by S J Howland
Finally, the Elder Goblin spoke. ‘Why do you believe these things?’ he asked, in his dry creaking voice.
Xander swallowed, and it sounded far too loud in the quiet. He was getting a little dizzy in the stifling heat of the Core and his throat felt raw. Trying not to breathe too deeply, he recounted again his theory about the messages, and attempted to inject his words with his previous certainty, although that was withering under the cold gaze of inhuman yellow eyes. When his voice trailed off, there was another long silence, and then the Elder Goblin sighed, as if he had been presented with a burden too great to carry.
‘We will see,’ he said, as his gaze travelled across the ruined surface of the Core, its sickly light reflected in his eyes. He shook his head. ‘This corruption does not originate here, with us; of that, we are quite certain. Still, perhaps you can indeed drive it out. Perhaps –’
He turned to face Xander, gesturing for him to approach the Core, and Xander caught the faint glimmer of what almost looked like hopefulness.
The hobgoblins stood in a silent circle as Xander walked over to a stretch of crystal which looked a little less unhealthy than the rest, although that feeling of wrongness was equally strong. As he drew near, it seemed to beat at his face and his throat flamed in response. With another quick glance over at the hobs, all watching him intently, he forced himself to reach out with his orb hand and lay it on the wall.
He almost gagged as he touched it. The greasy feeling of last time had now become an overwhelming surge of putrid slime, coating his skin and running up his arm. His hand began to shake with the strain of holding it there against the rising tide of decay and the disgust he felt, and this time the crystal wall did not respond with even the faint light of before.
With a desperate effort, Xander leant into his orb, reaching for that powerful response but for the first time it did not bloom into light. His heart pounding, Xander tried again and the orb just flickered, and then went dark. Unable to hold on any longer, he lurched away from the wall and then doubled over, his stomach heaving as he tried to control his gagging. When he straightened up again it was to meet the cold, critical eyes of the circle of hobgoblins, all staring at him with the same bitter expression.
‘Perhaps not,’ came the creaking voice of the Elder Goblin. ‘Perhaps we have placed our hopes foolishly and this is the end for us.’
Without another glance, he turned away and several hobs jumped forward to support him. One of the hobgoblins beckoned to Xander and then silently led him back through the stifling Core to the translucent entrance to the Nexus. As Xander stumbled through it, he was not sure whether it was the caustic smell of sulphur or the pain of failure that burned more fiercely in his throat.
Chapter Ten
Blurry-eyed and sick to his stomach, Xander blundered through the short passageway. He had been delusional, thinking he could sweep in and be the hero, and his face burned as he remembered his inability to help and the Elder Goblin’s bitter words. In his misery, Xander hadn’t even thought about how he could get out of the crippled Core but as he faltered on, he saw that the ward at the end was rippling again, with the cold light from Thorne’s massive crystal slabs shining intrusively into the rocky passage. He stepped back out into the glare of the Nexus.
He had no idea how to get out but, right now, he didn’t care if he wandered in here forever. It only took ten minutes of stumbling between the glittering aisles, however, before he bumped into a familiar figure. Petros looked at him in surprise, his bright brown eyes blinking behind his glasses.
‘Xander?’ he said, looking around him in mild confusion. ‘What are you doing here? Is Flint with you?’
Xander cleared his throat.
‘Um, no. I was with someone but they’re busy now and I wanted to go home.’
He was relieved that he got this much out without his voice cracking, but Petros looked more puzzled.
‘Well, they really shouldn’t have left you wandering around by yourself. It’s not safe.’ When Xander just stood, staring at him, Petros peered closer and then smiled reassuringly. ‘Never mind. I’ll escort you out, okay?’
