The Nullification Engine (The Alchemancer: Book Two)

by Scott Marlowe

  Metal engaged metal somewhere inside the machine as a shock went through it. Beneath them, the arms spun so fast now their colors were a blur. Ensel Rhe thought it odd that the four different colors turned crimson, and he wondered if this was Aaron's suppressor field coming to life. A single pulse went through the golden core, but others followed until it flashed with alternating intensity. At the top of the catalytic chamber, panels shot out vertically, then folded open. The hum of the machine intensified as energy flowed from the chamber and through those panels as Ensel Rhe saw the air above them shimmer. From below, red radiance shot up from the collecting arms, flooding the room in a crimson glow.

  Distracted by all of it, Ensel Rhe did not notice Ingrid take hold of a syringe. But she did not inject him with whatever solution the syringe held, but herself. She pushed the stopper down, injecting all of it.

  Ensel Rhe looked at her with curiosity.

  "Backup plan," she managed to say even as her eyelids fluttered and she went slack in his grasp. He kept his grip on her, watching as her blue-black skin shriveled, changing color almost to black, and her copper hair faded to white. Then she grew so slack in his grasp he released her. She slid along the catalytic chamber and slumped to the floor.

  Ensel Rhe turned his attention to the folding panels sprung from the catalytic chamber. Leaping up, he grasped the edge of one of them with both hands. With his full weight pulling on it, it cracked, and broke in half. With the machine's arms still spinning madly below, he took hold of another of the panels and likewise tore it loose. He counted eight of them in all. He managed to break one more before he noticed another change in the engine. Once more, metal clanged against metal somewhere deep inside, and then everything started to slow and go dim. The collecting arms lost their crimson radiance and the core's pulsating gold faded. Of Ingrid's metal inside the catalytic chamber, only a slender shard remained.

  Though he considered tossing Ingrid's body into the chasm, Ensel Rhe decided to leave it where it had fallen in case Aaron or someone else wished to determine what she had injected into herself. He left, satisfied he'd exacted a modicum of revenge. Others remained, not least of which was Balrabbek himself. But, for now, Ingrid's death was enough.

  * * *

  The walls of the hallway shook, and dust from the ceiling fell upon Aaron's suppressor field until it was covered by a thin sheet. But it seemed that was all until they heard a hum, only in the distance at first, but then roaring all around them. With it came a sizzle of energy striking the shield. The suppressor field held. Flickering lanterns lining the hall were extinguished. Windows shattered. Aaron remained focused on his encorder out of necessity, making small adjustments in the suppressor device's output as needed, though his attention strayed to Serena at regular intervals. The field took on a crimson sheen, but it held. Aaron didn't know for how much longer, though. The suppressor was running out of energy. But then it no longer mattered. The color dancing across the shield diminished, and the hum faded. Aaron monitored the engine's nullifying radiation, seeing it diminish until so faint there was nothing left to measure. The suppressor field flickered then, and died. But so too had the engine.

  "It's over," Aaron said.

  With some hesitance, everyone stood. The world had gone as silent as death.

  Jakinda still held Serena as Aaron checked on her. She was unconscious, but then her eyes flickered open. The first thing she saw was Aaron's encorder.

  "Would you get that thing out of my face, please?" Serena said in a whisper.

  Aaron smirked. "Sorry."

  He helped her up. As soon as they were both standing, Aaron found the patroller extending a hand to him. Aaron took it.

  "Evan," the man said, introducing himself.

  Names were called out all around.

  "I've no idea what just happened," Evan said, "but I think we all owe you a debt of gratitude. Let's get outside and see how everyone else has gotten along."

  Aaron nodded. He didn't have the strength right now to do more than that. Ingrid had said she'd made modifications. He wanted to know what those were, and in what way they had altered the engine's process.

  Jakinda, who looked back in the direction her father had gone more than once, came with them. Once Serena learned where Ensel Rhe had gone and why, she said to her, "He'll find us. Believe me. He always does."

