From her stool, Serena clacked her heels together and feigned a salute. "Yes, sir. We'll get right on it. Full report and all."
Ensel Rhe spared her a momentary glance before he exited the workroom.
Serena let out a huff. "He's really annoying sometimes, isn't he? Walks in here and gives us orders like he's the earl himself! I don't know about you, but—Aaron, are you listening to me?"
"Huh?" Aaron looked up from the metal lying on the table. "Sorry, no, I wasn't listening."
"Well, at least you're honest."
"Sorry."
"Yes, you already apologized. No need to do so again."
"That's not what I was apologizing about. I'm sorry I asked you to bring me the Inferno. I didn’t think you'd try if you felt you couldn't control it."
"I didn't think I was going to have a problem. Luckily, I had the filament. Speaking of which...any theories?"
Aaron shook his head. "I'll have to perform a full analysis." He turned to the pile of books and scrolls brought from Cyrus's workshop. "I haven’t read a thing about what material Cyrus intended for the catalytic chamber, so I can't even guess what this metal or any other might do when placed inside."
"But the answer is in there somewhere. I'll stay and help you go through it."
"No."
"Why not? You'll have to show me the decryption code, but I think I can take it from there."
"I know you can. But I don't think it's a good idea for you to remain so close to the engine, especially after what I've been reading about it. If it has another malfunction or, worse, fully activates, I don't think you should be anywhere near here."
"What about you? You said it nullifies everything. You're not safe, either."
"No, I'm not. But this has helped a lot." Aaron pulled back his lab coat to reveal a device hooked onto his belt that was square in shape, made of bronze, and had a single gemstone at its center. Aaron flipped a switch on it, which caused the gem to pulse with light. "Ingrid gave this suppressor to me. She designed it to counter the effects of the engine. It works...mostly. Unfortunately, there's just the one, and we don't have materials—or another of these gemstones to concentrate the energy output—to build another. I started to work on a way to extend the field, but haven't quite got it yet."
Serena scrutinized the suppressor. "The gem's been infused with sri. I can feel it. Funny she just happened to know how to build something like that to counter the machine, isn't it?" Serena lowered her head in thought for a little while. When she raised it, she said, "At least let me help you for a little while."
"No."
"Just one book and then I'll go."
"No."
"You're being very pig-headed, Aaron."
"Because I don't want you to die?"
"Because I think for some reason you don't want me around."
"Yes, I don't want you around so maybe the engine won't drain and kill you."
"And is that the only reason?"
"Yes!"
"Then you'll have no objection to going with me to tomorrow evening's coronation ball."
Aaron didn't know what to say to that.
"Is that a 'yes'? It certainly doesn't sound like a 'no.'"
"I didn't know they were going ahead with the ball. I just assumed with the earl being dead and all, that it would have been cancelled."
"I've heard nothing about a cancellation. In fact, since no one even knows Lord Phillip has passed, I don't see it being cancelled at all."
"But how do you have a coronation, let alone a coronation celebration, if the person being coronated isn't around anymore?"
"Politics, Aaron. You said Lord Chancellor Marcel won't evacuate the city? He's probably making sure everything remains as normal as possible until he figures out what to do. Meanwhile, I'm sure he's sent a messenger to the duke informing him of Lord Phillip's death. The lord chancellor is not known as a man of action. He'll stay the course until someone higher-up tells him otherwise."
"That still seems ridiculous."
Serena shrugged away any further explanation. "I think you should come with me. It will do you some good to get out of here for a while. I know what you're really doing down here, Aaron."
"You do? What am I doing down here?"
"Burying yourself in work. Trying to forget, or at least not to think about other things so much. Aaron, I know we talked about this already, but Shanna made her choice. I know it wasn't easy stopping her, but you did the right thing."
"I know."
"I hope you do. Now, do you think by tomorrow you'll be ready to come up for air for a little while?"
Aaron sighed. "I'd like to, but what if—"
"Aaron, the engine isn't going anywhere, and I seriously doubt it will reach full activation the moment you set foot outside of this room."
"You're probably right. But, still, I should probably—"
"Aaron! You're really beginning to get on my nerves. Now, listen. Forget about giving me an answer right now. You have between now and tomorrow evening to think about it. I'll be there, with or without you. But I would like it if you would meet me there."
"Then... I'll try to be there."
"Good. Oh, and I think you're right. I shouldn't stay down here any longer. I'm starting to feel more than a little woozy now. I'll make it out all right on my own, so you just stay here and finish your work. I'll see you tomorrow. Oh, and don't show up in your lab coat. You'll look a little out of place."
As soon as she left, Aaron secreted away Ingrid's metal in a chest which he then hid behind a pile of equipment and books in the back of the workroom. He'd come back to it shortly and do his analysis, but right now the machine's repeaters needed aligning, and so once he'd gone back down the tunnel, crossed over the catwalk, and descended to the collection platform, he settled into the task. Fifteen minutes in he had a visitor.
"Hello, Aaron."
Ingrid Kane came down the ladder. Her sudden appearance caused Aaron to sit up too quickly as he almost hit his head and dropped his spanner in the process.
