This Deadly Engine Read online

  To an elf, surrender meant far more than what it meant to humans. According to Perrin, the Treyo Duthku would submit to servitude until such time as either Ravenlea released her or the elf saved the gnome’s life.

  The elf hissed. When she tried to hit Ravenlea with a burst of magic, the gnome pressed her dagger hard enough to draw blood.

  “Surrender or you will take your last breath on any world.”

  The hatred in the elf’s eyes burned hotter than a Saharan afternoon. “I…surrender. You have my word.”

  Yells arose from the lane as more Guardsmen approached.

  I led Pienne to the side. “Take us to your hiding place.”

  The man shivered but said, “Pienne must go to the holdings alone. The secrets must remain in the possession of a few.”

  “Secrets get us killed.” I thought of all the ones Aimee had kept during our marriage, and of the ones Sheela had kept for so long concerning her past. I found just enough restraint to keep from shaking the man. “Pienne, I am sure I do not know the consequences of what I ask, but I know what I need. Take me there. Now!”

  He jumped at the rumble in my voice. When he started to shake his head, I added, “For the freedom of your brothers, for the safety of the magical realm, and for the love of a family trapped by Schaever’s magic, I beg you to take me.”

  He made no move.

  “Pienne, I am done asking. I am finished with being nice. I am through with playing by any rules. Too much depends on our success. Two worlds hang in the balance, and I will not stop until we save them.” I squeezed his shoulder, which made him cringe. “You are a part of this whether or not you like it. You are an important part. There are no other stores of magical items with as much power as what you and your brothers hold, outside of Schaever himself.”

  The toady man whispered, “But Pienne is no hero. Pienne is not brave. Pienne only wants to study his elixirs and live in his laboratory and help his brothers. Pienne doesn’t need to become involved in a magical war. Does Alexander not understand?”

  “No,” I said with no little harshness. “I don’t understand. This is the time for you to rise above your calling, to make a difference, to save countless lives. This is your opportunity to become more than a rat in a lab, doing the bidding of your cruel brothers. This is a chance to show who you were meant to be.”

  The words and the tone made the man visibly shudder. He cringed again and almost put his arms in front of his face. “Pienne only knows elixirs and combinations and possibilities. Alexander is the hero. Alexander is the one who saves people.”

  I almost laughed at the preposterous statement. Yes, I risked my life to save people, but those I cared most for always ended up in bigger trouble.

  The toady man looked at me as he whispered, “Pienne didn’t ask for this trouble. Pienne merely wishes to be left to his devices and his desires. Pienne wants to live a quiet life.”

  “As we all do, Pienne.” I craved the peace of a quiet life, and longed for a day I feared would never come. “Perhaps when this is over, you can rebuild your laboratory and your life. But only if Frengarn, the orcs, and Schaever are stopped.”

  His shoulders slumped and his head dropped. “Alexander is correct like always. Alexander is so much braver than Pienne…Pienne has always envied Alexander his courage.”

  “Then walk beside me. Show the world that Pienne can be courageous, too.”

  His brow raised and lowered as if it sought to touch his chin. I could push him no further. After several minutes, he nodded. “Very well. Pienne will take Alexander, but he must swear never to tell anyone of the place.” He frowned. “Does Alexander promise? And mean it this time?”

  “Yes,” I said, adding another promise to my list.

  Pienne looked at me again, then led the way out of the garden. When we entered the lane, a dozen Guardsmen stood before us. One in the front pointed. “That’s the lot of them.”

  Ravenlea whispered to the Treyo Duthku. The elf growled, but the Guardsmen rose into the air. The elf dropped them onto the roof of the Eight Bells. They yelled as they scrambled to find a place to hold onto in order to keep from falling off.

  Ravenlea said, “We should go quickly.”

  Pienne did as told, wobbling back and forth as he walked. He took us to the Gray Area, where the downcast and down-on-their-luck lived. I called it home until Schaever drove me out and made me a homeless beggar. I thought I saw Lauree, the actress, standing on the opposite corner. A second glance revealed nothing…which it should have since the theatre employed her. She had escaped the darkness of the streets.

  Pienne led the way to the place where the tannery once stood, where I had once sought sanctuary from Schaever’s goons. The building burned last year and almost took the Gray Area with it. He walked onto the weed-infested lot, following the old stone path where grass grew in the cracks. We entered the blackened ruins of a partial stone wall and stopped in the middle of a clearing.

