The Last City (39 page)

C
opernicus and Silho followed the Wraith’s ghostly form upwards through the rock tunnel. The echo of chanting voices grew louder and the tar stench of dark-words more suffocating with every step. The tunnel ended on top of a rock ledge overlooking a gigantic chamber.

Copernicus crouched low in the shadows and looked over the drop to the chamber floor far below. All hope abandoned him. A multitude of Skreaf witches and sorcerers, far more than he’d ever imagined existed, stretched out before them. Their voices rose united into one booming drone. It trembled the rock walls and raised bumps all over Copernicus’ flesh. In the middle of the mass of black and grey stood a central pinnacle of rock separated from the rest of the chamber by a chasm on all sides. Heat and steam billowed from the black pit, the mist partially obscuring the hunched form of the High Skreaf, Bellum, standing on the plateau. A Skreaf symbol, triangle, triangle, square, covered the entire surface of the central platform. Bellum had rows of prisoners standing along the lines of the symbol. She was sacrificing them one by one and shoving their bodies backward into the pit.

Diega stood among them, bound and gagged. Copernicus’ eyes shifted from the Fen to the Mazurus Machine perched on one edge of the plateau. The machine was an exact likeness of the hologram he had seen at the Galleria – a large spherical structure comprised of thousands of rotatable magnifying glass panels. The witches had placed the machine upside down with the trapdoor into the hollow device, usually at the base of the Mazurus, now at the top, and the telescopic core magnifier, normally pointing into the sky, now extending down into the pit – towards the seal over the Envirious Realm. From their vantage point, Copernicus couldn’t see the head of the telescope, where he knew the Skreaf must have placed the ring Bellum took from Shawe. The Mazurus was vibrating slightly, making a humming sound as though warming up. Copernicus cursed under his breath, knowing that for the machine to be making such sounds the witches must have taken the original ring. He touched the shape of the replica in his pocket.

‘There’s Jude,’ Silho whispered beside Copernicus and pointed to an altar half-hidden in the shadows of the Mazurus. The silver-skinned tracker lay bound to the rock, and pieces of SevenM’s smashed body were scattered on the ground beside him.

‘I can’t see Shawe,’ Silho said.

The Wraith hissed from the tunnel darkness behind them, ‘He’s chained below, further down in the pit with the other prisoners. They are to be sacrifices for the Morsmalus as he rises.’

‘What else do you know?’ Copernicus asked, keeping his eyes on Diega as Bellum cut her way gradually closer to his soldier.

‘When I followed the Skreaf here from the holding prison, I saw them positioning the magnifying glasses of the Mazurus outwards. When Bellum slaughters the Ar Antarian and lets his blood flow into the pit, the Skreaf will unite in one curse focused through the central magnifier of the machine downward towards the Envirious Realm. That is when the seal will break and the Morsmalus will be freed.’

‘Did you try to get the ring?’ Copernicus asked.

‘Yes,’ the Wraith replied. ‘It is in the very end of the machine below, near the prisoners. It is guarded by a Skreaf and locked behind a grate of steel, cursed so that I could not pass through it. To open the steel would require a great deal of physical strength.’

Immediately Copernicus thought of Shawe. After a moment’s consideration, he said to Silho and the Wraith, ‘This is what we’re going to do. We free Shawe, then he and Raine get the ring. The witches need the magnification of their curses focused onto the seal in order to open the realm, but for our purposes we don’t need the core magnifier to be functioning. We just need to get inside the machine and change the magnifying panels to face inwards on Silho instead of outwards on them. Then Silho’s skill will be magnified and she can drain them.’

Silho eyed the multitude of Skreaf and doubt shadowed her face, but she still nodded in agreement to the plan.

Copernicus’ thoughts went to the equipment they had seen in Englan Chrisholm’s cell. He assumed that was Bellum’s backup plan – to have Kry on standby in case anything went wrong with Jude. He could only hope Eli knew what was happening.

