Ben tried to skirt round the edge of the pit, but halted in his tracks as a new monstrosity emerged from the depths. It moved so swiftly that Ben only had an impression of a vast circular mouth and a mane of grabbing tentacles before they rose up and were lost in the darkest recesses of the roof. Ben stared in disbelief as it gradually dawned on him that the enormous swaying trunk now before him was just the creature’s neck.
Grey Wing hopped up and down in a manic dance of delight.
Carter had obviously had the same thought as Ben, and while Grey Wing was distracted he managed to reach Ruby and drag her out of the path of the creatures. If any Legionnaire was worth saving, it was Ruby Johnson, thought Carter.
As they retreated, one of the beasts sprung at Carter’s throat, a long pink tongue flicking out and encircling his neck like a lasso. Carter promptly cut the appendage with his claw and left the creature to flap on the floor, squealing in pain. Carrying Ruby across his shoulders now, Carter tried to clear a path to the door but there were simply too many creatures blocking his way. The floor was a mass of writhing things, impossible to say where one ended and another began.
Ben was fighting a losing battle too and before long all three of them were crammed onto the only high ground available. Ben stood on the island of Sweet’s throne, Carter beside him with Ruby in his arms, while the ghastly creatures surrounded them; a sea of undulating bodies.
“This is your end,” Grey Wing shrieked triumphantly, flying towards them, the vast creature swaying behind him like a tree in a storm. “The Legion never knew the meaning of evil, but I will teach mankind that lesson today. While my Feathered Men rule the skies, the creatures of the pit shall lay your world to waste… And the purge will start with you, Ben King—”
Grey Wing never finished those words.
Without warning, the huge monster snatched Grey Wing out of the air and engulfed him. Ben winced as he heard the crunching of those enormous jaws. In a single gulp, Grey Wing was gone. The creature brushed against the roof of the sanctuary, bringing down a hail of masonry. Ben couldn’t help but notice the shower of feathers that fell with the stones. Then the monster made a rattling sound in its throat and started to sway.
“Look out!” warned Carter. “It’s going to strike again.”
Ben stood his ground. All this time the power of the Hand had been building.
He raised his right hand and brandished it before him. The thing drew back with a hiss and the creatures around the throne retreated.
“That’s right,” said Ben. “You know what this is, don’t cha?”
Ben had no earthly hope against such a nightmarish enemy, but he allowed the Hand to guide him, feeling its raw energy surging through his veins.
He lifted the Hand up towards the ceiling and then brought it down vigorously with a short, sharp tug. In response, a massive stone broke loose from the ceiling and smashed against the beast’s skull.
The creature roared, opening its mouth wide… Ben stretched his fingers towards one of the pillars, closed the Hand into a fist and then flung it out in the direction of the gaping mouth. An entire section of pillar flew through the air to wedge itself in the beast’s jaws.
“Chew on that,” said Ben.
He enjoyed a split second of success before the roof began to collapse.
Ben hadn’t been prepared for the deluge of water and broken bricks that came thundering down through the jagged hole he had made in the ceiling. The floodwaters had been weakening the Under for days and now it seemed that the Hand had set in motion its ultimate destruction.
The last of the candles died and the darkness was absolute.
Ben could hear the creatures squealing in pain as hunks of masonry struck them, but Ben knew that the rockfall alone wasn’t enough to drive the monsters back into the pit.
Only light could repel darkness.
Only the Hand.
Carter had taught him that a single candle flame can be seen for twenty miles. How much brighter would the Hand of Heaven shine?
As he thought that, the same brilliance that had radiated from his fingers when the crown was destroyed began to return – a hundred – a thousand times brighter. It was like staring into the sun. Ben turned his own face away and shut his eyes, fearful that he might go as blind as Moon. The sanctuary was red, then radiant white.
The endless day…
There was a panic-stricken slithering and scuttling as the creatures tried to dodge the continued bombardment of masonry and escape the purity of the light. Even the gigantic thing was retreating, unable to avoid the crushing stones or stand another second in the light of the Hand.
