by Edward Cox
Van Bam nodded. Frustratingly, the mysterious avatar was shrouding itself in question after question while never revealing any answers.
Clara has told me all about the new Resident of Labrys Town, Gideon said. Hagi Tabet. Do you know how many other Genii Moor has released?
At least one other that we know of. Perhaps two.
And I assume you’ve worked out how they managed to enter the Nightshade?
There was no mockery or cruel edge in Gideon’s voice, but Van Bam couldn’t bring himself to answer the question. He had been trying hard not to think of Marney.
During the Genii War, when Fabian Moor had first come to Labrys Town, he had believed that the Nightshade had left a residue of its magic within the psyches of the Relic Guild agents; had unwittingly imparted a weak spot in its defences that Moor thought he could utilise to seize control of the Resident’s home. Although Moor’s belief had led to the deaths of Van Bam’s friends, it was reckoned that Moor had been wrong; that the secrets he was willing to torture magickers to reveal simply didn’t exist. But now it seemed it was the Relic Guild who had been mistaken.
Van Bam couldn’t accept that it was Marney, of all the agents he had ever known, who had been the one to give Moor control of the Nightshade.
There is a lot to this situation that we do not know, Gideon said. Again, there was no cruelty in his words. But I do know Marney would have fought Moor as hard as she could.
Van Bam struggled to face the implication behind Gideon’s words. He refused to believe that Marney, his old love, was just another victim to fall foul of the Genii’s murderous nature. Yet if Moor had taken what he needed from Marney, then her usefulness was served. The Genii would never have allowed her to live.
It is time to accept reality, Gideon said. Marney is gone.
Van Bam cleared his throat and shifted in his seat.
The sly, amused lilt crept back into Gideon’s voice. Keep faith, my idiot – Marney might be gone, but remember that she left behind her legacy for us to decipher.
Van Bam cocked his head to one side as he felt Gideon guide his attention back to the wolf, hungrily feeding on the joint of dried beef.
Before Marney had been captured by Moor, she had given Clara a message. With the use of her empathic magic and a simple kiss on the lips, Marney had planted information directly into the changeling’s mind, information that the Relic Guild undoubtedly needed in these desperate times. The trouble was Clara could not recall what Marney had imparted.
Gideon said, The information is hiding somewhere here in Clara’s head, my idiot – I can sense the residue of empathic magic. But while Clara remains as the wolf, she has no interest in understanding Marney’s little gift. Or letting me find it.
Van Bam stared at the wolf licking and chewing the hunk of dried meat, and he frowned. Why would Marney send us a message only to then hide it?
The dead Resident’s pause suggested a shrug. Perhaps the message isn’t intended for us at all, my idiot. Have you thought of that?
Van Bam hadn’t.
Either way, Gideon continued, we might have to wait for Clara to take human form again before I can find out.
Nonetheless, Van Bam said to his guide, his frustration growing, keep searching Clara’s mind. Discover anything you can.
Oh, I intend to, my idiot. The wolf is very strong-willed, but I’m sure I can tame her.
Gideon, be kind to Clara. She is not—
‘They’re coming,’ Samuel announced.
Forgetting Gideon, Van Bam jumped to his feet. Clara looked up from her meal, her ears pointed and alert.
Up on his makeshift perch, Samuel craned his neck for a better view through the window. ‘I can see rifles … a lot of rifles. Police. They’re bringing something with them.’
Clara padded over to stand next to Van Bam.
‘What does your magic tell you, Samuel?’
He rocked his head from side to side, deciphering the message of his prescient awareness. ‘There’s no immediate danger,’ he said, ‘but keep on your toes. They’re frightened.’
‘As to be expected,’ Van Bam said. ‘At least for now the Aelfir wish us no harm.’
‘Just as well,’ Samuel said. ‘I’ve only got one bullet left, and my power stones are losing their charge, for some reason – Wait!’ The old bounty hunter peered closer through the window. ‘The Aelf who locked us in here is out there. Looks like he’s in charge.’ He rubbed breath from the glass. ‘I think he’s going to speak—’
‘Humans!’ The voice was loud but muffled through the warehouse door. ‘You are under arrest.’ He spoke with an exaggerated confidence, proud almost. ‘By leaving the Labyrinth, you have broken the Timewatcher’s law. You will surrender to our custody peacefully. Lay down your weapons and control your beast.’
