by Mike Maddox
"Sir, the worm is on the move again. It's heading this way, we need to get out if we're going. We've built a barricade across the street, but I don't know if it's enough to hold it for long."
"Thank you, private." Grefno turned to Rendolph again. "Niall may try and kill you. There is every possibility that he will succeed."
Leah and Rendolph looked at each other, sadly.
"Oh, Leah. I only every wanted to be a Gardener."
"Me too. Will you go?"
"You know I will."
She smiled. "Is there anything I can do for you before you go? I mean, anything I can do for you apart from showing you my boobies?" she said.
He smiled. "No. That would have been it," he said, laughing.
She smiled at him again, shaking her head. "Pervert."
"Sir, it's overrun the barricades! We're pulling back from the high street. We have to go now!"
The army had set fire to some of the buildings in the village in an attempt to create a firebreak against the worm. There were people running down the streets carrying what weapons they could find. Looking towards the market Leah felt a sudden pang of fear as she saw her own house burst into flames. Every single memory of her parents associated with it, now burning. The air was heavy with the smoke from thatched roofs.
With a crash of sparks the barricade collapsed, and Leah saw the worm once more. It seemed bigger than it had in the tunnels, and at first she wondered if it might be some new beast. But the markings were too distinct, too regular.
"Run for it!" yelled a soldier as Rendolph and Leah sped down the street after the fleeing crowd. Turning back, Leah saw the man raise his weapon to fire at the beast, but he was too slow. Like lightning the tail of the creature snaked through the air, punching the man in the chest. His armour held, but he was winded. Turning to run back, Leah saw him look at her and shake his head.
Understanding, she grabbed Rendolph and threw herself to the floor as the solider ignited the thermal grenade he had been holding. The creature screamed in anger and reared to its full height, shaking its head to adjust its vision after the sudden flare. Leah grabbed Rendolph's arm and dragged him down the street after her.
The firemen were waiting for them, their aircraft ready to go. It was a small ship, built for speed, with a crew of two anxious looking pilots.
"You ready?" shouted Leah to the pilots above the noise of the engines. They nodded and gave the thumbs up. "Take this man, and get him as near to the front as you can. Don't stop for anything or anyone."
"Who is he?" one of the pilots shouted. "Some kind of secret agent?"
"He's a composting assistant," said Leah, smiling at her friend. "Third class."
Rendolph felt a lurch in his stomach as the aircraft lifted off. He saw the worried face of his friend one last time, before she turned to face the creature.
The barricade collapsed as, with a hideous squeal of triumph, the worm pulled itself into the street. Rendolph could see Shaule and Krillan fire their weapons at it, saw Grefno and Leah running towards the inn, and then they were gone as he was pulled up in to the clouds.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Rendolph was used to heights, working as he did in the Garden. He loved the Garden and his job there, and in truth enjoyed being able to take himself away from people, up into the branches of the trees. He had been known to harness up in the morning, and then spend all day up in the canopy. However, as accustomed to heights as he was, he was utterly unprepared for the journey by air.
For starters it was cold. No one had warned him of this, and he was glad of the fur-lined jacket, gloves and leather helmet he had been given by the pilots.
They were above the clouds. It was a sight that Rendolph had never imagined he would get to see in his lifetime. He had been in clouds before, but never above them. Once, during a heavy and oppressive summer storm, the clouds had come down so low that, working as he did in the highest branches of the tallest redwoods, he had vanished from the view of those below. The cloud had been grey and wet. Nothing like the brilliant soft white mountains spread out below him.
The aircraft was small and fast, and made Rendolph think of a stretched soap bubble, the way that the light caused colours to skip across its thin skin. At first he had held on tightly to the seatbelt that held him in place, but he soon fell into a sense of ease as the craft skipped and bobbed its way through the atmosphere.
Rendolph looked below, and through the gaps in the clouds he could see fields, meadows, whole towns and villages. He saw the shadow of a cloud moving across what must be the great plain of Waddon, marvelling at the fact that he was able to see such a thing so many thousands of feet up in the air He looked down, delighting in the sheer beauty of it all.
He screwed his eyes up in confusion. There was no cloud below him there. The sun was behind him. Indeed, he could feel the warmth on his back through the film of the aircraft. There should be a cloud causing the shadow below, and yet there was none there.
But that was absurd. How could a shadow be creeping across the ground at such speed if there were no cloud to cause it?
He tried to attract the attention of the pilots, but they waved him away, deeply involved in their navigation. When at last they had finished what they were doing and were ready to speak to him, the gap in the clouds had closed, leaving Rendolph none the wiser to what he had witnessed.
The Waddon plain was a large fertile area of arable farmland. Small towns and villages pockmarked its broad expanse, following the course of the half dozen or so rivers that watered the rich soil. It was the breadbasket of the north.
The gorse swept across it in a single afternoon. Three-meter high bushes with thorns the size of bayonets, the plants grew and spread like water poured on a marble floor. Trapped in their homes, people watched as the light was blotted out around them, the windows going dark. Those unlucky enough to be caught out of doors were killed outright, speared by the razor sharp spines on the branches of the plants. Herds of cattle were driven in front of the swathe in terror, until they either fell into the rivers and drowned, or else were forced to stop by the sheer weight of bodies piled upon the electric fences that divided the landscape into farms.
