The Mortal Knife

by D. J. McCune

  Nathanial nodded and everyone else clasped their keystones and stepped forward into the Hinterland. Adam blinked around, trying to get his bearings. All around them lay their familiar surroundings – the garden, the house, the dogs yelping in their pen. And yet … everything was different. It was hard to explain how; some quality in the light made it clear they were no longer in the physical world. Adam looked at the house. If he walked towards it he could walk right through the wall.

  It was always weird being in the Hinterland. Adam could still see the physical world but he was no longer there. The keystone he always wore around his neck helped him move between worlds. Once Adam came of age and got Marked like his father he wouldn’t need a keystone any more but until then he relied on it to do what he had to do.

  Nathanial waited until he had their total attention. ‘None of you have ever entered the Realm of the Fates before and getting there can be somewhat … challenging. I don’t want anyone to get lost.’ He avoided looking at Adam but Adam’s cheeks flushed all the same.

  ‘Oh, stop being so dramatic,’ Auntie Jo grumbled. ‘You’ll scare us all out of our wits and then we’ll definitely never get there.’

  Nathanial gave her a quelling stare. Adam was getting nervous. He couldn’t even swoop without almost drowning in his own blood. He’d been relieved when Nathanial said they were walking but it wasn’t sounding so straightforward any longer …

  ‘I don’t want to frighten anyone but this really is very important. We’ll all be fine but you’ll need to pay close attention.’ Nathanial hesitated. ‘You see normally in the Hinterland we see it the way we want to see it, rather than as it actually is. Our minds cling on to the familiar and so it appears the Hinterland is simply laid over the physical world. In fact, the Hinterland is rather different.’

  ‘Different how?’ Luc asked. He didn’t seem freaked out, just interested. For the thousandth time Adam found himself envying his brother’s complete lack of fear.

  Nathanial smiled and half shrugged. ‘It’s a little difficult to explain, so you’re going to have to just trust me. We’re going to start walking – it doesn’t matter where, or which direction we walk in; that’s not important. What is important is that you focus your entire mind on the token I’ve given you. The physical world will disappear and you’ll see the Hinterland as it truly is. The shock will probably jolt you back – but that’s OK. Just take a deep breath and focus on the token, until the physical world disappears again.’

  ‘What will we see instead?’ Chloe was fidgeting with her hair, twisting it round her finger the way she always did when she was nervous.

  Nathanial hesitated. ‘Well, my dear … you’ll see nothing.’

  There was a long pause. Adam and Luc exchanged glances. Why was their father being so serious? After all, he had been to the Realm of the Fates before when he was made High Luman – and he had lived to tell the tale!

  ‘What I mean is the Hinterland is simply a borderland, a place between realms. When the physical world disappears there’s nothing there.’

  ‘Right. So we just walk until everything disappears,’ Auntie Jo said. ‘And then … ?’

  ‘A doorway will appear. A door into the Realm of the Fates.’

  ‘Well, that doesn’t sound so bad,’ Auntie Jo said cheerfully. ‘Really brother, you should have been on the stage! You had us all frightened to death! Shall we go?’

  They started walking. Adam almost relaxed – until he saw the look that passed between Nathanial and Auntie Jo. She narrowed her eyes and shook her head almost imperceptibly. Nathanial pursed his lips and nodded. Elise was walking ahead but she had one protective hand on Chloe’s shoulder. Adam frowned. There was something they weren’t being told …

  They walked for several minutes, crossing roads and gardens, moving through fences and walls. ‘Ignore what’s around you,’ Nathanial said. ‘Focus on the token in your hand.’

  It was Chloe who saw what they were looking for first. She stopped with a surprised ‘Oh’, blinked and looked around. ‘Everything disappeared! It’s back now though.’

  Nathanial looked pleased – but apprehensive too. He glanced at his watch. ‘Good. Now, when the physical world disappears again, keep focusing on the token. A doorway will appear. Step through it and wait for us there.’ He turned to his wife. ‘Elise, stay with her please.’

  They kept walking. Adam was just beginning to get bored when quite suddenly Chloe and Elise disappeared. He stopped in shock. Nathanial gave him a reassuring smile. ‘It’s OK, Adam. They’ve found the doorway and gone through. Keep going.’