Clara growled. Van Bam laid a hand on her back, either to restrain her with his touch, or to find reassurance for himself in her strength. He couldn’t decide which.
‘Agree to our terms and you won’t be harmed.’
Samuel was looking out of the window again. He swore and his colours became shaded with anger. ‘Van Bam, remember those cages the Aelfir used to transport animals in?’
‘I do.’
The old bounty hunter looked down at the illusionist with a sour expression. ‘They’ve brought one for us.’
The metal plates covering Van Bam’s eyes met the wolf ’s baleful yellow glare, and he heard Gideon chuckling in his head.
‘Do you agree to these terms?’ the voice bellowed.
‘We agree,’ Van Bam shouted. ‘But please, give us a moment.’
He gave a nod to Samuel who jumped down from his perch and began unbuckling his utility belt. He threw it on the floor, and it was quickly followed by his rifle. Lastly, he unsheathed his knife and added it to the pile. As Van Bam laid down his green glass cane, the old bounty hunter sucked air over his teeth.
‘You know, you could keep that with you. Make them think it’s a walking stick. Might come in handy.’
Van Bam shook his head. ‘We take no risks. Agreed?’
Samuel huffed. ‘You’re the boss.’
Van Bam looked at Clara. ‘We do exactly as we are commanded, yes?’
The wolf looked away to stare at the warehouse door. Her tail was pointed to the ground, her body tense, and her colours were agitated.
‘Clara?’
Don’t worry, my idiot, Gideon assured him. I’ll keep Clara on a leash. For now.
Van Bam turned to the shutter and drew a breath. ‘We are ready,’ he shouted.
‘Keep your hands in the air,’ replied the voice. ‘Put the wolf in front of you.’
Sensible, said Gideon, clearly enjoying himself. Keep the beast in clear sight of the rifles.
As Van Bam and Samuel stepped behind Clara, raising their hands above their heads, there was a clunk followed by a hum, and the huge shutter door began to rise, clacking metallically, louder and louder, until it was fully open. Chill air stroked Van Bam’s face as the loading bay was revealed. The illusionist counted ten rifles aimed at the Relic Guild, more than half of them trained on the wolf. The glow of the weapons’ power stones filled Van Bam’s inner vision with the violet glow of thaumaturgy, but the fear blooming in the bodies of the Aelfir came to him in subtle shades of grey.
Dressed in uniforms and wearing helmets that concealed their faces behind black glass visors, the police officers formed two lines of five on either side of a cage that was easily big enough to hold the agents. Made from thick metal bars, the cage sat upon the same kind of wooden platform used to deliver cargo to the Labyrinth, and its door was open.
Behind the line of police to the left stood the Aelf who had trapped the Relic Guild inside the warehouse. He wore a long and thick overcoat, and a woollen hat pulled down low enough to cover the points of his ear
s. There was a self-satisfied look on his oddly triangular face, menace in his large Aelfirian eyes.
‘Get into the cage,’ he ordered much louder than he needed to. ‘Slowly.’
Oh good, Gideon said dryly. A megalomaniac.
Chapter Five
Uninvited Guests
To the east, a strange sun blazed. A gigantic ball of purple energy, surrounded by stars, licking out into space with snaking tongues of slow fire. It burned with such a purple radiance that only pure thaumaturgy could have formed it. Its light was too intense for Van Bam’s inner vision. He turned his face from the glare, wondering to where in the realms he and his colleagues had been delivered. Neither the illusionist nor Gideon could recall an Aelfirian House that existed beneath a purple sun.
Held inside the animal cage, which sat upon a floating platform, the Relic Guild was being escorted through this strange House by the armed police officers. Samuel held to the bars of the cage, staring out, silent and contemplative; Clara, unfazed by the situation, had lain down on the floor, and was apparently asleep. The Aelf who had collected the magickers from the warehouse led the procession, and he seemed to be enjoying himself.
