“Don’t waste your energy,” Celia said. “There’s no way you’re going to get out of those.”
“Well we can’t just let ourselves die,” Adelina protested.
“Our only hope right now is that Ryker and Wendell come and save us.”
There was a pause. “What do you think happened to Livvy?” Adelina asked.
“I don’t know,” Celia replied. “It’s completely inexcusable what she did, and she deserves to be shot.”
“I just can’t believe she would do something like that. That she would put her own husband in danger.”
“She endangered you, too,” Celia stated.
Adelina’s eyes dropped. “I know,” she said quietly. “Do you think Ryker will come armed?”
Celia almost smiled. “I’ve known Ryker for quite some time, and I can pretty much guarantee it.”
“Stubborn bastard.”
The door in the front of the room swung open and painted the room with bright light. A tall, shadowy figure stood in the doorway for a moment and then entered. He was followed by Denton, who held a brightly burning gas lantern.
Denton set the lantern on the floor between the two captives and turned around. The light illuminated the shadowy figure, revealing a gold, full-faced mask.
“Leave us,” the tall man said.
Denton nodded and rushed out of the room. He slammed the door behind him so hard it rattled the two lanterns.
The masked man stared at Celia and Adelina for a long moment before speaking. “It’s very curious that this is how things have played out. One of the last remaining League Inventors here, as my captive.” He switched his gaze to Celia. “And a self-proclaimed hero’s whore.”
Celia cast a dark glare at him. “What do you think you’ll accomplish by doing this?”
“Oh, right, because I have to explain myself to you.” He firmly grabbed her chin. “It seems you’ve already forgotten that you’re my prisoner. Know your place.”
She spit on his mask.
The man laughed and wiped himself off. He drew his hand back and smacked her across the face.
“You could at least tell us who you are,” Adelina said, hoping to direct his attention away from Celia.
He stepped in front of her and drew his face in close to hers. He inhaled deeply and smiled behind his mask. “I suppose there’s no harm in that. You probably know me as Overlord.”
“Doesn’t sound familiar,” Celia said sarcastically.
“Soon enough you will be silenced,” he roared. “Now,” he said calmly. “You may refer to me as Caiden.”
“Well, Caiden, can you at least tell us what you’re going to do to us?” Celia asked. “Surely you’re not a merciful man. What brutal torture do you have in store for us?”
Caiden walked to the door and then turned around. “Come on, I’m not that bad. If I were to torture you, I’d want there to be an audience. I have a reputation to uphold.”
There was a knock at the door. Caiden opened it, revealing Denton on the opposite side. “They’re here,” Denton said.
“Send them in,” Caiden commanded. He turned and faced Celia and Adelina. “My audience has arrived.”
Moments later Ryker and Wendell entered the room. Two masked men followed closely behind them, armed with rifles. “Secure them” Caiden ordered.
The guards clamped iron cuffs on Ryker and Wendell and shoved them to the floor. “Now leave us.”
“But, sir,” one of the guards protested.
“I said go,” Caiden snapped.
The guards rushed out of the room and closed the door.
Caiden paced back and forth. “Now, tell me, Ryker, did that bastard Shamus beg for his life.”
Ryker glared at him.
“What is he talking about?” Adelina asked.
Caiden approached her and put a finger to her lips. “Please, I want to hear this.” He faced Ryker. “Go on, Ryker, tell us.”
Ryker gritted his teeth. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t play games, Ryker. Livvy told me she wanted to kill him for what he did. She is much angrier than she leads others to believe.”
“You mean she was angrier,” Wendell said quietly.
Caiden laughed. “Is she dead too? What, she killed Shamus so you killed her? That’s not very noble of you.”
“How can you talk about nobility?” Celia asked. “Keeping us trapped in here like rats doesn’t seem very noble.”
“How does one measure nobility? Through actions? Through intentions? I would say it’s circumstantial. Do you know what I lost in Terial? Who I lost?” he walked up to Celia and grabbed her by the throat. “Ryker, how would you feel if you had to watch her die? If you had to watch her bleed out? If you had to watch her be cut down by a hail of gunfire as she tried to flee with your only child? What if you had to watch her scream and beg for you to save her, but knew there was nothing you could do? What if the only thing you could do was hold her and watch her die in your arms? Getting vengeance on the bastards who killed my family seems pretty bloody noble to me.”
