by H. L. Burke
“I wanted to thank you for everything.” Auric offered him his hand. “I know this isn’t something you’re confident in, so it means a lot that you’d support it on my behalf.”
A carriage rattled down the street and pulled to a halt immediately behind the wagon. Cordon raised his eyebrows. “Were you expecting company?”
“No.” Auric frowned.
Inspector Hovawart emerged from the carriage. Auric’s heart sank. What did he want now?
Hovawart stalked towards them, his glasses glinting in the sunlight. “I was surprised to find you staying here.”
“Auric is an old school mate of mine,” Cordon answered for Auric. “He’s welcome here, no matter what accusations have been leveled against him. I’m sure this is all a misunderstanding.”
“Perhaps.” Hovawart rubbed his hands together, eyeing Auric. “I haven’t seen you at the congressional offices since our last meeting. I thought perhaps you’d given up your petition.”
Auric crossed his arms. “My appointment isn’t for four more days. I will get my father’s license reinstated. He’s done nothing wrong.”
Jericho came up behind the inspector. The tall young magician swept an appraising look over Hovawart who didn’t turn around to greet him.
“Yes, well, I’m here regarding another matter. You were, I believe, at the offices at the same time as one Terryn Alvin, were you not?”
Auric’s blood chilled. However, Hovawart had seen them together. No point in denying it. “I believe so. He left with you, though.”
“Something unfortunate occurred. Someone took his life. In a robbery possibly.” Hovawart tilted his head like a buzzard considering carrion. “It crossed my desk due to his profession: trading in magical energy. The process was new enough to avoid regulation, but it was of particular interest to my agency. As you were one of the last people to see him alive, I thought you might know something of his death. Can you tell me where you were at the time of the murder?”
“Here, at home.” Auric frowned.
Hovawart grinned. “Interesting. I didn’t tell you when he was killed, so how do you happen to know where you were at the time?”
Auric’s head spun. Oh, what had he done?
“Simple enough.” Jericho inserted himself between the two. “Auric hasn’t left the house since his last appointment. As he saw this Alvin alive there, it stands to reason he was killed after that. Since that point Auric has been here, with myself, and my wife, and our guests.” He waved towards Lotta and Ezra. “Any of us can vouch for that.”
Hovawart’s eyes narrowed behind his spectacles. “And you are?”
“Jericho Carver, Auric’s business partner and brother-in-law.” Jericho grabbed Auric’s arm. “If you’ll excuse us, we have somewhere to be.”
Relief swept over Auric as Jericho led him away.
“You know, Auric, for a smart man, you can be a real idiot,” Jericho mumbled.
“You’re the one who added ‘murder’ to the long list of things we’re implicated in, not me.”
“What was that about?” Rill whispered as the men joined her.
“That’s Inspector Hovawart,” Auric explained.
“Oh…” She eased closer to Jericho as if she could protect him with her presence. “What does he want?”
“Just a fox sniffing about the hen house for an opportunity.” Jericho snorted.
Jaspyr yipped.
“No offense, buddy.” Jericho rubbed the fox’s ears.
The wagon had a second bench behind the driver’s seat. Auric, Rill, and Jericho shared this while Lotta scrambled up next to Ezra. Auric did his best to avoid looking at her. He’d done enough creepy staring of late, and it didn’t seem to be getting him anywhere. Part of him wondered if Jericho could give him some pointers. After all, Jericho had managed to enthrall Rill. Perhaps he had some trick that had won her over.
Leaving the wealthy neighborhood where Cordon lived, they rolled through streets of shops and lower rent areas before arriving at the mostly abandoned industrial district. A few smaller factories and machinist shops remained open, the businesses that relied on skilled labor that could never have been done effectively with machines and assembly lines. However, the blocky buildings around Cordon’s factory all stood silent.
When the wagon halted, Auric hopped out and led Lotta to a side door, which he opened with the key Cordon had loaned him. A great, open room, dimly lit through high, dingy windows, stretched before them. Two conveyor belts ran like train tracks on either side of the room and strange machines with threatening looking arms and massive gears capable of grinding bones to powder loomed over the various work stations.
