As the sun crested the mountains, Twist discovered more about the monastery. It acted as a fortress against the vampires, with high walls all around, a surplus of barrack-like sleeping quarters that could accommodate many more than the resident monks, lush gardens of crops and huge stores of supplies, along with a small hospital complete with surgeons and nurses. Twist and the others were told that there were many of these monasteries throughout the country, wherever vampires were prevalent. It seemed that while the law had accepted the vampires’ presence, the people had not. Being essentially a religious organization, the monasteries were more or less free to act as they pleased.
After being attacked at the airship docks, Captain Howell Davis and Arabel had been put in the care of the monastery hospital. Once it was late enough in the morning to wake them, Aazzi ushered Jonas, Twist, and Myra to where the patients had been placed, at the end of a long gallery of white hospital beds. Though he seemed unharmed, they found Zayle lying in his day clothes on a nearby bed. The engineer sat bolt upright the moment he saw them.
“Jonas!” he gasped, hopping out of bed to move closer. “You actually came!” Before Jonas could respond, Zayle had wrapped his arms around him, clinging to him tightly. “Oh boy, it’s so good to see you,” he said, moving back with a wide smile.
“Yeah, you too…” Jonas muttered, obviously caught off guard.
“Jon?” Arabel’s voice asked.
Everyone turned to see her and Howell, each in a narrow bed, both leaning up on their elbows to look at Jonas, astonished. Twist was startled by the pallor of their skin and the weakness he found in their eyes. There were bandages on both of their necks and on one of Arabel’s arms. Sitting up seemed to be a terribly difficult thing for each of them to do. Jonas moved to Arabel swiftly, sitting at the edge of her bed to embrace her.
“Holy hell, Ara,” he breathed, his voice thin and frightened. “What happened to you?”
“Well, vampires,” she responded bitterly. “The doctors say I’ll be all right,” she added, looking to Jonas’s face when he pulled away.
He kept his eyes low.
“Aazzi saved us both,” Arabel added.
“Don’t worry about us,” Howell said with a weak smile. “Your sister and I aren’t that easy to kill, you know.”
“Have I ever mentioned that I hate bloody vampires?” Jonas grumbled, still sitting at the edge of Arabel’s bed. He was holding her hands now, looking down at them, while Arabel watched him with a warm but surprised expression. “Present company excluded, of course,” Jonas added quickly, glancing back toward Aazzi.
“Of course,” Aazzi responded, nodding with a smile. “I agree with you, completely.”
“I’m so glad to hear that you’re safe,” Myra said, walking up to give Arabel a pat on her shoulder.
Arabel smiled up to her.
“As am I,” Twist offered, standing nearby. “Jonas was worried sick about you.”
Jonas shot him a startled glare. “I was not!”
“Were too.”
Arabel laughed, her voice clear. She reached up to ruffle Jonas’s pointy hair while he was still glaring at Twist. “You old softy, you.”
“I wasn’t!” Jonas protested loudly. “Concerned, perhaps…”
“It’s somehow rather comforting, the way you never change,” Howell said musingly.
“Oh, shut up,” Jonas grumbled irritably.
A breath of relief quietly left Twist to see Jonas at least acting like himself again. Myra smiled at Jonas fondly.
“We all were pretty worried,” she said to Arabel and Howell. “And there’s still Philippe to save.”
Howell and Arabel both took on a more solemn look, nodding.
“Yeah, when are we leaving?” Zayle asked, turning to Aazzi. “I’m ready when you are.”
“Are you sure you’re strong enough?” Aazzi asked him.
“I’m fine,” Zayle said flippantly. “I was only nearly drowned. I didn’t get bitten or anything.”
“I wish I could join you,” Howell said seriously to Aazzi. “Philippe and I…”
“I know,” Aazzi said with a warm smile. “But I won’t have you risk your health. He would never forgive me if I let anything happen to you, either.”
Howell nodded with a sigh. After spending a while catching up and chatting together, Twist, Jonas, and Myra left the others to rest. Twist caught himself yawning and shook his head to clear it. The long hours of activity, coupled with airship battles and worry, were pulling on him more and more strongly as the sun rose into the sky.