  He looked at me, as if he considered turning back, but sighed and reached into the ground. He pulled out a chain and unlocked a lock as big as his hands. Then he pulled open a door of earth, which revealed a dark tunnel below.

  “How long has this been here?” I asked. I had lived there for weeks. Not once did I suspect a tunnel beneath me. “Did it burn with the rest of the tannery? Or did you put this here after the fire?”

  He answered as if what he said was perfectly acceptable. “This has been the storehouse for five years. Pienne and his brothers set the fire when The Gatherers closed in. Who would suspect a burned-out building?”

  It took a moment for his words to settle. When they did, I struggled not to grab the toady man by the collar. “You almost sacrificed an entire section of the town simply to preserve your secret? You almost destroyed all of these people’s homes so The Gatherers would not suspect?” How could anyone be so cold, so indifferent to the needs of so many others? “You couldn’t move everything to a more secure location?” Pienne cowered at my words, but I did not soften my voice. “Whose made the decision? You? Your brothers? All three of you?”

  Pienne answered with a trembling voice, “It was necessary. Pienne and his brothers could not move everything. They had to take the chance, and they had to divert attention from their collection.”

  I took slow, deep breaths to calm my anger. Should I have been surprised? After everything else I had seen? Madness on top of madness surrounded me. Those filled with such insanity did whatever they pleased in order to secure and protect their power.

  Perhaps my anger resulted from a deep disappointment. Despite Pienne’s oddities, I always held him in high esteem. Yet his actions revealed some of the same darkness that possessed his brothers.

  I closed my eye. “Please lead the way, Pienne.”

  The toady man stepped into the passage and took a lamp from the side. He paused to light it, then led us into the depths of the earth. We walked down forty steps, all stone, and entered a room lined with wooden boards. It stood ten feet high and twenty feet wide. The length disappeared somewhere out of reach of the lone lamp’s light. Stacks of shelves three feet apart held an eclectic collection of rings, necklaces, pendants, statues, swords, maces, axes, helmets small enough to fit a dwarf, and helmets large enough for a giant. Among them sat paintings and drawings, staffs, cloaks, boots, vambraces, and pauldrons. One section included stones of every color of the rainbow, ranging in size from what looked like a collection of dust to a rock the size of my leg. Petrified wood, shrunken heads, and shriveled fruit completed the assortment. In total, anything and everything The Misters thought might have magical power waited for us.

  Perrin said, “There’s the Jewel of Ghormhan. It disappeared a hundred years ago.” I snatched the object from its dusty perch, as it provided protection from explosive magic.

  Cavendish gasped when he saw the expanse of the collection. Even the elf whispered something about the impressive number of objects.

  I said, “Take anything you thi
nk is useful. We will need even the tiniest stone if we are going to stop an invasion.”

  An object on the second row looked all-too-familiar: the Ring of Seven Powers, the one had I snatched from the mausoleum. I had spent most of that night running from ghouls in the cemetery.

  I tucked the item in my pocket.

  At the end of the aisle, Pienne walked into an open space where he lit more candles and illuminated a small workshop not unlike the one he once had at the lawyer’s office. The familiar beakers and tubes sat to the right, with their array of colors. A straight-backed chair, the twin of the one I had once sat in and received the elixirs, waited beneath them. Next to it stood a table with an assortment of needles, each one of which made my skin crawl.

  But to the left waited something new, something that made me stop – a black metal skull with marble eyes.

  “What is that doing here?” I asked as I pointed at the monstrosity. “What is the meaning of this?”

  Pienne ducked his head as if he had been caught in a sinful act. He moved between me and the skull. “Pienne has been making observations and studies. Duke Schaever has captured powerful magic, and Pienne wishes to know his secrets. He has learned much, but there is much he still does not understand.” He folded his arms in a stance of defiance. “What does Alexander care what Pienne does with his extra time?”

  I took yet another deep breath to hold back the chastising words ready to explode. The marble eyes bore into me, accusing me of treachery and betrayal, of endangerment and stubbornness. It mocked my failure to protect those for whom I cared.

  The toady man continued, “Pienne keeps the rest of the body there.” He pointed to a cabinet on his left. “Though he collected it after it had been damaged beyond repair. Pienne is sad he has not been able to reconstruct all of its pieces and parts.”

