“Eden.”
Oh my god. “What’s your name?”
“Deathbreaker.”
“No. What’s your real name?”
There was a long pause as the man fell silent, and I could imagine him pouring through his mind, trying to remember his old self, the one he had been before this awful place had stolen his identity from him.
“Peter. My name is Peter Eden.”
PART III
DECEPTION
35
Alex
The man who had once been Ricardo Diaz finished telling me his story and then leaned against the side of the ship, rolling his Stetson hat around in his hands. I tried to wrap my head around what he had told me. I can’t imagine how hard it must to be responsible for the death of someone you care deeply about, right after you have broken their heart. How can you deal with something like that? The remorse that lingered in Delagio’s sad expression gave me the answer. You accept, but you never forget.
I had never seen Delagio so serious and upset before. He was the cool one of the group, the guy who always had the right quip for any situation, the one who you could count on to lighten the mood. And then he goes and reveals this…and shows a completely different side of himself I never new existed…one full of regret and the pain of his mistakes.
“I am so sorry that you lost your friend, Del. I can tell how much Kieran meant to you.”
“Thanks.” He stared down at the Stetson hat and gave a long sigh. “It must sound pretty messed up that I became my best friend, right? All the way down to wearing these hats like he did…although never his actual one.”
I shook my head. “No it doesn’t. It sounds like the way that you chose to deal with the grief of what happened to your friend. You took his name to keep him alive the best way you knew how, as well as to use it as way to right the wrongs of your past and become a better person.” I placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Plus the way you described him, it sounds like he was the quieter and more serious one of the friendship. If there is one thing you aren’t, it’s serious and quiet.”
Delagio gave a chuckle. “That’s true.”
“The point is you wanted to change and you did. My friend standing next to me now doesn’t sound to me like the selfish person you described, but he also doesn’t sound all that much like Kieran either. If you want my opinion Del, I don’t think you became Kieran Delagio beyond taking his name. I think after what happened, you just combined the best aspects of both you and him – aspects that you already possessed yourself – and evolved into the Delagio we all know and love. The laidback, wisecracking joker with a heart of gold, who is deadly serious when it comes to protecting those he cares about.”
Delagio was silent for a moment as he continued to stare down at the hat. “You know ah’ve never thought about it like that.” He gave a grin as he ran the knuckle of his finger along both eyes, to mop up the tears that had started to form. “Thanks bud, that means a lot.” He let out a sigh. “It also feels good to finally tell someone, you know. Secrets like that, they eat away at your soul.”
“You’re welcome Del, and thanks for telling me. The fact that you felt you could means a lot to me too.”
“Well ya didn’t give me much of a choice. Straight up played the birthday guilt trip card.” His smile faded. “Hey listen ah don’t want to put the burden on ya, but can you do me a favour and not tell anyone else what I told you? It…it was hard to dig up all that again. I might tell the others, but ah want it to be at my own pace, you know? One step at a time and all that.”
“I won’t say a word unless you tell me to.”
He clapped me on the arm. “Thanks, bud.”
The echoing clang of a bell rang out across I’orin and Lightwardens emerged from all over the vessel, starting to prepare the ship for docking.
“Looks like we’re almost at Concavious,” said Delagio. “Still can’t believe they’re just abandonin’ us like a Las Vegas bride.”
I pressed a hand against my jacket, where I could feel the bulge of the three coin sacks Captain Garrat had given me tucked against my chest. “We don’t need them, we’ll be alright on our own.” I thought about the visions Cetus showed me.
I hope.
*
Concavious appeared from the fog like a phantom. At first I couldn’t work out what I was seeing. It just looked like a cluster of ships and boats – ranging wildly in style, size and material – all scattered about, as if some disaster had hit a mismatched navel fleet and everyone had jumped ship. But as we drew closer, we broke through the rest of the mist and I saw that all of the vessels were anchored by huge metal chains that ran up to the clutched hands of a colossal statue, which straddled a vast platform in the ocean – its dark stone worn and stained by the sea. The sculpture was stunning in both sheer scale and genius of design, created to resemble a hybrid warrior that took elements from all three classes. Demon legs that ended in hooves, a scaled Oni chest covered in battle scars, noble Elf wings that stretched out wide and proud, sinewy Pixie arms that clutched the anchoring chains, and finally three armoured heads, the central one a Skinshifter, sat between a bearded Dwarf and a Hivemind Vampire.