Auric tilted his head back to take in the massive space. Cordon had only shown him the heart of the factory: the Styles device which animated the belts and the machinery. He couldn’t imagine standing beside those belts with the factory at full capacity, the noise of the cogs and gears clanking together, the press of men, the same simple tasks over and over again ...
“You know, I didn’t even think to ask what they make here.” He laughed uncomfortably.
“Doesn’t matter.” Lotta shrugged. “Automation all basically works the same way. I don’t need to know what it does to give it power.”
She strode up to the nearest machine and inspected it. A long cord, covered in some sort of flexible material, snaked from the back. She gave a triumphant shout. “I always wondered how these things worked without electricity. Answer: they don’t.”
Auric started. “What?”
“These cords, they’re exactly the same thing I use to transfer electrical power from my generators to machinery.” She motioned to them. “I sort of suspected that’s what the legendary Styles Device might actually do: use magic to generate electricity.”
“Makes sense.” Auric stroked his beard. “It’s a lot easier to write a spell to do a single task than to write a spell that could do all these tasks.” He waved his hand at the various devices in the shop. “One spell to convert magic to electricity which in turn powers machinery. I wonder if Cordon knows that’s how it works.”
“You’d think he’d have to.” Lotta began tracing the cord towards the wall.
“Not necessarily. His grandfather was the one who invented the Styles Device. It’s kind of a trade secret, and Cordon is rather skeptical about electrical mechanics … So, what now?”
“We need to install my generators in the water tunnels and run cables to feed the energy they produce into these machines.” Lotta slipped her goggles over her eyes. “Where is the tunnel entrance?”
Back outside, Auric took Lotta to a large hatch in the middle of the nearest alleyway. “There are drains all along the roadways that we could potentially run cables through as well,” he said. “But to get down there ourselves we’ll need to use these access points.”
Jericho, Ezra, and Rill joined them. Rill carried Jaspyr while both the men wore satchels filled with tools. Jericho took out a crowbar and levered up the hatch revealing a stone staircase disappearing into darkness beneath the cobblestone streets. A cold, musty smell rose from below, and in the distance sang the rush of water.
Rill peered down. “These really go throughout the city?”
Auric nodded. “The fresh water source was one of the reasons this area was originally settled, though at that point these were mainly just caves, not even interconnected. Over time they’ve been expanded and connected into a maze of tunnels. Easy to get lost in, but thankfully, I have a map.” He patted the pocket containing papers from Cordon.
“Still, I think I’ll put the static half of the homing spell in the wagon, just in case we need to get out of there quickly or we get turned around.” His sister hurried back to the wagon.
A few minutes later, the group descended into the tunnels. Jericho and Ezra carried lanterns. Auric led the way with the map. At the bottom of the stairs, a tube-like tunnel with a brick casing and a walkway along one side, wide enough for two men to easily
walk shoulder-to-shoulder, stretched in either direction. A rollicking waterway burbled in the center, a good stone’s throw to the other side.
Lotta stopped and dug into her satchel. She took out a rope with a chip of wood at one end and several knots tied into it at intervals. Then she tossed it into the water. Her lips moved, counting as the wooden chip bobbed down the stream. She then pulled it out and instead brought out a cord with a lead weight. They waited while she recorded the depth of the water and the speed of the current in a notebook.
With a groan she shook her head. “Deep enough, but not fast enough. We need some place where the channel is narrower. The water will run quicker through there.”
Auric showed her his map. Cordon had circled a section of the tunnels that ran through a small chamber slightly upstream from the tunnel entrance. “Cordon suggested here. It’s close to the entrance, and there is a lot of room to work in this area … it’s one of the overflow chambers, intended to fill up when the river is at full flood.”
Her brow furrowed. “That’s all wrong. A wide chamber like that, the water will spread out and slow down. No, some place like this—” she indicated a section of narrow tunnels further downstream, “—is better. We should start there.”