Petros trotted off at his usual energetic pace and Xander trudged along behind him, head hanging. He was never sure what made him glance up to see the neat figure of Gage, for once not in the shadow of Lester Simm, walking towards him with a large container tucked under one arm and the usual bland expression on his face. Petros didn’t acknowledge him as they passed and Xander wondered whether the man was as despised here as Latchet. Despite his self-effacing air, there was a distinct sense of menace about him and Xander shivered at the thought of him lurking around the entrance to the hobs’ Core. As if he could hear Xander’s thoughts Gage looked over at him, lips twisting in contempt. For a moment, Xander’s ears burned with a hot, roaring noise, until Gage looked away and cool air rushed in again.
Xander twisted to look over his shoulder but Gage had disappeared among the glowing rows of crystal, and a few moments later Petros led him over to the gated platform waiting at the lower level to whisk Xander away. He opened the gate and then patted Xander’s shoulder.
‘You don’t look great,’ he said in a sympathetic tone. ‘Don’t worry, you’ll warm up as soon as you’re topside. It’s sunny today, I hear.’
Xander managed a shaky smile, although privately he thought the reason he was pale and shivering was unlikely to be helped by a bit of sunshine.
‘Thanks for bringing me out,’ he mumbled and Petros beamed at him again, before shutting the gate and reaching for the button. His hand froze in mid-air as the wail of a loud and discordant siren blared out over the Nexus, echoing and re-echoing in the enormous space.
For an instant, everyone was still and silent, staring at one another, and then they burst into action, racing off in every direction. Petros dashed off the platform and fixed Xander with an urgent stare.
‘It’s the emergency alert. Something’s gone seriously wrong,’ he exclaimed. ‘Head straight home and let Flint know if you can, okay?’ He leaned over the gate and stabbed at the button.
Before Xander could answer, the platform was sweeping upwards and he could see Petros pelting off down one of the aisles. As he soared up high above the Nexus, Xander’s view was unimpeded across the enormous space and he caught his breath. A thick greenish-black haze was rising from the rear of the Nexus, the area where – Xander frantically tried to recall his bearings – the internal entrance to the hobs’ Core lay. A sickly yellow light flickered in the depths of the dark haze and Xander shivered as the siren continued to blare out.
Trying not to see any more, he stumbled over to the lift, which carried him swiftly to the corridors above. They were boiling with people, all shouting to one another, and he was able to pass through unremarked to the lift back up to the atrium. The siren was still audible there, though much fainter, and people were thronging around the reception desk. In the turmoil and confusion, Xander made it across to the large revolving doors, through the metallic touch of the ward and out into the sunshine outside, with no-one to enquire what he had been doing there in the first place.
Xander squinted up at the sky. It didn’t seem right for the afternoon to be so bright, as if it were just another carefree summer day, when everything was going wrong and Xander was responsible for the biggest failure of his life. With one final glance back at the Nexus, he crossed over the little bridge and began the journey back to Woodside to carry out Petros’ request, although he did not look forward to telling Flint where he had been, and his stomach lurched again at the thought of what Ollie and Len would say when they heard how badly he had failed.
Head hanging, Xander trudged on with miserable, dark thoughts swirling relentlessly round in his mind and did not even look up as he passed through the first gate home.
*
As it turned out, Xander did not have to break the news himself. By the time he got back to Woodside, the kitchen was filled with people staring at the big screen on the wall,
while the serious voice of a newscaster was recounting the details that were known so far about the calamity at the Core. Xander slid through the door and joined Ollie and Len, who were perched on the end of the table.
‘You okay, mate?’ murmured Ollie, with a quick sideways look.
That Ollie had clearly been sitting here worrying only made Xander feel worse, and he stared at the floor.
‘It was a total disaster,’ he muttered. He sensed Len’s eyes burning into the side of his head and moved impatiently. ‘And do not tell me you told me so, please,’ he snapped. Unfortunately, his voice cracked as he spoke, and he gulped.
It turned out that the news service only had limited information thus far, which they repeated over and over again, interspersed with various ‘experts’ rounded up to come on and give their views. They seemed to be competing over who could give the most melodramatic opinion, and Xander reflected that the people who were genuine experts, like Reeve and Petros, were probably far too busy right now to waste time being interviewed.
