This Deadly Engine Read online

  Perrin said, “I have never heard of any type of creature possessing two minds in one body. I will grant they are strange.”

  Two minds in one body…not unlike my present situation.

  “Hmmm,” Mister Mercy said, “but he must have earned favor with his masters in order to see the freaks in this exhibit. Hmmm, but I wonder why he chooses us to stare at with that ugly, disgusting eye?”

  I wanted to laugh at them, to throw their words back in their faces. And though I wanted to savor the situation, and though I had a desire to shine a bright light in their eyes and threaten them with death if they refused to obey, I…showed restraint.

  Only when Cavendish pulled on my leg did I realize I had stopped too long.

  Yells of surprise and complaints of being pushed aside arose from all around as the skeleton army descended on the building.

  “This way,” Cavendish said. He led me between two rows of tanks. We stopped beside one and his expression spoke far more than words.

  Ravenlea floated in her prison, a spectacle for all to see. As before, not a single hair grew on her body and she still wore the silver mask over her nose and mouth.

  Aimee said, “Give yourself up, Alexander. You are risking the lives of those we have trapped in this building if you continue to run. I will not hesitate to kill them.”

  The most disappointing part of her statement was the fact that she meant what she said. I could not ask her to spare them or appeal to her decency because she had none.

  I had to stop her.

  Perrin said, “We can fight. This is why they asked me to help in this matter. You are the thief. I am the warrior.”

  True…yet… “How many machines can you destroy?”

  “Perhaps a dozen, maybe fifteen.”

  We faced at least three times that number, plus we had to account for Aimee. We also needed to protect the real people.

  I leaned down and whispered, “Any ideas, Cavendish?”

  My friend checked the watches on each arm. “I can create a cloud of smoke, I can blow several away, and I can give us a temporary shield to protect us from Aimee’s bombs.”

  He confirmed my fear. We were hopelessly out-numbered. It would not be a matter of if we could win, but one of how long we lasted before we died. Essentially, we had nothing except the Gray Heart.

  I handed it to Cavendish. “Can you open the locket?”

  He stared at me and his beards shook. “Ash… we don’t know what it will do. If the stories are true…”

  I put a hand on his shoulder. “Then I die. We are about to anyway. Aimee or Schaever or Reckard will kill me if I surrender. I refuse to give them the satisfaction.” When he hesitated, I added, “Please. Let’s see what the Heart truly does.”

  And besides, what if I actually survive?

  “But you will die.” He shook his head slowly.

  “If I die, but save you, then you can take the Heart back to your world. You can be the hero to your people that you should be. You can use that status to save Ravenlea. And perhaps the Donnavans.”

  “But you will die.” Despite his concern, when the shadows of the skeletons shifted around us, he worked on the lock with a pick. Within moments, a light click sounded. He opened the casing to reveal a small, burgundy-colored stone. Jagged edges outlined a rough, cube shape.

  Perrin shuddered at the sight of the Heart.

  Cavendish whispered, “It looks so small. Is it truly as powerful as the legends claim?”

  “There is only one way to learn.” I shook it from the casing before Cavendish stopped me. Not knowing what else to do, I closed my hand around it. “Are there magic words to activate it? Any strange ritual—”

  The world spun, twisted, then turned inside-out. It felt as if someone took my belly and pulled it through my throat with a hook. I only had time to think about releasing the contents of my most recent meal before being consumed by a familiar darkness.

  A tingling sensation started at the top of my head. It grew stronger as it moved throughout my body. It built into a bolt of electricity that made me shake. When it shot out of my fingers and toes, it left behind a feeling of complete numbness.

  Magic elixirs always created the sensation of a void. The Heart, though, created one much more powerful. This one took me to an almost hopeless and a very helpless point. It created a longing for something distant. That something called with the same familiarity, warmth, and affection of a mum calling for her child. To go to it, to be embraced by it, to be consumed by it meant everything.

