by T Hodden
“Right then,” Doreen said sharply in a School Ma'am tone. “You get one warning. Jog on.”
The Martian made a clacking laughing sound as they turned on her. The Bear gently guided Chloe away from the window before several sharp thwacking sounds echoed into the night. The Bear sung happy songs with the girl until the disc of light hovered away with a rapid warbling engine noise.
*
I stood in the great hall of the House of Prices and paced around the scene of the crime. Lord Scratch Luther was laid on the vast table at the end of the hall where his brothers and sisters could pay their last respects. He lay upon silk sheets and was surrounded by orchid blooms. He wore blood red armour of very fine mail. The Bane Sword was lodged in his chest where his heart would have been, had he ever owned one. His head was a mass of bone that may have been a helmet or may have been his body. His body merged seamlessly with his armour.
“The blade was stolen.” I said. “The Scare and Crows defending it were murdered.”
“By whom?” Asked the Taxman. He was stood on the steps at the other end of the hall with his mistress the Lady Loretta who was now the head of the House. She was lost under a cloak and wooden mask. From the fall of her many layers I think her legs were jointed more like a goat than a human. Her build was slender and willowy.
“I do not know my Lady. But those are the facts I presume to offer to the court. With one further observation. The power required to open the cell in which the Suspect is held is incredible.” I shuddered as I remembered. “It requires a sacrifice of magnitude, or a magic circle that would leave evidence of its existence. I can see you have gateways to his dank little corner of the universe, but has anything transferred one way or the other?”
“There was sacrifice.” Loretta spoke in a whisper. “One of our Born was slain on the same night in a ritual manner. I estimate the door was open for three hours.” She said. “But...”
“Yes?” I asked.
“The Born may have been slain after my brother. She was found because we heard screams while we tried to revive my brother.” She pointed at Scratch. “Hence my willingness to endure this trial and enquiry rather than simply destroying him. Sealing him in his pocket space and reducing it to nothing. If it were not for the Refugees...”
“You look lost.” Taxman said.
“What is a Born?” I asked.
“We have three castes. Demons like our selves. Nomads who are souls sworn to us, by service or by promise, or plucked from the mines to serve us. Born are any who are born here. Those who are from generations away from us Demons.”
“Is that because humanity is growing more evil or because more people stay for the atmosphere?” I asked. “Maybe it is best you do not answer that.”
“That is a sore subject.” Taxman warned. “There are issues at play you do not fully understand.”
“But I need to.” I said. “It seems so much is in the balance.”
“Indeed.” Loretta seemed to be smiling under her veils. “You seemed surprised we would be civil towards our kin in Heavens Edge? That we are not simple creatures of constant evil like Amduscias?” She gestured for me to to follow her to the pool of a fountain. “What crime is it that you think saw me and my brothers cast out of the Celestial Palaces to make the House of Prices here?”
“My understanding was that there was a civil war in heaven. That the Overwatch split between those loyal to the Singularity and those in the coup.” I shrugged. “I expect that I am about to be corrected?”
“Indeed.” Sylas had slipped into the room. He he lipstick on his collar and tell tale bruises on his neck. “Both sides of course believed theirs was the one that was loyal to their Singularity. Such is the nature of holy wars.”
“I am still loyal.” Loretta snapped. “My existence here is defined by Singularity. Hell is part of his creation and an important step in the path to his glory and his light.” She took a silver phial from under her veils and poured the contents into the water. The waters began to stir and cloud with every colour, emitting light and shadows onto the wall. I was aware quite suddenly of the bears having found me and gathered at my side. Shadows on the ceiling started to take form. They were puppets that put on a play to illustrate the words that Loretta whispered.
And this is the tale she told:
Once there was Singularity, he was creation itself. Our universe and all others, heaven and hell, the elemental planes and endless oceans, were all born of his light. His first and favourite creation, the host through which he brought order to the chaos, and light to the darkness were the Overwatch. For untold millions of years they acted as caretakers and policemen to all that the Singularity created. As the people of the world tried to understand their creator each saw one of the many facets of the jewel, all understood a different piece of the puzzle, all walked a different path to his light.