He said to Raine, ‘Take us to Shawe.’

The Wraith stepped into the wall and he saw a ripple moving along the surface.

He and Silho hurried to keep up, running doubled-over along the ledge. They stayed with the shadows until they found a hole in the rock leading down into a tunnel. Copernicus lowered Silho into it then dropped down beside her. They followed the Wraith through a maze of sloping tunnels and turns leading into the ground. They finally came to an open doorway cut out of the rock. It faced the central stone pillar with the plateau far above them and the abyss far below. Copernicus looked down into the darkness. It was shifting, struggling, a distorted groaning-scream rising from its depths as the Morsmalus bellowed to be freed. Hot steam scorched Copernicus’ face. The floor and walls around them shivered.

‘There.’ Raine pointed a thin grey arm.

Copernicus leaned out through the doorway and saw Shawe, close by, chained to the rock. His arms were wrapped in front of him and his head hung low to his chest. Sensing eyes on him, Copernicus looked up and around the walls of the pit. Hundreds of other prisoners were chained in a similar way. They were mainly spectral-breeds, with binding bands around their heads to stop them dissipating to escape. They watched him with terrified faces. Some distance above them, he could see the head of the core telescopic magnifier of the Mazurus Machine. Beside the magnifier, a Skreaf stood on a metal walkway fastened all the way around the central pillar. The witch was stepping along the walkway, searching the mist for any disturbances. When she had gone around to the other side of the pinnacle, Copernicus called out with a lowered voice, ‘Shawe, wake up . . . Shawe!’

The gangster stirred and lifted his head. He blinked bleary eyes then focused on the nothingness below his feet. He cursed and pedalled his legs, dislodging rocks from all around him.

‘Keep still!’ Copernicus ordered and Shawe’s attention snapped in their direction.

The witch reappeared above them and Copernicus ducked back into the shadows. She moved gradually around again and out of sight. Copernicus stepped out onto the wall and walked to Shawe. He grabbed the gangster’s arms and said, ‘Break out.’

‘You won’t be able to hold me,’ Shawe said.

‘Do it!’

Shawe inhaled deeply, then tensed his muscles and the chains buckled and broke. He dropped and Copernicus held him dangling over the black chasm. The commander walked backwards, straining to keep a grip on the gangster’s massive bulk. When he reached the others, he and Silho dragged Shawe up into the tunnel. Shawe used the wall to help himself stand.

‘Where are we?’ he asked.

‘At the gateway to the Envirious Realm,’ Copernicus told him. ‘The Skreaf are above us. They have the machine and Jude. I need you to break into the machine and remove the ring. Can you see the platform up there with the large black structure? That’s where the band is, in the head of the core magnifier. The Wraith will show you.’

Shawe gazed upwards to the magnifier and further to the glint of the Mazurus on the plateau above. His green eyes scanned over the other trapped prisoners.

‘I can’t see him,’ he said.

‘Have you seen a red-haired boy among the prisoners?’ Copernicus asked Raine.

‘Yes, further down,’ she said.

‘Where?’ Shawe demanded. He moved to the edge, looking as though he was about to jump. Copernicus grabbed his arm.

‘If he’s here, we’ll find him, but first we have to stop the Skreaf or he’s dead anyway.’

Shawe opened his mouth to argue, but even he saw it was irrefutable. A struggle of emotions twisted his face.

‘What do you want me to do?’ he eventually growled.

‘Take this,’ Copernicus pressed the replica metal band into Shawe’s hand. ‘Replace the original with the copy so the witches don’t suspect. Buy us some time.’

‘What are you going to do?’ Shawe asked.

‘Silho and I will go up to the top, get inside the machine and point the magnifiers inward. Silho can use her skill to destroy the Skreaf all at once.’

‘How are we getting up there?’ Shawe asked, nodding to the platform.