  Yet…part of me pulled away. To touch the source of the longing meant pain. And death.

  The desire for self-preservation resisted the longing to the point that pain grew in my belly. At the same time, a light appeared. As it grew larger, the need to embrace the light-filled me. Continued resistance increased the pain within. I doubled over as the darkness fled to the edges of my vision. I squeezed my eye shut. And in that moment, the pain made me cry out.

  The light flashed.

  The numbness returned. I opened my eye. A purple ball, so small and so distant, had replaced the light. I raced towards it. As it grew larger, I saw details of a strange, yet familiar, world. Specifically, I watched clouds swirling all over – white, black…and red?

  Perrin whispered as if he feared the calling force might hear him. “A blanchen. The most violent of storms. The wind alone rips trees from the ground. The rain beats the ground hard enough to make the surface as hard as a rock.”

  We flew straight for the patch of red. We plunged into a maelstrom of wind and rain. Thunder boomed. The wind pushed me left, then right, then down, then up. Lightning danced from cloud to cloud all around. We fell straight to the surface of a purple sea where the waves roiled and boiled as if heated by a giant stove. We moved across the top of the raging waters and onto a beach of sand as clear as the purest glass.

  Awe filled Perrin with such strength that I shivered. He whispered, “The Lost Sands of Imogenae.”

  I scooped up a handful. Diamonds glistened in the lightning flashes. Touching them sent a shock through my fingers, hand, and arm. I gasped and dropped them.

  As they struck the ground, the sand trembled. I shot into the sky, carried by a massive piece of land. As suddenly as it moved, it stopped. The rumbling settled. Immediately, trees grew by the hundreds. Hills appeared along the edges, forming a bowl in the middle. A stream of water moved from the right-most hill and filled the lowest point in the bowl until a lake shimmered in the light. Green grass lined the edges.

  The air cleared, leaving a blue sky with a few wisps of clouds. Two quarter moons peered down.

  Peace settled over the land and touched everything – the trees, the water, the ground. Its strength even calmed the confusion and longing that filled me. As I walked across a hill, tall grass shifted to make a path. A gentle breeze stirred the trees such that they sighed in relief.

  “What is this place?” I asked my resident cyclops.

  He breathed hard – a rough sound as if he feared something. Finally, he whispered, “We are walking on top of Reganas One.”

  The first of the legendary V-shaped lands, ones that could be called worlds within the magical world.

  “I thought Reganas Nine was the last one standing. How are we—”

  “The Heart is showing us the beginning of my world. It wants us to know something…to do something…can you feel it?”

  Indeed…the call, the longing, drew us to the lake. The surface twinkled as if all of the diamonds on the beach had been gathered into one place, then smoothed. The still and perfect surface looked like a solid sheet of glass. I kneeled and gently placed my palm on the top.

  The jolt of electricity returned, only this time it brought us along. We traveled through the water and through the center of the Reganas. When we reached the heart of the world, we stopped.

  In the darkness waited a presence. Not of one, but of hundreds.

  Perrin continued to whisper. “It is them.” />
  An image shimmered as it took shape. Voices roared in a cacophony of anger.

  I covered my ears as I watched an untold number of gnomes appear. I guessed they were the very ones who had sacrificed themselves for the good of their Family. Their glaring eyes indicated that Perrin and I intruded, that not being a gnome meant they did not welcome us. Yet they radiated a feeling that they had some sympathy in regards to Perrin while they were uncertain as to who or what I was, or what my intentions might be.

  Three gnomes stepped out as the voices quietened. To the left stood a man with a gray beard who leaned on a gnarled, wooden cane. In the middle stood a woman with many wrinkles around her eyes. The right one appeared younger than the first two, and his beard had been trimmed close to his face.

  Each of them wore the bright, clashing colors for which the gnomes were infamous. The yellow coat of the first met with purple trousers. A dark green shawl complimented the light blue dress of the lady. The third one wore a black coat, black trousers, and a white hat with yellow swirls.