“This isn’t the way to go about it,” Ryker answered.
Caiden released Celia and kicked Ryker in the stomach. “Don’t preach to me,” he screamed.
Ryker coughed and rolled onto his back. He sat up and looked at Caiden. He noticed a key ring dangling at side. “You think that I don’t want to go find the bastard who killed my father?” Ryker yelled back.
Caiden clenched his hands into fists at his sides. He swung open the door and shouted, “Denton, get my gun!”
A moment later Denton rushed to the door and handed Caiden a large revolver. Caiden slammed the door and aimed the gun at Ryker’s head. “Don’t you dare try and make your petty problem seem worse than mine. You have no idea the horrors I’ve seen.” He pressed the barrel of the revolver directly onto Ryker’s temple.
“Wendell,” Ryker said quietly. Caiden looked at Wendell. “Do it,” Ryker said. Ryker rolled backward and kicked the revolver from Caiden’s hand.
Wendell pulled a small remote from his back pocket and pressed a black button.
“What have you done?” Caiden shouted. He reached for his revolver, but Ryker kicked him in the back of the knee, knocking him to the ground.
The whoosh of propeller blades sounded from outside and grew louder. “No, they’re back!” Caiden shouted. He scrambled for his revolver but a Spear Bot appeared in the window. Its Gatling gun started spinning, and then unleashed a fury of bullets through the window, smashing it and spraying glass across the room.
Caiden grabbed his revolver and returned to his feet. A bullet caught him in the shoulder and sent him stumbling into the wall and knocked him down.
Ryker rolled over and grabbed the key ring from Caiden’s belt and unlocked his iron shackles. He crawled across the floor and freed Wendell, and then the girls.
Wendell pressed the black button on his remote again and the Spear Bot ceased firing. The propeller slowed its rotation and lowered to the ground.
Ryker leaned out the window and grabbed onto a ladder beside it. “Let’s go,” ordered. They climbed down the ladder and ran toward the front of the building.
“Stop them,” Caiden shouted. He leaned out a window and fired his revolver at them. Other masked men began firing at the escapees from the windows.
Wendell fell to the ground as a bullet pierced his ankle. “Bloody-hell!” he shouted
Ryker picked him up and slung him over his shoulder.
As the Spear Bot caught up with them it turned sideways and opened fire on the side of the building. The bullets pierced the walls and left large holes; spraying the area with chunks of brick.
“It’s going to kill innocent people!” Celia shouted. “Turn it off.”
Wendell, doing his best to not fall from Ryker’s shoulder, pressed and held down the black button on the remote. The Spear Bot stopped firing and the propeller stopped spinning, causing the bot to crash to the gro
und.
Ryker stumbled and Wendell smashed his head on Ryker’s upper back. He fumbled with the remote and it slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.
“We can’t leave the Bot,” Adelina shouted.
“We have to,” Ryker yelled back. “They’ll kill us if we go back for it.”
The attackers continued popping out of the windows and firing at them. As they neared the statue in the center of the city the gunfire slowed, and then stopped as they rounded the corner of a building.
“He’s got the Spear Bot now,” Adelina said between labored breaths. “And the remote to control it.”
“It’s okay,” Ryker answered. “We’ve got four more. We have to get back to the lab before the Bobbies show up.”
***
Ryker helped Wendell onto a table and pulled off his boot. Blood poured from the boot and splashed onto the floor. “Adelina, can you help him?” Ryker asked.
“It’s just a bloody bullet wound,” Wendell grumbled. “A little sleep and I’ll be fine.”
“Until that bullet infects the wound and we have to chop off your foot. And, let’s face it, you can’t afford to get any shorter.” Wendell looked at her through narrowed eyes and grunted as she grabbed his foot. “This isn’t so bad. Get me my medical tools, Ryker.”
