by Nick Moseley
‘Well, we can get the other Custodians to try it too,’ said Trev. ‘We’re not out of options just yet.’
‘I wish that optimism was contagious,’ said Oscar, ‘because I’m not feeling it.’
Trev put the Key back in his pocket. ‘It’s not really optimism. More a desperate attempt to avoid facing reality for as long as possible.’
Barker was watching the Custodians. ‘I assume they still intend to arrest me, should we return?’
‘I probably shouldn’t answer that,’ said Trev.
‘I didn’t really require an answer,’ said Barker. ‘Their leader seems a determined woman. I doubt she would be willing to let me slip away.’
‘The Custodians aren’t your biggest fans,’ said Trev. ‘After all, you have killed a lot of them over the years.’
‘Indeed,’ said Barker. ‘But you should know as well as anyone the circumstances behind that.’
Trev nodded. ‘Yeah. I don’t think it’ll stand up as a defence, though.’
‘Nor would I expect it to.’
The conversation was straying into uncomfortable waters. ‘So,’ said Trev, swerving away from the dangerous topic of what Barker might do if McKenzie attempted to bring him in, ‘you’ve run into Jack Smith before?’
‘Regrettably, yes.’ Barker turned away from the Custodians and gave Trev his attention again. ‘I led a group of Custodians against him once. It was the most glaring failure of my career.’
‘People died?’
‘All but three of us. He is a deranged, immoral and horribly powerful creature. Whoever destroys him would be doing the world a great service.’
‘Some people might say the same about you, Ezekiel,’ said Oscar.
‘I am aware of that, and I understand why,’ said Barker, although he looked pained at the kitten’s bluntness. ‘I have committed monstrous acts. I cannot and will not deny it. However I did those things to protect the life of an innocent, not for the sadistic pleasure of it. Both Smith and I are damned, but only one of us through choice.’
‘Sarah told me you’re trying to make up for the past,’ said Trev. ‘Rebalance the scales.’
‘I doubt I could ever do that,’ Barker replied, ‘though that will not dissuade me from making the attempt. I am aware that I am living on borrowed time. I intend to use it wisely.’
Which means you aren’t giving yourself up to the Custodians, Trev thought. You’re going vigilante.
‘As fascinating as this all is, shouldn’t we be testing the Key on the Custodians down there?’ said Oscar. ‘Then if none of them can use it, we need to start looking for a plan B.’
‘I’m not sure there is a plan B,’ said Trev. ‘Unless you know another means of travelling between dimensions.’
‘Well, let’s cross that bridge when we come to it, eh?’ said the kitten. ‘Maybe we’re super lucky and one of that bunch has a shed-load of energy left and a natural affinity for ancient intra-dimensional artefacts.’
Trev and Barker stared at him.
‘Man, that “optimism” stuff is hard to pin down, isn’t it?’
‘Yeah,’ said Trev. ‘Not like good, old-fashioned pessimism. That stuff never abandons you when you need it most.’
‘There appears to be some commotion among the Custodians,’ Barker observed.
Trev followed his gaze and saw that he was right. There was a discussion going on and it was animated. Trev wondered whether McKenzie had told the rest of them that they couldn’t get home, though if that was the case he’d have expected a few more venomous looks aimed in his direction. It became clear he wasn’t the topic of discussion when the mouthy red-haired Custodian started pointing into the shadows.
‘Better see what’s up,’ Trev said.
They stepped down from the dais and headed over to the Custodians. McKenzie was doing her best to calm the red-haired man, who was quite agitated.
‘Where else would she have gone?’ he was saying. ‘Can you see her anywhere?’
‘It’s not like Suzanne to ignore a clear instruction,’ McKenzie replied. ‘Did she say anything to you?’
‘No, I just looked around and she was gone.’
‘What’s going on?’ Trev asked, joining the conversation.
‘It looks like Suzanne left the circle,’ McKenzie replied, ‘against my orders.’
‘That isn’t good,’ said Oscar.
‘Why?’ snapped the red-haired man. ‘What’s out there?’