  Aron and Luc were next to go. One second they were there; the next they were gone. Auntie Jo turned to Nathanial. ‘Do you want me to wait with you?’

  He shook his head. ‘Best not to linger. We’ll see you soon.’

  She hesitated, then nodded. ‘OK.’ She turned to Adam, unusually serious. ‘Concentrate! Hold on to the token.’ She turned her back on them and walked ahead. In less than a minute she was gone.

  Adam stopped, feeling rattled. Nathanial forced a smile. ‘See anything … unusual yet?’

  Adam raised an eyebrow. ‘Yeah, you could say that. People keep disappearing!’

  Nathanial tried to sound comforting. ‘You’re just getting distracted by the physical world. Try closing your eyes – there’s nothing to bump into here.’

  Adam gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. It was hard walking along without being able to see. His brain knew he wasn’t going to walk into anything but his body found it freaky. He focused on the token. It was smooth but there was a ridge at one end. He tried to send his whole mind down his arm and into his fingertips, concentrating on the hard edge.

  Nathanial’s soft voice broke into the silence. ‘Keep your eyes closed, Adam. When you open them the physical world will be gone and in its place there will be nothing. Just grey light. Don’t be frightened – no harm will come to you. Now hold the token and open your eyes.’

  Adam inched one eye open a crack, then both eyes popped open with surprise. The world was gone. Nathanial hadn’t been joking – there was nothing there! There were no cars or roads or trees, just a dim blue-grey light, like dusk. No sky above him nor ground beneath his feet, just soft, cloudy light … It was having nothing beneath him that jolted Adam the most. He stopped and swayed, gripped by a sudden panic. Nathanial seized his arm but it was too late. The Hinterland snapped back to normal – a pale overlay on top of the physical world. They were in the middle of a road, traffic roaring past them on either side, close enough to touch if they were in the physical world.

  Nathanial squeezed his bruised arm, making Adam wince. ‘That’s the hardest bit over. Close your eyes and try again. Trust me. I’m right beside you.’

  Adam’s heartbeat was returning to something like normal. He tried to shake off his fear and to his surprise it was easy because now he was getting angry. He did pretty well at school, so why was he always so rubbish at anything Luman-related? Chloe got the hang of it faster than him, even though she couldn’t be a Luman and only came into the Hinterland to go and visit other Lumen!

  Strangely, being angry made it easier to concentrate. He marched forward again, eyes squeezed shut, clenching his fist so tight the stone hurt his palm. When he opened his eyes he saw only Nathanial and the dim light. ‘OK, I see the grey stuff again.’

  ‘Good!’ Nathanial glanced at his watch again, sounding relieved. ‘Let’s walk a little faster. You’re going to see a doorway ahead of you. Just give it time to appear and tell me when you see it.’

  Adam kept moving, wishing the door would appear so he could get this all over with. He was fed up and his father was making him nervous. Nathanial’s face was calm but his body was stiff with tension. He kept glancing around, trying to look casual, but he was alert, watching for something.

  Just as Adam might have stopped and snapped at Nathanial, the doorway appeared. ‘I see it!’ Adam blurted out, amazed. ‘It’s right there in front of me!’


  ‘Excellent!’ Nathanial said. His relief was palpable. ‘You timed it well. Let’s go.’

  Light spilled through the doorway, not unlike the Light that waited for each soul after death. The thought made Adam pause. ‘We’re not going on to the Unknown Roads, are we?’

  ‘No. Keep going!’ Nathanial barked, looking over his shoulder and propelling Adam along by the shoulder. ‘Step through!’

  Before he even knew what was happening Adam was through the doorway – and staring in wonder at the scene before him.

  They were standing at the top of a vast amphitheatre. High stone steps dropped away below, doubling as seats for the thousands of Lumen men and their families who had gathered. Adam blinked, trying to understand what he was seeing, but it was hard. He was looking at most of the Lumen in the world.

  Behind him was a long line of arches, most of them acting as doorways from the Hinterland. Families were stepping through, alone or in pairs, then waiting anxiously for relatives to arrive or peering around the auditorium for seats. There were statues everywhere, all of women, each holding a scroll, a measuring rod or a dagger. The one nearest Adam showed a beautiful, stern-faced woman holding a rod. At the base was engraved ‘Lachesis XII’. At a rapid guesstimate there must have been hundreds of statues, each representing a Fate who had served and then passed through her Light into the afterlife. The Fates had been serving for thousands of years.

