, "They might want to come too."
That was enough motivation for me. I really liked Sue, of the six maidens, she was the one who seemed to have a connection with me. She showed empathy and understood me. But she was still a river maiden, and one prattling maiden traveling with me was more than enough.
The three of us travelled through the tunnels. It was a different route taken from the one in which we had walked to see Mother Annie, but the smell and the light was the same.
Cymon was still pale and he was getting worse. The wound caused by the arrow was gone. Completely healed. But the lack of his scythe continued to drain him and I could almost see through his skin now. He now truly looked like the image of a reaper that humans were familiar with. His pale skin was stretched taught against the bones of his skull and his sunken eyes made it look as if you were staring straight into the face of death. Although he was still clothed in the black jeans and hoodie from earlier, now a cloak surrounded him. It was formed of a black smoke like substance and it slowly shifted around him as he moved, the smoky trails stretching and reforming, always maintaining the shape of a billowing black cloak. It was weird and scary and mesmerising.
"Here we are." said Sue. We walked out onto the bank from an open culvert. The mouth of it was high enough for Cymon to stand straight and I saw the blue shimmering light around it. Along the bank was a wall and just above three large marble steps was an arched gate sealed by a set of wooden double doors. The Buttolph gate. Above the arch was a statue of a running wolf. It was so life like I expected it to turn and charge towards us.
This was where Agatha had told me to exit the gates. And I would have if the Gatekeeper had not stopped me. I wondered now how we were to get in.
Sue rummaged in her pouch and producing three small round silver coins, gave one each to me and Cymon and kept the last for herself. I approached the gate and walked up the steps. I didn't want to touch the handle. Another fall onto my backside was not something that I wanted again. Cymon stood beside me on one side and Sue stood on the other. Sue reached for the handle and turned it. A blue shimmering light formed around the handle but nothing else happened. The gate remained closed.
"Why isn't it opening?" I asked.
"I don't know." Sue answered. Cymon shrugged his shoulders and continued to stare at the gate as if his eyes would unlock whatever was keeping it closed.
"You try." I said to Cymon. "We have the coin now so we can get in."
"Yes." said Sue. “We have a right to access. We have coin."
"Alright." said Cymon. He stretched out his long bony hand and grabbed the handle. Immediately the blue light formed around the handle and danced up Cymon's arm. He clutched at the handle as if frozen while his body jolted and danced. Sue screamed while I jumped back. Just as quickly it stopped and Cymon slumped forward onto the door.
"You okay?" I asked.
"Do I look okay?" he answered through gritted teeth. His grey eyes lancing into me. It wasn't my fault that they both couldn't gain access. I didn't shock him. They were both staring at me now. Cymon with one dark eyebrow hiding beneath his dark fringe.
"Hey. If you two couldn't get in, then I don't think I will be able to?" I said as I held my palms out in front of me.
"Try." said Sue with a grin. The wicked girl wanted me to get shocked.
"I don't think that I should." I said.
"Try." said Cymon slowly as he cocked his head to one side.
I reached out for the handle and before my hand even made contact, I felt myself flying through the air and within seconds I connected with the damp earth of the river bank.
"What the hell is going on Sue!" I screamed. "We have the coin. Why can't we get in?"
"I don't know." she wailed as she shook her head from side to side. "I took Da's coin. It should work."
"Well why isn't it working then?" I asked.
Cymon was now staring beyond me to the river and I saw his eyes open slightly as he whispered, "Because maybe the coin was not ours to take."
I spun round to see what he was looking at and saw the water of that small patch of the Thames roiling and bubbling. Then a small dip appeared on the surface and I saw rising from it the tightly curled and greying hair of the River Lord. And his face was like thunder.
CHAPTER 25
I looked across at Sue and saw her blinking rapidly as she scraped her hand through her short spiky hair. A high-pitched giggle escaped her and she quickly clamped her mouth shut, chewing on her bottom lip. Cymon stared across the water at the River Lord.
Slowly the River Lord rose from the water. I watched as water rushed down his dark body to pool and then re-join the Thames. He strode forward as if his feet were walking on ground. But I knew that the water was too deep for him to be touching the river bed. I felt Sue move to stand behind me.
"I thought you said that we could take the coin?" I asked in a hushed voice. The River Lord had looked after Cymon when he had been hurt and he had guided me to find help for him. He had been good to the both of us and now it seemed we had stolen from him.
