Creeping Shadow (The Rise of Isaac, Book One)

by Peckham, Caroline

  Oliver returned to the main menu and tried a button he didn't recognise marked survision. He touched the air where a question mark hovered beside it.

  A woman's voice spoke across the room, "Survision, or surface vision. This device allows you to watch a range of sense-provoking programmes, play the latest sense-engaging games, and use our onboard infoweb."

  Oliver pressed the button and the question wall or window was displayed. May tapped the air where the word window was hovering.

  The sound of gulls, a soft breeze against his neck and the smell of sea salt filled Oliver's nostrils. He span around and gazed out of the window where a sandy beach sloped away into a turquoise ocean that was lapping against it. Every sense told him he could walk out onto it.

  He approached the window and reached out a hand. It was still in place, cool beneath his palm.

  "This is amazing," May said, pressing her own hand against the window.

  A tanned man appeared in a small pair of swimming trunks as he strolled along the sand narrating. Oliver recognised him as the presenter from Laura's pod. The programme seemed to be a documentary.

  "Here, on one of Brinatin's most pristine islands, the Isle of Fay, I'm going to meet with Felix Rutt, a pygmisnout expert. He is known for raising orphan pygmisnouts by hand and has a rather novel way of training them to swim. I'm here today to give it a go."

  Another man appeared, surrounded by a number of strange-looking creatures. They resembled elephants at first but their legs were splayed, causing their bellies to rub along the ground, and their feet were webbed.

  They had thick, muscular tails about five feet in length that lay, swishing from side to side, leaving trails in the sand. Their trunks were almost three times longer than an elephant's and curled around in front of them on the beach.

  "Great to meet you, Felix," the man said, shaking his hand.

  "And you Truvian," Felix said as he stroked the trunk of a nearby pygmisnout.

  A knock at the door distracted Oliver and May from the programme. Oliver walked over and opened it to find Laura standing there.

  "Can I join you?" she asked, strolling into the room.

  Oliver shrugged. "Sure, we're just watching some programme on pygmisnouts."

  Laura looked at the survision. "Ooo, I love this show. Mainly because I like watching Truvian Gold," she said, throwing herself into an armchair and making May giggle.

  "This is so much better than television," Oliver said, perching on the arm of her chair.

  "Most of the other world's technology are based on each other these days. Aleva and Earth share a Gateway so a lot of their ideas come from each other. Brinatin and Theald have a similar relationship. There are the exceptions of course; the royal families across Glacio still insist on keeping their people living in the dark ages and Arideen, well, they're just too poor to fund any new technology."

  Oliver folded his arms and looked back at the screen. Felix Rutt was now strapping Truvian Gold into a harness beside a pygmisnout that was wearing some sort of saddle. Felix Rutt clipped Truvian Gold onto the animal and his legs dangled over either side of its body. Oliver smiled, bemused by the odd sight.

  Truvian gave the camera a thumbs up and Felix whistled then clapped his hands at the animal who immediately ran forward in an undulating fashion. Its tail whipped powerfully from side to side as it dove into the water and was soon swimming at top speed, cutting through waves that splashed Truvian full in the face.

  The animal held its trunk above its head to breathe as it swam and most of its body became submerged so Truvian was half underwater. His screams could be heard as he disappeared into the distance and the camera switched to an airborne view that followed the creature out to sea.

  Laura laughed, clearly revelling in the man's insanity. Oliver grinned at her and shook his head.

  "How do you change the channel?" May asked, sitting down on the sofa.

  Laura waved an arm in the air and a menu came up at the side of the screen. She waved her hand to select a channel. "It uses motion sensors. Look at this." She selected an option marked maps.

  A list of the worlds came up and she chose Aleva. A globe not unlike Earth appeared, but with just four obvious divisions of land. She span it with her hand and clicked on a section, zooming in. "We're here, see? Aleva is divided into quarters then each quarter is divided by fractions, it's basically the same as continents and countries just with a different name. This is Fole Quarter and we're in Lorence Fraction. We have a president for each Quarter."