Ingrid completed her descent, smiled, and over the whir of the collecting arms said, "I'm sorry if I startled you."
Aaron stood. "You didn't startle me."
"Oh? Then why so jumpy?" The smile never left her lips.
Aaron reminded himself that Ingrid knew nothing about Ensel Rhe's warning to him. As far as she was concerned, their relationship hadn't changed, and he'd no more knowledge about her than before.
"Just tired," he said. "Spending too much time around the engine, I think."
She started pacing, her shoes clanging on the grated flooring. "You have been down here a long time. More than anyone else. Even with the countering device, it must be testing your stamina."
"I suppose it is. But I'm managing."
Ingrid stopped, let out a breath, and started to rub the back of her neck. Her hand came around and settled right at the front of her throat. Right before her hand covered it, Aaron thought he saw the fine line of a cut.
"Is everything all right?" Aaron asked.
"Hmm? Yes, everything is fine. Perhaps I'm a little tired as well. How are the transfer rods holding up? Have those cracks grown any worse?"
She went to see for herself. Aaron watched her round the machine and disappear from view. Something about her was...off. Her demeanor was different, but it wasn't because of him. Something bothered her.
After a few minutes, satisfied with her inspection of the rods, Ingrid rejoined Aaron, but said nothing as she dropped to the floor to help him. They worked like that for a time, neither speaking, the hum of the engine the lone noise in the chamber. Ingrid was not a master scientist by any means, but she picked up on things quickly. Her visits remained brief, though, for with only the one suppressor device, she was not safe. Since she was not a sorceress, though, she wasn't nearly as sensitive as someone like Serena.
"I ran into your friend leaving."
Aaron nearly dropped the spanner again. "You did?"
Aaron inwardly breathed a sigh of relief, grateful she was talking about Serena and not Ensel Rhe. "I'll try."
"Do you like her?"
Aaron's shrug was met with another smile from Ingrid.
"She said she wants you to escort her to the coronation ball."
"She does? I mean, she asked if I'd meet her there. She didn't say anything about escorting her."
"I don't know how she worded it to you, but I'm certain she meant escort, accompany, or however you humans refer to it. She likes you, Aaron. The whole city will turn out for the event, so of course she wants you there with her. I hope you do not intend to disappoint her."
"I don't want to, but it may not be possible. I have work here." Before Ingrid had a chance to go on again about how he worked too hard, he said, "You said you were going to perform some research on the catalytic process. Did you learn anything?"
She'd volunteered for the work, something Aaron thought on differently now that Ensel Rhe had delivered to him her metal filament, which just happened to fit precisely into the catalytic material chamber.
"Only a little, I'm afraid," she said.
She explained her findings, which were nothing groundbreaking and all things Aaron already knew or suspected. Still, he listened as, finished with the calibration work now, he started to climb to the control platform in order to look over the instrument panel. Ingrid continued talking along the way.
"Very little was mentioned about the material meant to go inside the chamber's crystal," Ingrid said.
"Did it at least mention anything about its composition?"
As expected, it had not.
Aaron needed to get back to the laboratory, but not with Ingrid in tow. So he pretended to study the instrument panel in great detail, waiting until the machine's debilitating effect forced the woman to leave. It worked. Ingrid said her good-byes, with a promise to return later to help out if needed. He gave it another five minutes before he started to make his way back up. Thankfully, he found Ingrid had not decided to loiter, and so the laboratory was empty.
Aaron had two items to study now—the Inferno and the mysterious filament. Both seemed equally important. Also, he had more of Cyrus Melkor's information to decode. Somewhere in there was the elementalist's formula for rendering the engine inert. Aaron had started this venture with too much work ahead of him. Nothing had changed on that front. But the time left in which to complete it continued to diminish. Based on his calculations, the engine should reach full activation in two days. The only person he'd shared that particular detail with was Lord Chancellor Marcel, who hadn't grasped the seriousness of it. He'd have to tell others, including Serena, so at least she could send her family and staff from the city. Beyond that, he wasn't sure who else to tell, short of shouting it from the rooftops, which he didn't think was going to accomplish anything.
Fortunately, he had another idea.
Retrieving the Inferno, he set it down on one of the worktables to examine it. He took note of its general configuration: three gold circlets spiraling around a single ruby. He suspected there was more to it than that. It took some looking, but he found the first, slim panel along the longest section of one of the circlets. Inside were miniscule tubules, energy condensers, and transformative stabilizers. But the device was not solely the sum of those parts, for it was enchanted as well. When he'd gone to the Burning Block to inspect it, his measurement of the energy frequency had confirmed his suspicion about it radiating elemental energy. Aaron knew of only one group who combined science and elemental sorcery in such a way. Elementalists. But this was not an Element; it was a hybrid device, constructed so anyone with the right knowledge and skill had the possibility of mastering it. Just as Serena had drawn forth its energy, Aaron felt he also had the potential to do so. Not in the same way as she, but in a scientific manner, which suited Aaron just fine, for he counted on the science behind the device, not the magic.
Deactivating the Nullification Engine remained an impossibility. Finding Melkor's code, a dubious prospect at best. But that didn't mean he was going to let the engine kill everyone. He had a plan, and the Inferno was right at the center of it.