Ryker rummaged through a pile of Adelina’s stuff and took out a small black case. He handed it to her and she opened it and removed a pair of long tweezers. She slowly inserted them into Wendell’s wound and tugged on the bullet. “Bloody-hell, just pull it out!” Wendell cried.
Adelina slid the bullet out and wrapped his ankle with a white bandage. She patted him on the knee. “I think you’ll live.”
Celia grabbed Ryker’s shoulders and turned him so he faced her. She stared deeply into his red eyes. “Thank you, Ryker,” she said genuinely. “I’d be dead if it weren’t for you.” She pulled him in close and kissed him.
Adelina looked at them. Her expression dropped slightly and she quickly turned and made sure Wendell’s bandages were secure. She glanced back at them and sighed.
“Everything alright?” Wendell asked quietly.
“What?” Adelina asked, feigning surprise. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
Wendell looked at her for a moment. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine,” he said with a half-smile.
Adelina faced Ryker and Wendell as they separated. “So, what if Caiden brings the Spear Bot here?” she asked.
“We don’t even know if he knows where ‘here’ is,” Ryker answered.
“Do you think Livvy told him?” Celia asked.
“I’m not sure,” Ryker replied.
“Speaking of Livvy,” Adelina began. “Um, where is she? And Shamus?”
Ryker and Wendell looked at each other. “We cremated them and mixed their ashes,” Ryker said finally. “We put them in an urn together.”
“Well, at least they’re together. I still can’t believe they’re dead, though. I can’t believe Livvy would do such a thing.”
“We shouldn’t dwell on it,” Ryker said. “At least, not until we’re safe from Caiden. We know he has a Spear Bot, but we don’t know if he’ll use it. Plus, we have four of them, and I know he’s terrified of them.”
“With good reason, though,” Celia added.
“Caiden may know where we are, so we have to remain vigilant. We’ll keep Spear Bots on duty at all times.”
“We’ll have to rotate them,” Adelina said. “If they run for too long they’ll overheat and their fuses will burn out. And I don’t want to be the one to change out all those fuses.”
“Alright, we’ll keep two on at a time then. How long can they run before they need to cool?”
Adelina shrugged. “About four hours.”
Ryker looked at his palm-watch. “Alright. It’s two o’clock. Two of us should take watch with the Spear Bots. We’ll switch every four hours.”
“I’ll take the first watch,” Wendell volunteered.
“Wendell, you’re hurt. You should rest,” Celia said.
“I’ll stay with him,” Adelina said. “I can monitor his wound and change out his bandage when needed.”
“Alright,” Ryker answered. He walked over to a table and picked up his revolver. He skillfully twirled it around his finger so it ended up with the handle facing toward Adelina. “Take my revolver,” he offered. “Just in case.”
Adelina grabbed the revolver. It felt heavy and warm in her hand. “I don’t have much experience with guns,” she said.
“It’s pretty easy,” Ryker answered. “Just aim and squeeze the trigger.”
Wendell smiled. “It’s quite easy to get the hang of,” he added.
“Alright. Celia and I will go get some rest. If anything happens, nothing wakes us faster than gunfire.” Celia followed Ryker into the back room.
“Hand me my rifle, will you?” Wendell asked. Adelina grabbed the bolt-action rifle from a table and handed it to Wendell. “Thanks,” he said. He wiggled himself so he faced the lift and leaned back on his elbows. “Looks like this is going to be a long four hours,” he complained.
“I’d better get two of the Bots operational,” Adelina said. “And a change of clothes.” She walked to the back of the lab and unstrapped two remotes from two of the Spear Bots. She pressed the black buttons and held them down.
Steam shot out from the pressure releases and the Bots unfolded from themselves. Their propellers slowly began to spin. As they picked up speed they blew Adelina’s hair back, also causing her to step back from the powerful burst of air. The Bots lifted from the floor and Adelina walked to the front of the lab. The Bots obediently followed her to the lift. Adelina pushed the black button again and the Bots hung in the air next to the lift. The propellers generated a quiet whooshing sound as the Bots gently bobbed up and down. She walked into the back room and returned moments later in her inventing clothes.
“So tell me, how do these Bots know to follow?” Wendell asked.