  Oliver could see the land they were travelling across. There were mountains and lakes for miles around with only a few small settlements between Alevale and Crome. The blue tracks of the Traverser were visible, winding their way through the landscape in the direction of Crome. Laura zoomed in by parting her hands in front of her and Oliver spotted a red dot moving along the tracks, marking their train.

  "The other maps aren't as detailed as this one but you could have a look through to get an idea of the other worlds if you're interested," Laura suggested, switching to the wall setting. The whole screen shifted from the window onto a wall in a smaller, rectangle shape.

  The view outside the window was of a glistening lake with the sun setting beyond it, the orange tones in the sky reflecting in the water. Darkness draped over the mountains obscuring their tips from view.

  A knock on the door brought Oliver's attention back to the room and May leapt up to open it.

  Ely entered. "Dinner's at seven, I've booked us a table in the dining car," he said with a grin.

  * * *

  Just before seven o'clock they exited their room and waited for the others in the corridor. Oliver was feeling a little underdressed wearing jeans and a jumper, having not prepared for such an occasion on their trip. His sister, on the other hand, was over-prepared as usual, wearing a pretty blue dress given to her by their mum for her birthday last year.

  Laura appeared out of her room in a pale pink dress with her usually curled hair now straight. She looked so painfully like Oliver's mum that he felt a sharp stabbing sensation in his chest as he was reminded of her absence.

  Ely smiled as he emerged from his room in a smart navy suit and Oliver raised his eyebrows as he noticed his grandfather had shaved his beard and neatly styled his dark hair.

  "Oh, you look handsome Daddy," Laura said, leaning down and planting a kiss on his cheek. "I've not seen you without a beard in years."

  "Yes, well, let's not harp on about it," Ely said but a slight look of pride entered his eyes.

  Laura grinned at Oliver and May. "You both look great," she said, casting her eyes over them.

  Oliver frowned as he look down himself. "I didn't have anything better with me."

  "You look fine," Ely said with a cheery smile. "Come on." He led the way towards the dining car where they were sat at a table for four by a large window that ran the length of the car.

  The restaurant was at least four carriages in length and the tables were dressed with white silk tablecloths. In the centre of each sat crystal vases filled with unusual yellow flowers. They opened and closed slowly as if they were breathing, releasing a shimmering cloud of silver dust which evaporated before it touched the table.

  "That's a little elaborate," Ely commented, eyeing the flowers.

  "They're gorgeous," Laura said.

  May reached forward to let the sparkles fall on her hand but they disappeared before they touched her. She tried again, waving her hand around, but the particles seemed to dissolve no matter which way she moved.

  "They're nightbells. They only flower at night and let off this cloud to attract nocturnal insects. Once an insect touches it, the creature dies and fertilises the ground beneath it, making the plant grow faster. The most successful of them can reach ten feet," Laura said with a smile.

  "Yes and they've become very rare since being used for this sort of display," Ely said disapprovingly.

  "Why can't I touch the dust?" May asked.


  "The plant reabsorbs it if it can't find an insect to kill, essentially recycling the substance so none is wasted. They're fascinating," Laura said, admiring the plant.

  A waiter emerged with a set of menus. Oliver opened his to find a list of dishes he had never heard of.

  "What's snailweed?" May asked, her face scrunching up in disgust.

  "That's just a type of plant. They serve it as a side dish. It's a bit like cabbage but it tastes sweet," Ely explained.

  Laura looked amused as May turned the page like it was contaminated. Oliver laughed and looked down to read through some of the dishes:

  Flaming Fried Porgle with Chipper Egg Sauce

  Textured Spattle with a portion of Lorence-Grown Grodnips

  Baked Crawfingers topped with twice-rinsed Croddle Cheese

  Sliced Abbicles in Mountain Sauce served with a side of Wittles

  Durdled Horgin Fish with Tuttle and Tonns

  Nectared Sombay sprinkled with Harp and Rid Seeds

  Sizzled and Seasoned Beatichoke on a bed of River Leaves

  "Can you recommend something? I don't know what any of this is," Oliver asked Ely and Laura.

