Grindhelm's Key

by Nick Moseley

  ‘Yeah,’ said Trev. ‘What was yours?’

  ‘Elgar,’ Sarah replied. ‘Anyway, I thought Mendelssohn was there to watch my back in case something went wrong, but he wasn’t. He was there to kill Ezekiel.’

  ‘Why would the Eyes want Barker dead?’

  ‘I don’t know for sure, but I’d guess that they were worried he’d come after the Key if he was left alive. Easier to take him out and not have to worry about it.’

  ‘So how did you get caught?’

  ‘The Eyes found Ezekiel. I don’t know how. They gave us the address. I was supposed to go to the front door, say my car had broken down or something, and ask for help. Get him talking. Get his trust. And find the Key.’

  ‘And Mendelssohn?’

  ‘I thought he was going to wait outside. But he actually broke in at the back of the house and tried to blindside Ezekiel. There was a struggle. Ezekiel was wounded. Mendelssohn was killed.’

  ‘Barker does have a proven track record on the killing front,’ said Trev. He was uncomfortable with the way Sarah was portraying Barker as the victim. Didn’t she know about him? The man was a killer.

  ‘He isn’t the man everyone thinks he is,’ said Sarah.

  ‘You sure about that?’ Trev kept his voice neutral. ‘I’m asking as someone he’s tried to kill more than once.’

  ‘He doesn’t deny what he’s done in the past.’ Sarah took Trev’s arm. ‘But he was being manipulated. He was trying to protect Florence. And Francis Ducrow had some weird mind-control over him.’

  ‘Well, yeah,’ Trev admitted. ‘But he’s still killed a lot of innocent people.’

  ‘I know that.’ Sarah’s eyes flicked towards Barker. ‘Like I said, he doesn’t deny it. But he isn’t some crazy psycho, Trev. He was a good man, once.’

  ‘You feel sorry for him?’

  ‘In some ways, yes.’ Sarah folded her arms. ‘And don’t go assuming that I’m suffering from Stockholm Syndrome or something.’

  ‘I’m not assuming that,’ said Trev, who absolutely was. ‘But leaving all that to one side, what’s he been doing? Getting the Key appraised by every dodgy dealer in the Midlands, for one thing. Drawing attention to himself.’

  ‘After the Key was stolen from Fletcher’s, Ezekiel was hired to get it back,’ Sarah explained. ‘When he did, his employers tried to kill him. He took that personally.’

  ‘Unsurprisingly,’ said Trev. ‘So, what then? He wants them to have another crack at him?’

  ‘Kind of.’ Sarah cocked her head. ‘He wants to find out who they are, and why the Key is so important to them. He’s been trying to lure them out.’

  ‘Why not just disappear again?’

  ‘He’s trapped outside of his own time, Trev. Everyone he knew is long dead. Searching for these people has given him a purpose. Whoever this group is, this “Invocation of Peace”, they’re seriously bad news. I think Ezekiel sees this as an opportunity to do some good. Start to rebalance the scales.’

  ‘He’ll need a lot of weights,’ said Trev. ‘All right, I get it. Well, kind of. But I don’t get why you’re helping him.’

  ‘Because he asked me to, for one thing,’ Sarah replied. ‘And because the alternative was to go back to the Eyes, and I wasn’t going to do that. I’m pretty sure that if Mendelssohn had killed Ezekiel, I’d have been next. I realised I’d be safer working with Ezekiel than on my own.’

  ‘But you called me for help,’ Trev pointed out.

  ‘That was before I’d really talked to Ezekiel,’ said Sarah. ‘He took my phone but I managed to grab Mendelssohn’s without him seeing. It was his phone I called you from.’

  ‘But now you and Barker are friends, why didn’t you call me again to tell me you were OK?’

  ‘I wanted to. But you’re too close to the Custodians, Trev. Nona has eyes and ears in the Custodians, and of course Ezekiel’s been trying to avoid them for his own reasons. I didn’t like keeping you in the dark, but I had to do it, at least for the short term.’

  Trev didn’t like it either. He didn’t say as much, though. ‘Did Barker know Jack Smith would be coming after the Key?’

  ‘He was expecting an ambush, but not from him specifically. Or the Custodians, as it happens. I was supposed to hold the Key in case something happened to Ezekiel. When I heard the shouting I tried to get closer to see what was happening, and got caught.’

