by Ren Cummins
But not only the simple drones could be seen, but the administration machines she’d only seen drawings of – they were far more clearly designed in the image of people, albeit twenty to thirty feet in height, twice as tall as the drone units, and with a great deal more detail in their faces and features. In the center of the terrain, she saw two that were still standing upright, braced against one another with a small set of trees growing up around them.
She laughed. “It looks like they’re dancing,” she said.
Mulligan nodded.
“I have to bring Kari here,” she said. “She’d go crazy over those.”
The sun glinted off something held between the pinched fingertips of one of the giant machines, catching Rom’s attention. “It’s holding something,” she said, squinting.
“You stay here,” Mulligan said, flying towards the machines. “I’m smaller – you don’t know how stable those things are.”
He flew up towards the hand, hovered momentarily by the two fingers and flew back a moment later. His eyes were wide as he landed on Yu’s back. Whatever it was he held in his hands, it was glowing faintly.
He raised it so Rom could see it clearly – beneath the dust and dirt that Mulligan brushed off. It was a nearly opaque orange stone, polished smooth and roughly the size of a chicken’s egg.
“Why do you think it’s glowing like that?” Rom asked. “And what do you think it is?” Her eyes widened. “Wait, I know what it is! I’ll bet it’s like that that stone Kari told me about, the one that was musical?”
Mulligan looked at it again. “A Morrow stone?”
She nodded. “She said that it looked like this, but that all the energy in it was gone, that it was too weak or something.” She took it from Mulligan, looking at it more closely. “She definitely didn’t say that it glowed.” Her eyed widened. “Maybe this one’s not so weak like the other one?”
“Let’s get back and ask her,” Mulligan suggested. He was as interested in the idea of just getting back, period; all this traveling was making his fur matted. His ears went back for a moment just to show his annoyance. “You realize that if we’d come this way, we would have been here this morning?”
She slipped the stone into one of the hidden pockets of her dress, and shrugged casually. “I guess we just went the long way around.” Ignoring Mulligan’s protest of silence, she climbed back onto Yu and patted his mane. “But it really was a good day for exploring,” she grinned.
Mulligan’s response, whatever it was, was lost to the wind as Yu launched himself back into the sky.
They flew again for a while until they got to the quarantine fence line, and then Rom thanked Yu for his help and sent him back into the gem. Holding tightly to Mulligan and the stone, she crossed the rest of the distance one tremendous jump at a time and arrived just before dinner.
Chapter 10: The Divergence of Stones
Rom landed in the center of the street in front of the Apothecary, taking three extra running steps to stop her momentum. She ran into the store, clutching the mildly glowing stone in her outstretched hand. Briseida was at the main counter, and saw it instantly.
“Rom! What do you have there?”
They met in the center of the store, Briseida nearly snapping it from Rom. The blood drained from her face.
“Do you know what this is?” she asked.
“I wasn’t sure, Kari told me something about a magical stone, and this kind of sounded like it.”
Briseida nodded. “This is definitely a Morrow stone,” she confirmed. “And it is still active, unlike the one you three children brought us. Where did you come upon this?”
Rom explained the journey she and Mulligan had gone on, including the general location of the two “dancing machines” that had been holding the stone. The older woman pursed her lips when Rom told her about their trip around the wall and the exciting flight over the ocean, but if she was planning on punishing the girl for her recklessness, she was apparently going to wait until later.
She placed the stone back into Rom’s hands and drew her closer. “I need to find Ian – we’re going to need his help protecting this stone before--” A small bell rang in the direction of the door, behind Rom. Briseida’s eyes looked to the door and she positioned herself quickly between Rom’s back and the entrance.
Favo was there, one hand extended and pointing a bundle of pipes ending in a pair of hollow tubes at them. The entire device was the length of his arm, but he held it easily with one hand. His index finger rested on a trigger built out of the handle of the item.
“Clever girl,” he half-bowed his head towards Briseida. “I never would have thought to check for something as simple as a silver bell to break my illusion,” he laughed.
“What do you want here?” she asked. She kept one hand behind her, holding on to Rom’s arm.
“You needn’t be so insulting,” he replied. “You know precisely, of course, why I chose to set foot inside this impending condemnation at this particular moment. And you will do more credit to your intellectual reputation in my eyes by handing it over.”
“Strangely enough, sir, I am inclined to say the same of you, with respect to your little toy,” came the reply.
All eyes turned briefly to the doorway and the source of the response. Cousins stood there, nodding curtly to Favo.
Favo sighed. “Lamentable.” He shook his head. “Your presence befouls my calculations, lad. If there were but one of you, I would simply take the stone and be on my way. With two, I could anticipate some potential manner of failed heroics, clearly. I assure you, though as a result of your certain failure you might suffer no lasting damage, I would still depart with my reward.”
He looked calmly and confidently at Cousins, and thumbed the safety catch on the device. “But with three of you?” He sighed dramatically. “Unquestionably, one of you, bound by conjoined and delusional confidence, will attempt something foolish; and I cannot see how that would end well for any of you.”
