The Stolen Child (19 page)

She turned away, the lights of the city filling her eyes.  It was strange how beautiful everything could be, seen from up high, burning bright in the darkness.  She gazed out over the rooftops below them, and for a moment she glimpsed a movement atop one of the nearest towers.  A figure, captured for an instant in the glare of a floodlight.  A shaved scalp, a brown leather jacket, and a familiar silhouette.  Korban's hands cradled something long and slender, raised in her direction.  She heard herself shout a warning just as a flash of light illuminated the man on the rooftop and the rifle he was aiming.
 

When the shot hit him, Justin's body didn't even seem to move.  
T
here was
hardly any
sound.  Part of his coat simply burst open, a small hole glistening dark red inside.  Then
a thunderous crack
shook the sky, and his body went limp.

Someone shouted his name.  She supposed it must have been her.  Her
clutched at
his,
and s
he no longer saw the sky above or the streets below.
 There was only his face, skin pale, eyes distant and unfocused.  S
he shook him
by the shoulders,
screaming his name over and over, screaming at him to wake up, get up, do anything at all.  A dark stain
was
spread
ing
across his
shirt
.  She fumbled at the wound, but she couldn't re
member
what
she was
supposed to do.  There was something about bandages, or pressure, but
the
thoughts seemed to
crowd into one another, and she couldn't make sense of them all
.

“Get up.  Please get up,”
s
he begged, her throat hoarse from screaming.  
Justin gave no answer.  His eyes were fixed on something in the far distance.
 

Her head was spinning.  She seemed to be the only person left who remembered a world where nothing worked like this; as if all the rules of a game had changed, and everyone was just carrying on as if it was normal.  
And yet, in some way it seemed as though everything finally made sense.  As if the rules were at last becoming clear.  All the chaos around them seemed to fall away, and beneath the sound of the wind and the rain there was something else.  Like the feeling you got when you heard a familiar song.  His knife had fallen from his pocket.  She picked it up and unfolded the shining steel blade.
 

She lifted the
knife over her head
, clasping the handle tightly in both hands, and with every ounce of her strength she slammed the point down into the rooftop.  The
knife
s
ank
deep into surface, deeper than she
w
ould have thought possible.  She released the handle and sat back.

At first, nothing
happened
.  She could hear the sound of engines, slower now, as one of the
slim white
ships pulled up alongside the tower.  
T
he men on board
were
getting ready to leap down onto the rooftop.  It didn't seem to matter any more.  
Around Justin's body, the dark crimson pool was slowly spreading.
 

The change began with a grinding sound.  Where the knife had pierced the rooftop a crack began to form, spreading, widening.  She felt the building shake beneath her, and saw the looks on the faces of the men with the guns.  Somewhere below her, she heard the sound of iron girders groaning, and something shattering.

She was tired.  So tired.  
Her body shivered in the cold air as she crawled to Justin's side.  Gently, she pulled his head into her lap and leaned forward, trying to shield his face from the wind.  She saw his lips moving, as he tried to whisper something.  She lowered her face towards his, until she could just about hear him over the thunder of the propellers.
 

“
You did it.  I can feel it, Rachael.
”  
He coughed, violently.  She saw blood on his lips.  "Everything's going to change."
 

For a moment, nothing happened.  Then she felt Justin's body
begin to
dissolve.  One moment he was there
with her
, the faint beat of his heart through his
ribcage
, the rise and fall of his
chest
under her
trembling
hands.  Then
there was a
feeling
like
waving your hand through
a cloud of steam
.  
B
lack smoke flow
ed
out around her.  The men on the boat were shouting.  They looked nervous.  The smoke grew,
rolling
outwards until it filled the whole of the rooftop.  
The dark cloud expanded
as
it rose into the sky,
gathering like a storm overhead
.  
Details began to form, each gleaming feather larger than a kite.
 
The raven's body was so vast that it could have been an aircraft
.  Its glistening black eyes were each the size of a beach ball.  
T
alons, ugly yellow
and
large enough to lift a car, dug deep into the rooftop.  Black wings shook out, the back draft rocking the
tiny
ship as it pulled away
from the rooftop
.  
F
or a moment the curve of the raven's beak seemed like a
cruel
smile.

S
he felt the tower
tremble
beneath her feet
as he took to the air
.  The tiny boat t
urned
to
flee
, but Justin took off after it, wings cutting the air in motions that seemed slow, almost gentle, until she realised just how fast he
was
moving.

She could hear the gunshots ring out like
rain on a pavement
as the crew
opened up with
everything they had.  Tufts of feathers burst loose as blood
poured
from a dozen wounds, but they were
nothing more than pin-pricks
.  Talons lashed out, raking huge gouges into the hul
l
, until one drew a ragged line across the back end of the
deck
and pure white light burst out
from
inside.

The
ship
was bathed in a
crackling haze
as bolts of lightning arced across the hull.  
Justin
reeled back, wing feathers smoking.  She saw the men on the deck collapse, writhing in agony.  One fell over the side, a small dark shape pl
unging
towards the city below.  The ship fell after him,
tumbling out of the sky
.

Looking around, she saw that
the raven
was gone;
that vast black form had disappeared into the darkness
.  She couldn't even hear the sound of his wings now.  
The ship was still falling towards the streets far below
.  The second of the small white boats was also gone.  
P
erhaps, she decided, Justin was off chasing it.  In the distance she saw the larger
airship
swinging around towards them again.  
The building trembled.
 

Hearing a sound, s
he turned and saw a
man's
face
emerge over the side of the rooftop
,
dark skin
crowned with
dark
hair.  Rakesh straightened up, his
red
coat blowing in the wind.  
One hand rested on the hilt of his sword
.  Rachael got to her feet, standing to face the man as he advanced on
her
with a
n icy stare
.