  ‘To be honest it’s a good thing you did,’ said Trev. ‘If we hadn’t had the Key, Smith would’ve killed us all.’

  Sarah pursed her lips. ‘That’s true, I suppose. I still feel pretty stupid about it, though.’

  ‘Not as stupid as I’ll feel if I can’t get us back somehow,’ said Trev. He bounced the Key in his palm.

  ‘You really have no idea where we are?’

  Trev sighed. ‘None. All I was thinking about was getting us somewhere safe.’

  ‘Well we are safe, by the looks of it,’ replied Sarah, ‘even if we don’t know where.’

  Oscar stirred on Trev’s shoulder. ‘We’re not safe here. I’ve already told you that.’

  ‘Yes, but you haven’t said why,’ Trev pointed out. Sarah was looking confused. ‘Sorry. Oscar’s talking to me.’

  ‘And what’s he saying?’

  ‘He doesn’t like this place.’

  ‘I don’t either, but at least it doesn’t have any one-eyed killer dogs in it.’

  ‘That’s definitely worth an extra star on my online review,’ said Trev, ‘though I’m still not going to recommend this place as a holiday destination. The atmosphere’s a bit lacking.’

  ‘You said you can’t get us back “at the moment”. Did that mean that you’ll be able to do it later?’

  ‘I hope so,’ said Trev, though privately he was worried. He couldn’t feel any psychic energy in the place. If he couldn’t recharge, he couldn’t use the Key again. He might’ve saved them all from the barghests, only to condemn them to a slow death by starvation instead.

  ‘A few of the Custodians are looking over at you,’ Sarah said, adding to Trev’s anxiety.

  ‘That’s the trouble with having a reputation,’ said Trev with a sigh. ‘People expect you to pull things out of the bag every time.’

  ‘You’ve done pretty well up until now,’ Sarah told him. ‘There are a lot of people who’re still alive because of you.’

  ‘I’ve been lucky up until now,’ Trev corrected her. ‘And that’s the thing. I can’t always be lucky, can I? What happens when I’m not?’

  ‘You’re worried people will be disappointed in you?’

  ‘Disappointed?’ Trev said. ‘No, that’s not it. If I mess up I’m not going to disappoint you all. I’m going to get you killed.’

  ‘I think you’re being too hard on yourself.’ Sarah held his gaze. ‘Whatever happens, you’ve got a track record of doing the right thing.’

  ‘Only when his back’s against the wall and every other alternative’s been ruled out,’ said Oscar.

  ‘OK, so sometimes you’re a bit grumpy about it,’ Sarah went on, oblivious to the kitten’s contribution, ‘but I’ve seen you put yourself in harm’s way to help others. You’ve got a good heart, Trev, even if you don’t want to admit it to yourself.’

  ‘Thanks,’ said Trev, and he meant it. ‘But honestly? In most of those cases I was just trying to save myself.’

  ‘Does that matter?’ said Sarah. ‘Do you think the people you saved care about that? They’re still alive because of you. That’s what matters.’

  ‘I… suppose so.’

  Trev realised how much time he’d spent worrying about other people’s expectations and whether he could live up to them. Deacon had said that he didn’t want people who fantasised about being heroes; he wanted people who would do a dangerous job to the best of their ability. Nobody was infallible, least of all Trev. But could he do this job to the best of his ability, without fretting about things that were out of his control? He thought he could.

  ‘Anyway, I think thei
r leader wants to talk to you,’ said Sarah, inclining her head towards McKenzie, who was trying to get Trev’s attention.

  ‘I’d better go and see what she wants,’ Trev said. He squeezed Sarah’s hand. ‘Thanks for the chat. It’s been good to see you again, despite the circumstances.’

  She squeezed back. ‘And you.’

  Trev took a breath and went to join McKenzie. He suspected the next chat was going to be a little more one-sided.

  Thirty-Two

  ‘First up, good job getting us here,’ said McKenzie. ‘Wherever “here” is. Any ideas?’

  ‘None,’ said Trev. ‘I hadn’t used the Key before and I didn’t really have time to figure it out. I just wanted to get us out of that room.’

  McKenzie didn’t look entirely happy with that answer, but she nodded. ‘Right. Well, thanks. This place is a lot better than where we were.’