  The slim shard of hope Aaron held onto slipped from his fingers at sight of the first body. A palace steward, the man lay on his side on the floor. Aaron and Evan knelt to see what had happened to him. They turned him over. The skin of his face had gone pale and was pulled tight over his skull. His eyes were lifeless. Aaron fell back on his encorder, knowing he needed hard data in order to understand what Ingrid had changed. A normal, living person possessed a positive inherent energy level. This person had no reading at all, which was indicative of the dead. But this was the exact result Aaron expected to find from the engine, and said nothing about Ingrid's modifications. They moved on, finding additional bodies along the way. Aaron told the others to expect more, rationalizing that these people had been too close to the engine.

  "But further out, the engine's effect would have lessened and not been fatal."

  He didn't think he sounded very convincing even to himself.

  The frequency at which they found the dead increased. Outside, the full weight of what the engine had done settled on them. Bodies littered the expanse of the square. Maybe they'd been running away, seeking safety from the skeva. Maybe they'd been running into the palace to help hunt them down. It didn't matter. Every one of them was dead.

  Nullified, Aaron thought. The life sucked from them. The very reason Cyrus Melkor never wanted to turn the machine on. The very reason he'd built in his failsafe. In the end, his efforts, and those of Aaron, had been for nothing, as Aaron realized not even his Inferno-powered suppressor had been enough to stop the engine.

  Though he didn't think there was anything else to learn, Aaron continued to check the occasional body as they made their way through the square. He wasn't sure why the others looked at him each time with such expressions of hope. Or maybe it was longing. No one wanted to believe everyone in the palace had expired. Aaron didn't want to believe it, either. But he was the most prepared for it. He'd known the longest about the engine and the purpose for which it was designed. He didn't have the courage right now to tell the others that its effect went well beyond the palace perimeter. If his estimates about its range were correct, then they were going to find a lot more bodies.

  "Where are my parents?" Serena asked. The short walk outside had tired her again, and so she stood with support from one of the dwarves now.

  "I haven't seen them yet," Aaron said. He left it at that.

  A sound from behind turned them around. Come from the palace interior, it sounded like metal clanging on stone, as if something—a helmet or sword, perhaps—had been dropped to the ground.

  All but Aaron breathed a sigh of relief as Evan gave voice to what they all thought.

  "Thank the Old Gods," he said. "Someone survived."

  "Or it's my father," Jakinda said.

  Aaron didn't think either of them correct. "Wait," he said before anyone went to investigate.

  With the dark of night long settled in, lights which previously had lit the square shone no longer, their energy stolen by the engine. The palace itself rose up like a dark tower against the darker sky. But for the wind whipping the earl's flags, all was quiet.

  They heard another noise, closer this time. Inside the square, Aaron thought. Like a boot scrapping across the pavers. Using his encorder, he probed for a signal. Nothing. He thought over everything Ingrid had said again, focusing on a single word this time. Inversion. Opposite. Aaron adjusted the spectrum on the encorder, checking again for any sort of reading. It picked something up this time. Just like when he'd turned the encorder on Ensel Rhe, the reading was negative. His bad feeling worsened.

  "We need to get out of here," he said.
/>   They all looked back at him in confusion.

  "I can't explain. I just think we need to get outside the palace, and maybe the city, as quickly as possible."

  Their looks didn't change, nor did anyone move as the noise, distinctly heard now as a boot dragging across the ground, drew closer until its source emerged from the dark. It was a guard, for he wore a breastplate with the earl's sigil upon it. He came forward almost sideways, not walking, but shambling toward them. Step, slide. Step, slide. As if something was wrong with his other foot or leg. He drew closer still, so that despite his odd angle, they all saw the dark stream across the front of his armor and the slit in his throat where a skeva sword or knife had done its damage. No one hailed or ran to him to ask how he'd survived, for they all saw the blanched color of his skin and its shriveled nature. The dead man tried to speak, but the sound came out as a garble from his damaged throat. He extended a hand to them.

  Aaron stepped back. The dwarves cursed. Everyone looked on in disbelief.