It’s just a shame that I’m gonna be buried too, thought Ben; the light fading as the last creature fled in terror, even as the Under continued to fall, brick by brick…
After everything he’d been through, was this really how it would end?
Buried in the dark? Pulverised?
Not if Ben had anything to say on it!
Carter, Ben and Ruby were still huddled together on the throne. “Professor,” said Ben. “Can you climb off and hold Ruby while I try something?”
Another immense portion of the roof broke away. It hit the floor of the sanctuary with a noise which reminded Ben of stepping on snails; a sickly mixture of crunch and squelch.
“What are you going to do?” asked Carter.
“I’m going to tip this throne forwards so that we can shelter beneath it and not get our bonces caved in.”
“I’d love to believe you can do it, Ben, but it must weigh tons.”
“I’ve never let small things like the facts get in the way before,” said Ben, making light in order to overcome the fear of death that was creeping over him.
It was impossible to shift the throne, Ben knew that, but he remembered Josiah telling him that nothing was impossible for the Uncreated One. Ben manoeuvred himself behind the throne, hooked his right hand beneath it, clenched his teeth, summoned his strength and heaved…
The throne lifted an inch…the Hand pulsed with otherworldly power. Ben lifted harder…and the throne toppled forwards. Ben and Carter made a mad scramble to get under the shelter it provided, dragging Ruby with them.
She groaned.
Ben found her fingers and laughed out loud. He had expected her skin to be icy cold but it was warm to the touch.
“Ruby,” he said, trying to rouse her. “Ruby, it’s Ben.”
Ruby’s fingers gave his hand the faintest squeeze. “I knew you were trouble right from the start,” she said weakly.
“I’m going to get you out of here,” Ben promised, his hopes soaring even as the Under disintegrated around them.
“We’d best get down,” said Moon. “That sounds like a twelve-pound muzzle-loading smooth-bore cannon to me.”
Even as he finished speaking they all heard the whistle, and then a huge section of Wall buckled inwards just twenty feet in front of them, sending them hurrying for cover. Josiah shielded the Queen. Lucy covered her head instinctively as she was showered with shards of brickwork and the air was filled with the tang of cordite.
Another booming rumble followed and through the breach in the Wall, Lucy saw the flare of artillery.
Queen Victoria straightened in Josiah’s arms – suddenly aware of how unbefitting it was for the Queen to be carried like a child – as a unit of what appeared to be London militiamen approached. Her clothes were hardly better than rags, her thinning hair plastered to her scalp. Josiah lowered her to the ground and Victoria did her best to stand erect – she barely came up to the angel’s shoulder.
Lucy spotted her distress and took off her own scarf, wrapping it respectfully around Victoria’s shoulders and over her head to protect the Queen’s modesty. “With your permission, Ma’am,” she added with a little curtsey.
The leader of the men came over to the Queen and saluted smartly. “Brigadier Daniel Carnehan, at your service, Ma’am. Please forgive our appearance, a necessary disguise I’m afraid
. These men are Coldstream Guards, Your Majesty. Will you allow us the honour of escorting you to safety?”
Carnehan was guiding the Queen away when he turned on his heel to face Lucy and Mr. Moon. “I recognize your uniforms,” said Carnehan. “Watchers, I salute you.”
“Not so much as a ‘thank you’ from the Queen, though,” sniffed Moon when Victoria was not quite out of earshot. “There’s gratitude for you.”
Ben, Carter and Ruby were trapped. The throne had kept them safe but they would never be able to get out from the ruins of the Under.
And still the Hand ached with supernatural power.
This was the end of the Under, the defeat of the Legion. Ben had done what the prophecy had said he would. The darkness had been defeated. Now it was time to return to the light. He reached up. He needed to see the London sky. He pointed to where the stars would be and closed his eyes.
An immense shuddering and groaning filled the sanctuary, followed by a rockfall that sounded like an entire mountain collapsing.