But there were times that he showed displeasure with his creations.
“He said he would burn them, or flood them, or wipe them from the Earth.” Loretta said.
“Ah.” I said. “Wont somebody free me of the meddling priest?”
“Yes.” Sylas grinned. “Exactly.”
“The Overwatch obeyed.” She said. “The argument was not if we should serve, but if we should serve blindly. If to serve we must destroy. Look at the telling of the stories that echo in the faith you were raised with. The world flooded to leave only the chosen family line. Plagues cast down upon Egypt after their king ceded to the faithful. And how could it be good and just to expect the first born to pay for the crime of their ruler? Innocent children killed in their sleep.” She shuddered as she forced herself to look away from the shadows cast on the ceiling. “The idea that sparked the revolution was far worse than a simple flood. Floods and plagues destroy all. They do not target, the destroy all. All pass through hell, all enter the light and the cycle repeats. The Loyalists,” she snorted the term, “wanted to refine and control. They created a weapon that would not just kill, it would Harvest a soul and leave the body to die.”
“They what?” I looked at her.
“They would Harvest the souls, pluck them from the body.” Sylas said. “Bring them to the light, cast them to Hell, do as you please.” He gave me a wink which I did not like. “It could be used one soul at a time, or it could be used to... Cleanse populations. Purify them to the obedient or convenient.”
“My family refused to watch such a travesty from happening. Unfortunately when war broke we had to side with others in the hope of winning. Not all Demons remained Loyal.” She looked at me. “Some have learned to enjoy their duties too much. To use the technology we once detested to bolster their ranks with the willing. To trick, seduce, or destroy. My duty is more noble. To ensure that prices are paid. That debts are met. Hell has a purpose.”
“And so we serve.” The Taxman whispered.
“And Heavens Edge?”
“The refugees are born. They bartered and bargained for the town, the price is paid, the agreement should be honoured.” Taxman said.
“They owe no debt that should be punished.” Loretta said. “They committed no crime. Why would I not allow them peace?”
“Because of the distinct lack of pitchforks and brimstone?” Ginger suggested.
“So you are not all like Amduscias?” I nodded. “That I gathered.”
“It is my duty to contain those evils.” Loretta said.
“That is what Hell is for.” Sylas grinned. “That is what Demons are for. Leashing the Devil in all his forms. From the terribly beautiful to the beautifully terrible to the plain simple broken.”
“House Price takes their duty seriously. We do so because we are loyal, truly loyal, to our creator. We lost the war but we prevented the Harvest.” She said. “The Skean, the weapon, was lost during the war. Thankfully. It is said that when one of the Overwatch dies the Singularity does not just see, he watches. Perhaps he showed his wisdom even if we had to be punished for breaking from the covenant.”
“So.” The shadows faded. “The Bane Sword was stolen. Who would have been able to slice through the defences?” I asked.
“There is a more pertinent point.” Sylas smiled. “Go ahead King Arthur. Draw the sword from the stone.” He nodded to the body.
“Can I?” I asked Loretta.
“It will show you why suspicion falls so easily upon Amduscias.” She said. “But... Be careful the lightest touch. Please.”
I walked across the room, reached out for the sword and placed one finger on the hilt.
The result was instant.
*
Doreen leapt to her feet with out knowing why. Her newspaper scattered over the floor and she tried not to scream. A second before she had been in a sleepless doze, half watching the television as she allowed her mind to drift. It was the closest she came to sleep. To dreams. She clutched at her hand wondering why, for the briefest moment it had felt like she had dunked her hand in liquid nitrogen, in the deepest cold.
She swallowed down the scream, straightening and catching her breath. She reached out with her mind, trying to hold on to the sensations, the vision she had been granted.
