Belonging Read online

  For a moment I became angry at his insistence that I flee, but then I realised the exit was not merely made of wood but was covered in metal panelling and rivets. Auto chirped away beneath my coat, and instinctively I opened it and let him fly free. He immediately buzzed around the attacker's heads, causing them to thrash around at the bird, missing each time.

  That was my opportunity. The metal immediately flew from the door. Sheets and bolts flying through the air, some hitting the remaining men while others wrapped themselves around the feet of the winged creature. To my horror, they were immediately snapped apart as she ripped her limbs free. She was too strong.

  She charged forward towards Lucas. Colin was now on the ground, holding his side. I could see Lucas was protecting him, but his magic was diminishing, and he was using the weapons from the fallen to hold off the other attackers. In the distance whistles heralded the imminent arrival of the museum guards.

  I looked up and noticed a metal clasp contained a gas lamp. It was small but then I realised the stone was masking a network of gas pipes which ran the length of the room.

  The Fury was almost upon Lucas. I focused my thoughts upwards and masonry started to fall as the pipes tore free from the ceiling. I arched them downwards towards the monster about to end him, its claws and wings preparing for a final attack. Broken as they were, the gas began to flow freely from the pipe ends. I steered them towards the Fury as she raised a clawed hand. I needed a spark.

  Policemen appeared where the metal door used to be. The Fury stopped in mid-swipe, turning around to see. The officers promptly fell back in horror on seeing the monster.

  I smashed the pipes together trying to form any kind of ignition, but none was forthcoming, then Auto came to mind, still chirping and narrowly avoiding being caught by the few attackers still fighting.

  “Spark the gas from the pipe!” I shouted upwards.

  The small bird pivoted and flew to the nearest pipe. Before I could worry if he could get away, the whole room lit with a fireball and the Fury screamed in agony, falling to the ground. I leapt forward and pulled the necklace from her neck. She swung around to try to pull it back, but she shrank in size doing so, until just a regular woman looked back at me.

  As she tried to get back to her feet, I pulled some of the pipes apart, coiling them around her body, forcing her back to the floor, while others I sent to the door. They slammed into the frame, creating a temporary barrier to the uniforms on the other side.

  I staggered forward to Lucas, then with his help, pulled Colin to his feet.

  Stepping over the bodies, we walked quickly up the stairs and made our way to the roof.

  CHAPTER THREE

  I dropped the necklace onto the circular glass table and sat heavily in one of the seats. Colin was being looked after just outside. I wondered where Daniel was.

  “How did they know we would be there!” shouted Lucas. He pulled his coat off uneasily, revealing blood red slices in his shirt underneath. “They were there for Cog, not just the necklace.”

  “You need to get those wounds sutured,” said Dax.

  “Who knew we were going?” I said.

  Eyes shifted uneasily from person to person around the room.

  “Not many,” said Charlotte. “It would appear we could have a spy in our midst.”

  She looked at Dax. “I want the guards doubled on all exits to this building. No one in or out unless someone in this room allows it.”

  He nodded, got to his feet, and left.

  “But that also means they know where we are,” said Lucas. “They know of this place.”

  “Why didn’t they just come here then?” I asked.

  “They may well do that now. But they had an opportunity to try and take you while you were less protected. From the sounds of it they almost succeeded by using the power of that thing,” said Charlotte. We looked at the necklace. She stood and held her hand above it. After a moment she sat back down. “It’s powerful, but it only gets us part of the way. We need more. I was hoping to avoid this, but we are going to have to return to the Factory.”

  I went to ask what is there when the door to the meeting room opened and one of the large beast-like men leaned inside.

  “The doc,” he grumbled. Charlotte nodded in reply. He then stood to one side and Daniel appeared, snow still on the shoulders of his dark coat. A tinge of relief moved through me. He entered as the guard moved back, closing the door.

  “Where were you?” asked Charlotte.

  “We needed medical supplies. I… umm had to break into a local apothecary. I left some shillings as payment for what I took and the damage.” He looked around the room at the eyes fixed on him. “Did your mission succeed?” He looked at the necklace. “You got what you needed?”

  It was obvious I was the only one in the room that put any trust in the medical student. “We were ambushed by another Fury. I had not met her before.”

  He pulled his coat open, brushing the snow from his shoulders. He produced a thick wad of newspapers and placed them on his lap while still looking for answers from the others. “Ambushed? How did they know?”

  “That is what we would like to know…” said Charlotte.

  A flash of recognition of his situation came to him. “You think I had anything to do with that? I went to get supplies to help!”

  His question was only met with silence. He grabbed the newspapers and slammed them on the table. “I have people to see to.” He turned, his eyes catching mine. I wanted to say something, but instead words felt awkward, so I remained quiet.

  “Daniel,” said Charlotte “Do not leave again, unless you have an escort. Is that understood?”

  “Fine,” he said over his shoulder, then left, the door closing behind him.

  She looked at me. “Do you think we can trust him?”

  I wanted to say yes. “I think so…”

  Lucas was looking down at the series of headlines across the stack of papers. I stood and joined him. I looked at the bold words and artist renditions. A number of them mentioned a reward for information leading to the capture of the ‘Witch.’