“We should at least check out the room Cordon suggested.” Auric pointed upstream. “It looks like it’s closer, anyway. Might as well rule it out—”
“No, it won’t work.” She shouldered her pack and jerked her head in a downstream direction. “Your friend might be a generous host, but he’s certainly no engineer.”
Auric scowled. “Not an engineer does not equal ‘idiot,’ you know.”
“It does equal that I know what I’m doing and he doesn’t.” Lotta crossed her arms.
Jaspyr yipped, the high-pitched sound echoing off the vaulted ceilings.
Auric and Lotta whirled to look at the others. They stared back, awkwardly. Auric loosened his collar. He’d almost forgotten that he and Lotta weren’t alone. Great, now Jericho and Rill could see how little respect Lotta had for his opinions. No way Jericho wouldn’t mock Auric for that at some point. Blast, Auric couldn’t let Lotta walk all over him just because she was pretty.
“You can go that way. I’m going to check out the section Cordon suggested.” He turned and started quickly up the tunnel. Thankfully, a circle of light followed him. He wasn’t sure what he would’ve done if no one carrying a lantern had gone with him. Glancing back, he found Rill and Jericho at his heels while Ezra and Lotta hurried in the other direction.
“You all right?” Jericho asked.
“Yeah, fine.” Auric tried to control his tone, but his words still came out clipped.
Rill tilted her head to one side, her lips pursed. “She’s not very … nice to you, Auric.”
Auric flushed. “She’s not really like that.”
“I think it’s a good thing. You could use someone who calls you out when you’re being a jackass.” Jericho snickered.
“Jerry!” Rill chided. “Auric should have someone sweet and supportive.”
“So you, basically?” He kissed her forehead. She beamed.
“Seriously, you two. The smell in here is making me queasy enough.” Auric rolled his eyes.
“It’s not so bad.” Rill shrugged. “A bit musty at worst.”
Their footsteps echoed, and shadows wavered at the edge of the lantern’s golden circle.
“It should be right up here,” Auric said.
The channel of water burbling beside them became wider and darker, collecting in deep pools. Auric’s stomach twisted. If Lotta’s concern was that the water in the earlier section hadn’t been swift enough, this certainly wouldn’t be any better.
Then the rush of water grew louder. Around a bend, the river crashed over a ten-foot waterfall. The path climbed a stair beside it, slick with spray. Light shone through a grate in the ceiling far above them, forming a rainbow on the water-droplets in the air.
“This is it!” Auric grinned. The current did look to be faster here.
Jaspyr growled and wriggled in Rill’s arms.
“What’s gotten into you?” She frowned, tightening her hold. “Be still.”
“Where will she install the generators, though?” Jericho asked. “Right in the waterfall?”
“According to the map, there’s a chamber at the top where the water pours in from a higher level. We should be able to use that for everything.” Auric started up the stairs, careful not to slip on the steps.
Rill began to follow, but Jericho touched her shoulder. “It’s pretty slick. If you fall—”
To Auric’s surprise, Rill nodded. “I’ll wait here, then.”
Auric reached the top and looked around. The walkway narrowed to a six-inch ledge along the side of a quick, narrow stream. A few feet ahead the tunnel dead-ended in a chamber with rounded sides like an empty cistern. A pool of water swirled in the center, pouring in from another opening high in the ceiling in a constant torrent. Auric rubbed his beard. “It might work. It’s fast enough. I wonder how deep she needs it to be.”
Jericho joined him at the top of the stairs. “So, this is it?”
Auric nodded. “I just want to take depth readings of that pool in the center.” He started forward.
Jaspyr barked frantically and leaped from Rill’s arms. He darted towards them, bit down on Jericho’s trouser leg and yanked him back. Jericho steadied himself against the wall.
Rill stomped her foot. “Oh, stupid fox. I’ll get him.”
“Careful!” Jericho said.
“It’s not that slippery.”
Rill climbed the stairs behind him as Jericho shook off Jaspyr and followed Auric down the tunnel.