The three others remained quiet, realizing the strength of Favo’s conviction. Cousins knew Favo better than the others did – knew of not only the ruthlessness of his reputation, but the truth behind it. Although Favo did not pride himself a killer, people had definitely died on occasions when trying to get between him and what he wanted. Cousins saw Favo’s body language and knew that he was the most concerned of the three; he had no other aides here, no immediate support or backup. This meant that any action taken in his desire to succeed would be by his own hands, a sentiment to which the man was unaccustomed.
In this sudden understanding of Favo’s nature, Cousins saw an opening. For reasons he did not yet know, however, he felt the pressure and constraints of time. He likewise noticed Favo’s eyes on Briseida; something unreadable was passing there; she intrigued Favo in a way Cousins couldn’t quite understand.
“Listen, Favo,” he began, hands held up, palms towards him, “We all know you are bound and determined to get this – it’s been months now, and, what, you’ve camped outside our door this entire time?”
Favo smiled stiffly. “Not quite, lad,” he said. “But why are you speaking? I have not come for the delights of your dancing conversation. Now, please. Give me the stone, Briseida, or I will level this building around your heads.”
From the corner of his eye, Cousins saw Mulligan crawl carefully down Rom’s back, pause long enough for her to hand him the stone, and then crawl the rest of the way to the floor. He paused there, and looked over towards Cousins, who still stood in the doorway.
“She does not have it, Favo,” Cousins laughed. His laugh stopped in his throat, however: time was up. He knew she was behind him before she spoke. “Ah, hello there, Molla.”
“Shut up, kid,” she growled. She pushed him forwards towards the two girls, but he kept the smile from his face when he noticed Mulligan was gone. Molla shoved him again, bumping him into Rom and causing them both to stand a step to one side of Briseida.
“Good timing as eve
r, my sweet,” Favo said. Cousins frowned. It didn’t help that the criminal was so damned charming, he thought. It made it easier to hate your enemies when they were putrid and uncouth – or at least stupid. Favo didn’t seem to possess any of those traits. Molla, at least, seemed to exude the satisfaction of reveling in her criminality; it very effectively offset her attractiveness, Cousins thought. Molla and Briseida’s eyes met for a moment, and Cousins was suddenly struck by a strong physical similarity; the two could almost be sisters, though Molla seemed several years Briseida’s elder.
Molla moved Briseida apart from the two children and held out her hand to catch a small sealed tube Favo threw her. She shook it until the clear color shifted to a dark blue, then waved the tube in front of Briseida, head to toe.
“She doesn’t have it,” she said. “Watch her.”
Favo pointed the device fully towards Briseida while Molla walked back over to Rom. She passed the tube as well in front of Rom. “Her, either,” she indicated.
Her lips pursed in a smug smile as she stepped in front of Cousins. “Okay, brat, let’s see where you’ve stashed it.” She waved the tube in front of him, as well, but there was again no apparent change.
“Wait a second,” she said. “None of them have it,” she said to Favo.
Favo’s eyes quickly scanned them all, and his features suddenly twisted into an angry scowl. “That one,” he spat, pointing at Rom, “had a pet, and now it’s gone. Go find it – it must have the stone,” he reasoned. Molla growled but left the room in search of Mulligan.
Crossing the room in several long strides, Favo held the open end of his rifle towards Rom’s head. “Look; I’m not a bad man. I’m just trying to finish a job for some very powerful people. I don’t want anyone to get hurt by this, but I do have a reputation to maintain.”
“Your reputation alone, you say?” Cousins said dryly.
With a casual shrug, Favo conceded the point. “Not even you would fault me for accepting some paltry compensation, Cousins. Running my operation requires funding, and the sheer scope…well, you can’t imagine the good a healthy bit of payment would do for us all.”
Pointing at Favo’s weapon, Rom asked him, “What is that thing, anyway?” Standing near the barrel’s end, her eyes crossed slightly to more closely examine the device.
He had to admit, he was confused that the girl didn’t seem more terrified – ignorance of what he was pointing at her certainly explained her relative calmness in this situation. “It’s a steam cannon, portable model. Mark three. I’ve got a friend in the Steam Labs who helps me out from time to time.”
“Yeah,” Rom grinned. Me too.”
Without even bending her knees, Rom vaulted over him, catching him too off-guard to pull the trigger. As she dropped low to the ground, Favo spun around to track her; only to be instantly met by a fierce burst of steam. The explosions launched him across the room, his rifle slipping from his stunned fingers.
Standing in the open doorway, Kari blew across the barrel of the portable SteamShot Mark IV, creating a perfect middle B flat. “You know, I usually don’t bring my work home with me,” she smiled.
Cousins put a finger over his lips to shush her, motioning towards the other room – there was a loud commotion at that moment, at which point Mulligan came running back into the room, full speed.
“Rom! She’s after me!” he yelled, jumping across one of the display tables and jumping towards Rom and Kari. Briseida and the children scattered as Molla charged into the room after him.