  "I'd recommend the Spattle with Grodnips. It's my personal favourite." Ely chuckled.

  Oliver eyed the description of Ely's suggestion in the menu. "Maybe," he said, unsure.

  "There's an interworld section at the back," Laura said.

  May sighed with relief and turned to the back of the menu. "They do pizza? Amazing."

  Oliver flipped to the back too and saw a list of options from Earth. Considering he was in a completely different world, there was no way he wasn't going to try something new.

  "Try the Sombay. It's kind of like stew," Laura suggested.

  "Okay, I'll get that," Oliver said decisively, throwing her a grateful smile.

  They ordered and the food soon arrived. Oliver's meal was served in a deep bowl that gave of a yellowish steam which smelt rich and citrusy. He dipped his spoon into the creamy-looking broth that was thick with chopped, green vegetables and lifted a spoonful toward his mouth. It was salty and the vegetables added a delicious tang. He eyed the others' meals as he wolfed down several more mouthfuls.

  Ely's Spattle with Grodnips turned out to look quite appetising. It was some sort of battered main with a side of potato-like vegetables that were shaped into triangles.

  Ely had also ordered a portion of Snailweed for them to try. Oliver tentatively tasted a slither of the leaves that looked almost like cooked spinach. It was cold and tasted somehow both bitter and sweet; it wasn't half as unpleasant as Oliver expected though he wouldn't be tempted to order it in the future.

  Oliver sat back in his seat and rested a hand on his full belly. His eyes fell on a familiar family as they entered the room. Chester towered over his wife and son with a hand on each of their shoulders. Oliver realised the waiter was directing them to the table next to theirs and Ely shifted uncomfortably as he spotted them.

  "We just keep bumping into each other," Delphine said lightly as she sat next to her husband and Larkin sat opposite her.

  "Hmm." Ely buried his head in the dessert menu.

  Oliver smiled over at his grandmother, unsure what to say. Laura quickly filled the awkward silence with polite chit-chat. A young waitress served Delphine's table, taking orders. Ely waved her over when she was done.

  The waitress had dark hair that curled and bounced about her shoulders; it framed her pretty face that was all petite features. She was small, perhaps slightly taller than May with pale skin and red lips. Oliver grinned at her stupidly.

  "Could you bring us each a serving of Alevian trifle please?" Ely asked, clearly not wanting to be scared away by his ex-wife and her new family.

  "Of course, would you like anything else with that?" the girl asked.

  Oliver realised he was staring at her as she met his gaze and dropped his eyes to his empty bowl, embarrassed. She cleared their table and leant across Oliver to collect May's plate. Her dark hair brushed his cheek and he realised, too late, that he should have passed the plate to her. She frowned at him then walked away.

  May raised her eyebrows at him.

  "What?" Oliver challenged her.

  "Nothing," she said in a sing-song tone and he turned away from her.

  Oliver noticed Larkin's eyes following the waitress across the room and clenched his jaw.

  Delphine was muttering to Chester and elbowing him in the ribs. Chester frowned angrily and leant back in his chair, making it creak loudly. He cleared his throat and turned to face their table. "So, Ely, I suppose you've heard about the search for Rimori? What do you make about all that then?" he asked with forced politeness.

  Ely stiffened. "I imagine they'll catch him pretty quick."

  "Hmm, I doubt it, personally," Chester said as though he knew better.

  "Some people don't want him to be arrested," Delphine chipped in.

  "And are you one of those people?" Ely asked accusingly, his eyebrows reaching towards his hairline.

  "Dad," Laura warned.

  "I'm just asking," Ely said with exaggerated innocence. "I don't know much about your mother these days."

  Oliver shared an awkward look with May.

  "Well, as a matter of fact, I think Isaac Rimori has one or two views about the Council and the Gateways that I would agree with," Delphine said, jutting her chin upwards.

  "Not much he didn't get right, I say," Chester said.

  "Apart from murdering my father," Oliver blurted before he could stop himself.

  Chester's small eyes slid down to meet his with a look that suggested a child had spoken out of turn. Oliver held his gaze stubbornly.