  Adam looked down and shivered. At the bottom of the amphitheatre was a flat semi-circular stage. A high wall ran along the back with a huge arch at the centre. Even from here Adam could see the ornate carving round the top of the arch and along the three stone plinths in the centre of the stage.

  A familiar voice drawled in Adam’s ear, ‘I thought you were lost.’ Luc grinned at his father and brother and gestured below. ‘We found our seats.’

  They followed him down, although Nathanial was so busy being greeted by other Lumen that they soon abandoned him. Luc led the way, nodding at some of the men and flashing his most dazzling smile every time they passed a teenage girl. He whispered to Adam, ‘Just think bro, your future wife is here somewhere. I reckon that’s her right there.’ He pointed at a sullen-faced girl who was scowling out from beneath beetle brows. Adam caught her eye and looked away hastily.

  Luc seemed to know exactly where he was going and Adam wondered how – until he noticed that behind the stone seats there were standards, the kind that ancient armies carried. Each standard bore the symbol of a Luman family but Adam only recognised a few. He probably should have paid more attention to the Luman history he’d been taught as a kid but it was always so boring, learning all the different family seals and how many High Lumen had been in their line. Elise loved all that stuff but Adam couldn’t care less. After all, he might be a Mortson, but it didn’t seem to have made him a better Luman.

  ‘We’re way, way down near the front,’ Luc said, weaving in and out between men and women calling greetings and embracing one another. ‘Mother’s delighted that we’re going to be so close to the Fates, although some of the French Lumen are ahead of us.’

  Adam rolled his eyes. Elise had a keen sense of honour and their position in the Luman hierarchy. ‘I never knew there were so many of us.’

  Luc’s eyes were gleaming. ‘I never knew there were so many girls! And some of them are hot! Maybe I should give the whole betrothal thing a go after all.’

  Adam grinned. It was the first time in his life that he had seen all the Luman families gathered together in one place, although some of the women and young children were missing. Presumably a child had to be of swooping age to have learned how to get into the Hinterland. Some of the coming-of-age balls were major events but even they would only involve a few hundred people. Death never stopped and Lumen were never totally off duty. The thought made him pause. ‘What’s going to happen to the souls while we’re here? Who’s going to guide them?’

  Luc raised his eyebrows. ‘Think about it, stupid. If the Fates are busy talking to us … ’

  ‘Then they’re not going to be killing anybody,’ Adam murmured, finishing Luc’s sentence and feeling a little queasy.

  ‘Exactly. Just think about it. As long as we’re here and the Fates are busy, not a single person in the whole world is going to die. Freaky!’

  Adam nodded, his mind boggling at the idea. He wondered how long the Summoning would last. Maybe if they could drag it on for a while they could spare a whole lot of people …

  A familiar placard caught his eyes – a flaming torch set in a black circle. It was the Mortson seal and Auntie Jo and Chloe sat beneath it, looking doleful. Elise and Aron were standing a few rows down, making stilted conversation with some of Elise’s French family. Auntie Jo stood up and gave Adam an awkward hug, her face full of relief. ‘You made it, then!’

  Adam pulled away, half pleased and half embarrassed. ‘Of course I made it. Why wouldn’t I?’

  ‘No reason,’ Auntie Jo said with a rather forced grin. ‘What do you think?’ She gestured at the scene before them.

  ‘It’s amazing,’ Adam said truthfully. It was weird enough knowing the Hinterland lay on top of the physical world but this was another realm again. ‘How many of these places are there?’

  Auntie Jo shrugged. ‘Who knows? If you become High Luman and get your hands on The Book of the Unknown Roads you’d probably learn more. The Hinterland and this place are entry-level stuff. There could be thousands of realms if we only knew how to get into them.’

  Chloe leapt up. ‘There’s Uncle Paddy!’ She pointed off across the amphitheatre. Her voice dropped. ‘And there’s Ciaron.’ Her face turned crimson and she sat down again, suddenly getting very interested in something at her feet.