‘We’re climbing,’ Copernicus said. ‘Up the central pillar. The mist will give us some cover.’ He turned to the Wraith. ‘Help Shawe swap the rings, then start freeing your people. Use this, it will cut their binding bands.’ He gave her his own blade.

The Wraith regarded him with her strange grey eyes, then took the blade and hid it in her moth-wing cloak.

Copernicus waited again until the Skreaf guarding the core magnifier had vanished from sight, then he leapt out over the abyss. He smashed against the surface of the central pillar and grappled with the rock. He managed to get a handhold and drag his feet underneath him. Sweat dribbled down his face and back.

‘Throw Brabel to me,’ he called to Shawe.

The big gangster swept Silho up, and before she could panic, hurled her over the abyss. Copernicus caught her and she grasped onto him with suffocating tightness. Her nails dug into his flesh.

‘Climb onto my back,’ he whispered.

She obeyed, freeing up his hands.

‘Now you,’ he said to Shawe.

The gangster cursed, sank low then launched himself out. Copernicus saw he was falling short and lunged forward to grab his arm. They connected and he swung Shawe up to the pillar. Shawe managed to grip the rocks and stayed there, frozen. The Wraith’s face appeared beside him.

‘We’re heading for the top. Start climbing, don’t look down,’ Copernicus said to Shawe.

‘Shove it up your arse,’ Shawe muttered, his face blanched white. He reached out a shaky hand and hauled himself up, half an arm span at a time. Copernicus left him quickly behind. Carrying Silho on his back, he walked upwards on the rock surface with silent stealth. When they came to the steel walkway, he moved underneath it, waited for the witch to go to the opposite side, then hauled them up and over it. He spared a momentary glance for the core lens, a massive tubular structure reaching all the way to the top of the pillar where it joined with the Mazurus body, then he kept moving. Staying in the shadows of the telescope, he wound his way to the top, always keeping himself and Silho on the other side of the witch. They came to a place just below the plateau where the magnifier was connected with the rest of the machine. He reached out and opened one of the glass panels for them to enter the Mazurus.

E
li’s gran’ma had always said that bravery was not great people doing great acts but normal people facing their fears. It was one of the many sayings she’d used to manipulate him to go to school, which he’d both feared and hated. She’d said if he didn’t study and pay attention he would never amount to anything. She’d said he had a lot to prove because of his
condition
, that he had to work harder than everybody else, be stronger, be smarter, grow taller, otherwise no one would ever accept him and he would never have any friends. So the news that he had dropped out of school to become the world’s greatest inventor had not gone down too well. She said she had failed. She cried the days into weeks and the guilt had almost drowned him – almost, but not quite. He wondered what she’d say to him now if she could see him tearing through a dark tunnel beneath the city streets, his face smeared with dirt and cobwebs tangling his wings. If she could see him running towards the danger instead of away like everyone else – a normal person facing his fears. He wasn’t sure what her exact wording would be, but he highly doubted that ‘brave’ would make any appearance in the conversation.

Eli felt a very wide, half-crazed and most definitely terrified grin stretch across his face. The fact that Gran’ma would be absolutely appalled by what he was now doing made him absolutely sure he was doing the right thing for him. Sad but true.

He increased his pace and heard Ev’r stumble and curse behind him. Her blonde hair was still streaked with purple from the medicine dunking he’d given her. It kind of suited her. He felt a surge of affection for the woman. He didn’t know if he would have had the courage to come this far if she hadn’t been with him, at times dragging him.

A set of stairs appeared right in front of his feet. He skidded to a stop and Ev’r collided with his back.

‘Sorry,’ he whispered. ‘My fault.’

‘Really?’ she said dryly, rubbing her arm.

Eli stared down the shadow-blackened steps. A rubbery burnt tinge to the air tickled his nose.

‘Dark magics,’ Ev’r said. ‘We’re close. The energy is all channelling this way.’

She pointed and Eli held up his torchlight. The shadows were flowing like black rivers down the walls on either side of the stairs.