  Trev looked across the battered group of Custodians. ‘Who did we… lose?’

  ‘Tim and Lauren, and probably Lee Jones,’ said McKenzie. She shook her head. ‘Ralph’s in really bad shape, and there are other injuries too. We’ll allow a window for Smith to leave, and then we have to get back. Ralph needs a hospital.’

  ‘Uh, yeah, about that,’ said Trev, checking that they were out of earshot of the others. ‘I don’t know if I can get us back.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Using the Key burned through all my energy,’ Trev explained. ‘I can’t activate it again for the moment.’

  ‘Out of the frying pan,’ said McKenzie. ‘Could you show someone else how to use the Key?’

  ‘I could try,’ said Trev, ‘but after that battle I doubt that anyone’s got enough left in the tank. It took everything I had, and I’ve got deeper reserves than most.’

  Plus I’ve got Bad Trev, he silently added.

  ‘That’s a problem,’ McKenzie said, immediately confirming herself as the Heavyweight Champion of Understatement. ‘But not the only one. There’s also him.’

  She inclined her head towards Barker, who was still standing by the stone ring. Sarah had joined him, and the two were engaged in a murmured conversation.

  ‘I’m no fan of the bloke, but if it wasn’t for him I think a few more of us would be dead,’ said Trev. ‘Possibly all of us.’

  ‘I know,’ said McKenzie. ‘Not sure I understand it, though. Why’d he fight with us? He could’ve just run for it.’

  ‘From what I hear, he’s trying to “rebalance the scales”.’

  ‘It doesn’t work like that.’ McKenzie’s hand rested on the butt of her gun. ‘He’s still under arrest and I still intend to bring him in.’

  ‘Yeah, good luck with that,’ said Trev. ‘He could kill us all without breaking a sweat.’

  ‘He could,’ agreed McKenzie, ‘but would he? He just expended a lot of effort to keep us alive.’

  ‘I really don’t think we should put him in a position where he has to make that choice,’ Trev said.

  ‘We can’t just let him walk.’

  ‘He’s not going anywhere for the moment,’ said Trev. ‘Let’s worry about getting back first.’

  McKenzie shrugged. ‘All right then. So where are we with that? Either someone else uses the Key, or we have to wait for you to get your energy back?’

  ‘That’s about the size of it.’ Trev scratched the back of his neck. ‘And, uh, I don’t think I’m getting my energy back very quickly in this place. It’s a bit… quiet.’

  ‘It’s creepy, is what it is,’ said McKenzie. ‘Seriously, I don’t want to be here any longer than I have to.’

  ‘See? It’s not just me,’ muttered Oscar, who’d been hunched down on Trev’s shoulder being uncharacteristically quiet. Trev found that just as unsettling as the weird atmosphere. Anything that had the power to suppress Oscar’s limitless capacity for sardonic comments wasn’t to be taken lightly.

  ‘Then we need to find whoever’s still got the most energy,’ said Trev. ‘Unfortunately that’s probably going to be Barker.’

  McKenzie nodded. ‘Probably.’

  ‘Well, somebody has to talk to him sooner or later.’

  ‘And you’re already mates with him, right?’

  ‘I wouldn’t go that far. He has tried to kill me a couple of times.’

  ‘But you do know each other.’

  Trev puffed out his cheeks. ‘I’ll go and talk to him then, shall I?’

  ‘Cheers.’ McKenzie patted him on the shoulder. ‘While you’re doing that, I’m going to organise a sweep of the area. Just want to make sure there’s nothing out there in the shadows.’

  ‘Stay in the light,’ said Oscar.

  ‘Why?’

  ‘I can’t say for sure.’ Oscar cocked his head. ‘But I’ve got a strong feeling that wandering into the dark would be a bad idea.’

  ‘And on that cheerful note, away I go,’ said Trev.

  He left McKenzie to rally her troops and crossed the floor to the central dais. Barker and Sarah had finished their conversation; Sarah was sitting at the bottom of the steps with her head propped on one hand. She looked every bit as tired as Trev felt. He gave her a smile as he went by, which she returned, albeit tiredly.

  Barker was studying the ring, his head close to the stone surface as he peered at something. Trev stepped up to join him.

  ‘Irwin,’ said Barker without turning his head.

  ‘Barker,’ Trev replied. ‘See anything interesting?’