“They follow a signal from the remote,” Adelina answered.
“Interesting,” Wendell said. He yawned and stretched his arms high into the air. “So, how does it feel to be the last Head Inventor?” Wendell asked. He looked at her, hoping his question didn’t sound too harsh.
Adelina shrugged. “It’s strange I guess. I mean, unless we put a stop to Caiden no one is going to want to be a Head Inventor. Not to mention with the amount of time it takes to get new Head Inventors, if I’m killed, the League will fall into anarchy and we’re looking at a pretty serious dark period ahead. We’ve never had to deal with something like this before, so our protocols are quite a bit off.”
“You know, Ryker is a damn good inventor,” Wendell said. “He hates what the League has become, but, I don’t mean to sound rude, but with Shamus out of the way, I think Ryker could really turn that place around.”
Adelina shook her head. “I don’t really want to think about it right now.”
“I understand. I’m sorry.”
“It’s just. I’m the last one. That puts me in charge of everything. I feel so… scared. I feel as if there is so much pressure on me. I can’t let everyone down.”
“Adelina, you’re going to be fine,” Wendell assured her. “We’re not going to let anything happen to you. That revolver you’re holding, that was Ryker’s father’s revolver. Ryker considers it his good luck charm. He’s been in trouble more times than I can count, and he’s not dead or locked up… yet. Surely that will count for something.”
Adelina looked at the revolver. She ran a finger down the smooth barrel, and over the engraved letters. “I suppose you’re right,” she answered. She held the pistol out and looked down the sights. “It certainly feels good,” she said. “I feel… powerful.”
“As well you should,” Wendell said. “I could really go for a cup of tea. Would you mind making some? I’d go myself, but,” he looked angrily at his injured ankle, “I’m a bit crippled right now.”
Adelina smiled. “Sure.”
“When you get back, I’ll tell you about my father. The best bloody gnomish inventor you’ll ever hear about!”
Chapter 25
Ryker stood on the roof of Caiden’s manor. Rain poured and lighting streaked across the black, starless sky. Thunder rumbled and seemed to shake the roof under his feet. Caiden stood adjacent from him. He aimed a revolver at Ryker, and his face showed a massive grin.
Ryker looked to his left and saw Celia and Adelina lying unmoving, and bleeding. Wendell stood to his right. Empty shell casings were scattered all around, and his rifle lay at his feet.
Caiden turned and fired his revolver. The noise from the gun was masked by another crack of thunder, and Wendell stumbled backward. He stood at the edge of the roof and held his stomach. Blood dribbled from the corner of his mouth as he looked at Ryker. Caiden fired again. The bullet sank into Wendell’s forehead and he fell over the edge, crashing onto the street below.
Ryker looked back at Caiden. Behind him were five destroyed Spear Bots. Sparks shot out from the pieces strewn across the rooftop. Some gears still tried to turn, but only jerked and twitched. What’s happening? Ryker thought. He stared at Caiden. The rain stung his eyes and face as the wind whipped and threatened to blow him off the building.
Caiden stepped forward, still aiming the revolver at Ryker. “What are you going to do now?” he asked. His voice penetrated all other sounds and echoed in Ryker’s head. “Everyone is dead. The League has fallen, and you’re responsible. You can’t stop me now. No one can.” He grabbed Ryker’s shoulder and pushed him to the ground, onto his knees. He stood behind Ryker and held the revolver barrel against the back of his head.
“Was it worth it?” Ryker asked. He was surprised at how clear and powerful his voice was, despite the raging storm. “Was it worth all the death and destruction? All the chaos?”
“Not yet,” Caiden answered. “The worth of it is far less important than the justification. And the justification is just a trigger squeeze away. Goodbye, Ryker. I will admit you fought well.” Caiden squeezed the trigger.
Ryker screamed and sat up. He panted heavily and sweat dripped down his face. He was in bed in the lab still. He looked to his right. Celia lay sleeping, her chest gently rising and falling with each breath. It was only a dream, he thought. He looked at his palm-watch and gently shook Celia. “Celia, it’s time for our shift.”
London Darkness- Infernal Inventions Page 16