  "Yes, apart from that," Chester said slowly.

  "I dunno. One life for the chance to bring down the Gateways? I can see why someone might," Larkin said, folding his arms and gazing at Oliver with a sneer.

  Oliver felt anger coursing through his body as he glared back at him.

  "Larkin," Delphine snapped.

  "Calm down, my dear, I'm sure all Lark meant was that sometimes sacrifice is necessary for the greater good," Chester said, throwing Larkin a wink.

  "It's easy to say that when you don't know the person who was killed," Oliver said.

  "I heard you didn't know your father," Larkin said with a smirk.

  Oliver was about to answer when the waitress returned with the mains for Larkin's table. Larkin winked at her when his parents weren't looking and she rolled her eyes at him before hurrying away from the table. Oliver fought a laugh and Larkin glared at him.

  "Ely, I was wondering if you've been to see Eugene since he was released? He was asking after you the last time I saw him," Delphine said.

  Ely's face flushed red. "No I haven't," he said stiffly.

  "You ought to," Delphine replied sternly. "He's been quite rattled by the whole experience."

  "What I ought or oughtn't do is none of your concern," Ely said, avoiding her eye.

  Delphine looked hurt for a moment then began to eat her meal. The waitress reappeared with their desserts, giving them an excuse not to talk to the other table for a while.

  Oliver made a point of taking May's from the girl's hand and passed it over. She smiled at him and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He noticed Larkin watching them from the corner of his eye.

  The individual trifles were served in tall glasses. Oliver tried what he expected to be cream at the top but was surprised to discover that it tasted almost like white chocolate. The middle was thick with blended fruits coloured red and orange; the bottom had a layer of almost luminous, yellow sauce that was slightly sour but complimented the sweet fruit perfectly.

  By the time they were finished the room had almost emptied and the waiters were starting to strip the tables.

  "I think we'll call it a night," Laura said as she sighed contentedly.

  "I suppose you're right," Ely said, clearly relieved not to have made the decision himself.

  Lau
ra stood with a yawn.

  May looked at Oliver. "Fancy staying up a bit longer?"

  Oliver spied the waitress across the room clearing a table. "Sure." He nodded vaguely.

  "Okay, see you in the morning," Ely said. "Good night," he said stiffly to Delphine and the others.

  Laura smiled at them, pecked her mother on the cheek and followed her father out of the dining car.

  "Let's go to the lounge," May said, getting up.

  Oliver was torn between not wanting to be around Larkin and wanting an opportunity to talk to the waitress. He sidled out of his seat and May followed him.

  "Good night," he said, mostly to Delphine. Chester and Larkin didn't look up at him.

  "Night, darlings, we must have a proper catchup soon," Delphine said to them, her gaze lingering on Oliver as she smiled warmly.

  They nodded and left the dining car. Oliver threw a final glance in the girl's direction but she wasn't looking his way.

  He followed May down the corridor into a lounge where several people were sat around sipping drinks. He and May found a couple of armchairs in a corner and dropped into them. The room was warm and stuffy so Oliver took his jumper off to keep cool, revealing the black t-shirt beneath.

  A waiter offered them Glacian tea which they accepted gratefully and Oliver sipped the sweet liquid, relaxing back into his seat.

  "What do you think of the Pipistrelle's?" May asked, a smile itching at the corner of her mouth.

  "I like them," Oliver said confidently, holding a straight face.

  May's eyebrows reached upwards knowingly.

  Oliver looked at her seriously and said, "I can see me and Larkin being lifelong friends."

  May snorted with laughter. "I can't believe he's your half uncle."

  "Our half uncle," Oliver corrected, raising a single eyebrow.

  She shook her head. "Na-ar I'm pulling the adoption card on this one."

  Oliver burst out laughing.

  May almost spat out a mouthful of Glacian tea as she started giggling. An older couple across the room glared at her disapprovingly and Oliver felt his stomach muscles ache with laughter, unable to stop.

  "Maybe Mum had the right idea about keeping them at arms' length," May said as she reigned in her laughter.