‘They’re summoning for a curse – something big,’ Ev’r said.

Eli swallowed back his fear. They headed down the steps and came out into a lower tunnel. The smell of burning was stronger and thicker here. It made his eyes water.

Ev’r dragged him back. ‘Stay behind me.’

They crept down the hallway, keeping to the shadows. The roof shuddered above them, raining dirt down on their heads. Ev’r gave a sudden gasp and clutched at her stomach.

‘Are you alright?’ Eli held her shoulder.

She didn’t reply, just straightened up and looked into the darkness behind them. She studied the shadows. Eli shone his torchlight back, but couldn’t see anything, though small bumps rose all over his skin. He heard something like an animal whimpering, then a hissing whispering in the distance.

Ev’r drew in a sharp breath. ‘Quick, run!’ She grabbed his arm and they broke into a sprint, their boots pounding on the concrete floor. Eli had to use his wings to keep up with Ev’r.

They came to the end of the tunnel and saw a closed door ahead of them. The shadows were filtering through a crack beneath the door. Eli reached for the handle, but Ev’r shoved him out of the way. She snatched up a piece of rock from the ground and dropped it from above onto the handle. There was a hiss of magics and the handle turned black. Ev’r put a hand beneath her shirt and shoved open the door with the fabric as a shield for her skin.

They moved cautiously into the room. Eli stared around at a makeshift laboratory illuminated by a dull blue globe. Shelves of bottled organs and distorted creatures floating in coloured liquid lined the walls, blackened with the living stains of Skreaf magics. Operating benches were bolted down in the centre of the room. Fresh blood, purple under the blue light, had pooled on the steel of the benches and was dripping onto the floor. The hissing, scuttling noises sounded again, closer behind them. Ev’r slammed the door shut. She ripped the Morsus Ictus out of its sheath and dropped to her knees, scratching a symbol into the ground in front of the door. The lines were black and smoking as though the blade had burned the floor. Ev’r whispered some words over the symbol then stood. Sweat trickled down the sides of her face. She grabbed Eli’s arm and dragged him to the opposite wall. She pressed her hands against the stones, closed her eyes and whispered more words. The stones began to glow and shiver. They slid apart, one after another, creating an opening in the wall into a pitch-black room. The door rattled behind them. Something hit it hard, and the symbol Ev’r had created sparked. Ev’r shoved Eli through the opening and he shone his torch around the room.

The beam trembled in his grasp. His lips parted and a soft sound of shock escaped him. The large room was packed full of cages with people hunched inside them, blinking up at him with eyes full of terror and despair. The captives were people of all ages and races, children and adults, Ar Antarians, Androts, human-breeds, Fens and many spectral-breeds. He recognised numerous faces from missing persons files he had seen.

Eli looked back at Ev’r. She stood facing the door. It was shaking now and the floor all around her symbols was cracking. Ev’r slid her rucksack off her back and lowered it to the ground. Something about the gesture made Eli’s heart seize up.

‘Ev’r, come on!’ He held out his hand to her. ‘Come through!’

She spoke without looking at him, her eyes fixed on the door, ‘Keep going. Find Kry.’

‘No! Not without you!’ He pushed back through the opening and she rounded on him.

‘I said, keep going!’ she snarled.

Eli saw the blackness of the Ravien was back and spreading rapidly up her arms. Scales were forming around her neck and her jaw was distending as he watched. Eli stood, horrified, as Ev’r drowned in the form of the beast.

‘No.’ Tears stung his eyes. ‘I found the cure.’

‘There is no cure,’ Ev’r said. Her voice trembled as she held onto the last moments of her self. ‘Go. I’ll hold them back for as long as I can.’

The door shuddered, about to give. The mist of the Skreaf seeped through the sides.

‘I won’t leave you,’ he sobbed.

She reached out, took his hand in hers and whispered, ‘My friend . . . I’m finished. Keep going.’