  A voice spoke in my head, one different from either Perrin or the canon. The deepness of wisdom filled it. “Why have you bothered us?” the left gnome asked. “You will explain yourself.”

  Another voice, this one the woman’s, sounded as equally as wise. “What is this creature who is a cyclops but not of the cyclopes? He is of magic but is not of magic. How can this be?”

  A third voice, belonging to the man on the right, said, “It matters not, and an explanation is useless. They are here, and here they shall remain. Our powers are not for use by anyone other than our own. That is the rule to which we all agreed at the beginning.”

  The lady motioned to the younger gnome. “Certainly you speak true and are wise to remind us. But…can we not hear their case first? Would we be as intractable as the elves? Do you not see they have a compelling need? Both are touched…no…both are driven by love.” Her shoulders slumped. “I think I remember love. I would like to experience it again.”

  I wanted to deny what the lady said, but I heard Rebecca’s voice again. “Can you love me, Alexander?”

  The gnome lady gave me a knowing look. “You cannot hide yourself here.”

  The second man said, “It matters not. Our rules must be followed.”

  The first man looked at the other. “I agree we should hear them out. Otherwise we are no better than the elves or the orcs. Besides, I am curious. And like love, curiosity is such a rarely experienced emotion these days.” He turned to me. “So why are you here? Why do you seek to stir up the wrath of the Family against you?”

  The second man said, “We know why they are here. They come for the same reason they all do.” He pointed to the bones lying between us. “Here is the graveyard of greed and envy. We count many elves among the fools, but not a cyclops. And certainly not this other creature. But there is room for both.” His voice went lower and more threatening. “There is plenty of room for you.”

  “Let them speak!” the lady said.

  Despite the second man’s threats, many gnomes voiced their agreement with the lady.

  Did the occasion call for a bow? Did I need to kneel? Or stand straight? Being a cyclops, I chose the last, for we never willingly bowed to another race. “We need your help.”

  The second man laughed. “See? It is the same claim they all use. Oh, they believe their motives are pure and righteous but their hearts are as black as ever.” He folded his arms across his chest when the other two glared at him. “Tell me I am wrong.”

  Some of the gnomes on his side voiced their support of his position.

  The lady said, “We shall hear them out!” She looked at me. “Proceed.”

  I took a deep breath – and wondered why I needed to explain myself if they already knew everything – then said, “I am Perrin of the Plemends. I am Alexander Asherton, a human. I am us, and us am I.”

  A murmur rippled through the gnomes.

  Perhaps they truly did not know as much as they claimed.

  I said, “We are working together to save Reganas Nine. The war goes badly for the elves and their allies. The orcs threaten to topple the last of the Reganases.”

  A voice from the crowd said, “Then it is true! It is the moment we feared!”

  I said, “If you help the elves, help the Elders, then we—”

  “Speak not of them,” the first man said. “Show us. Reveal to us the truth of the matter.”

  In that moment, it felt as if someone walked in my head as the gnome immersed himself in our memories, recalling Perrin’s observations of Reganas Nine, seeing the fall of Reganas Eight, watching my conversation with the Treyo Duthku. “They speak true of their intentions. They seek to save our Family. The cries—” He opened our memories to the others.

  A collective gasp moved through all of the gnomes.

  The man all but groaned. “It cannot be allowed. Reganas Nine must be saved.”

  The lady said, “It is true. We must show them.”

  The second man pointed to me. “No! We must destroy them. It is not their place to use our power.”

  The first said, “To use our power is to save our Family. You have seen their need. You understand what is happening as well as I.” He clutched his staff with both hands. “Too long have we stood by, waiting for our chance. Too long has our power been separated from our Family.”

  The second man pointed to me. “But they would deliver it to the elves. This cannot – this will not be allowed!”

  The collective gnomes murmured again.