“
You stupid little girl.  Do you have the slightest idea what you've just unleashed?”
 

In spite of the sick feeling in her stomach, Rachael felt a cruel smile touch her lips.
 

“
Screw you, pretty-boy.  None of this woulda happened if you all had just left us alone.”
 

“
None of this would have happened if we'd been willing to do this right the first time,” Rakesh said.
 

The sword gleamed as it slid from the scabbard.  She heard a sound on the wind, like rustling leaves.  Then Justin appeared, cresting the side of the roof, his slipstream blowing her hair wildly.  For a moment he simply hung suspended in the air over the rooftop, before swooping down, long sharp claws raking at the ground.  Rachael looked around in time to see Rakesh roll aside, the talons barely missing him.

As
Justin
wheeled around to swoop in again a bright flash filled the air and she breathed in a hard, metallic scent.  There was a loud 'crack' as the lightning bolt missed Justin by inches.  She turned to see the
larger vessel
flying straight towards them at full speed.  Standing at the prow, feet
firmly
planted
and
a long barrelled weapon of some sort
nestled firmly in the crook of his shoulder,
a man in a tan coat sighted
and snapped off another shot.  Again, the burning smell, as the lightning bolt creased
Justin's
flank, charred black feathers falling away as the raven peeled off, diving below the edge of the tower.  
She called his name, her ragged voice coming out as a sound like metal scraping on metal.
 

Below the body of the
ship she
saw
a
rope ladder dangling.  Her foot resting on the very last rung,
a blonde haired woman in dark clothes
was hanging by one hand, her black cloak rippling in the wind as they neared.  Glass panes rattled and broken shards fell loose in a glittering rain as the
ship
roared overhead.  
At the last second the woman let go
, plu
nging
towards
the rooftop
.  
H
er cloak billowed out like wings.

Rachael
watched
the woman fall.  She was astonished that anyone would even try to drop from that height.  A flash of blonde hair showed amidst the tangle of dark clothes as the woman rolled and came to her feet, breathing hard, eyes
alert
.

Then Rakesh
was on her
, snatching
hold of Rachael's
arm with a grip like iron.  
As she was hauled to her feet, Rachael saw the second of the small white ships had returned.  She could hear the buzz of the propellers as it drew close to the tower.  Looking up, Rakesh gestured at the ship to come closer.  As it neared the rooftop he moved towards the edge, dragging her with him.  She twisted in his grasp, but she couldn't break free.
 

“
H
ands off the girl,”
Rachael heard the strange woman say, in a voice like a whip-crack.
 
Rakesh turned to glance across his shoulder and his expression turned to one of faint amusement
.

“
Ilona?  Fates,
I'd heard the rumours, but... You know I just couldn't believe it really.  That the little
Karvonen
girl was
shacking up
with a
crew
of
explorers
.  With Chandra, of all people.  Amazing.”

“
Tell me, Rakesh, did your father teach you to be an obnoxious little shit, or is it just breeding?
”
the woman
growled.

Sneering, he turned to face her.
 

“
You know,
I
think I
still don't believe it.  I don't think you ever had it in you to run away.  I think your parents finally kicked you out.  
I
t wasn't like they ever had a hope of finding a
respectable
man to take you.  
A little too much wear on the goods, don't you think?
”

Eyes flashing with rage, Ilona took a step forward.  
Then
they all heard the rippling in the air,
the sound coming from somewhere
below the edge rooftop.
 
Rachael looked down and saw the dark shape skimming the surface of the tower, rushing up towards them, and towards the approaching ship.
 

Justin struck the small white boat at its centre, the spine of ship breaking across his shoulder as splinters of the shattered wooden hull rained around him.  The ship fell, two broken halves continuing to disintegrate as they spiralled down towards the city below.
 

Barely slowed by the impact, Justin rolled into a dive, plunging towards the rooftop.  
Talons flashed out
as Rachael dropped to the ground and
Rakesh
threw himself clear
.  Ilona rolled
a
side, bringing up one hand in a
clenched
fist.  The woman's sleeve had fallen back to reveal a fine tracery of silver wrapped around her hand and arm, surmounted by a blue crystal.  Sparks
crackled around
the silver filigree and a bolt of lightning arced out, striking Justin as he passed.  His cry of pain was deafening, but Rachael felt a strange surge of joy as she saw
one wing-tip catch the woman in the side, hurling her backwards.  Ilona tumbled head over heels, nearly tipping over the edge of the rooftop as her limp form skidded to a halt.  For a moment it seemed as if the blow had knocked her out, but to Rachael's astonishment the woman's eyes fluttered open again.  With gritted teeth Ilona pulled herself to her feet.
 

Dipping a wing, Justin wheeled across the sky, coming around for another pass.  Then she heard the sound of propellers growing louder, and in the darkness she made out the shape of the larger ship approaching, the last one still left flying.  Rakesh was on
his feet again and making his way towards her, the sword held loosely at his side.  Then s
he heard a
nother
sound, and
turned
see Ilona charging headlong at them from across
the
rooftop.  Rakesh turned and
readied
his
blade,
but Ilona wasn't coming for him
.  The impact made
Rachael's
head spin,
as one arm caught around her midriff
.  She felt
the rushing wind
and a sickening lurch
in her stomach
as Ilona
carried her
clear off the edge of the roof.  For a moment they
plunged
through open
air, nothing below them but the city streets
.  
A dark shape tore across the sky just above them, a blue light moving in the darkness.  
She caught a glimpse of the trailing rope ladder, as Ilona reached out a hand.