“You should find some rest as well,” Aazzi said, looking at Twist and Jonas critically. “As I said, there is no point in doing anything until the sun sets again.”
As Aazzi continued to speak calmly, Twist couldn’t help but notice the weariness that lingered in her eyes. She was trying to be practical, to do things the best possible way, no matter how much she obviously wanted to leave immediately to save her husband. The sheer strength of her resolve in the face of such a deep and painful struggle was staggering to Twist.
“Come along, dear,” Myra said sweetly to Twist. “I’ll watch over you and keep your dreams away.”
Twist thanked her and accepted the offer. All of the travelers were taken to one of the large, barrack-like rooms, which were filled with many simple beds in long rows. A handful of monks were also settling down to sleep, now that the night shift was finished. The curtains were drawn over the open archways that looked out onto the inner cloister of the old stone building, blocking out most of the sunlight.
As everyone settled down, still more or less dressed in their clothes, Twist lay down beside Myra on a simple and narrow bed. Once again, she placed his head over her heart and petted lightly at his hair, while her metal skin melted into cool flesh and silk in his Sight. Twist closed his eyes and breathed in the slowly warming air, listening to the gentle sounds of the foreign city around him.
Birds with strange cries twittered in the distance. Carts and cabs ambled by on the city streets beyond the monastery walls, while voices murmured from time to time as people passed by. Soon, Twist began to catch the sound of slow, low breathing from the people around him. Somewhat jealous to hear that some of them were already asleep, Twist tried to let go of any remaining tension. As he began to finally drift off into the soothing blackness of sleep, his mind broke free of his restraint. Images of vampires, dragons, and gorillas danced haphazardly through his mind, making no sense at all, until they all fell completely away.
It felt like ages before Twist woke again. Myra said his name softly, rousing him enough to make him blink his eyes open. Sunlight was still streaming in through the cracks in the curtains, giving the room a ghostly brightness. Some of the others were awake now too, rubbing sleep from their eyes or rummaging in travel bags, but everyone seemed reluctant to make much noise.
“How’d you sleep?” Jonas asked, looking over at Twist as he sat up on his bed and stretched his neck.
“No dreams that I can remember,” Twist answered, pushing himself up on reluctant limbs. Myra sat up as well, still appearing to him in her chilly human form. “Thank you, darling,” he said softly to her.
“My pleasure, sweetheart,” she said, drawing him closer with a gentle hand. She placed a cool kiss on his forehead before moving back. Her skin then gave way to metal once again with a smoky ripple.
“I’m just glad that works,” Jonas said, standing.
“You didn’t need Kali this time, huh?” Skye asked, walking closer. “Maybe you’re getting better.”
“I hope that’s so,” Twist said earnestly.
Twist and the others freshened up and changed clothes, returning to the room one by one while the waking monks left in silence. The curtains were pulled back to let in the rich afternoon light and a bit more of the day’s heat. Next, Twist saw pistols being cleaned and loaded. Knives were sharpened with methodical diligence. He watched, mesmerized, to see the capable souls around him readying them
selves for battle in such calm stillness. Twist took his walking stick and tilted it end over end slowly to change up the internal, magnet-powered battery, when the thought occurred to him.
By the time the sky outside began to gild into twilight, Aazzi appeared. She and Zayle brought rolls, boiled eggs, and sweet local fruits, along with cool water and warm tea, which everyone helped themselves to with thanks. The conversation then turned to planning their attack. Not knowing exactly how the vampires were going to convey Aazzi to their castle made for a rather vague plan.
If a coach appeared, they would follow in cabs. If a boat or airship, they would follow in kind as quickly as they were able. If all else failed, Arabel would be able to tell them where Philippe was in the castle, and they would mount their attack in whatever way they could. Aazzi would wait as long as she could before getting into any fighting, leaving time for a possible surprise attack while her family was focused on her.
