"We've barely met and all you have done is yell at me and call me ignorant. I can barely call that a friendship." Mac said.
"She wasn't asking you to talk with a friend, she was telling you to come and talk with me, your sister."
9.
"Come again." Mac said, her head cocked to the side like a confused little puppy.
"Dear Lord. This girl has the brains of a turnip and she's deaf to boot." Kris muttered under her breath. "I. Am. Your. Sister." She jabbed her thumb into her chest as if words would not be good enough to get the point across, then did her best Tarzan impression. "Me. Sister."
"I think I would know if I had a sister." Mac said ignoring the taunts. "Sisters are something you don't forget about. It isn't like I just lost my sister under the couch and forgot she ever existed. I was an only child."
"Ahh, so you know everything then, do you." Kris spat "If that is the case then why do you seem to have all these questions? If you know everything, then please inform us all of where you are and how you managed to find yourself here." She stood waiting and tapping her foot. Mac's frustration began show itself as she looked at Kris with contempt in her eyes. She stood there gazing at Kris with hundreds of questions waiting to be asked, and she tried to process the idea that she may have a sister. Every other question faded to the back of her brain and at that very moment, she no longer cared about them. Then the frustration bubbled over and anger set in.
"You know I don't have those answers. I don't have those answers because every time I ask you a question you tell me how stupid I am for not knowing the answer." Mac yelled. Elowise stared at the two women as they argued in the middle of her home. She hated arguments, but more so hated getting into the middle of them.
"You are incapable of understanding any of the answers that I can give you." Kris yelled back, arms flailing. "It's a waste of my time and breath to try and explain things to a dimwit."
"What's so hard to understand about this place? You all dress and talk like my great grandparents and you have English accents, so I figured I must be somewhere in England during the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century. Then you come around and talk about different dimensions and stuff straight out of a science fiction novel. It isn't my fault I don't understand it; the smartest people in my world wouldn't understand it."
"You come here and think this is what England looks like. You think there is some run-down steam operated city in England? You think they have mechanical guards, which are beyond any technology your people can understand? With thinking like that it is no wonder I decide to not explain things to you. You have absolutely no idea what you walked into and what damage you have caused to the people here." Kris said with an annoyed snort.
"If I am going to ruin your world then how about you tell me how, you daft bitch." Mac yelled staring red faced at Kris.
The room went silent; they all just stared at each other waiting for the explosion.
Elowise looked between Mac and Kris wide eyed, her mouth hanging open. She slowly stood and started heading for the door before turning. "I can tell there is much to be discussed between the two of you. I am going to head out to the garden. If either of you need something you may call on me; otherwise feel free to stay and work out your issues, but I would request you not burn the house down. I am quite fond of it." With that she gave a nervous smile then turned and left her home as our battleground. Kris just stared at Mac with a seething look across her face. Mac returned the stare with anger flowing heavily through her.
Finally, after several minutes passed where they just eye wrestled each other, Kris relented and let out a sigh before walking past Mac, who looked confused at her win, and sat down. She put her hands over her face and let out a small sob. Mac slowly moved to the seat next to her and sat down. After several long seconds Kris composed herself and looked at Mac with reddened eyes.
"Our father wanted nothing more than for you to stay away from this place. It is a place of danger and was built on fear. The amount of death that runs through the ground is beyond any horror story you could ever conceive. Dad didn't want you to know these horrors existed, and yet here you are." Kris said pained.
"I'm not here by chance, you know." Mac said. "One minute I am examining a box on the floor with some strange coin in it, and the next minute I am being tossed around my book store by some giant tin can. Then poof, I am thrown into this freak show."
Kris shook her head and placed her hand on her forehead thinking about what Mac had said. "It doesn't make any sense. Who would want you here? Everyone wanted you kept safe and away from here. They didn't want you to wander around this place like it is your new home. Do you know who may have given you the coin?"
"I have no idea. The door to my shop opened and closed, and when I looked up the man who dropped it was gone and a little box was sitting on the ground by the front door. I wasn't able to get a good look at him."
"It had to be one of those damn portsman." Kris said under her breath.
"Port...what?" Mac asked.
"We can send smaller objects to your world using a machine dubbed the port-o-matic." Kris noticed the confused look on Macs face, but ignored it and continued. "A port-o-matic is quite simply a machine that takes things from our world and puts them in your world. The object can't be moved anywhere in your world, but it is sent to a specific area. There are only a few places these objects can be sent to and the spots are controlled and watched over by extremely powerful magic users called portsmen. It is the Portsman's job to make sure that object reaches its intended destination. This is how we can get information, music, and movies from your world. It is costly, but gives us a look at something different and less depressing. At times villages, will pool a year’s wages together just to get a few new movies and a projector. The distraction is worth the cost."
"So, he is like a glorified mailman?" Mac asked.
Kris burst out laughing so hard Mac jerked back and almost fell. "Yes, Mac, they are extremely powerful post masters." The sarcasm through Kris' laughing was not lost on Mac and she gave her a dirty look.