In three short hours, the gentle, lush landscape was transformed into a thorny, spiky green hell. From his vantage point in their air, it had been the growth of the bushes that Rendolph had seen, mistaking it for the shadow of a cloud.
They put down some thirty miles to the north, landing on a stretch of open road. The highway was already full of soldiers heading for the Prash-Romari border in orderly lines. No aircraft would be able to fly any nearer than this, unless on operational missions, and so this was as far as the firemen could take Rendolph before they ran the risk of being shot down as a potentially hostile aircraft.
Hitching a lift on a fuel tanker, he settled himself down to a rattling, bumpy ride.
He passed columns of men in black armour, heading for the front. The occasional purples, reds and yellows of mission specialists and Chemical Warriors stood out like flowers in a coalfield. At every stage Rendolph was stopped and questioned as to who he was, but the authorisation from Grefno seemed to carry more weight than any obstacle thrown in his way. And so it was he finally came to the front.
The war had not yet started but even he could see that it was only a matter of time. Siege engines and tanks had been brought up from the rear. Grey uniformed artificers were busy laying wires and cables.
He had no real idea of where the General might be, and it seemed that the military were in no real hurry to find him, either, despite how impressive his letter of authorisation was. He found that he was desperate for sleep, and having made his request clear to the most senior officer he could find, he crawled away into a supply tent to sleep, before he collapsed with exhaustion.
Eventually a portly officer woke him by shining a torch in his face. "We've got some good news for you, farm boy. We've found the General for you!"
"Oh good," said Rendolph,
with rather less gratitude than he might have shown. "Is he outside?"
The officer smiled. "No chance. He's way up line. Have you ever been in a forward position before?"
"I've never been anywhere before."
"It could get a bit dangerous up there, so I looked around in stores and we've got some kit left that you can use. No idea how long it's been sitting around." He emptied the contents of a bag out onto a table in the tent. "That's the army for you. We hold onto things until we're ordered to let go of them. Hope it fits. It's a bit out of date in most respects, but should see you safer than what you're wearing now."
It was a suit of plastic armour. Green in colour, with pouches and pockets all down the front. Rendolph knew what it was straight away.
"This is a Gardener's armour, isn't it?"
"That's right. Quite rare it is too. There were only a few of your lot here and there, no more than a dozen in the whole army. Experts in camouflage and dangerous plants, that sort of thing. Most of that kind of work gets done by Chemical Warriors these days, but technically you're still entitled to wear it. It won't stop a direct hit, but it might deflect it enough to do less damage. It's loaded to protect you against chemical and biological attack, and saturated in chemicals to provide defences against psychological and hypnotic weapons."
Rendolph remembered seeing pictures of army Gardeners when he was a boy. There was one on the wall of the office back in the Garden; Leah's dad, it was.
"Right then. I'll leave you to get kitted up. I've arranged a personnel carrier to pick you up. It'll zip you over to where the general is in no time." The officer smiled again, leaving Rendolph alone.
He began to pull on the armour, marvelling at how light it felt once on. He didn't feel like a soldier, but he looked like one now. The armour was old, but outwardly it looked pretty much the same as everyone else's. Once kitted out, Rendolph exited the tent, noticing the stares of other soldiers drawn to his archaic get-up
"Ah, it fits I see. Well, that's a good start, anyway. Have you brought everything with you need?" The officer said.
"Yes. I mean, I think so. Never done this before."
"You'll be fine. Stick with the lads and they'll cover you if it gets nasty. Has anyone given you a sword yet?"
Rendolph shook his head. "We don't use them in the Garden. No need for them."
"I see. Hang on then." The officer ducked inside a tent and re-emerged a few seconds later. "Here you go," he said, handing Rendolph a machete. "More your thing I'd have thought. You've used one before, I imagine?"
"Only on plants."
"Well, who knows what you'll find out there, eh? Here take this while you're at it." He handed Rendolph a belt, with a scabbard to take the blade.
"Don't I get a blaster or something?"
"Not unless you can provide me with the appropriate qualifications proving you've had the correct training and won't shoot one of my men in the back by accident. But honestly, I don't think you'll need one. Just do what the boys tell you and if anyone starts shooting, run as fast as you can. Come on, I'll see if I can find you that transport. It's probably better if we get you there and back again before anything major goes off."
Rendolph's face fell. "Thanks," he said, his voice devoid of all enthusiasm. "That'd be wonderful."
"Here," said Grefno. "Help me undress."
"Really?" Leah looked at him, confused. "Look, time and a place for everything, right? I mean the age difference alone is a hurdle."
"Stop trying to lighten this with humour. Help me get my armour off."
Leah helped him with the straps holding his shoulder pads on. "Well I thought it was funny," she said. "Come on Krillan, give me a hand."
Grefno and Leah had taken refuge in one of the shops that overlooked the market square. When the worm had attacked, they had found a place to hide while the soldiers managed to fend the beast off with their weaponry. Once the coast was clear, Krillan had come to find them. Together they managed to get the Sage out of his yellow armour and the tight fitting bodysuit. "You need to put this on," Grefno said, handing the armour to Leah.