When he asked, Skye gave Harman the vial of dragon’s blood. He used a pin to pull out a single drop. The drop of red liquid shimmered in the failing light, like the tiniest star in the night sky. He then carefully placed it on the tip of Jonas’s tongue. Jonas shivered with a grimace as he snapped his mouth closed again.
“Holy hell, that’s a strange feeling,” he muttered. “You’re lucky you don’t have to do it,” he said to Twist.
The others lined up to take their drops as well, one at a time. Each one had a similar reaction to Jonas’s. In the end, Twist counted nine in the party that would depart. Luca had joined the group, but Harman would stay behind with Arabel and Howell. Myra sat herself down in a chair, her head resting lightly on the back of it, and then closed her eyes. Twist watched as her spirit rose from the chair, leaving her puppet behind.
With nothing else left to prepare for as night began to fall, Aazzi walked out to the front gates of the monastery alone. She stood at the edge of the road under the electric streetlights as they flickered to life and filled the darkening city with false daylight. Jonas watched both ways down the street from a safe distance, while the others waited for his word.
Jonas gasped, staring fixedly down the road. “You’ve got to be kidding,” he muttered in astonishment.
Everyone followed his gaze. Twist then heard a tremendous sound—not unlike a steam engine bellowing down a train track at full speed—a moment before he saw an enormous metal behemoth emerge from around a distant corner. People scattered to the sides of the street, staring at it in wonder. Twist could hardly believe his eyes as he watched the machine come to a stop in the center of the road, halting before Aazzi.
It looked, for all the world, like a giant elephant. Its silver-and-brass skin lay in huge plates over its mechanical form, while billows of steam poured out of its long, articulated, silver trunk. Where the eyes should have been, there was what looked like a balcony, which led into an open space in the elephant’s head.
When it stopped, its massive mechanical limbs standing still on wide, flat, brass feet, the sound died somewhat. The huge silver ears flapped dramatically, and the elephant appeared to open its small, slit-like mouth. A rope ladder lowered smoothly from the mouth, with a human-looking figure standing on the lowest rung. Twist recognized Badu as the vampire alighted to the ground and walked up to Aazzi, bowing deeply to her.
Hidden with the others inside the monastery, Skye stared at the apparition in bewilderment. “So they’re taking her away in a gigantic metal elephant. That is not a sentence I ever thought I’d say.”
“That monster must have just stomped its way through the jungles,” Luca said to Jonas, pointing to the scattering of branches and mud that caked its metal feet. “How the hell are we supposed to follow it with any kind of speed?”
“There’s an engine room in the belly,” Jonas said, squinting at the behemoth. “I can see people inside, through those slits in the side, but I can’t tell if they’re human or vampires. Either way, it’s an open space inside. I say we sneak aboard.”
“Are you mad?” Rosencrantz asked, aghast. “What if they are vampires?”
“Then we kill them,” Jonas answered with a shrug.
“The others will notice when the machine stops running, if we do that,” Luca said.
“Zayle,” Jonas said, “it’s a steam engine. Can you keep it running?”
“Sure I can,” Zayle said. “But it might take me a while to figure out how to control it.”
“Twist, what about you?” Jonas asked him.
“I suppose, if I touched the controls,” he said, frowning.
“Damn, you’re convenient,” Zayle said admiringly.
“We’d better get moving if we’re going to get on,” Skye mentioned, peering at the elephant. “Aazzi’s starting to climb up.”
“Myra?” Twist turned to her ghost that stood beside him. “Run to Aazzi and whisper to her to take her time.” Myra nodded and vanished from his Sight, while everyone else but Jonas looked at Twist with confusion.
“Good call,” Jonas said to Twist. “Come on, the lookout is distracted,” he added to the others, slipping out into the shadows that edged the monastery courtyard.
Twist, Skye, and Zayle followed him without hesitation, giving the others no other option than to follow him as well. They raced closer while Aazzi and Badu slowly climbed the rungs of the rope ladder. Watching the edges of the balcony in the elephant’s head, Jonas led the way through the shadows toward the hind feet of the beast before Aazzi reached the topmost rungs.