  Ensel Rhe, khatesh in hand, appeared behind the dead guard, taking his head off with a single stroke. Head and body collapsed to the ground.

  "This was Ingrid's plan from the start," Ensel Rhe said, stepping over the dead man's head. "Jakinda, tell them of the necromancers."

  It took her a second to respond. "Ill Sigith and Jux Jeorn. Eslar necromancers. They—They raised an army of the dead and..." She looked at her father. "You were right. You were right about everything."

  No sooner had the words left her mouth when they heard more shambling.

  "We really need to get out of here," Aaron said.

  Without another word, they ran. They were across the square and halfway through the palace gate when they heard a voice calling to them.

  "W—Wait!"

  It was a single voice, distinct in its elegance but weak in tone. Serena came up short. Aaron thought he recognized the voice. Serena's reaction confirmed it. He took hold of Serena by the shoulders and made her look at him. He almost faltered when he saw the tears in her eyes.

  "You can't help her," Aaron said. "She's like the others now. I'm sorry, Serena. Ingrid did something to the engine. It didn't nullify these people. It inverted them. Turned life into death, or undeath. There isn't anything we can do for them."

  "Go back," Serena said, looking at the palace. "Go back and fix this, Aaron."

  "I can't." It was the truth. He didn't know how.

  "Serena, I'm so cold," Verna Walkerton said, shambling from the dark much like the guard, though she was hunched over and moved with her arms hanging before her. Her skin had the same pale color to it. "I'm sorry, for those things I said and did. You forgive me, don't you? Your warmth. I feel it. So strong. Share a little with your mother, won't you?"

  "She wants your energy," Aaron said. "Your inherent energy."

  "Then I'll share a little with her."

  "No!" Aaron had to hold Serena in place. "You can't let her near you."

  Evan agreed. "I think the lad is right. It doesn't seem like a good idea to let any of these...people near any of us."

  Verna shambled closer. Ensel Rhe, and Gerwyn also, moved to meet her. Behind her, they saw more of the inverted, already risen, shambling toward them.

  "No, wait!" Aaron shouted at the eslar. To Serena, he said, "I promise I'll come back. I'll fix this, Serena. But we have to leave now. If we stay, Master Rhe will kill her for good. You know he will." Aaron put his hand to her cheek and looked right into the crystal blue of her eyes. "Serena, we can come back and fix this. But, right now..." He looked at all of them. "The engine's radiation encompassed the entire city. The dead will be rising all over. We have to leave."

  Serena either saw the logic in his argument or at least sensed the urgency in his voice, as she nodded and, after a last, longing look at her mother, turned to lead the others through the gates and into the city. They all followed, Ensel Rhe last as he backed away from Verna's shambling form.

  As they ran, Hirad said, "I don't know if any of you have a destination in mind, but I say we make our way to the airship. Getting the hell off the ground seems like a great way to escape right now."

  Jakinda had heard of the airship docked outside the city walls. Her corroboration was the only additional impetus they needed to agree to the dwarf's plan. Aaron didn't say anything about the possibility of the airship being within the engine's sphere of influence. They had to make a try for it.

  Their first thought was to requisition one of the flat bottom transports right from the earl's docks. But the narrow pier there already crawled with the inverted, forcing them to stay to the streets, at least until they found an unguarded skiff. The further they ran through the city, the more it became apparent they needed to get away. Bodies littered the streets and alleys. Though many remained inert, there were some just showing the first signs of movement. Still others were already standing or struggling to pull themselves up. They'd a singular attraction to the living, for as Aaron and the others passed, even the attention of those just rising became focused on them. Aaron tried to take everything in, hoping some piece of information would prove valuable later. He knew he'd never have another opportunity to observe this awakening. He almost wished he had the time to stop and take further readings, but knew full well the danger of one of these unrestrained subjects. Such data collection would have to come later, if at all.