After the fourth or fifth repetition, Mrs Stanton waved a hand and muted the sound. ‘I think we’ve heard quite enough of that,’ she said and then bustled about the kitchen while Flint, Jasper and a couple of the other Travellers drew off into a little group and spoke in low tones. There was no sign of Ari’s bright red hair, and so no chance of any back-channel information.
Ollie eyed Xander cautiously. ‘So, what happened?’ he asked.
Xander shook his head.
‘Nothing,’ he said. ‘Literally nothing.’ He looked away and blinked rapidly. ‘I’ve been kidding myself all along.’
Len made an impatient sound, but Xander did not want to hear it. He jumped up before she could say anything and walked out. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Ollie put a hand on her arm and murmur, ‘Not now.’
*
It was early evening when Xander finally got off his bed and went back downstairs, drawn out partly because of the insistent growling of his stomach and partly due to the increasing volume of voices from the kitchen. Len was not among the large group of people there, but Ollie, clutching an armful of plates, looked up as he entered and sent him a quick, sympathetic grin. Xander smiled weakly back but his gaze was immediately drawn to the dishevelled-looking figure of Callan Reeve, who sat at the table with a cup of tea and an exhausted expression. He slid into a chair and listened to the conversation.
‘So, what’s the status of the hobs’ Core now?’ Flint asked.
Reeve pushed a hand through his untidy hair, dragging it back from his face and exposing a long scrape across his forehead.
‘Status?’ he repeated in a tired voice. ‘It’s a disaster. Most of the place is inaccessible now, and what we can see is burnt out.’
‘Inaccessible?’ asked James Stanton, with a worried look.
Reeve shrugged. He looked drained. ‘When that amount of rock comes down, it’s pretty hard to get through it. Oh, I’m not saying that there may not be areas that have survived, but I don’t know how you’d get to them; it’s completely unstable in there.’
Silence fell for a moment around the table and Xander’s stomach twisted.
‘Was anyone hurt?’ It was Mrs Stanton’s voice, quiet and concerned.
Reeve glanced over at her. ‘As far as we know, everyone got out but you know how the hobs are about sharing information. They don’t want anything to do with humans at the best of times.’
His voice trailed off, and he shook his head helplessly.
Xander stared at the table, wracked with guilt yet again. Ollie slid a plate in front of him and he ate mechanically, without tasting any of it. He was so engrossed in his own misery that he took a moment or so to realise that Callan Reeve had paused behind his chair.
‘Petros said that you were at the Nexus today,’ Reeve said quietly.
Xander looked up at him and nodded, bracing for the inevitable barrage of questions.
‘Are you okay?’
This was not what Xander had expected to be asked, and he was horrified to feel his throat burning again. He nodded mutely, and Reeve’s hand clasped his shoulder for a moment before he moved away again. Before he could lose control and embarrass himself in the middle of the kitchen, Xander jumped up and slipped through the back door into the dusky garden beyond, hurrying into the darkness as if he could somehow outrun the sick sensation of failure in his stomach.
When he reached the end of the garden, he ducked behind the flowering shrubs and lowered himself to the grass near the soft gleam of Katie’s nixie pond. It was a warm night, but he wrapped his arms around himself and hunched down; right at this moment, he wished that he could just disappear altogether. He had not been sitting there long before he heard footsteps heading over towards his refuge. He didn’t have to turn around to identify their owners.
‘I don’t want to talk about it,’ he growled, stiff-backed and staring straight ahead of him.
Predictably enough, he reflected with some bitterness, his pursuers ignored that. Ollie sank down on the grass next to him while Len circled around in front, a dark figure silhouetted against the pond.
‘So, it wasn’t a success,’ Ollie began carefully.
Despite Xander’s determination to remain silent, a snort of disbelief escaped him at the scale of this understatement.