Despite the intensity of the burning, purple sun, the air was surprisingly cold.
From the warehouse, the journey progressed along a wide and cobbled road that cut through an open expanse of short, wild grass, heading towards buildings in the near distance. Eventually the road bent round to the left, and ran before the buildings: a long line of terraced shops and residential dwellings. Van Bam was glad the buildings hid the harsh glare of the strange purple sun. Myriad shades of grey filled his inner vision once more, but subtle colours remained in the air, hints, hues, that could only come from magic.
Van Bam noticed Aelfirian faces at the windows of the houses, furtively peering out through gaps in curtains, curious and eager to catch a glimpse of their human visitors. The Aelf in charge seemed to know he was being watched. His back straightened, his chest stuck out, and he raised his head a little higher. He wanted his fellow Aelfir to see him leading the police officers, for them to know that the humans in the cage were at his command. He acted as if this was a homecoming parade.
‘I think we have wound up at the mercy of an idiot, Samuel,’ Van Bam whispered, but his old friend didn’t reply.
Samuel still clutched the bars of the cage, facing away from the buildings. He was frozen, looking out, and his emotional hues were as troubled as they were nostalgic. He was staring at where, a short distance from the road, the land ended abruptly. The area was marked by a sturdy-looking guardrail. And beyond the guardrail was nothing: no water that might signal the beginning of an ocean, no horizon – just … emptiness.
Van Bam gained the dizzying realisation that this House had been built upon a giant platform of rock that was free floating in space.
Interesting, Gideon purred.
The guardrail was broken at regular intervals by gates that led to wide rope and wood bridges. The bridges looped away, crossing the void, to connect to small, floating islands. Van Bam could see eight islands, each with a flat plateau that tapered down to jagged points like the roots of teeth. And standing on each plateau was the tall stone archway of a portal.
‘Those portals,’ Samuel said, his voice subdued, ‘they lead to sub-Houses. Van Bam, I know where we are.’ He looked back at the illusionist. ‘This House is called Sunflower. It’s the hub of the Aelfheim Archipelago.’
Van Bam knew of the Aelfheim Archipelago, though he had never had the chance to visit it. But it was supposed to be a collection of farming Houses, not a dismal realm with a strange purple sun that barely gave warmth.
‘You are sure, Samuel?’ Van Bam said dubiously.
‘Without a doubt,’ Samuel replied. ‘The place has changed – I mean, something bad must’ve happened, but …’ He looked out over the portals sitting upon drifting islands. ‘I’ve been here before, Van Bam.’
The conversation was brought to a conclusion as the self-righteous Aelf ordered the procession to halt outside the House’s large police station.
‘Back it up!’ he bellowed.
There was a broad grin on his face, as the police officers positioned the cage before the stone steps that led up to the station. Two more officers stood by the building’s entrance, both carrying rifles, power stones primed.
‘Come on, boys!’ the Aelf in charge called happily. He smiled smugly at Van Bam. ‘Let’s get them into their cells.’
The wolf looked up at this, and Van Bam gave her a concerned frown.
Stop fretting, my idiot, Gideon chuckled. Clara has promised to remain on her very best behaviour.
With trepidation and twitchy trigger fingers, the police officers ushered the Relic Guild into a small jailhouse within the police station. There were only three cells, fronted by thick metal bars and divided by cold stone walls. The wolf was placed in a cell by herself, while Van Bam and Samuel occupied the cell next to her. Only when the cell doors were locked, and sturdy metal bars protected him from his prisoners, did the self-satisfied Aelf tell the officers to leave. And then he turned on an oily smugness that confirmed to Van Bam that he was not the person the Relic Guild needed to talk to.
‘The name’s Marca,’ the Aelf said. He was facing the only window in the room, staring out onto the strange Aelfirian landscape. Beneath the window was a rickety table, upon which sat Samuel’s rifle and utility belt, and Van Bam’s green glass cane. ‘I’m the supervisor of Sunflower.’
Marca turned from the window and rocked back on his heels, as if to allow his audience enough time to be suitably impressed by his declaration.