“Fisher.” She whispered.
“What about him?” Polly was short even for a bear. She liked to wear jumpers decorated with kittens or tee shirts with dolphins on, and bright coloured clothes. She also liked to stay up for the late night creature feature.
“I felt his pain.” Doreen said, worried. “Our bond. It grows stronger than even would have believed.”
Polly smiled. “But the pain passed?”
Doreen nodded, but could not hide her concern.
“I saw something else.” She whispered. “A thought. A connection. Something even he does not realise he has made now. But... I saw a woman. A woman who I have not met, but whose face I know.” She darted out of the living room to the study, to the collage of family snaps from holidays and adventures of my childhood. She ran her finger across the middle row to the photograph of my ninth birthday. Me and my mum, sat on her motorbike down by the pier. She was grinning, as youthful and beautiful as she always seemed to be in my memories.
“His mother.” Doreen said.
Polly cooed. “Oh! He didn't get a chance to go to her grave and read her story. He got whisked away.”
“No. It was...” Doreen wrangled her hands together. “It is gone.” She sighed. “I should know more about her? Why do the Kings barely talk about her?”
“Because remembering hurts.” Polly said. “Some things you don't talk about until you ask. Maybe you should ask?”
Doreen nodded. In the morning she would go to the theatre. She would have a talk with my father I had always tried to avoid.
She would ask how my mother died.
Two
I picked myself up from the floor and stared at my hand. The moment I had touched the sword a crushing pain had consumed me. I had felt as though my skeleton had splintered, my flesh flayed, my blood boiled. Even with the pain ebbing away a fierce cold still burned on my hand. I looked down, there was a cut in my palm that dribbled blood. I glanced across to the sword, watching the pommel stone absorbing a smear of my blood until no trace remained.
“Well,” Gwyn said with a shake of the head. “That was quite the loudest swear word I ever heard.”
“And we happen to be standing in Hell.” Ginger said. “I took a walk around the mines. You have a lot of competition.”
I sat up and looked at Sylas. “You could not just have told me?”
“Yes.” He said, stretching that word out far too thin.
“You have to understand.” Loretta said. “Nobody but Amduscias could hold that sword.”
“It drank my blood. It... Got power from my blood? I could feel it. It liked it.” I climbed to my feet. “Right.” I rubbed my hands together. “I felt it move. If I can see through the pain for a little while I can do this.”
“Er, sweety,” Wendy put herself between me and the sword. “How hard did you just hit your head. Because you look like you are about to...”
I stepped around her, stood over the sword and looked at the handle. “So how does Amduscias use the sword? Does it not hurt him, or does he have a trick or?”
“He just does not seem to care.” Sylas sighed. “And maybe he likes to quench the thirst with the blood of his enemy rather than his own?”
“So all we need to find is somebody else who does not care?” I asked. Flexed my hands and braced myself. I closed my eyes and wrapped my fingers over the handle. Pain jolted through me. My body felt like it was on fire. My heart pounded against the inside of my chest. I hoisted the sword free of the body and dropped into a hemp bag Ted was holding out for me. I left it on the stone floor. I dropped to my knees heaving for breath.
“Again,” Wendy said, “about hitting your head...”
“Not impossible.” I gasped. “Reasonable doubt.”
“Well, that was interesting.” Loretta whispered. “You can hold it for a few seconds. Could somebody have carried it here? Used it?”
“Not a mortal.” Ted said. “But perhaps a demon? One of the oldest, strongest most powerful?”
“Why?” Loretta asked. “Who benefits?”
“You?” I hoped I met her gaze through the veil.
“No.” She shook her head. “Anything but.”
“You are in charge now.” I said. “Promoted.”
“Entirely her point.” The Taxman said.
“Shouldn't the question be who benefits other than Amduscias?” Ginger asked.
There was a silence as everybody turned to look at the little bear.