She took stock of the situation, and, realizing it was quickly becoming untenable, held out a small tube which launched a small grappling hook at Mulligan, tangling itself around his abdomen. Before Rom could catch him, Molla yanked back on the cable, reeling the captured creature into her arms. In her other hand, she raised a larger tube from her belt and pointed it at the far wall, directly between the group; they instinctively threw themselves on the floor as a powerful concussive blast tore across the room.
Their ears popped with the mighty change in pressure, and the entire room shook as furniture and jars, bottles and the various containers imploded under the force of the cannon burst. Rom was the first to her feet a few moments later to find that Molla was gone, as was Favo. Worse, so was Mulligan. Cousins stood in time to see Molla and Favo speed by on some two-wheeled contraption.
Rom squinted after them, scowling. “We need to go after them. They took Mully.” Rom pointed to Cousins. “Can you find Ian?”
He nodded, pulling on his Looking Glasses. “I’ll be right back.”
“Good,” she said. “We’re going to need him.” She pointed to Favo’s discarded weapon, still sitting on the floor where he’d dropped it. “Take his steam thing,” she said. “It’s night, and you might meet up with things on the streets.”
Cousins nodded again, picked up the SteamShot Mark III, and stepped through the gaping hole in the wall, turned left and vanished into the darkness.
“Rom,” Kari asked, “what are we going to do?”
Rom tapped one of her purple gems, calling Yu back. “Yu - - some people took Mulligan. Can you track him?”
His nostrils flared, and a low growl shuddered in his chest. “Yes.”
“Stay as near as you can, and wait outside whatever building they go into, but stay hidden. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Yu nodded, took two running strides outside the building and leaped into the sky.
Her purple gems still blazing in the store’s flickering lights, Rom turned then to the others. “I’m going to go check on Briseida and Goya – stay here until we get back and Bri can patch up that hole in the wall.”
Kari pulled back the pump lever on the side of the Mark IV, causing a thin whine as the compression coils charged up the next shot. “Go, I have this,” she said.
Rom found Briseida upstairs with Goya. She reassured them that they were all fine, but that they were going to follow the thieves back and rescue Mulligan. They helped Goya downstairs, and while she and Briseida magically patched up the damage caused to the building, Rom ran back upstairs and pulled her pocket watch from its hiding place in her closet. She ran her thumb across the unusual designs on the cover and briefly wondered – not for the first time – exactly why the Looking Glasses had instructed her to have it. After this was over and Mulligan was safely back with her, she decided, she’d sit down with Goya and try to figure it out.
Ian and Cousins were just arriving when she got back downstairs. Briseida had already fixed the hole in the wall, and Goya was standing in the center of the room, magically filtering the assorted powders and ingredients into their respective places.
“Good,” Rom said, “you’re here. Everyone ready?”
Ian patted the breast pocket of his jacket, simultaneously pointing to a rapier sheathed at his belt. Cousins was getting some tips from Kari on the use of his rifle; they both paused to answer Rom with unwavering nods. Rom addressed Briseida: “Will you both be all right here?”
Goya, her eyes still closed as she concentrated, nodded once. Briseida bit her lower lip, but eventually conceded. “Please be careful, Rom,” she said.
“We’ll all be careful,” Cousins replied. Kari elbowed him and the four of them left. Ian was the last to leave – he shared a brief look with Goya, and nodded soberly.
Briseida and the old shaman were left in relative silence, the only sounds filling the room being the occasional shifting of a jar as the ingredients found their way back inside. Briseida continued to look out the doors onto a now-empty street – the other red-haired woman, Molla, troubled her. Who was she, and why did they look so much alike?
“They will be fine,” Goya reassured her, interrupting the young woman’s thoughts. “They have each explored themselves these past four months; tonight, they will be tested – but I believe they will all succeed.”
“Cousins had a reading today which indicated that a soldier would fall in battle,” the younger woman said. “Do you
think tonight is the time?”
The older woman shook her head. “This is not a battle – that is still yet to come.” She inhaled slowly; she seemed suddenly older than she had before, even, to Briseida. “Although, tonight, I fear, the first volleys to precede the battle, have been fired.”
Briseida continued to look out into the night. She, too, had read the old visions. Her confidence in the words therein was tainted by the fear that they were not only true, but that they were now coming to pass. Her breath created a small patch of fog on the pane of glass on the door. She raised her arm to wipe it off, but stopped herself. Instead, she quickly drew a rune into the condensation and thought a prayer of protection on the four individuals upon whose shoulders so much depended.
Chapter 11: The Best Defense
Rom led them to an alcove across the street from Favo’s building. Yu was there, his dark fur making him nearly invisible in the shadows. “Yu says they came in here a few minutes ago; they still have Mulligan.”
Ian scanned the courtyard ahead of them.
“They are most certainly expecting us,” he stated. “Cousins and I have seen their defenses – they are impressive.”
Cousins grunted softly. “I think we’re going to be most effective if we go just up and re-introduce ourselves,” he said.
Kari scoffed. “They’ll never let us in,” she said.
“No,” Cousins agreed. “But while we’re making a scene, Rom can come in from above.”