“Wow.”
“Right there with ya,” breathed Delagio.
Several Pixie, Elf and Imp guards patrolled underneath the vast shadow cast by the huge statue. They wore sand coloured leather trenchcoats and carried an overabundance of weapons on side belts and holsters – making them carry the style of Wild West lawmen. One of them signalled for the captain to steer I’orin close to the platform. When he did, several of the guards fired up a mechanism that pulled a free chain out of the water.
“Attaching!” another one of the guards shouted and everyone on I’orin stepped to the side of the ship. From my new position at the port side, I watched as the same mechanism fired the chain right up and onto the deck of the ship, where it landed with a deafening clank. The Lightwardens secured the chain to a large bolt system nearby that seemed purpose built and then signalled back down to the guards.
Not long afterwards everything had been unloaded and my three fellow Guardians, four unicorns, and two Gargoyle Protectors stood with me in front of Captain Garrat, whilst a ship full of soldiers, the remaining Vengeful, and a load of extra supplies, prepared to leave.
“Nothing I say is going to change your mind is it?” I said, as the sea breeze whipped at my hair.
He shook his head. “No, I am afraid not. The decision has been made. The two Protectors can remain with you to aid you on your journey, but as we lost so many to the Hydra Queen, we shall require the Vengeful to aid us on the way back, should we run into any more problems. However, Highwarden Caria did wish for me to make it explicitly clear that as agreed, he will honour the previous agreement he made with you. Should you make it to Vangarr and destroy the Fist of Hades, he will gather the support of the remaining Luminar cities and send air vessels to aid you in your mission to destroy Hades and end his ignoble reign. All you must do is vocal–link with the Needle once you arrive. The details have been added to all of your Biomote units.”
“Nice to hear he’s keeping one promise,” muttered Danny under his breath and folded his arms.
The captain cleared his throat and then pointed to where I had stored the money pouch in my jacket. “You have more then you need to get to Yornheim.” He turned to leave and then paused, glancing over his shoulder. “Concavious is a city devoid of allegiances, but that does not mean it is a safe place. Keep your wits about you and do not trust lightly. Good luck Guardians…sincerely. Th’ull dehen Cetus ana te edris.”
We watched in silence as Captain Garret walked slowly back up the boarding ramp, which was drawn back into I’orin after him. The chain was detached from its holder and thrown overboard, landing in the dark water with a massive splash. Motors activated from deep within the vessel and then the hulking warship sprang into life, it’s fog beams bathing the statue in a bright glow. I’orin was guided backwards
between the other countless ships and then slowly began to turn on its axis until it was facing the direction we had come from. It shrank as it drew further away – releasing a final bell that was probably meant to be a parting farewell, but sounded more like a death knell – and was swallowed by the fog.
*
Concavious was unlike anything I had ever seen before.
Following the instructions that Captain Garret had given me, I activated the Protectors to my command and then told them to wait outside for us. They flew up to the statue and perched on its broad shoulders – so silent and still, that if not for their lighter colour, they could have been part of its design. I was reluctant to take any valuable commodities into a city that prided itself on finding a price for everything . If it had been my choice I would have left Isiodore and the Unicorn mares too, but the guards forbade that. I was much happier when I learned that we could hire space in a stable to keep them safe whilst we conducted our business.
The guards frisked us and then checked our supplies for “contraband,” which I learned was White Hart meat and Troll blubber. Once they were satisfied that we didn’t have any of the random items, they waved us onto a large circular elevator that clicked and started to descend.
