by Mike Maddox
"Leah, think of something. Think of something now, because that thing above us can't be good. And I don't think we can scare it off by just rushing it and waving our arms."
Leah looked around her. "This place was built by people for a reason, and that means it will have an escape hatch."
"Unless the escape hatch was the tunnel we came in from. The one the worm is sitting in?"
Leah frowned. "Well, yes, there is that. But, no, it doesn't look right."
"What does look right then?" said Gim, taking off his backpack, ready to try and use it as a weapon if need be.
"I don't know. Something like -" Leah looked down, noticing the faint suggestion of a circle in the dust of the floor. "Something like this!" She dropped to her knees. "Help me Gim, there's a hatch."
"How did you know there would be a hatch?"
"It just makes sense that whoever built this thing, whatever it is, would put an escape hatch in place, just in case that," she gestured above her, "started to make it's way down when there were still people in here."
Ignoring the magical energy swirling above them, Leah took a closer look at the hatch. It was metal, with a large rusty hinge and handle, set into the floor. In the middle was a recess, the shape and size of a human hand. A nail size spike poked out where a wrist-port might connect. Without a second's hesitation, Leah plunged her hand into the recess, and felt the spike slide into her arm. The hatch began to ask her questions. Who she was, what she did, who she worked for. To her delight, and no small surprise, it seemed perfectly happy to know that she worked in the Gardens, and with a gentle orange glow, broke the seal around the edge. It raised itself a few inches and then stopped.
"It's jammed. The hinge is rusty, come on Gim, help me!" Together, the two friends pulled on the lid, but it still only budged a few more inches. Not enough to get either of them through. "Your bag!" shouted Leah, now feeling the warmth of the vortex descending on them. Snatching Gim's bag, she mashed the plants she had collected earlier into a pulp, before pulling out the bottle of cider she had seen Rendolph give him. Gim, to his credit, never complained as Leah poured the drink onto the pulped plant matter and mashed it onto the hinge, making a crude but hopefully effective lubricant. Again the two friends pulled, and this time the hinge obliged, just enough for two people to crawl through.
They were standing on a platform of some kind, the hatch above them. Without a word, the two of them grabbed the handle on the underside and pulled. In desperation they lifted their feet from the floor, hanging there and hoping that their combined weight would be enough to encourage the hatch to slam shut.
Around the edge of the hatch they could see the brightness getting more and more intense. The air became full of the scent of incense, of wood polish, of smoke and burnt leaves, and all the other aromas of magic, until with a gratifying KLAK the door slammed shut. They watched the hatch glow orange, red and then white as the heat of the magical energy filled the chamber. Then, as suddenly as it appeared, it receded, leaving the hatch glowing bright orange.
"Don't touch it Gim! It'll be hot for ages, yet."
"So what, we stand here in the pitch black until it cools down?"
"I don't know. Yes. Perhaps."
"What was that thing up there, Leah?"
"I don't know. Some kind of exhaust vent, perhaps? Maybe there's so much magical-whatnots flying about the Castle that they need to vent it off from time to time? They're doing what everyone does with the rubbish; burn it and shove it underground and hope it goes away."
Leah suddenly felt her foot go cold.
"Whoa!" yelled Gim. "What was that?"
"Water. The chamber's flooding. Must be some kind of coolant running through from the chamber above. Maybe that's why the well ran dry in the village. Maybe the Castle is using too much. Whatever the reason, we need to get out of here."
"But you said we can't touch the hatch."
"No. Good point. Bugger."
They screamed as suddenly the platform they were standing on was pulled from beneath their feet, and the two of them plunged into water, their breath escaping as the freezing water compressed their chests.
They broke the surface, spluttering.
"Calm down! Calm down!" shrieked Leah, far from calm.
"Oh, that's cold!" yelled Gim. Thankful now for the faint phosphorescence of the Meadowsweet, as the two swam towards each other.
"See?" said Leah. "Good magic. We can find each other in the dark."
"Luck," said Gim, his teeth chattering.
"Same thing," said Leah. Something bumped against her. She recoiled in terror, until she realised it was her bag. "Come on, we should swim to the edge."
"Edge of what?" said Gim. "It might not have an edge. It might be miles across for all we know."
"Then why was there a metal platform above it? No this is man made. It's got an edge. And if there's an edge then there'll be a ladder."
"How do you know all this?" said Gim, trying to splutter out the words though the cold.
"Because it was built by intelligent people, and intelligent people tend to put ladders in places like this. Come on."
The two of them swam for three or four strokes before they came to a ledge that ran along the wall. As they made their way along, they found a series of iron hoops set into the wall. They began to climb, their clothes heavy and sodden. The ladder led them to another platform set up against the ceiling, and another door. As before, Leah thrust her hand into he recess. This time the door swung open at once. Above them was a smooth tunnel; the walls made entirely of a pale blue material, soft and warm to the touch.
"Leah, this is part of the Castle too, isn't it?"
"It looks like it. Yes. Come on."
Pulling the hatch closed behind them, the two friends made their way up the small passage. It was a relief to be out of the dark, and the pale aquamarine glow felt comforting after the nightmare of the dark tunnels. The air was sweet with the smell of lavender and honeysuckle, and the warm breeze that blew gently over them soon dried their wet clothes.