‘I don’t know, mate,’ said Oscar, ‘but it doesn’t give me a warm fuzzy feeling, whatever it is.’
‘Where was she when you lost sight of her?’ McKenzie asked.
The red-haired man – whose name, Trev learned, was Mason Harris – led them to the far side of the circle.
‘About here, I think,’ he said.
Trev peered into the darkness. Beyond the ring of light the shadow was so deep he couldn’t even see the floor after the first couple of feet. Anything could’ve been hidden in that endless black. And yet… something nagged at him. He felt a strange compulsion to walk into the shadows and let them swallow him.
‘Is anyone else feeling that?’ he asked.
‘The urge to go into the dark?’ Young replied. ‘Yeah. I feel it.’
‘We’ll have to do that if we’re to find Suzanne,’ said McKenzie. ‘I’m not leaving her behind.’
She moved as if to take a step forwards. Barker put out a hand and touched her arm.
‘Don’t,’ he said.
‘I’m with Ezekiel on that,’ said Oscar.
Ezekiel pointed to McKenzie’s torch, which hung on her belt. ‘May I?’
She switched it on and handed it to him. Barker aimed the torch’s beam into the darkness. It made little impression.
‘Perhaps if we pool our resources,’ Barker suggested. ‘If you’d be so kind as to add your light to mine?’
The Custodians gathered around. They all aimed their torches in the same direction as Barker’s. The concentrated light had more effect; it pushed back the shadows another few feet before petering out, although the beam remained narrow. Outside the dome they could see that the dusty flagstone floor extended further.
‘Swing the beam to the left, if you please,’ said Barker.
They did as he asked, moving the feeble patch of illumination across the floor. For several feet all they saw was more dust.
Then something else came into view. It took Trev a few seconds to realise what he was seeing, but when he did he felt his breath die in his throat. Which was just as well, because otherwise he might’ve screamed.
Thirty-Three
‘Is that… Suzanne?’ McKenzie whispered.
‘I’m afraid so,’ said Barker. His voice was level but Trev thought he heard a tremor in it.
‘What happened to her?’
Trev was wondering that himself. Strachan’s body lay face-down on the floor. Her clothes, boots and equipment appeared to be undamaged. Whatever killed her had only affected her body, not her attire.
She’d been turned to dust.
It spilled out of the sleeves of her jacket, the vague shape of hands still visible, and a mound of it marked where her head had been. The dust was coarse and grey, like thick flour. There was no sign of any blood. It was as if Strachan had been completely desiccated, her body reduced to its most basic components.
Despite his horror at the sight, the urge to walk into the shadows and share Strachan’s fate still nagged at Trev. In fact, the urge was stronger, if anything. He shook his head and pushed back against it. Harris was standing next to him. The red-haired man swayed on his feet and actually took a stumbling step forwards. Young reached out and grabbed his shoulder, pulling him back.
‘Careful,’ he said.
Mason blinked and looked at Young with a frown. ‘Did I just…? Shit. Thanks.’
‘Torches,’ said Barker.
The Custodians refocused their torch beams. Under Barker’s direction they moved the little pool of light past
Strachan’s remains.
It appeared she wasn’t alone. There were other bodies.
A lot of other bodies.
It was clear they’d been there much longer than Strachan. They were little more than dust and crumbling rags. With no air movement to disturb them, the remains lay where they’d fallen so many years ago. And it was many years, Trev was sure of that. Many hundreds of years, if not more.
Whatever its original purpose, the hall was now a tomb.
Nobody spoke. All they could do was stare.
Finally McKenzie broke the silence. ‘We should go back to the centre.’
Nobody argued. They walked away from the shadows and made their way back to where Barton was lying on the floor with a rolled-up jacket under his head. He didn’t look good. His eyes were closed and his breathing was shallow.
Harris rounded on Trev. ‘What is this place? Where the hell have you brought us?’
‘I don’t know, all right?’ Trev held up his hands. ‘I was just getting us away from the barghests.’
‘Bloody hell, at least we could fight back against those things,’ Harris snapped. He pointed into the dark. ‘How do you fight that?’