17. A Devil of a Deal
AS SOON AS BEKJRIS'S MAN came to her with the item she requested, Ursool left Brighton through the city's eastern gate. Because the afternoon only waned, she'd time to waste, so she found a quiet place off the road still in sight of the city walls where the soothing flow of the Silvercross River serenaded her. She drew up her hood against the sun's last lingering light, and soon her chin went to her chest without volition and she napped. When she woke, night had fallen. Taking in the full moon, which was soon to become a source of great power for her, she stood. Creaky knees complained as she left the road to walk to the banks of the Silvercross, where she followed it upriver for some miles. With the fringes of the Dormont Forest still a ways off, she found a low, lonely hill to take position upon. She dropped to her knees, and there, in the dirt, used the nail of her forefinger to scratch a circle of runes around her. Finished, she stood, took several deep breaths, and then called to the demon, Krosus. Only a whisper, she mingled the demon's name with the words of her incantation. Also, she named his hounds, drawing them to this place as well. With the spell complete, she drew her robe tighter about her and waited. She did not have to wait for long.
The hounds approached from all directions, loping into view as dark smudges against the moonlit ground. With them came a cold which made Ursool's breath visible while sending a bone-chilling shiver through every part of her. All but one of the hounds stopped at the base of the hill. The one who kept coming climbed all the way until it was an arm's length from the witch. Crimson slits studied her even as a low growl escaped from drool-laden lips. Flecks of drool fell to the ground, sizzling the earth with its acidic properties.
"Where is your master, Scourge?" Ursool asked. "Ask him to show himself. We have business."
Unbidden, Krosus appeared. He walked through the ring of his dogs at the hill's base, came up the slope, and stopped when he stood next to his lead hound.
—The only business we have is a settling of the score. It is you who imprisoned us, witch, shackling us to the boy. For that, I will kill you.—
"I think not, Krosus. Look before you. I am protected."
Krosus inspected the ground around her, going so far as to walk the circumference of the Circle she had created around herself. When he returned to Scourge's side, his eyes flared and he said, —You are not protected. You are trapped. My hounds will stand vigil here for however long it takes. You will never leave this place alive.—
"Then you will never be free yourself. Listen to me, demon. I come to make you a proposal."
—I make no deals with witches.—
"You will want to make this one."
Krosus said nothing in response. The summoning brought him here, but nothing held him, and so he could leave anytime he chose. The fact he did not spoke to his interest in what she had to say.
"There is someone in Brighton whom you will send one of your hounds to kill. In exchange, I will set you free."
—You will allow us to slay the boy?—
"No."
—Explain yourself, witch.—
"I said I will set you free. I will undo the horn's work. I will sever the chains holding you in this world."
—Impossible.—
"Not for one such as I."
—Then do it now. Free us. We shall return to Barathrum where we belong.—
"The horn's hold over you is great. I cannot simply wave my hands and negate its influence. Breaking its hold over you will take time."
—You are a deceiver. You wish for us to do this task for you, then you will tell us you cannot fulfill your end of the bargain. Bah! I've no tolerance for your trickery. Enjoy your stay on this hilltop. Best to su
rrender yourself to Scourge now than die here from hunger and thirst.—
"I do not deceive you!" Ursool made no effort to disguise her impatience or her anger. "When next the moon is full, I will free you. I must first find the horn, and then prepare a spell. This is no lowly cantrip to change the colors of a flower or force the leaves from a tree! This borders on the high magic. Preparations must be made. I will do this thing for you, but you must first agree to do what I have asked you. And if you require assurance, know that this is a witch's deal I offer you. Dire consequences await anyone who reneges on such a bargain. I certainly shall not."
The demon thought on the proposal, and finally agreed.
—When shall I fulfill my end of the bargain? My hounds are ready now.—
"First I will need to mark your prey. For that, I need something from the hound you will send."
Unbidden, one of the hounds climbed the hill. This one, a hulking brute only slightly smaller than Scourge, lolled his tongue as he fixed his crimson stare upon Ursool.
—This is Ruin. Take what you need from him.—
Ursool hesitated. "We have a deal then?" she asked, hovering at the edge of her protective ring. "Once you and your hounds are free of the horn, you leave this world without harming the boy."
—We have a deal. But, know this, witch. If you fail to set us free, then you shall become our prey.—
Ursool nodded. She crossed the circle's threshold and approached Ruin. The dog's baleful eyes caused her to blanch, but she held fast and, mindful of his acidic drool, reached out to pluck a tuft of his hair. Then she crouched, performing the spell that would make Ruin aware of his prey. She wrapped the item provided to her by Bekjris's henchman, a bloody kerchief of Thorvid's with which she was quite pleased, for the blood enhanced the power of the spell, around the tuft of hell hound fur. A quick sprinkling of dust and a flame to ignite the combination and it was done. The moment she said as much, she felt Krosus's fingers wrapping around her throat. The houndmaster lifted her from the ground, squeezing tight as he held her at arm's length before him. Slowly, he drew her close so she stared into the nothingness inside his horned helmet.
The Nullification Engine (The Alchemancer: Book Two) Page 27