Ben, Carter and Ruby remained stock-still. The draught caused by the downfall was enough to stir their hair as it swirled through the chamber and enveloped them in a cloud of dust. But amazingly not one single stone hit them.
“Did you do that?” asked Carter.
Ben didn’t answer but they all looked up.
There was a jagged hole in the roof of the sanctuary and above that a hole in the roof above and above that yet another hole.
Ben, Carter and Ruby stared up and saw…the sky.
On London’s streets, the rain was stopping. A wind had picked up out of nowhere and was driving the clouds out of the sky.
“Two Legionnaires are coming,” said Moon. “Sounds like they’re in a right old panic.”
He recognized the footsteps and smiled.
An arrogant tread, with a heavy heel. Tall, from the length of stride, but thin, almost spindly. Accompanied by a shorter boy with a rolling gait. Both running. Both scared.
Mickelwhite and Bedlam.
The two Legionnaires were so intent on escape that they almost ran into the Watchers.
Lucy moved in close to Bedlam, tucked her shoulder under his armpit, grabbed him by the arm and threw him over her own shoulder so that he landed smack on his back. The little yob tried to get back up again, but Lucy kept him down with a foot on his chest.
“When you’re in prison, you can remember that it was ‘Scarface’ who put you there.”
Moon meanwhile took the opportunity to floor Mickelwhite one last time. The old man took slightly too much pleasure in tripping Mickelwhite with his swordstick, sending him sprawling onto his face.
“Over here!” Lucy called to a group of nearby soldiers, who were handcuffing Legionnaires and leading them away.
“I think you’ve broken my nose again,” Mickelwhite whined, as the soldiers bundled him away.
“I wish Ben was here for this,” said Lucy. “You do think he’s alright, don’t you?”
“Ben’s got the Touch,” Moon replied. “He’ll come through.”
And that was when the street gave way fifty yards ahead of them. Houses crumbled and the road itself disappeared into the ground.
“Can you hear what I hear?” said Moon, heading for the crater.
When they were ten feet away Lucy heard it too; a familiar voice calling up from out of the ground. She ran the remaining steps, Moon and Josiah at her side, and then they all kneeled down and peered over the lip of the hole.
“See,” Ben called up to them from the ruins of the sanctuary. “I knew I had friends in high places.”
All the Watchers were waiting anxiously in the red carpeted corridor of Buckingham Palace. Only Carter seemed relaxed. This was all very new for Ben. He hadn’t even been in a room with carpet before.
In the two weeks that followed Revolution Day, peace and order had gradually been restored to London, although it would take months, if not years, to repair the damage that the Legion had wreaked. And there were other, deeper scars which might never heal. The courts had been kept busy sentencing the Legionnaires who had been rounded up, and yet Ben didn’t imagine for one moment that it was the end of the Legion. If the last few months of his life had taught him anything, it was to keep his guard up. However, he took comfort when Josiah confirmed that the power of the Hand had sealed the pit more permanently than any key ever could. And the Smutts family had all been found, thank goodness. But other questions remained. How many Legionnaires had gone into hiding? Had all the Feathered Men been dispatched?
“Of course,” said Carter casually. “This isn’t the first time I’ve been entertained by royalty. There’s a tribe of pygmies in Papua New Guinea—”
“Shhhh!” said Moon. “We’d better shut up and look lively, the Lord Chamberlain’s coming.”
“I don’t hear anything,” said Carter.
The door opened and the Lord Chamberlain stood there, resplendent in his official finery.
“His wig makes a deafening rustle,” said Moon in a stage whisper as the Watchers were ushered into the royal presence.
Seated on her throne before them was Her Imperial Majesty, The Queen Empress, Victoria. Ben felt his knees tremble as they approached down the long chamber and his hand grabbed hold of Lucy’s. They stood in awestruck silence: Jonas and Nathaniel Kingdom, Alexander Valentine, Hans Schulman, Jago Moon, Professor James “Claw” Carter, Ghost, Lucy Lambert.