"Er... why?"
"Because it will keep you alive. Now do it."
"And what will keep you alive?"
"Captain Krillan will. Now do it. Please, Leah."
Leah looked to Krillan for advice.
"Do as he says," said Krillan. "I'd give you mine gladly, but I need it to stay in contact with the troops. Suits have very short range capability that has nothing to do with magic. Works on simple radio waves."
Leah had never worn armour before. The sensation was not unpleasant, and she was surprised at the way she enjoyed the feeling of the tiny fibres burrowing down into her nerves. The helmet and shoulder pads fitted easily enough, but the rest of it clacked and jangled and got in the way. She was just the wrong size and shape for it.
"Wasn't built for people with hips, Grefno."
"It will have to do. If the worm attacks, if it stings you, the suit will fire off charges to defend you. In battle it's designed to keep you alive long enough to be airlifted out." Grefno rubbed his chin, worriedly. "Of course, it's a Chemical Warrior's suit so it does a whole raft of things that the usual armour doesn't. Probably best if you don't mess with it, just in case."
There came a cry from the street. It was Shaule. "Captain Krillan! We've got another sighting of the creature. It's heading towards us!"
"Here we go again," said Krillan. "I'm on my way!"
The worm was now at the far end of town. Looking back, Leah saw it flick out its tail, sending militiamen flying through the air. She saw another squad of militia guards try to assemble a small cannon, but the creature moved with incredible speed before they could bring the weapon to bear.
"So now what?" Leah said.
Grefno's face fell. "I don't know. I was trying to research this thing when it all went wrong in the Castle. And now I can't even contact one of the other Sages to find out, assuming they're still alive, of course."
"Find out what?"
"How to kill it. This creature can be killed, Leah. We need only understand how. If it has a relationship with plants, presumably there is one key trigger that will prove fatal to it."
Leah looked puzzled. "But why?" she said. "Why should there be? Not wanting to sound pessimistic or anything here, but really, why?"
"It's how that kind of magic works. The creature will have power to influence plants because it itself is vulnerable, on a magical level, to one in particular. If Captain Krillan and his men kill it, its hold over the plants will be broken."
"But even if we do, the other Mages will still be dead. What will stop us from falling back into barbarism?"
The Sage smiled. "Science."
"Science? Science will save us?"
"No more monsters and angels, no more wizards and demons. Just people. Clever people using their brains." Grefno looked at the market square. The worm had disappeared again. "All gone quiet," he said. "Good. We need to find a way back into the Castle so we can find the strain of plant that kills the ugly brute. If only I could remember it. It was one of the common flowers. One of the Meadowsweet variety. If only I could remember which one though..."
"Polythryantium michconis," Leah said.
Grefno turned to her in amazement. "What?"
"When Gim and I were in the tunnels we saw it growing there. We wondered at the time how it got there. Whoever brought the worm these must have put it there to keep the beast at bay. It wouldn't go near the stuff."
Grefno threw his arms around Leah. "You really should have mentioned this before! Well done, child!" He ran down the road, beckoning her to follow. "Come on! We need to find the captain!"
Grefno and Leah ran across the market square, suddenly on fire with hope.
"Krillan!" bellowed Grefno.
"Krillan, we need you!" Leah turned to look up the high street towards the Inn when she felt Grefno's hand tighten its grip.
"No..."
She glanced
back. The worm was directly in front of them.
"We really need that plant," said Grefno.
"But only I know where to find it!" said Leah.
"I know. Steady yourself, we have to move quickly. Back away very slowly."
The creature swayed from side to side, its vile tongue tasting the air as it decided which victim to go for first.
"Run!" Grefno shouted and Leah ran, heading for the doorway of one of the houses in front of her. She turned as she heard a scream, and saw Grefno on his back, pinned down by the beast.
"No!" screamed Leah, running back towards him.
"Keep back!" Grefno yelled, drawing a circle in the air with his fingers. The circle took the shape of a blazing ring of fire, and the creature recoiled as if stung, but Grefno was still pinned down. Turning to face her, the worm hissed angrily. Leah ran, ran faster than she had in her life, as fast as she would have run to her fathers arms if he were to return at that very moment.
She ran to the well, and without a second's hesitation grabbed the rope and slid down as fast as she dared, her armoured gloves shielding her against rope burn.
"No!" Grefno shouted. "Not on your own!" But it was too late, she had gone. Grefno flicked his fingers and darts of glass appeared in front of him, finding weak points in the worm's belly and forcing it to leave hold of him. The creature backed off as Grefno pulled himself to his feet. He was breathing hard and he was sure the worm had broken one of his ribs. His leg felt numb from being crushed by the beast.
The worm turned to look at him once more, blinked twice and then slid slowly across the square. Towards the well.
"Oh no you don't!" Grefno said, hobbling after it. He conjured poison gas out of thin air with one hand, raising the temperature of the stones on the ground to boiling point with the other, but the beast only made it to the well all the more speedily.