  “Two thousand pounds is a lot of money…” said Lucas. “There may be individuals within this building who may be tempted by an offer such as this.”

  “Unfortunately, you are probably right.” said Charlotte. “Enemies within and without. We need to prepare for an attack that could come at any time. From Hades' forces, casuals, or both.”

  “Then, she can’t be here.”

  “‘She’ will be where she likes,” I replied.

  Lucas briefly frowned. “On the bright side, we avoided being caught and killed, and we now have that thing.” He looked at the necklace.

  “I think it makes the wearer stronger.” I said.

  Charlotte nodded. “That is my conclusion as well. But we’re running out of time. We need to return to the Factory and claim one of my items from my vault.” She looked at Lucas. “Are you capable of that journey?”

  He winced, moving his shoulder around. “I’m right as rain.”

  “Then we leave within the hour.”

  I suddenly remembered the map left to me from Mr Gladwell. “What about the council of Gods?”

  “For now, Cog, we stick to our plan. We will get these items, then we can move to the next phase.”

  “What’s that?” I asked.

  “Capturing Hades.”

  *****

  I looked at the destitute faces that inhabited the shadows of the other three floors of the Palace. Small fires burned in barrels, raising the temperature to above freezing but people still huddled together in groups, eager to share what information they had. Auto circled high above, moving in and out of a cloud of smoke which hung below the arched ceiling. He swooped down, landing on my shoulder, and made a noise which was more cough than chirp.

  I waved at Colin as I approached the blanket he was lying on. I was somewhat surprised to see him in conversation with Daniel.

  �
��Hey!” said Colin cheerily. His injuries appeared to not be hurting him anymore.

  “Are you alright?”

  “Yeah! Daniel fixed me up good! I feel better than I did before!”

  I looked to the tall man next to him. He smiled back. “You can heal? I thought…”

  “Yes, although when I’m being a student, I try not to use my powers as I feel it’s cheating. Maybe one day I won’t have these gifts, then how would I help? Anyway, I knew Colin and you were umm… courting, so…”

  I ran forward and threw my arms around him.

  “Hey, she’s my girl, remember!” said Colin with a smile.

  I pulled back. “Thank you so much.”

  “I… just want to help.”

  “Actually, that’s partly why I came down here. I’m going to the Shadow Factory with Charlotte and Lucas. I was hoping you would come with us?” I looked also at Colin who was getting to his feet. “And you too if you feel up to that?”

  “Of course I’m coming, I love that place!”

  I smiled. He was lying.

  “They trust me to go with you?” said Daniel.

  “I trust you.”

  A short while later we were back on the roof, the snow was still falling, and I was sure it was even colder if that were possible. Around my ankles and wrists, I had quickly forged metal bands from the contents of the chests in the store room. They chafed, but I wasn’t going to be left exposed again without some metal to manipulate.

  Lucas and Colin moved away from the rear of the dirigible. The engine back there was chugging, pushing out small amounts of steam that was instantly turning to snow and falling to the ground.

  Colin moved to Charlotte, who was wearing a black coat of some kind of fur, and helped her into the cabin while Lucas waved Daniel and I towards him.

  I noticed Daniel stiffened his back.

  “You’re doing fine,” I said to him.

  “What… If the others are there. Grace or Byron?”

  I smiled. “If they are, then I’m glad you are with us.”

  He nodded in reply and we trekked across the ice-covered surface and climbed inside.

  Charlotte was back in the driving seat again. She noticed my surprise. “My craft so I pilot it!”

  I smiled in agreement. Lucas sat alongside her, while myself, Colin, and Daniel sat in the rear seats.

  “It shouldn’t take us long to get there,” said Charlotte.

  Ropes dropped to the roof, and the dirigible smoothly took to the sky.

  “What if there’s an attack on the Palace when we’re not here?” I said.

  “Then better for us!” she replied.

  “Oh…”

  She smiled. “I jest. Let them try. The Palace was designed to focus magical energy of those inside. Those glass windows might look easy to penetrate, but there are powerful forces that keep the building standing. Dax is in charge of its defence. It will still be there when we return.”

  “It’s not a long-term solution though,” said Lucas.

  “It was never meant to be,” said Charlotte. “Let’s concentrate on the task ahead. I will land on the first Chimney, but we are not going to be using the elevator to descend. Instead we are going to move down within the chimney itself…”

  “Umm… I… er… can’t fly,” said Colin.

  “I was hoping the young lady next to you, could help with that.”

  The eyes of the two next to me looked in my direction. “I’m fairly certain I can’t fly either. I’ve tried.” A chirp came from the inside of my coat. “Yes, you can, I cannot,” I said to Auto.

  “Actually, you can… in a manner of speaking. Remember the bridge in the factory you floated to the floor?”

  “Yes…”

  “That was full of people, and they were flying until they hit the ground.”

  She had a point. Frozen homes and factories sailed by beneath us.

  “I… don’t know if I can do that when I’m the one being… lifted.”