We sank down inside a grimy tube that was just clear enough to reveal the ocean’s hidden horrors to us. Creatures with thousands of teeth and spindly legs wrapped themselves around the glass, their wide mouths sucking as they tried to reach us. The remains of dead lifeforms gathered in bright, poisonous-looking coral that lined the edges of underwater cliffs and rocks, their tentacles splayed out like gnarled fingers. Shoals of defeated-looking Merfolk with hollowed eyes and sad expressions poked around the coral searching for something to eat, but found nothing more than toxic creatures that snapped at their webbed fingers, or inedible debris, which they bit down on gingerly and then spat out, before swimming despondently on to the next section. What we were seeing was painful.
The slow demise of an entire ecosystem.
We kept travelling down in the elevator for what felt like an age. The creak and groans of the ocean echoed around us, and the pressure built until my ears popped. Isiodore and the mares started to shake their heads and whinny, clearly not enjoying the experience of being so deep underwater. I patted the side of Isiodore’s neck to sooth him as the elevator continued its descent. Eventually the view beyond the glass changed from a depressing deep ocean scene to dank metal walls as we neared the end of the journey.
“Holy crap,” breathed Hollie as she looked up from the arrow she was try to re-vane. She stared wide-eyed through the glass to the new area we had found ourselves in as the elevator settled into a hollow recess in the ground.
Holy crap indeed.
We had arrived at something similar to a bustling railway station snatched from the Victorian era and housed inside a giant underwater cavern. Steam hissed from rows of pipes that lined copper walls, and gated iron railings ran along the platform edge preventing a long drop down to darkness below. A winching sound came from a set of perpetually moving tracks running ten feet above the railings, changing to a squeal every now and then as a bad bit of track was fed into the mechanism. A giant clock that would have looked at home in Waterloo or Paddington – save for the weird symbols instead of numbers – hung down from the decorative awning that covered over the entire platform.
We took hold of our Unicorns’ reigns and started to excuse our way through the packed crowds that lined the station. “Man, this is cool,” said Delagio.
“I wouldn’t say that,” I replied, wiping a layer of sweat away from my brow with the back of my hand. Beyond being oppressively hot and humid, the air inside the weird station carried the tangy scent of wet metal, which was a bit alarming considering how deep under the ocean we were
Del rolled his eyes at my bad joke.
As we kept moving, I looked around at the crowd and found myself filled with respect. The hundred or so waiting commuters were a complete mixture of Umbra, Luminar and Fera. Everything from Goblins, Imps, Lamiae, Vampires, Skinshifters, Gnomes, Oni, Pixies, Djinns, Elves and several other sentient Pandemonians all stood shoulder to shoulder, without so much as a crossed word between them. Similar to the Warren – where despite the difference in our genetic makeup, we were all united under the banner of Guardianship – it seemed that Concavious was a place where the divisive elements of the war didn’t reach, a place where timeless hatred and persecution wasn’t able to divide the various species into conflicting groups. They’re all just people getting on with their lives.
Blazing lights bloomed from around the curving cavern wall, and a series of independent carriages rushed into view, hanging from sparking metal claws. Their function reminded me of a cable car, but their design made them appear like old steam train carriages. They screeched to a halt, swinging back and forth on their supports, and I saw that each carriage had a small coachman’s seat halfway up, where a trench coat-wearing guard sat nonchalantly, resting a powerful looking rifle on his lap. The doors on the carriages cranked open at the same time the gates on the railings did, and the Pandemonians started to squeeze in like rush-hour Tube commuters.
“How are we going to get onboard?” Hollie said, gesturing at the carriages as the station began to clear around us. “There’s no way we’ll all fit with our Unicorns.”
“Good point,” said Danny. “Excuse me,” he said in Qi’lern, tapping a Pixie with dyed green hair on the shoulder. The Pixie spun around and her heart-shaped face broke into an expression of surprise. “Oh…wow, you’re a Chosen aren’t you?” she said excitedly, prodding his face with a finger. “We rarely see your kind in this word.”