Eventually they came to a large blue room. There was a door at the far end but to their dismay it had no handle. They tried kicking it but it held fast. Their spirits sank, as they considered the possibility that they might have to retrace their steps and go back to the chamber filled with water.
"Now what?" said Gim, nervously eyeing the tunnel behind them. If the creature came upon them here, they would be done for.
"It's a door. It's lit up, there's breathable air; obviously people go through it. If we wait here long enough maybe someone will open it."
"And maybe they won't," said Gim.
"I know." Leah sat down, drawing her knees up to her chest. "We'll have to think of something else then."
"Like what?"
"I don't know yet."
Leah pulled out her father's book from the bag, and flicked through the pages once more. Whatever that thing, was, it wasn't a Soft Worm. But it was a worm of some kind. A great nasty one. Maybe it had things in common with other worms, some common weakness? "The Meadowsweet we passed earlier on. The worm didn't follow us through that section. I think it doesn't like it. Any idea why?"
Gim ran his fingers through his hair, his eyes still looking down the passage behind them. "Maybe someone put the Meadowsweet there to keep the worm away?" he said.
"Maybe" said Leah. "But maybe that means someone else knows the worm is here. Maybe someone put it here in the first place?"
"And maybe that means someone else knows we're here too?" said Gim.
High above them Niaal watched as a schematic of the tunnel systems beneath the Castle played across the dust hanging in the musty air of a seldom used chamber. Leah and Rendolph had done well to survive. Had they known of the true power of the worm they would not have dared to enter its lair. Niaal closed his eyes, communicating briefly with the creature, before he motioned with his hands in front of him, the image fading. He would let the worm toy with them for a while,
before it fed.
Sliding his hands back under his bright yellow robes, Niaal turned and strode from the darkened room.
If the Castle had a heart, it was the chamber where the Mage Pillian lived. The holiest place in the land. The entrance was guarded day and night by soldiers dressed in blue ceremonial armour. The guard was changed every six hours, and it was considered one of the greatest honours in the land to serve there.
The door to Pillian's chamber was fifteen feet tall, and bound in the skin of a half dozen magical creatures, like the cover of some vast book. The entrance to the chamber was located in a large indoor courtyard, that opened upwards to a vast domed ceiling above. The enormous magical energies that were expended in the running of the Castle could not be seen or heard, but were rather felt. A constant pricking of the hairs on the back of the neck, a metallic tingling in the mouth.
The guards standing to attention exchanged worried glances as, without warning, the lights in the courtyard suddenly dimmed, and then burned again with their usual brilliance.
As they stood there, uncertain in their panic, the door opposite opened and a yellow clad Sage emerged, surrounded as always by his retinue of guards. The soldiers stiffened to attention.
"Halt in the name of the Mage!"
"Yes, yes, yes," said Niaal brusquely. "It's quite obviously me. Forget the protocol for a second, will you? What happened just then? What did you see?"
"The lights dimmed," said one solider, still at attention. "Just for a second, like, and then they went back on again."
"We were about to tell someone," said the other.
Niaal tutted. "No you weren't. You were going to carry on standing there like statues, because you didn't know what you should do." Niaal went up to the great door, and leaned his ear against it, like a man listening for a heartbeat. The two soldiers flicked the safety catch off their weapons and moved to stop him, but were held in check by two of the Chemical Warriors, who had guns trained on them before they could do much more.
"It's alright boys," said Niaal, still listening at the door. "Remember to play nicely." Pulling away Niaal drew a shape in the air, and the faces of four people, more Sages like Niaal, appeared in front him.
"What happened?" said Grefno, even before his image had stabilised. "What was that?"
"There was a fluctuation," said one of the Sages. "The magical conduits in the Castle suddenly seemed to constrict and then open again quickly. Like an artery in a human heart suddenly closing up."
"What does this mean?" said an elderly grey haired Sage. "Is the Mage aware?"
Niaal waved aside the image of the man. "I am outside his chamber now. Everything seems normal. There was a temporary dip in the lighting, but that is all. Distressing as this may be, I don't see that we have any major cause for concern."
No sooner had Niaal spoken the words, than the lights failed completely. The chamber was plunged into complete darkness, lit only by the ghostly apparitions of the Sages floating silently. Deciding they had seen quite enough, the two Castle guards dropped to immediate defence positions, their weapons raised in readiness.
Niaal's Chemical Warriors gazed at him with a worried expression. By the glow of the images they could see that he had gone white as a sheet, a heavy cold sweat on his brow.
"I think we have an emergency," he declared.
Gim and Leah were jolted by the sudden darkness.
"Whoa!" shouted Gim. "What's happening!"
"It's alright, it's alright," said Leah, clicking on a snap light. "The lights went out for some reason. They must have turned the power off, which could mean..." She pushed the door open. "Come on, before it comes back on again."
The two friends made their way through the narrow doorway, making sure to close it again behind them.
As they emerged into a large chamber, the lights suddenly came back on. Looking around they saw they were in the bottom of a large shaft that went up and up. At the top there was a silver sphere, no, not a sphere, an oval. More like a shiny metal egg, high above them.