  “There are five of us, the bridge contained twenty at least. This will be easy for you…just as long as the wards are still not working, we should be fine.” She turned the steering wheel, banking the craft to the right, and we started to descend.

  “Wards?” Everyone said at once.

  “Yes, the ones that I hoped would keep Hades out. The stone demons.”

  “What?!” I said.

  “I’m sure it will be fine! No need to worry.” She pulled her side window down and leaned out. “We are directly above the chimney. You can get out.”

  I pushed the door open and looked down at the metal grating above the void beneath it. The metal rungs were covered in ice and glistened in the moonlight. Snow fluttered past my face, and I stepped out then dropped down, making a loud crunching noise on landing. Lucas did the same, bringing a rope with him and tied it to the grating, then he and Daniel helped Charlotte descend once the engine had been powered down.

  The wind swirled and the large craft above us, strained against its rope. “We shouldn’t be too long, or it might not be here when we come back up!” shouted Lucas.

  Charlotte nodded and pointed downwards. “Your turn!” she shouted to me. “Takes us down to the bottom.”

  Lucas lit an oil lamp, and we moved towards the centre of the metal floor covering the chimney, making sure to stand close to each other.

  “Quickly now dear. The wards might be activating as I speak.”

  Hell…

  Even though I was losing the feeling in my nose and fingers, I focused as best I could on the metal below us. A whining came from the beams, and it dropped a few inches on one side, making us lose our balance. Lucas went to hold Charlotte's arm, which she promptly brushed away. Then the other side fell, and I was fairly sure we were floating free. Charlotte pointed down with one finger, her hands encased in black leather gloves.

  “Yes, um… I’ll try…”

  We started to descend, slowly at first, but then faster as the bricks around us slid upwards. The smell of soot filled the air, becoming thicker the deeper we got.

  “Ground!” shouted Lucas, startled by our impending crash.

  I halted our movement and we all fell awkwardly to the side before recapturing our balance.

  Charlotte held out her hand. A green light formed in her palm, which then floated ahead of her, lighting a ledge and door against the far wall. Immediately she marched forward and floated across the gap. “This way,” she said.

  She opened the door and we jumped across and followed her into a grey-walled corridor, with the occasional vertical iron beam to support the roof.

  Lucas stayed at the rear, making sure nothing was following us, while Charlotte's strange green orb lit our path ahead. Left then right, then another ten yards of corridor, until we reached a dead end and another piece of tunnel which looked like all the others we had just passed.

  “We’re here,” she said.

  Before anyone could comment on what appeared to be a plain wall, she uttered some words, then thrust both of her hands out in front. The wall flew backwards as if on a pulley, and before we knew it, we were all looking at more corridor, but this one had a door to the side. She walked forward and pulled a chain from around her neck. From it she took a small key and slid it into a hardly noticeable hole. The tunnel filled with a churning, then a clicking sound, and the door popped open.

  “Follow me,” she said, ducking slightly to move into the new enclosure. Her green orb went with her.

  “I’ll wait here,” said Daniel. “See if anyone comes up on us.”

  “I would prefer to wait. Why don’t you go inside with the others?” said Lucas.

  Daniel frowned and followed Charlotte inside, taking Colin with him.

  I looked at Lucas, but he remained resolute.

  I shook my head and moved inside with the others. The room was small, being only ten or so feet square, a lamp of some type burned on the far wall, and each side was lined with shelves. Charlotte though was ign
oring most of the items, moving from one to another looking for something specific.

  “Cor, what did this used to be?” said Colin, holding a small lizard-like skull in his hands, but with horns across its centre.

  I silently mouthed, ‘Put it down,’ to him. He frowned and did so.

  Suddenly she stopped and reached to the back of a shelf, pulling out a small cylindrical leather box. Her eyes were wide as she brought it close to her face. “This is all we need.”

  “What is it?” said Daniel.

  She looked at him suspiciously. “You’ll find out later, but now we go.”

  We moved quickly outside, and she closed the vault.

  “Seems clear still,” said Lucas, waving his lamp back the way we came.

  He led and we hurried through the tunnels, quickly coming upon the entrance to the chimney. I looked up at the snow, now heavier, falling towards us. Charlotte drifted across, while the others jumped back on the grating. I went to do the same, when dust began to fall with the icy flakes, some landing on my shoulder. I looked back up trying to make sense of the darkness above.

  “I think there’s—”

  “Demons!” shouted Charlotte. “Back into the tunnels!”

  A chunk of masonry fell through the air, just missing Lucas, and slammed into the grating, but not before they had jumped free back to the ledge and inside the doorway.

  “Come on!” shouted Charlotte, moving away from me. I looked at the grating, then in a moment’s thought, sent it careering upwards, it smashed into dark shapes climbing down.

  I turned and ran inside, not getting ten feet before bricks and metal flew past me. I decided not to look back but instead caught up with the others who were now running along the corridors.

  “Where are we going!” I shouted to them.

  “There should be a tunnel which leads to the sewers, from there I have no idea!” shouted Charlotte from the gloom up ahead.

  The crunching and crashing sounds behind us had now stopped. And we descended a small staircase, into an even narrower space, this one with an arched ceiling covered in green, frozen lichen.