Danny gave a polite smile as he removed the Pixie’s finger from his cheek. “Yes I am. We need to travel with our Unicorns, but they won’t fit. Could you tell us what to do?”
“Oh that’s simple,” she said with a breezy smile. “Just wait for the next set of Cradle Runners. Each rotation alternates between big and small. Just be sure to ask the Lawbringer manning the runner, they can get a bit boorish if they don’t feel respected.”
“Thanks a lot,” said Danny with a wide smile.
The Pixie gave his arm a squeeze in response. “You’re welcome. Listen, I will be at the Jackalope and Hart later this afternoon. You should stop by; I would love to buy you a blackheart beer and hear more about Earth…. I’ve always wanted to go.”
Out the corner of my eye I was pretty sure I saw Hollie’s face flush slightly, but then she turned away. Danny gave an awkward laugh. “Okay, maybe…thanks again for the help.”
“Again, you’re welcome, Chosen.” She gave a wink and then hopped up the steps of the runner and squeezed inside, the door slamming shut behind her. A moment later the tracks had activated again and the fleet of carriages had vanished into the gloom.
“Someone’s popular,” teased Delagio, nudging Danny’s arm.
“Thanks Delagio, but I think I’d rather stick to my own species.”
At his words, Hollie gave a guarded smile and I found myself wondering if, with everything going on, I’d managed to miss a spark blooming between them. I have to admit, they would make a pretty good couple.
“You don’t know what you’re missing, bud, trust me,” said Delagio with a wink.
“I’ll take your word for it,” chuckled Danny.
We didn’t have to wait long for the next Cradle Runners to arrive. The station was now almost empty, apart from a handful of different species, including a female Bloodseeker and her dozen Hiveminds, who had just stepped off the elevator behind us.
When the next run did arrive – as the flirty Pixie had assured us – the carriages were vastly bigger.
“Can we bring our Unicorns in here sir?” I asked the Coachman Lawbringer lounging in the seat attached to the runner. He was reading a book – the black cover with gold lettering seemed familiar, and a moment later I caught the title, ‘American Gods’ by Neil Gaiman – one of my favourite books grow
ing up. I was a bit shocked. I hadn’t given much thought to what Pandemonians read in their world, but I certainly hadn’t expected it to be a book from my world. The Lawbringer slowly pulled his attention away from the page he’d been poring over, and gave me a non-committal glance and slow nod before tuning back to his book.
The interior of the Cable Runner was bright red and had rows of wooden seats adorned with matching cushions. There was a wooden pole running overhead to hold onto and chains to hook animals in place. The runner activated while we were still securing the Unicorns, and one of them almost went slamming right into Hollie.
The journey was manic, but mercifully short. Overhead, the tracks squealed and released a shower of sparks as the runner raced down the tunnel, creating a warm but welcome breeze that poured through the open windows of the carriage. Not long afterwards there was a grinding screech followed by an aggressive halt that forced us all to make full use of the support beams we were holding on to.
When we got off the carriage at the other end, I saw that we had arrived at another station that was similar in look to the previous one, but far bigger. A massive archway had been carved through the cavern wall at the far end. Across it the words CONCAVIOUS: THE SUNKEN FREEPORT CITY were written in large golden letters.. Beyond, I could see a vibrant and bustling metropolis sitting below a glass-domed ceiling. At one time that was probably such a beautiful window into an ocean world.
We took hold of our Unicorns’ reins and guided them underneath the archway. Immediately our senses were hit with a barrage of sights, scents and sounds as the central district of the bizarre city opened out in front of us. Rows of shops with gold and copper facades and windows polished to a brilliant shine lined the maze of cobbled streets that sprawled out in front of us. Each one had the name of their establishments embossed on bold signs and written in a variety of Pandemonian languages. As we moved through the central area, we passed by Harlena’s Haberdashery, Lifesource Apothecary, Fanglore Bloodbank and Blackstone Munitions, which all had samples of their various wares proudly displayed in their windows.
The Veil Page 50