‘You think?’ he said. ‘It was a catastrophe.’
Ollie and Len just waited and suddenly Xander found words bursting out of him, as though a dam had burst.
‘They were all just standing there, watching me and waiting for me to fix it and I couldn’t. I couldn’t do anything. My orb didn’t even respond, just flickered and then went out. Nothing.’ He took a shaky breath. ‘I don’t know what I was thinking, believing all of this rubbish. I shouldn’t even be here – everyone knows I don’t belong.’
‘Well, that’s total drivel.’
Len’s voice cut straight across him, clear and concise.
Xander’s head swung up. He glowered at her but she just stepped closer, her arms folded tightly. ‘Saying you’re not supposed to be here is pathetic. You can’t throw everything away, everything we’ve seen and been through, simply because you’re feeling sorry for yourself. You’re the one who assumed that you were meant to resurrect the hobs’ Core. Your problem is that your conclusions were wrong, not that you are. As I told you at the time.’
Len couldn’t resist tacking on that last sentence, the superior little ‘I told you so’, and Xander’s temper surged. He jumped up angrily to face her and saw Ollie scramble to his feet too, looking worriedly between the two of them.
‘Well, if you’re so brilliant and always so right, explain it to me then,’ Xander snapped. Len tilted her chin and glared back at him but he didn’t stop. ‘Tell me, o wise one, why am I here and what am I supposed to be doing about all this?’ Xander’s hands were clenching convulsively as he threw the words at her like weapons, and he shook his head as she opened her mouth to respond and then shut it again.
‘See,’ he said triumphantly. ‘You’ve got no more idea than the rest of us, so pack it in with the whole condescending act. You don’t know anything.’
Len stared at him for a moment, then turned on her heel and walked off without a word, head high and back very straight. Watching her stalking away from him, Xander thought he ought to feel better for having got that off his chest, but all he really felt was guilt. Len could be truly annoying, but she hadn’t deserved for him to take out his frustration and worry on her. He grimaced ruefully and saw Ollie watching him.
‘You realise that she’s going to make both of us pay for that,’ Ollie said wryly, then grinned and shook his head. ‘C’mon. Best to get the grovelling apology over with sooner rather than later. Believe me; you don’t want to let her stew.’
With a weak smile, Xander turned and trudged back up the garden. On the whole, he reflected, this had not been one of his better days.
*
Another major power surge occurred at
the Nexus overnight, and several more Guilds were now complaining of interrupted energy supplies and unpredictable orb outages. The presenter on the morning news programme disclosed these things in low, dramatic tones and dolefully predicted further disasters. There was some condemnation of the fact that the Core had been allowed to get into such a state without intervention by the Nexus management and finally, an emergency Council session was announced for that afternoon. Xander listened with a sinking sense of responsibility, as Mrs Stanton shook her head and exchanged looks with Jenna.
‘Has anyone heard from the hobs?’ asked Jenna, while Xander hovered quietly in the background.
Mrs Stanton sighed.
‘Not according to Flint. He said that Cal and the other engineers have been trying to reach them, but they’ve disappeared. Apparently they’re blaming us and said that they won’t trust any more humans.’ She shrugged. ‘You know how they are.’
Jenna nodded gloomily and Xander slipped out of the kitchen, not wanting to hear any more.
The news of a Council meeting to discuss the situation kept nagging at his thoughts however, and after lunch Xander asked if he could go. Mrs Stanton pursed her lips, with a quick glance out of the window as if checking to see whether shades were manifesting in the garden. As there had been no more reports about border breaches and the Academy had remained open, she agreed on the proviso that Xander go only to the Council chamber and come straight back.
The streets were a little emptier than usual as Xander hurried along, but the inhabitants of Haven that he passed did not yet seem too concerned about the disruption to the tenor of their lives. Xander wondered whether they were not aware of the effects yet, or if they had simply chosen not to believe the dire sensationalism of the news, but it was rather reassuring to see that life was continuing.