  ‘Look here.’ Barker indicated an area he’d brushed clean of dust. There were metal inlays built into the ring, forming intricate, spiralling designs.

  ‘Conduits for psychic energy?’ Trev suggested. ‘Like in a Funkelay Cage.’

  ‘Very good.’ Barker finally looked at him, taking note of the kitten perched on his shoulder.

  ‘So you know what this thing is?’ Trev asked.

  ‘No.’

  ‘Any guesses?’

  Barker stepped back from the ring. ‘Not as such. But the inlays are very sturdy indeed. It’s clear they were built to conduct a great deal of energy.’

  ‘For what?’

  ‘Who can say?’

  ‘How old do you think it is?’

  Barker folded his arms. ‘It is ancient. That much is obvious. How ancient? Again, who can say?’

  ‘I don’t suppose you’ve got any idea where we are?’

  ‘You brought us here, sir. I rather hoped you might know.’

  ‘Well, everyone keeps asking me that. I thought I’d get the question in first this time.’

  ‘Ah.’

  They stood in silence for a moment.

  ‘Long time no see, Ezekiel,’ said Oscar.

  ‘I wondered if that was you, Oscar,’ Barker replied. ‘Still tolerating humanity, I see.’

  ‘If just barely.’

  ‘Do you recognise this device?’

  ‘No, I don’t. All I know is that my spooky senses have been going loopy since we arrived here. We shouldn’t be hanging about.’

  ‘The unnerving ambience had not escaped my attention, nor the unnatural depth of the shadows surrounding us,’ said Barker. ‘I certainly would not recommend that we leave the illuminated area.’

  ‘Yeah, we’ve already had that conversation.’ Trev stared up into the darkness above. ‘Where’s the light coming from, anyway?’

  ‘An interesting question.’ Barker pointed at the edge of the lit circle. ‘It appears to be a dome, centred on this dais. I can’t feel any psychic energy passing through this device, so I don’t think it is emitting the light. However I can’t see any other obvious source.’

  ‘I think it is psychic energy,’ said Oscar. ‘It just isn’t human psychic energy.’

  Trev and Barker looked at each other. ‘If not human psychic energy,’ said Barker, ‘then…?’

  ‘How the hell would I know?’ Oscar replied. ‘I don’t know where we are, any more than you do. But this is another dimension. Whoever built this place, even if they physically looked human, weren’t
the same species as you. Their psychic energy wouldn’t have been compatible with yours. Think of it as having a different blood type, or something.’

  ‘I take your point,’ said Barker. ‘Based on the style of architecture, and its dimensions, I would hazard a guess that its builders were indeed of human proportions. But as you correctly assert, that does not make them human.’

  ‘The inlays are warm,’ Trev pointed out. He was touching one with his index finger. ‘I think this thing might still be switched on.’

  ‘Some sort of residual power, perhaps. Or maybe it’s in standby mode, like a really old TV that never got unplugged.’ Oscar blew a raspberry. ‘To be honest, I’m not sure I care. I just want to get out of here.’

  ‘A sentiment I can heartily endorse,’ said Barker. He looked at Trev. ‘Are you able to take us back?’

  Trev sighed. ‘At the moment, no.’ He explained about the massive drain he’d experienced on using the Key. ‘How are your reserves, Barker?’

  ‘Somewhat lacking,’ Barker admitted. ‘But even were they not, I attempted to activate the Key while it was in my possession. It did not respond.’

  ‘Did you know what it was?’

  ‘No. I knew that it must be powerful, but not its purpose.’

  ‘Maybe knowing what it does helps in making it work,’ Trev suggested. He didn’t really believe it, but he also didn’t want to admit that he’d trapped them all in another dimension with no means of escape. ‘Give it a bash.’

  He handed the Key to Barker. Rahman and Young passed by the dais, walking a circuit of the dome of light. Trev gave them a casual wave as they went past and hoped they wouldn’t see the worry on his face. In the event neither of them paid him much attention. They were busy shining their torches into the darkness, which swallowed the light before it penetrated even a few feet.

  Barker spent a few minutes holding the Key and concentrating. Nothing happened. The crystal didn’t glow. Eventually he handed the artefact back to Trev.

  ‘I’m afraid it still does not respond to me,’ he said. ‘Either my remaining energy is insufficient, or I am incompatible with the artefact in some way.’