"So, wait. Is it possible for one of these port-o-thingies to send me back home?" Mac asked excitedly.
Kris stopped laughing and looked away. "No. They are unable to send anything larger than a small dog." Mac was once again frustrated.
"So, when I picked up the package there was a note on it telling me to look up. When I did I was immediately beaten by a large metal...thing. It was smaller than the guards in the city, but much larger than me. If it wasn't for pure luck the thing would have killed me. Why would the mail guy want to come after and kill me? I haven't done anything more than run my book store. Until I came to this place, I didn't even know it existed."
"A portsman is neutral to the war." Kris replied. "On the other hand, they are extremely easily influenced by money. There is nothing to them that can't be turned into a business transaction. To them, everything can be negotiated on whether it be a customer of theirs or their own kin. Nothing is off limits. If I had to venture a guess, I would say the portsman was contracted to give you the coin by one person, and at the same time was paid by a second party to make sure you were never allowed to see the light of day again. See the irony of neutrality in this situation? He certainly gave you the coin and fulfilled his contract while at the same time had one of his goons try to take your life."
The irony was not lost on Mac. She thought about the situation she was now in and what Kris had just told her while searching for an answer to what might be going on. After running through the conversation again she paused and looked at Kris. "Wait, you said neutral to the war; what war?"
Kris let out a long drawn out sigh and put her head down. "Dear lord, we are going to be here for a while."
"You don't need to give me a whole history class worth of information. Just give me the short version of what you are talking about." Mac could tell Kris was becoming annoyed with her lack of knowledge and hoped she would be able to get a few more
answers before Kris ultimately exploded with anger towards her.
Kris lifted her head and looked at Mac giving in to the request. "Fine, if you haven't already noticed, which I am sure you haven't by your slowness to understand very common knowledge things, there are two different types of people living around here. One group lives only for building gadgetry and other forms of technology. It is their passion and their life. We call them Techeads. The other group you can see living all around you right now. They are elementalists and have a small amount of control over the elementals. We call them Thaumaturgists, or Thermas for short."
"For hundreds of years both sides coexisted as best as they could. We even shared the city, laughing and drinking together like a normal civilized city. With both societies merging into one both sides prospered and greatness ensued. Techeads would build great machines and Thermas would empower them with magic. The City of Steam knew nothing of poorness or desperation. There was only prosperity. The city grew into the gem of the world. Now, it is nothing more than a dregs dung pile."
"At the hight of the cities prosperity an accident occurred and the leader of the Techeads was killed. The people rose and demanded retribution for their king’s death. The blame fell solely on the Thermas and any of the other clans of magic users living in the city. Techeads openly scorned and attacked anyone who was not one of their own. Blood flowed in the streets like water and the city quickly became divided. Technology was no longer touched by the magic that made it great. Thermas left the Steam City and made a new home of their own. As the years passed they prospered away from Steam City and lived in peace, but the Techeads never forgot about their fallen King."
"Then, in one night, a man was able to do what no one could possibly have imagined and killed off most of the Thermas. Millions died as the city they called home was burned to the ground. Men, women, and children all fell because of the rage of a few. Those who did survive went into hiding. Villages packed up and moved overnight never to be seen again. Some of the people banded together, like the ones you see in this village, and they live free in the trees. Others traveled to the other side of the Earth to escape the death that will come to any Therma that is caught. When villages are burned, the people living in them are burned alongside their homes. You have seen the damage firsthand. It's a gruesome and horrible world we live in."
"Why would anyone try to kill off a whole race of people over some accident? And, what does any of that have to do with wanting me dead? I don't even live here." Mac asked.
Kris let out another sigh and Mac thought she was about to start yelling again. "You were sent away from here so you would not be a part of this mess. So, you would not have to witness the death that happens day in and day out. You were sent away from here not because of who YOU are, but WHOSE blood runs through your veins. The man who killed the Techeads King was Dr. Edmund Blackburn."
"Wait, you mean Grandpa Blackburn?" Mac asked.
"The very same. The Techeads leadership vowed to exterminate our bloodline which is why we were separated and hidden. It is my belief, and I am rarely wrong, that you being here means they finally found you and want you dead. The leadership likely could not agree on killing you or turning you against us. It is my belief that one leadership member sent to have you come back and another wanted you dead. The portsman got paid double by the same people."
"I have a dream about someone...something chasing me. It finally manages to trap me in a pit. Just when I think I am going to die dad shows up to rescue me. That's when I wake up. Was our father taken by these people? Is the reason he disappeared because of some vow of revenge?" Mac's eyebrows furrowed and she struggled to keep the tears from running freely.
"Dad disappeared trying to protect you." Kris spat at her angrily standing up and walking a few feet away. "He spent his life trying to protect you and keep you from being executed for crimes you had no part of. Our family was torn apart and we were separated for our own safety. Then...then this happens and destroys everything we have tried so hard to do." Kris turned from Mac, but she could still hear her sob and the pain in her voice.