An uncontrollable and alien growl distorted her face and she shoved him back through the opening. She struggled to speak some words and the bricks closed back over, leaving Eli a final glimpse of Ev’r’s eyes turning black as the Skreaf materialised behind her. A terrible scream shook the wall and Eli cried out, ‘Ev’r!’

Other sobbing voices joined his in the darkness.

Eli scrambled to his feet and snatched up his torch.

‘Don’t leave us!’ someone screamed.

He knew he didn’t have time to help the captives, but couldn’t bring himself to leave them all trapped. Running to the closest cage, he used his blade to prise open the lock. The prisoner, a human-breed woman, pushed out through the door.

‘Give me something. I want to help,’ she said to him.

He handed her a smaller knife and she worked beside him, freeing more captives, as the screaming and smashing from the laboratory room intensified. Eli cringed at every sound and cried for Ev’r. Some of the prisoners burst out of their cages, others stayed hunched inside grasping the bars. The captives helped each other to drag out the reluctant.

When enough of the prisoners were freed to help the others to escape, Eli said, ‘I have to keep going. Do any of you know where the witches took an Androt by the name of Kry 939993?’

‘Yes, I do.’ A machine-breed stepped forward. ‘Through there.’ He pointed to the wall beside them. Eli ran to it and shone the torchlight over solid bricks.

‘There must be a hidden door,’ Eli said. ‘I don’t know how to access it.’

‘Let me,’ an Ar Antarian said. He pulled back one metal fist and smashed it into the bricks over and over again. The wall started to crumble and all the captives pressed forward, helping to pull away the bricks. The spectral-breeds among them, now able to access their skills without the binding bands around their heads, whispered Cos magics to lift the rocks and dump them against the opposite wall to reinforce it. When there was a gap big enough, Eli pushed through and almost slipped as the ground shifted under his feet. He grabbed the wall to right himself and shone the torchlight downward. He was standing on an enormous pile of books that covered the whole floor.

‘Be careful – the ground is unstable,’ he told the others as they climbed through behind him.

‘I can hear something,’ a human-breed woman with feline bloodline marks said. ‘Through there.’ She pointed to the wall ahead of them, where a glowing outline of red light revealed another hidden entrance. Eli could hear a faint chanting and saw the shadows were flowing in through the wall. He shivered, feeling like spiders were crawling all over his skin. He forced himself forward, trudging through the books. The prisoners behind him coughed, suffocated by the dark magics smothering the air. He turned back to them.

‘You should all leave now. Go down that tunnel for as far as you can and be careful. War has broken out above us.’

He looked back to the wall and heard the shuffle and slide of books as the people moved away. Terrible feelings of aloneness and terror threatened to overwhelm him. He blinked sweat out of his eyes, lifted his blade to the stone wall and tried to prise open the door. In his mind he whispered a constant prayer to the Khaiti God –
please give me strength
.

The door refused to budge no matter how hard he shoved and pushed it. He strained, shaking from the exertion, and eventually slid to his knees, panting. He leaned his forehead against the rocks. He just couldn’t do it alone. A shadow fell over him and he raised his head. Caesar K-Ruz and a mass of other bosses and gangsters had surrounded him. Some of the prisoners had also stayed back. Caesar nodded to him and Eli rose on trembling legs. Everyone pressed their hands against the bricks and he felt them shifting. The door swung open. As it did, a blast of red light and chanting voices shoved Eli back. He shielded his eyes and blinked into an area lined with old prison cells and packed with Skreaf all facing the end of the block. In the last cell, Eli saw the struggling form of the Androt Kry tied down to a bench. A Skreaf stood over him with a knife. The demon’s eyes locked onto Eli and every Skreaf in the room spun his way. There was half a second of absolute silence in which Eli heard his heart thud twice, then a yell exploded behind him and he was barged aside as the gangsters and captives stormed the room. They wielded bricks and weapons, smashing into the stunned Skreaf. Chaos broke out as the witches fought back.