Really? Gideon said. This fool has been keeping the denizens of Labrys Town alive all these years? And he laughed heartily.
‘Anything you’ve got to say, you’re going to say to me,’ Marca continued with an air of supreme authority. ‘I’m the only one in charge around here.’
‘I do not wish to appear rude, Supervisor,’ said Van Bam, ‘but I find that highly doubtful.’
Marca chuckled at Van Bam, and he slipped his woollen hat from his head, uncovering pointed ears filled with more greying hair than remained on his head. ‘If I were you,’ he said, ‘I wouldn’t be as smart with my mouth.’ He rolled the hat up and smacked it against his palm. ‘Wouldn’t you agree, Hillem?’
Hillem was a young Aelf, early twenties, tall and slim, with a mop of brown, unruly hair, and watery eyes that gave him a sleepy appearance. Dim-witted, clearly the supervisor’s lackey, he had been waiting in the jailhouse when the group arrived, and was the only other person to remain after the police left. And he had a fixation with the wolf.
Even though the adjacent cell held the first humans he had ever seen, Hillem hadn’t stopped staring at Clara. Like Marca, he was wrapped up against the cold in a long, thick coat and a plain woollen scarf that hid the mouth and chin of his triangular face. He sniffed a lot, and repeatedly wiped his nose on the sleeve of his coat.
‘Hillem?’ said Marca.
The young Aelf ’s large, unblinking eyes didn’t move from Clara’s cell, but he worked his mouth free of the scarf. ‘What?’
‘I said wouldn’t you agree?’
Hillem’s eyes still didn’t stray from the wolf. ‘Agree with what?’
Marca sighed and shook his head. ‘Never mind.’ He addressed Van Bam. ‘Now then. Would you like to tell me how you managed to escape from the Labyrinth?’
‘I very much would not,’ said Van Bam, his voice as calm as always. ‘But I would appreciate the chance to speak with your superiors.’
Marca suddenly seemed a little unsure of himself. ‘Why?’
‘Because the news I bring needs to be heard by those with authority higher than yours. Please, fetch them.’
The supervisor made a show of going nowhere by folding his arms across his chest and giving the il
lusionist a deliberately provocative grin that was surprisingly wide for such a small mouth.
Clara thinks you’re wasting time, my idiot, Gideon said unhelpfully. She can’t understand why you’re not telling Marca about the Genii. I’ll tell her you know what you’re doing, shall I?
Van Bam ignored him.
‘Why does it keep looking at me?’ Hillem said.
Van Bam heard Clara give a low growl as the young Aelf moved closer to her cell and wrinkled his nose.
‘It stinks too, but not like them.’ Hillem nodded towards Van Bam and Samuel, who still carried the reek of the sewers beneath Labrys Town. Hillem moved closer still to the bars. ‘It smells … it smells like a zoo I went to. Saw a wolf there once, eating its own shit—’
Clara barked, once, hard. Hillem fell onto his rump with a cry and scuttled back.
‘Careful, boy,’ Marca said, eyeing the wolf. ‘Given the chance, a beast like that would bite you in two and save one half for supper.’
Given the chance indeed, Gideon purred.
Hillem got to his feet, wide-eyed and slack-jawed. He was clearly gullible enough to believe anything he was told.
‘Maybe we should have a word with the farmers,’ Marca continued. ‘I reckon they could do with another sheepdog.’ He sneered cruelly. ‘Farmers are hard bastards. They’d tame the bitch.’
‘Leave her alone.’
To Van Bam’s surprise, it was Samuel who had spoken.
Marca turned his sneer to the old bounty hunter. ‘Was that a threat?’
‘Most definitely,’ Samuel growled.
Gideon laughed in Van Bam’s head. Why, my idiot, I believe Miss Clara has a new admirer.
‘So what are you?’ Marca said. ‘Criminals? Is that it? Are you on the run?’
‘Yes and no.’ Samuel’s voice was as cold as Van Bam had ever heard it. ‘Marca, you’d better do as my friend says before the shit storm we just escaped follows us here.’