  Adam grinned and looked across the stone rows until he spotted ‘Uncle’ Paddy, High Luman of Ireland. He wasn’t their uncle in the strict sense, although if you looked hard enough all Lumen were related at some level. He was wiry and vibrant, older than Nathanial with a shock of silver hair and very bright blue eyes. He was talking animatedly, waving his hands around while a spellbound group stood in front of him, mouths open, until Paddy paused and delivered the punchline. There was a roar of laughter audible across the amphitheatre. Uncle Paddy had always been brilliant at telling stories.

  Beside him stood a tall, young man with broad shoulders and wavy dark hair. Adam sneaked a peek at Chloe, who was making a great show of zipping up her boot. Ciaron was Paddy’s oldest son and was probably destined to be the next High Luman of Ireland, unless he came to England. There was no official betrothal yet but Adam knew that Nathanial wanted Chloe to marry Ciaron and cement the bond between the families. Elise had other ideas, much preferring a match from a larger Kingdom for her only daughter. Adam felt an unexpected wave of affection for his sister. She was only a kid! If she’d been at school she would have been a third year, moaning about homework and giggling with her mates. How could anybody be thinking about her getting betrothed, even if she wouldn’t actually be married off for a few years yet?

  ‘You got here just in time.’ Auntie Jo interrupted his thoughts, nodding at the front. ‘The Concilium have arrived.’

  Adam followed her glance and watched the thirteen members of the Concilium appear from the huge archway at the front of the amphitheatre. They trooped in a line behind Heinrich the Chief Curator, a close friend of Nathanial’s. Last time Adam had seen Heinrich he’d been hiding in his father’s study trying not to sneeze. The memory was uncomfortable.

  The other Lumen had noticed the Concilium’s arrival and were returning to their seats. Luc had bounded off to join Aron and Elise talking to some of the French Lumen, but he returned to his seat before they did and slipped in beside Adam. ‘Mother’s in bad form. Grandmère is being a right vache.’

  Adam had to think for a second and then stifled a laugh. His grandmother was usually a cow to Elise. It was one of those things that was never discussed but Adam knew it was because of Elise’s choice of husband. Fo
r some reason Nathanial simply wasn’t good enough, even if he had turned out to be one of the youngest ever High Lumen. No doubt his grandmother was looking at the Curators and wishing Elise had married Darian, the newest member of the Concilium, just as she had been supposed to.

  His mother slid past him, her lips compressed into a thin line. A few seconds later Nathanial joined them, having torn himself away from all the other Lumen. He looked cheerful.

  A hush was falling over the amphitheatre and the light was dimming. The last voices fell silent as the Concilium sat down in the front row, leaving Heinrich alone on his feet in the centre of the stage. He smiled at the gathering and waited to let a few last-minute stragglers find a seat.

  ‘My dear friends, how joyful I am to welcome you to the Realm of the Lady Fates. How rarely it is that so many of us can gather together!’ He paused and positively beamed around the amphitheatre. ‘And on such an auspicious occasion! The Lady Atropos has finally revoked her long service and stepped into her Light. Our Light is her Light.’

  ‘Our Light is her Light,’ the thousands of Lumen responded, the hushed sound sending a prickle down Adam’s spine.

  ‘And so we have a new Lady Fate to join our esteemed Clotho and Lachesis.’ Heinrich paused, apparently choosing his words carefully. ‘It has been customary for the Lady Fates to take the Greek names but our new Fate has chosen to take the Roman name. She will therefore be known as the Lady Morta.’

  There was a shocked silence followed by a murmur of discontent. A few voices even raised in protest and the noise of the crowd rose to a subdued roar. Elise was talking excitedly in Nathanial’s ear while Auntie Jo simply sat back and grinned around at the audience’s discomfort. ‘We’re not very good at change, are we?’ she whispered to Adam. ‘They can’t even let a woman change her own name. And poor Chloe talks about becoming a Luman … ’

  Adam shrugged. He couldn’t really see what all the fuss was about. He didn’t care if she called herself Princess Twinkle; he was more concerned about what she actually did. Atropos – or Morta – was the thread-cutter. Whenever a Luman went on a call-out it was because she had severed the thread of a human life – just as one day she would sever his own life’s thread. The thought made him shiver.