"Da has a lot of coin." Sue replied. "I didn't think that he would miss six of them."
"Well clearly he has." said Cymon.
The River Lord strode towards us, all the time his eyes were fixed on Sue and she remained behind me. "Hello Da." I heard Sue wh
isper, this was followed by another nervous giggle.
"Come here Sue." the River Lord said.
"Da I -"
"Now." he said slowly.
Sue brushed past me and walked towards her father. The River Lord's eyes were cold and hard as he watched Sue, and as she reached his side his gaze turned to me and Cymon. His lips flattened to a thin line and the vein in his temple throbbed. He was angry. But it was only a few coins. Were they that important?
"Forgive us. We meant no harm and Sue was trying to help us." I heard the words coming from Cymon but the River Lord’s gaze was fixed on me.
"You Reaper, should have known better." said the River Lord. "You know the value of coin and you also know what it is to be in debt."
What was that supposed to mean? I opened my mouth to speak but Cymon's head whipped round and his eyes glared at me and just dared me to say something. My mouth clamped shut. I was learning fast. I was at the bottom. I kept my head down and waited.
"We need access to the Gates." said Cymon. "We believed that we could use your coin."
"As I said Reaper. You should have known better." The River Lord's chest rose and fell in a deep sigh as he watched us. "Even the Gates know that only I can use my coin."
I wanted to speak, but I said nothing. We had used Famine's coin and nothing had happened.
"Unless it is given, the coin remains bound to the owner." the River Lord continued. I understood. Famine had given Rogier the coin for us to use. Oshun had offered coin to the Gatekeeper for me. We had never taken someone else's coin to use for ourselves without their knowledge until now. And of course, Sue was the River Lord's daughter and that is why she had felt the least effect of the gates defence.
I turned to glare at Cymon, my jaw set tight and my eyes questioning. He had the decency to avoid my gaze. "I am so sorry." I said to the River Lord. "Sue was trying to help us and we didn't know."
"The Reaper knows." the River Lord said coldly. "And he owes a debt. Luckily the maidens... like him. They have petitioned for the debt to be waived and I have agreed. But you will not access such favour again. Neither of you will."
Well that was bloody great. I had found a friend in Sue and a place of safety in the River Lord’s court and that had now been snatched away. I couldn't blame Sue. She had clearly been trying to help us. I could blame Cymon though. He should have known better. But maybe like me he thought that Sue had a right to the coin. Either way we were still outside the Gates without any coin.
"Come Sue." said the River Lord.
"Yes Da." she replied. Sue moved closer to her father and turned in towards him. Her mouth spread into a sly grin as she turned her face down to avoid her father seeing the secret wink that she gave us.
"I am sorry." I said again.
"You will be Loci." replied the River Lord.
Then he and Sue both started fading until, within a blink they both turned into columns of water which collapsed on the bank before flowing down into the river.
CHAPTER 26
I almost screamed but I was so shocked that nothing escaped my throat. I turned to Cymon, my eyes bulging and my mouth gaping open like a fish. "What just happened?" I stuttered. I turned to look back at the river bank where just a few seconds ago Sue and her father had been standing. I turned back to Cymon. He shrugged and turned to look at the gate.
"They're water elementals." He ran his hand over the wooden door, taking care to not come too close to the handles. "They do things like that."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
He took a step down from the door, still looking closely at the wood. "Their natural form is water based and they can control water." He shook his head and scrunched up his face, breathing heavily he said "You just might have to blast down this gate Audrey."
"Cymon!" I was almost screaming. " Would you just please stop." I said. "Just for one minute."
"What’s wrong?" he asked. His brows furrowed and drew in together as he leaned in closer to me.
"Sue and the River Lord just turned into water!!" I screamed. "That's what's wrong."
"They're water elementals. I just told you. They do that sometimes." he stated. He spoke softly, as if trying to calm me. It wasn't working. My breathing was getting faster and I felt my chest tightening up. I was finding it difficult to get air into my lungs and I began to feel dizzy.
"I need to sit down." I said. I slowly eased myself down onto the steps. Cymon sat down beside me. I didn't want to panic or worse pass out. But I really needed to get out of this place and back to normality.
Cymon was watching me. I had my head bowed low trying to get the dizziness to pass, but I felt his eyes on me. I couldn't bring my head up and instead just asked him "Why are you watching me?"
"We need to access the Gates Audrey." he replied.
"I know that but I don't know how we are going to do it.”