"So they took him because of me." Mac said trying to comprehend that she was the reason he was gone.
"No. They didn't take him. Someone else came for him." Kris said. "If the Techeads would have taken him, he would have been hung from the cities walls and burned so all could see. They would have tortured him beyond what you could possibly imagine, and then killed him. It would have crushed the spirits of the few of us that remain, but that didn't happen. He simply vanished. As powerful as our father was, it took someone with a scary amount of power and skill to defeat him. I have spent years searching for answers, but there is nothing. No one has seen him or heard from him and there isn't so much as a rumor of what happened to him. He is just gone."
"Was it the Techeads that killed our mother also?"
"What do you mean?" Kris snapped her head back to look at Mac. "Mom isn't dead. At least, she isn't dead, yet. The Duke will be sure to take her life when he is done with her, but for now she remains alive."
"But, uncle said she died when I was a child. He said she was killed during a mugging. It was the reason I took those self-defense classes." The memory hit Mac hard and she came to a sudden realization. Her head dropped shaking slightly. "He told me that story to make sure I prepared myself for this very situation. He didn't want me to be a victim. Looking back, it was so obvious."
"Our mother stayed here raising me while father stayed with you." Kris said. "They sacrificed their marriage to keep us safe. One day while tending crops, the Dukes assassins found her and a fight took place which she lost and was taken away. He keeps her locked in his home in hopes she will draw others to try and rescue her. We have lost several of our people to that trap."
The door to the house flew open and Carl ran in full sprint and almost falling when he tried to stop. Mac and Kris leapt back, startled by the intrusion.
"What the bloody hell is wrong with you; scaring us half to death?" Kris spat.
Carl grasped at Mac's arm and started pulling her towards the door. She pulled away from him. He fought to take a breath before closing his eyes and calming the best he could. "Mackenzie, I need you to leave with me, right now." He pulled at Mac again while pleading for her to follow. "There are a number of assassins spotted a short distance from camp. It is obvious they are searching for you, and Maddie feels the protection here is not strong enough to keep them out if they discover you're under our protection. I'm to escort you to the caves so you will be more hidden."
Kris eyes were wide, then she calmed and started to move for the door. " I will need to go grab my pack and we can leave." The words were more to herself than to Carl and Mac.
"That is going to be a problem." Carl said quickly still gripping Mac's arm. "William has taken a turn for the worst and Maddie will need some of your medicine and care to help him while she is off giving orders to the other guards and trying to protect all of us. If it will make you feel any better, you may send Ed down to help us protect Mac, but we are out of time and need to leave. If they find us before she is out of here, there is nothing I can do to save her."
Kris looked from Mac to Carl and back. It was the look she always had while processing information and trying to find the best solution to a problem and it was easily readable on her face. "Go with Carl," she said "I will send Ed down to find you. Carl, you know it is vital she stays safe. Her life is in your hands." Carl gave a slight bow and pulled Mac through the door and into the village, which was moving at high speeds to hide itself from the approaching assassins.
As they ran over bridges and past the other villagers Mac watched as the trees moved their long branches through the air and covered the homes from view as their owners quickly made their way inside. After several seconds Carl and Mac reached the trunk of a large ancient tree which formed steps out of its side and allowed them passage to the forest floor. Carl looked around nervously as he pulled Mac into the woods which
darkened as they went.
Kris ran through the crowd of people towards Maddie's house. The guards searched for signs of the assassins, but they were not yet visible. They held bows at the ready with long arrows anticipating the attack. A hush came over the village as the last of the people moved into their newly made shelter. The eerie silence broke as Kris burst through Maddie's door about to yell for Ed to go protect Mac. The people inside jumped as she ran frantically into the room.
"My dear, you've scared us half to death." Maddie said waiting for an explanation. "What could possibly be so wrong that you would need to burst in here with that kind of excitement?"
"But..." Kris started trying to catch her breath "I thought you were off with the guards; instructing them on how to take care of the assassins who are on their way here."
"I may be an elder here, Kris, but that does not mean I need to tell everyone else how to do their jobs. I am a fine healer, but those boys out there do not need an old ninny like me telling them how to take care of a few assassins who are lost in the woods. They are very well trained and quite capable of doing the job on their own."
"But...Carl said..." Kris' voice cut off as she looked past Maddie and saw William sit up and look at her with a deep concern in his eyes. "Oh, dear God."
10.
Carl ran through the forest still gripping Mac's arm. His head shot back and forth expecting someone to jump out and attack. Mac began to slow as the muscles in her legs burned like a bonfire and her lack of being able to take a deep breath was on the verge of making her pass out, but Carl continued to pull paying no attention to her. Her sweat covered arm finally slipped through Carl's fingers and she fell hard to the ground landing on a rock, her arm letting out a loud crack upon impact. The area went cold and her screams pierced through the forest as the pain and frustration of the situation encapsulated her.
City of Steam (Blackburn Chronicles) Page 8