‘Calm down, Mason,’ said McKenzie.
‘Bollocks,’ muttered Harris, but he lapsed into silence.
‘Smith must be gone by now,’ said Rahman. ‘Let’s get out of here before anyone else… well, let’s just get out of here.’
‘We can’t do that at the moment,’ said McKenzie. There was an immediate clamour of worried voices. ‘I said at the moment, not never.’
‘Why not?’ asked the third survivor of Team One, a broad-shouldered woman wearing a black beanie. Trev thought he’d heard her name as Gunter. She directed the question at McKenzie but most of the other Custodians were looking daggers at Trev.
‘Getting us here took all of Trev’s energy,’ McKenzie replied. ‘He can’t use the Key again until he’s had a chance to rest and recover.’
‘Where’s he going to get more energy here?’ Gunter wanted to know. It was the question Trev had been dreading, for the simple reason that it didn’t have an answer.
‘What, so we’re bloody trapped?’ piped up Harris. He took a step towards Trev, fists clenched. ‘You’ve killed us all, you dickhead.’
‘Were it not for Mr. Irwin’s intervention, you would already be dead,’ said Barker. ‘While we are still alive, there is hope.’
Harris scowled and didn’t reply. Evidently he wasn’t angry enough to risk annoying the supernatural world’s most renowned assassin. Trev gave Barker a slight nod, grateful for his intervention. Even so, the problem of the Key wasn’t going away. They had to find a solution, otherwise Harris would be right – Trev had killed them all. It was a dispiriting train of thought.
‘We’re safe as long as we stay in the light, right?’ said Sarah.
‘That would appear to be the case,’ Barker replied. He pointed to the stone ring. ‘I believe that device is providing the barrier that keeps the darkness at bay, though how it operates is a mystery to me.’
‘What happened here?’ Young asked. ‘Who were all those dead people? What’s out there in the shadows? How is it calling to us?’
‘Good questions, all,’ said Barker. ‘Would that I had some compelling answers to offer.’
Trev turned his head to look at Oscar. ‘You’re very quiet. Any thoughts?’
‘A few,’ Oscar said. Under normal circumstances he’d have relished the chance to show off his knowledge; the oppressive atmosphere seemed to be affecting him more than the humans. ‘My guess would be that the ring over there was a portal of some kind.’
‘You reckon?’ Trev said. ‘Why?’
‘From the thickness of the conduits it’s obviously built to channel a huge amount of energy,’ Oscar explained. ‘Even now it’s still got enough residual power to maintain this shield.’
‘Maybe that’s all it does,’ suggested McKenzie. ‘It was a last line of defence.’
‘I don’t think so.’ Oscar was getting warmed up. A little of his usual cockiness was returning. ‘The main conduits are set up to direct energy inwards, into the centre of the ring, while the shield is being projected outwards. I think the shield is a secondary effect. I’m almost sure of it.’
‘I don’t have your knowledge of these things, but I find myself inclined to agree, at least regarding the shield.’ Barker folded his arms. ‘However I don’t see how you have determined that the ring is a portal.’
‘I didn’t say I was sure of it,’ Oscar said, ‘but we do know that concentrated psychic energy can create a rift between dimensions. The Key does just that.’
‘But it’s tiny compared to that thing,’ Trev pointed out. He pulled out the Key and held it up. ‘Plus the Key has this crystal in the centre. The large ring doesn’t.’
‘But the design is very similar, don’t you think?’ said Oscar. ‘They both focus the energy into the centre of the structure.’
‘So shouldn’t the large ring have a crystal too?’
‘I think the crystal might act as an amplifier. The device here probably channelled so much energy it didn’t require one.’
‘Perhaps,’ said Barker. His tone was carefully neutral.
‘Well if the shield was here to protect people inside it, where are they?’ said Oscar. ‘Why are all the bodies outside?’
‘Maybe some people were trapped in here, like we are,’ offered McKenzie, ‘and eventually they all… left.’
She glanced at the shadows and everyone knew what she meant. Over time, the constant nagging lure of the darkness would’ve become intolerable.