  Aaron hardly paid attention to their progress through the city. Ensel Rhe and Gerwyn took the lead, knocking or cutting down any who stood in their way. Serena staggered along, but on her own now. Jakinda stayed close to her father. The dwarves hung in back, crossing themselves shoulder-to-shoulder every time they saw one of the inverted. Evan and Aaron brought up the rear. The patroller had his sword held ready, but he showed little enthusiasm for engaging the fallen.

  Along the way, they saw the results of Persimmius's explosives. Streets were littered with craters, buildings were leveled, and small fires burned in every direction. Amidst the destruction was a scattering of bodies, even these showing renewed signs of life as the inversion effect took hold. It sickened them to see half a man dragging himself from the wreckage, but they stopped for nothing, including when they saw skeva warriors, inverted like the rest, shambling toward them.

  Only when Aaron felt the presence of one of the hounds nearby did he falter. Ruin. He said the dog's name in his mind. But what was he doing here? Aaron had ordered him and the rest to stay out of the city. Alarmed, he wondered if the bond had been broken once more. But there was no sign of the others. Though close, Ruin remained out of sight. Also, for once, Aaron did not feel as if he were the hound's prey. He'd have to confront the hell hound later to learn what he was up to. If there was a later.

  The newly risen shuffled out of doorways now, wandering down streets by happenstance, as Aaron observed no purpose to the many directions they headed in. Eyes were downcast, steps, slow and unenthusiastic, and arms hung limp at their sides. At least until the living came near. Then their arms came up and they all slurred the word cold while shambling after them. There seemed no end to their numbers, as more and more took to the streets to join an ever-growing mass forming behind in slow, shambling pursuit.

  "Let's head for Old Gate," Evan said. "We can find a canal transport at Friar's Bridge."

  "Agreed," Ensel Rhe said. "But I know a faster way than through the gate."

  The eslar led them right up against Old Wall, where a perceived dead-end turned into quick passage through the wall via a hidden crevice. On the way to Friar's Bridge, they saw a change. Some victims of the engine still rose to begin their shambling, but there were fewer and fewer bodies about. A block later they saw a girl, a living, still breathing girl, running down the street. They tried to hail her, but she was already gone.

  "The engine didn't kill everyone," Serena said, voicing the obvious conclusion.

  "We have a duty to stay and help these people," Evan said.

  "Knock yourself out, Kingsley," Hirad said. "The thre
e of us are getting on that airship and getting out of here."

  "The dwarf speaks true," Gerwyn said. "The city is falling into chaos. It would be wise for us to find safety first, then see what can be done about those in the city, if anything."

  By the expression on his face, a conflict raged within Evan. Finally, he said, "You are right. Also, someone must tell Duke Brannigan about what has happened here. It will help his understanding if he hears it from someone he trusts."

  Hirad eyed the patroller suspiciously, but no one questioned him as they continued to Friar's Bridge.

  At the docks, everyone ran for the first unattended flatboat. Everyone except Aaron, who hung back as the others started to board. He shared Evan's feelings. People were alive. Someone needed to stay and help them. Further, someone needed to study the inverted. Leaving meant abandoning an untold amount of data. He may not have built the engine or caused it to activate, or even modified it not to kill everyone but instead turn them into undead monsters, but he was the only one right now with any chance of making it all right. His father had told him to make his mark. While this was not the manner in which Aaron had wanted to fulfill that wish, it was what was thrust upon him. He'd taken two steps back without even realizing it. No one noticed. He'd have to hide to stay safe, but he knew a place. Ordinarily, he would have wanted more time to consider his choices. But there wasn't any more time. He had to make a decision now and deal with the ramifications later. In the end, he realized he'd never had a choice at all as he turned and started walking away. No one called after him. No one ran to stop him. By the time they realized he was gone, he knew they'd never find him. Aaron pulled his coat tighter about him as he took off at a run into the dark.

  * * *

  Serena noticed Aaron's absence first. She shot up, inciting a wave of dizziness and a curse from one of the dwarves as she set the boat rocking. She sat back down. "Aaron's gone."

  They all looked about, confirming it.