“Current is definitely swifter here.”
Auric nodded. “We should take the depth.” The two men stepped into the room together. Something snapped near their feet. A light flashed, and a massive bang echoed about them. The room shook, knocking both men to the ground. Jericho’s lantern escaped his grasp and fell into the water, plunging them into darkness.
Somewhere in the distance, Rill screamed. Stones and dust rained down on them. Auric threw his arms over his head. Jericho cursed. Then another loud noise, this time the grinding and crashing of falling rocks, then all was silent. Auric picked himself up and groped forward. The tunnel beyond the doorway had collapsed. They were trapped.
Chapter Eighteen
Jericho sprang to his feet, gasping for breath. “Rill!” he yelled. “Rill, can you hear me?” He flailed forward but met with a wall of rock.
Oh dear Lord, please, please, please, let her be all right! He clawed at the stone. “Rill!”
“Jerry!” The voice was muffled, but it was her.
He let out a long breath. “Are you all right?”
“Yes, but the explosion collapsed the staircase. I’m trapped at the top, and I can’t get down. What about you? Auric?”
“I’m fine!” Auric shouted practically in Jericho’s ear. “Though … yeah, we’re trapped, too.”
Jaspyr’s tinny yip penetrated the wall.
Relief coursing through his veins, Jericho smiled. “He’s all right, too, huh?”
“Yes. I think he knew somehow. He was trying to lead us away … what happened?”
The walls shuddered, and the chamber gave an ominous moan. Debris clattered around them like hailstones hitting a roof. Splashes rose from the water. Jericho stepped back into a puddle that hadn’t been there a moment before. It rose, sucking at his ankles.
Jericho winced. Fumbling in his pack, he found a box of matches and scratched one on the nearest dry surface.
Auric gasped. “The water is rising.”
“How can you tell? Is it the fact that the stream is blocked by a cartload of rubble and it’s swirling about our ankles?” Jericho indulged in an eye-roll. Sarcasm wouldn’t help anything, but it soothed him.
“Jerry!” Rill’s voice rose in pitch. “The ledge is crumbling. I … I don’t like it. If th
is tunnel shakes again, I think it will fall.”
Panic jolted through him. “Rill, you have the homing spell and that vial from Alvin’s shop, don’t you?”
“Y … yes.”
“Use them. Get out of here.”
“But Auric said the water is rising. How will you get out? You’ll drown.”
Auric and Jericho exchanged a glance. The wavering light from the match revealed the worry in Auric’s eyes, but he called out, “Jericho is right. You need to get yourself to safety. Don’t worry about us. We’ll be fine. I promise.”
“Liar. You don’t know that.”
The match burned down to Jericho’s fingers, and he dropped it into the water where it hissed out, leaving them in darkness once more. All the better, he didn’t want Auric to see his face right now. He leaned against the wall of rock separating him from his wife. “Rill,” he said. “I love you. Auric loves you, and we both know that you would do anything for either of us, but this isn’t the time for that.”
“I can’t, Jerry. I’ve been there before, almost losing you, separated and … and I can’t. Not again, please!” He could hear her tears, and they squeezed at his heart. Above them, the tunnel groaned again.
“I know, Rill, my Rill, but remember what you’re carrying? Nothing could be more precious than that. You need to protect it, to save it. This isn’t just about us anymore.”
Beside him, Auric made a choking noise.
“Aurry?” Rill called.
“I’ll be fine, Rill. He’s right. Please, use the spell.”
There was a long moment of silence except for the pounding of Jericho’s own heart and the constant rush of water now swirling about his knees. Should he say something? Was this the last time he’d ever hear her voice? They’d kissed that morning, a casual greeting, almost out of habit. Was that truly to be their last kiss?
“Jerry, I …” Her voice broke.
“I know.” No, nothing needed to be said. They both knew.
“I’ll get help. Please, hold on!”
After a few heartbeats of silence, Jericho called her name. She didn’t answer. He rubbed his forehead. At least she was safe.