  The first one frowned. “That is certainly true. The Gray Heart must be given to our Mother. Only she should use our power.”

  The lady said, “I believe that our need is too great. What we have seen through their eyes—”

  “Cannot be trusted,” the second man said.

  “—tells us that the risk is too much for us to await a new courier. I believe we can allow them to use our power one time. They shall escape their current predicament so they can then deliver the Gray Heart to the rightful owner, to our Family.” Her voice grew louder to drown out the protest from the second man. “By agreeing to this, they will avoid gnome justice. For now. We will entrust them with power.”

  The second man said, “It is too dangerous.” He pointed to a pile of bones. “Remember that elf? She claimed she knew the Heart’s location after it had been stolen from our Mother. She tried to barter its return for some of our power. Who among us argued to trust her?”

  The lady also pointed to the bones. “Who struck her down before we gave her the opportunity? How long has the Heart belonged to others as a result? How long has the Family remained crippled in our ability to fight the orcs? To the point that our very world teeters on the brink?”

  “We can never trust an elf. They are no different than the orcs.”

  The lady pointed to me. “Do either of those wretched races stand before us?”

  “There is too much at stake for us to trust anyone other than a gnome.”

  The first pounded his staff. “Enough! We cannot allow our world to be destroyed because of the fear of others. We will not let Reganas Nine fall by our inability to take a necessary risk.” He shook his head as he looked to the ground. “I believe they will agree to our terms once they understand the greater threat. The fate of both worlds is intertwined. The human world’s survival depends on our own world enduring.”

  The second man said, “We do not know this creature of cyclopean and…human origin. You are asking us to blindly trust it.”

  The lady said, “We see their heart. We see their memories. One is a thief, yes, but he desires to do what is best. He will go out of his way to help others. And what greater need is there than what we see of our world’s destruction? The cyclops is a mighty warrior who fights the enemies we cannot. We should seize this opportunity. If we tarry then we risk the future of our Family. We risk the future of all.”

  The second man said, “You willingly break our laws without s
eeking an alternate path? Has age driven you senseless? Do you so easily dismiss the past betrayals?” He turned his back. A third of the gnomes did the same. “If you insist on doing this, then you do so without my support. I will never again trust anyone other than a gnome. We have learned this lesson in painful ways. No! I misspeak. I thought we had learned this lesson.”

  The lady scowled. “So be it. I accept sole responsibility for this decision. If they fail, then another may take my place.”

  The second man said, “If they fail, there might not be anyone left of your group to take your place.”

  The first one said, “It is decided.”

  Before I spoke on my behalf, something struck so hard that I fell backwards, away from the water. A gentle hum filled every part of me as the electricity flowed through my veins again. The raw magic amplified every sensation a thousand times more than an ordinary elixir. The blue of the sky transitioned from almost black to an infinite number of shades until it gave way to white. The pure smell of water soothed the burning caused by the sharp tang of dirt. The chirping of birds overhead roared in my ears.

  Did the full power of the gnomes fill me? Did the Treyo Duthkus command the same magic? Like them, could I do most anything? Explore endless possibilities? Yet…did I dare hope? Did I dare try?

  With a thought, I rose into the air above Reganas One. The sensation and the joy it created brought a tear to my eye.

  I could fly.

  I went up, into the intensity of blue, away from the incessant chirping of the birds, until I looked upon the top of the mighty land. I stretched my arms wide and laughed. My ears ached at the sound.

  Perrin said, “We must be careful.”

  The lady’s voice answered, “No. You must understand.”

  Perrin’s world spun beneath us. It stopped as another massive piece of land emerged from the ground. Rolling hills of tall grass filled the top of the V. Trees lined the edge, and in the center stood a column from which water sprayed in all directions.

  The lady spoke in a tone of reverence, as if her words carried a special meaning. “This was Reganas Two.” She placed a special emphasis on ‘was.’