"Yes, you do. I..." he trailed off and I lifted my head slightly.
"What?"
"I barely have any energy left Audrey. I need to find my scythe. And we don't have much time left either."
He was right. The skin covering his face was almost transparent now. I could see the bones of his cheek gleaming beneath the taught skin. His eyes were sunken and the area around his mouth and cheeks were hollow. He was in a bad way. And we probably only had about an hour left to find that scythe.
"She already knows Cymon. War said that she already knows." I breathed this out softly. I didn't want Cymon to lose all hope but if Death knew that his scythe was missing then I was pretty sure that we didn't have any hope left.
"Yes. She will know that a scythe is missing. But she won't know which one."
"How do you know that?" I asked.
"The Horsemen are-"
"Yes. I know." I interrupted. "They are super powerful and all knowing and almost omnipotent." I sighed heavily. "What's your point?"
He looked at me and rolled his eyes. "I was going to say that they are also very busy. They can't know everything all the time."
"Why not?" I asked. "Isn't that what being omnipotent means?"
"Almost omnipotent." he corrected me. "Their level of power takes an immense amount of energy Audrey. Angels, God’s and Principalities are even more powerful, but the Horsemen are really right there at the top as well. As you know, energy is always around us and it's never destroyed. It just changes into something else." his breathing was ragged.
"Yes. I know." I said. You don’t get an honours degree in Mathematics without knowing basic physics. What was he trying to tell me? Now was not the time for a science lesson. And I still didn't know what a Principality was. "What is your point Cymon?" I cocked an eyebrow as I waited for him to explain.
"The Horsemen use energy all the time. For them, to gather and use raw energy is as simple as breathing, so the loss of a scythe will be felt but that's it. A tiny vibration in their normal pattern."
I looked hard at Cymon. I hated to burst his bubble but that was not the way it seemed when War was in Mother Annie's house. "If they are so powerful" I said, "why do they need to ride bikes? Why not just teleport?" I raised an eyebrow as I watched him and waited for him to answer that one.
"Energy." he said flatly, as if he had already explained it ten times. "It's pulled from somewhere, used and then it goes somewhere else."
"And...?"
"And so, they don't take it if it's not necessary. Wherever they take it from, now has to find it from somewhere else."
I was confused. "You said it was as easy as breathing Cymon."
"It is. For them. Not so much for everyone else."
"Well someone else is also finding it pretty easy. That's what Agatha said. She said that there is someone here whose power can match that of the Horsemen.” I took in a long shaky breath as I remembered my time inside the Gates. “That's how I ended up within the Gates. I don't think that War intended for me to go there. Someone intercepted my path."
"So we need to get inside the Gates again. Ask t
he Gatekeeper which gate Nero used."
I felt myself slump and my shoulder drooped down almost connecting with my bent knees. "Yes. But how do we get inside Cymon? We have no coin."
"I already said, you could blast it down if you really want to. You have enough power." he said.
"What's the point in having power if I don't know how to use it?" I asked. My head was starting to ache and I rubbed on my temple to try and ease the slow building headache that I felt coming.
"Numbers, right? You see numbers and you get hot?" I nodded. He was describing how I had felt at the riverbank with Nero, but that didn't mean anything.
"It's all energy Audrey." he said again. If he mentioned that word energy just one more time I was going to scream.
"The numbers are like coordinates, those are what will help you to locate things, like my scythe." He seemed to drop that one in to remind me why I was really there. "The heat, well that is what happens when your emotions get involved. Then the energy will manifest itself physically and it becomes a weapon. The numbers will guide the energy to land wherever you want it to."
"I have no idea what you are talking about Cymon." I said. I looked at him and wondered if what he was saying was true.
"I don't know much about Loci lore, but I have just told you what I have heard." He stood and I got up and stood next to him. "So like I said. If you really want to, you can blast the door down."
I then heard a slight cough and looked round to see the double doors of the Buttolph gate standing open. The Gatekeeper stood just inside. "There will be no blasting down of my gate young man." said the Gatekeeper as he looked up at Cymon. A sneer crossed his face and then he turned to look at me.
I glanced at Cymon, unsure how to respond to the Gatekeeper. I knew that we needed to get inside. "We need access to the Gates." I said, "But we have no coin."
The Gatekeeper’s face creased into what was almost a smile but it did not reach his eyes.
"Ah yes young lady." he said "but you do have something else, don't you?"