"I have absolutely no idea where we are now," said Leah, open-mouthed. "I mean, we're in the Castle somewhere, but I don't know what this thing is or what it does."
As they walked around the chamber, they noticed another passage leading off in the opposite direction. Lacking any better plan, they set off along it. It made its way downwards, slowly and steadily. The blue walls gradually gave way until at last they faced a metal grill, large enough for them to squeeze through. From there onwards, the tunnel walls became stone and rock once more, the tunnel leading on and on, away from the Castle.
Gim suddenly stiffened, clutching his head.
"Ow!" he cried. "That hurt."
"You smack your head?"
"No. I'm getting pictures again. I'm picking up signals. The Pixie must be near."
A smile came to Leah's face. "But they've only got a short range, you said so yourself. Which means..."
"Either it was carried off by something, or else we're somehow back near the tunnels where we first came in."
Heading on, Gim suddenly saw himself looking at himself and - disorientated by the experience - walked straight into a wall. Leah ran forwards to collect the tiny automaton, flicking the off switch before slipping it in her bag.
"We're near the well. We must be near the well. Look! This tunnel, I remember it."
"All look the same to me."
"No they don't. Come on."
Turning a corner they found, to their utter delight, that they were standing at the bottom of the well itself.
"Here, give me that brandy!" said Leah. Gim pulled it from his bag, took a swing and handed it to Leah As he did so, she was suddenly aware that there was something terribly wrong, something not right about his expression. His eyes were suddenly wide, pleading. He dropped to his knees.
Behind him the worm slid silently forward, it's tail raised high.
Leah now saw that it held a vicious barb, curved like a scorpion. It had struck Gim in the back. The creature flinched and the tail whipped towards her.
Lacking any form of defence she held her father's book in front of her face, screaming as she did so. The spike embedded itself in the thick hide of the tome, which it sought to remove by flicking its tail this way and that. Pages scattered. Leah hurled the flask of brandy at the beast, the glass shattering on impact. Picking up Gim's spare flare, she ignited it and bowled it at the creature's face.
The beast squealed in pain and shock at the flames that now covered its flesh, and suddenly it was gone. It was as if it had simply vanished...
"Gim? Gim? You still with me?"
"Ow."
Gim was lying on the floor, his face a deep purple bruise, but he was still alive.
Leah dragged him towards the ladder, putting him over her shoulder. She had no idea if she would be strong enough to carry him up but it was worth a try. Anything was better than staying down here. Slowly, one painful step at a time she did her best to climb with the unconscious man clutched to her. She knew it was not humanly possible to get him all the way to the top, but she had to try. Maybe she could wedge him part of the way up and leave him there while she ran for help. If the guards didn't shoot her first, that is.
Below her, she saw that her father's book burning. One page, caught in the updraught, landed on her arm. She caught sight of the illustration on the paper. It showed the exact same creature they had just seen. In the woodcarving it was resting on a pile of corpses, its tongue licking the empty eye sockets of a human skull.
'Gentle Worm. This creature hath a venomous bile. It hath a spike which woundeth but kills not. To kill the creature you must...'
"Ow! I'm on fire! It's burning me!" cried Gim, suddenly conscious again.
Leah shouted out "No! Stay still!" But it was too late. The page fell back down into the darkness below.
"What did you do that for?"
"Because my sodding leg's on fire!" Gim swung his arms round and grabbed the ladder, rubbing
his legs together to put out the flame.
"You alright?" Leah said, grateful beyond imaging that he was now taking his own weight again.
"Not really. I've been stung by a giant snake-thing and my leg was on fire."
"Can you make it up the ladder?"
"I don't know. Everything's gone a bit woozy. What happened to me? I though I was dead."
"I don't know. But we really do have to get you out of here. Come on, keep climbing. We'll do it together. I won't leave you here, I promise."
Slowly, painfully, the two of them pulled their way up the ladder, while the fire below them fizzled and went out. Leah tried not to think of how fast the worm had moved, and how quickly it would be able to follow them up. But of the creature there was no sign.
She cursed herself for a fool for taking the book into tunnel without making a copy of the relevant sections first.
The last ten feet of the ladder seemed to Leah as if it may as well have been a thousand, but somehow they managed to get there. But just as Leah had one hand on the outside of well, there came a scurrying, a wet slapping sound below them.
"No!" she shrieked. It was the worm again, making its way up after them. Leah dragged Gim, whose eyes were now lolling, his face an unhealthy hue. "Come on!" She shouted. The worm was coming and then -
- and then suddenly there were more pairs of arms, hauling the two of them up, dragging them over the lip of the well.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Sergeant Wallas looked at Leah, his face full of confusion.
"Leah? What the in the nine hells were you doing in the well?"
"Quickly, there's something coming! Get away!" shouted Leah, wide eyed in fear trying to drag the now unconscious Gim away from the well. She was surrounded by soldiers. There was no sign of Rendolph.
"Whoa, steady now. What're you talking about? What's going on, Leah?"
"Get away. It's in there, some creature. A giant worm!"