And Ben.
“It seems that we are deeply indebted to you,” said the Queen. “Both our nation and I have cause to thank and honour your bravery and devotion…”
This is it, thought Ben. I’m gonna get knighted.
“For this reason, we have thought long and hard about how we might best recognize your gallant efforts…”
I’m gonna be bloomin’ rich at the very least.
“You have our eternal gratitude and I wish to bestow upon you a gift. Lord Chamberlain, if you please.”
The Lord Chamberlain bowed from the waist and then the Watchers retreated backwards out of Her Majesty’s presence, as instructed.
“What’s that all about?” whispered Ben.
“This way,” said the Lord Chamberlain. “Follow me.”
Five minutes later, the Watchers were standing on the roof of Buckingham Palace. Two figures were waiting for them there.
Josiah, the Weeping Man, standing strong again. His eyes were half shut in appreciation of the sunshine on his face and wind on his wings, and the stumps through his black coat showed the first feathery down of new growth.
And by his side, a girl with bright emerald eyes and chestnut hair cut like a boy’s.
“Josiah said that you might be recruiting,” said Ruby.
Ben grinned. “Ain’t life grand.”
There was more to be said between Ben and Ruby; between them all. They had survived a war and changed irrevocably. London was spread out before them. It too would never be the same.
The purring of an engine began to rise from behind them in the palace gardens, and Ben felt his excitement mount. It couldn’t be…?
“Her Majesty felt that this was the best way in which she could repay your services,” said the Lord Chamberlain, having to raise his voice as the Liberator Mark II rose into view.
“I take back what I said about her being ungrateful,” muttered Moon.
The new airship was magnificent. Half as long again as the original Liberator and improved in every way. Ben’s eyes grew wide. With its bowsprit extending from the prow at the front of the ship and raised poop deck at the rear, the new Liberator looked as if it belonged in the Royal Navy. The polished handrails gleamed and the row of harpoons which emerged from the gun deck looked ready to take on any Feathered Man. Most glorious of all, in Ben’s opinion, was the Watcher symbol emblazoned in brass on the ship’s side.
“She’s beautiful,” Lucy gasped.
“She’s not the only one,” said Ben, smiling at her. “Come on,” he said, repositioning his bi
llycock and running across the roof to the gangplank, which a British Naval Officer had extended over the side.
“The ship comes with Her Majesty’s blessing, but not with the crew,” the Lord Chamberlain added.
The sailors trooped off and the Watchers climbed happily aboard. Jonas took his customary position at the helm and they soared up into the clouds, high above battle-scarred London. Nathaniel stood proudly alongside his pa. Lucy joined them, the wind toying with her summer-gold hair. Valentine and Ruby stood a little apart.
Carter, Ghost and Moon went to examine the gun emplacements.
Ben went to the prow and climbed out onto the bowsprit.
They soared over the city. Ben held out both his arms like wings and relished the feel of the clean, fresh air rushing around him, almost as if it were washing away the last stains of his war against the Legion.
The sky was blue, for the first time in what felt like years, and far below the Liberator Ben could see signs of new life. Rubble being cleared, new houses being built… The city was so much a part of him and Ben delighted in seeing it from this bird’s-eye view. Through his Watcher goggles he could see Big Ben. He could see the docks. He could see Old Gravel Lane. It was exhilarating and he wished that he could stay here among the clouds and never come down.
Josiah came to stand beside Ben.
“So,” said Ben. “Job done.”
Josiah smiled, although there was a tear forming in his eye.
“Evil never sleeps, Ben. You know the Watchers cannot rest either.”
“Is there more trouble brewing?”
“We are needed in the East,” said Josiah.
Ben brought his telescope up. “Whereabouts?” he said. “Is the Legion making a last stand on the Ratcliffe Highway?”
Josiah shook his head.
“Blackwall?”
“Quite a lot further east,” said Josiah.
The City of Fear Page 19