“How do we get in?” Luca hissed to Jonas, looking up at the towering machine.
“Here,” Jonas said, pointing to what looked to Twist very much like a hatch, set into the heel of the elephant’s massive foot. Jonas tried to turn the circular wheel in the center of the hatch, but it wouldn’t budge.
“Let me,” Twist said, pressing his hand to the surface of the hatch. His Sight burst to life, filling his mind with new information. He could almost see the mechanism that locked the door closed on the other side. “Skye, give me your pistol,” he said, holding out his other hand to her.
She didn’t hesitate to comply.
Twist could only hope that the noise of the engine above them was enough to cover the sound of the shot. He put one hand firmly in place on the surface of the hatch on one side and with the other hand held the muzzle of the pistol nearly against the hatch just to the right of the wheel. He cocked the gun, pulled the trigger, and watched through his Sight as the bullet tore through the thinnest point of the metal door and then threw the locking mechanism open with violent force. He pulled the door open as he handed the gun back to Skye and then dove inside.
The others followed after him into the dark space, climbing up the metal ladder that was bolted to one side of the narrow, hollow leg. Twist kept himself moving as quickly as he could, even if it was hard to see in the dimness, knowing that they had moments before the giant metal animal would begin to move again. The knee joint was hollow as well, made of giant gears that hugged close on two sides. Above, past the wider section of the thigh, Twist saw the red glow of fire light. He continued upward until Jonas’s hand gripped his leg from below, stilling him.
“Wait,” Jonas hissed softly in the growing rumble of the engine above them. “We don’t know what’s up there.”
Myra’s spirit reached out to touch Twist’s shoulder. He turned, startled to find her floating beside him, apparently human but slightly transparent, and standing on nothing at all. “I’ll go have a look,” she said before disappearing once again.
“Myra’s gone to look,” Twist said softly down to Jonas, knowing that although Jonas’s Sight allowed him to see her, it couldn’t catch Myra’s ghostly voice.
At that moment, the leg began to move. The metal well around them swung forward smoothly, lifting the knee. Twist heard a startled sound from below him but no screams of pain, as the ankle section rose and then planted with a massive, mechanical step. Twist clung to the ladder tightly, silently grateful to already be h
igh enough in the leg to avoid the more dramatic movement of the section below.
“There are people up there,” Myra said, directly to Twist’s ear. “I can only see one vampire, and he’s watching the people while they shovel coal into a fire.”
“How many people?” Twist asked back, his eyes tightly closed as he clung on through another massive step.
“Three,” Myra answered.
Twist bent down to relay the information to Jonas. Jonas relayed it as well, farther down. After another giant step, Jonas’s voice returned to Twist.
“Go,” he said tightly. “Get out of the way as quick as you can and let us deal with the vampire.”
Desperate to get out of the swinging limb, Twist didn’t argue. He struggled to retain his footing as the leg continued to move, but he managed to scramble up to the simple grate at the top of the limb, fling it open, and then instantly roll to one side on the dirty metal floor of the inner belly. Jonas emerged right behind him, moving away just as quickly. Twist looked around him to see a metal room that was bathed in the red glow of a raging fire. Before he even caught sight of the workers, he heard a sickening sound.
He looked toward the sound to find Skye standing behind a headless form, holding a blood-coated shortsword in one hand and a head in the other, by the scalp. Shocked by this image, Twist watched in horror as the body fell to the floor in front of her. She threw the head into the fire and moved off quickly, while the others continued to crawl out of the leg, one after another.
Closer to the fire, Jonas was saying, “It’s all right! We’re not against you.”
Twist turned to find him speaking to three slim men with coal-black skin and wide, frightened eyes. Each one was dressed in a rough, sack-like shirt and loose pants, and each held a shovel. The open mouth of the boiler, which filled the room with the fire glow, stood at roughly the center of the of the elephant, while the engine itself likely filled the whole of the behemoth’s chest. Piles of coal filled the edges of the room, while the metal floor in the center was free of all but minor debris.
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