“Amduscias benefits.” Ginger said at last. He squeaked nervously as everybody turned to look at him. “Well. He gets a trial.”
“Which will probably result in his being totally destroyed.” The Taxman said. “He can not be imprisoned for another eternity. He can not be even more imprisoned. He can only be destroyed.”
“But he can't be on trial in his cell can he?” Ginger said. “Can he?”
“All at the trial do so in the view of An Eye Of Singularity, a small piece of the creator itself. All in his gaze speak only the truth and hold no secrets from him.” Taxman said.
“Which would mean his having to step from the cell?” I asked.
Loretta sighed. “You seem to know my kind all too well.”
“Only him.” I glowered.
“Please.” She gestured for me to sit. “Tell me about it.”
I shook my head. “I would not know where to begin.”
The bears hopped up and down. They huddled for a second then Tiger stepped forwards. “Okay, our shadow puppets aren't as good but I think we can give this a go.” She cleared her throat. “Once upon a time we were called to investigate a particular ghosty...”
*
“Merry Christmas dear!” Dad shook Doreen by the hand, then wrapped her in a huge hug as he showed her into his flat. “Fantastic to see you!”
Doreen grinned. A Waddling of Bears had followed her to his terrace house and they were all looking excited. Then again, it being Boxing morning the bears could have been filling in tax returns and would still have looked excited. They fidgeted around and were still playing the collection of toys and baubles left for them under the tree the day before. Doreen gave dad a smile.
“So any news?” Dad asked.
“We had a busy couple of nights.” Doreen said. “Christmas Eve was spent flying to America and back. Then we got back just in time to spend Christmas night fighting Martians. I didn't get a chance to keep a certain promise on behalf of Fish.” She showed Dad the book under her arm. A Devil Called Mischief.
“I understand.” He said. “Let me get my coat.”
Doreen smiled. “What was she like?”
“She was...” Dad smiled. “She was the only person in the world who could fall in love with a guy like me and actually find dinosaurs, robots, aliens and demons a reason to want to be with me rather than a reason to run
away.” He smiled wryly. “It's okay, you can ask?”
“How did she die?” Doreen asked.
“Suddenly and painlessly.” Dad shook his head. “I should have been there. But... Something always comes up.”
“I noticed.” Doreen touched his hand. “Please.”
“She was targeted by the Orbas.” Dad whispered. “A cult leader who believed Doomsday was overdue and who tried to kick start the end of the world by fulfilling a number of prophecies. We stopped him, but he... Marked her for death.” He looked at Doreen. “Her brain was turned to mashed potatoes in the blink of an eye. Like somebody just turned her off. Whatever it was the Orbas had summoned slipped in to our world and back out again before I could find it. What ever it was.”
“So what happened?” Doreen asked.
“The Orbas leader had got hold of some chalk. He covered the wall with his spells and runes, determined to summon something from the very darkest corners of the Universe. What ever he had brought through, it took a toll on him. His sanity was left in tatters. His revenge destroyed himself. Dig two graves and all that.” Dad forced the smile to stay on his lips. “All things told, it was more merciful for my beloved. She was killed. He... He is still a prisoner in his own head. Nearly two decades now he has lain on a hospital bed staring at the ceiling, fed by a drip and dribbling.”
“You miss her?”
“More than anything else in the world.” Dad said. “Every moment, every second. With every beat of my heart.” He put a hand on Doreen’s shoulder. “You know, Fish never mentioned it, but I am pretty sure she knew something was coming sooner or later after that time travel trouble. I think... I don't think she needed another reason to live life to the full, but I think she liked having an excuse. She would have adored you. A kindred spirit in so many ways.”
Doreen looked at the book. “So Fish reads her this every Christmas?”
Dad nodded as he lifted up the book. “Yes. I remember them with this...” He looked down at the bears. “Well, do we think the place that does the naughty hot chocolates will be open on a bank holiday? It is on the way...”