Oscar shook his head. ‘Then there’d be some sign they were here, surely? Or do you think they gathered up all their possessions to take with them into the dark?’
‘Maybe everyone died before they could get into the shield,’ muttered Harris.
‘Maybe,’ Oscar allowed. ‘I don’t think so, though. I think there were people inside the shield and they got out. The bodies we saw outside were the unlucky ones who got left behind.’
‘So if it’s a portal, let’s see if we can get it working,’ said Harris.
‘How are we going to power it?’ asked Oscar. ‘Even if human psychic energy was compatible with it, which it isn’t, it’d need way more than we have available.’
‘Fine,’ Harris spat. ‘Why are we even talking about the bloody thing then? It’s useless.’
‘It’s keeping the darkness back, so I’m not going to start bad-mouthing it,’ said Rahman.
‘You and me both,’ said Young.
‘Have you got any theories about the darkness itself?’ Trev asked Oscar. ‘What is it?’
‘I’ve never seen anything like it before,’ the kitten admitted. ‘I think it’s… sentient, somehow.’
‘What are you saying?’ said McKenzie. ‘You mean the darkness itself, or something hiding in the darkness?’
‘I don’t think there’s anything hiding in there, put it that way,’ said Oscar. ‘It’s an entity in its own right. And it feeds on organic life.’
A prolonged silence followed that remark. The siren call of the thing surrounding them still tugged at Trev’s subconscious. Although moving away from the shadowed area had blunted it somewhat, he could feel it worming deeper into him with every passing minute. One of the group had already succumbed to it; the longer they stayed, the greater the danger for the rest of them.
‘Um,’ said Sarah. She was standing apart from the group. ‘I couldn’t follow the conversation because you were all talking to the cat, but I’ve noticed something.’
‘What is it?’ asked McKenzie.
Sarah turned to look at her. ‘I’m pretty sure the ring of light is getting smaller.’
There was an uneasy pause as everyone squinted at the line of shadow.
‘How can you tell?’ said McKenzie.
‘Look at that pillar,’ Sarah said. ‘When we got here the whole of it was inside the lit area. But
now…’
She pointed. Two-thirds of the pillar was in shadow.
‘Well, that’s not good,’ said Oscar.
‘Not good?’ roared Harris. ‘Not good?! We’re all going to die, you stupid furry wanker!’
‘Aren’t the Stupid Furry Wankers a band?’ said Trev, his mouth switching to smartarse autopilot while his brain ran in circles screaming.
Harris launched himself at Trev with a howl of frustration and anger. The two of them went sprawling on the dusty floor. Trev tried to use some of his energy to soften the fall before realising he didn’t have any. He went down in a tangle of limbs, Harris thrashing at him with his fists. He landed a couple of hits before the other Custodians dragged him away.
‘You killed us all!’ he shouted. ‘You shithead!’
He sat down on the floor next to Barton and began sobbing.
Barker helped Trev to his feet. ‘Are you hurt?’
‘Just bruises,’ said Trev. He had such a large collection of them already, another two were neither here nor there.
McKenzie positioned herself so that she was between Trev and Harris. Her expression was grim.
‘We need a plan. And quickly.’
‘First thing is to try everyone with the Key,’ said Trev. ‘With any luck someone will be able to use it.’
‘And if they can’t?’
‘Well, let’s do the testing first.’
McKenzie favoured him with a flat look that told him all he needed to know about her optimism for that endeavour. Without saying anything she turned and went to round up the Custodians.
‘Why now?’ Trev said, exasperated. ‘Look at the age of this hall. The shield’s been here for hundreds of years, minimum. So why’s it running down now?’
‘The darkness is exerting itself against the shield,’ said Oscar, ‘weakening it.’
‘But why hasn’t it done that before?’
‘Because now we are here,’ Barker replied. ‘The darkness hasn’t pushed against the shield in the past because there was nothing inside it except dead stone.’
‘And now it’s full of tasty morsels,’ said Oscar.
‘Thanks for that image,’ said Trev. ‘It’s not creepy at all.’