  Perrin said, “He is only doing what he knows. Do not become angered so quickly. Save that for Frengarn and Schaever. Besides, he might know something useful.”

  With reluctance I asked, “What have you learned?”

  Pienne’s stance eased a bit, and a grin spread across his face. “Much that is fascinating to Pienne, much that explains how the automaton body functions.” He moved to the skull and pointed to the pair of tubes extending from the neck. “For instance, two liquids run through the machine. One keeps the joints lubricated, maintains an internal clock, not unlike a heart, and keeps the skin moist so it does not dry out and crack.” He held up a piece of leather. “Pienne is fascinated by the process of how the skin is grown. He hopes to learn more about it.”

  “It grows with small veins feeding it,” I said. “I have seen the process, though I don’t pretend to understand it.”

  Pienne licked his lips. “Can Alexander explain more? Can he describe every detail of what he saw?”

  When he stepped forward, I held a hand up. “Not now, Pienne. Our time presses upon us.” Truthfully, I had no desire to describe the abominable method.

  The toady man nodded. “Of course.” He pointed to the second tube. “This one remains a bigger mystery to Pienne. The fluid is similar to an elixir, with the same thickness and feel, but there is more to it.”

  “An unidentified power?” I asked as I studied the magical hue emanating from the liquid.

  Pienne nodded again. “Exactly. Pienne has been trying to find the source of the power, but it eludes him.”

  “The Soul Eater,” Perrin said in a matter-of-fact tone. “It draws its strength from life, giving that life to someone…or something…else. Duke Schaever has discovered how to trap its powers within the liquid, thus infusing life into each creature.”

  When I repeated the words, Pienne’s mouth formed an ‘o’ as he stared at me. He whispered, “Tell Pienne more. Please.”

  “Do you want to see the source of their power?” I pointed to the skull. “Do you want to see the laboratory where those…monsters…are created? Then join us. Help us.”

  Pienne shook his head so hard, his hair shifted. He spoke with a low, pleading tone as if the thought of danger made him ache. “As Pienne said before, he will leave the saving to those better suited to it. He finds contentment with his elixirs and his experiments.” He wrung his hands. “What is Pienne but a weakling and a coward? If he was stronger and braver, he would have stood against his brothers when they convinced Pienne to help them in this illegal endeavor. Pienne knew he should not join them, but they hurt Pienne, and they threatened him until he agreed.” Another drop of sweat joined the first. “Pienne will let Alexander take what he wants, but please leave Pienne alone.”

  For all of his words, something remained unspoken. “You don’t want to help your brothers?”

  He answered the question when he took a step back and shuddered. Pienne’s chest moved up and down faster as he stepped deeper into his private domain. “Alexander should take what he needs and leave Pienne. He should prepare for all possibilities.” Pienne moved closer to the shelves of beakers and tubes. “Pienne hopes only for the best for Alexander. What he fights for is the future.” He turned away. “Now leave Pienne in peace. Forget about this place and leave Pienne to his trappings.”

  I started to say something else to try to convince him to help but stopped. Instead, I asked my resident voice, “Do you see anything we should take?”

  Perrin said, “I recognize some of the items. How they have come into your world, I can only guess.” He led me to the left-most row and picked out a sword. The blade resembled waves in the ocean, with pointed tops and rounded, sharp bottoms. “This is the Sword of Laggin. It belonged to a famous cyclops who led our people in the First War of Joffen Bay.” He stared down the length of the blade. “Laggin—”

  “Wielded it against the orcs when they invaded the Bay and threatened to spill into the cyclopes’ realm,” I said as Perrin’s memories surged forward. “He cut down two hundred of the creatures and was such a menacing figure that after four hours of battle, the orcs fled in fear of the monster with the…” Now I looked upon the blade with great admiration. “…sword blazing a red light of death.” I buckled the belt and sheath around my waist.

  I glanced at Pienne. The toady man sat on a stool at a table filled with beakers and burners. He scribbled on paper with his right hand as he stirred a beaker with his left.

  What abuses had he suffered at his brothers’ hands? How had they threatened him? Considering how they treated the slaves of The Company, I knew well the depths of their depravity. Did family matter to them and keep their cruelties in check? Or did the twins thrive from pain and suffering and make him endure the worst?

  Abate their pride, assuage their malice, and confound their devices; that we, being armed with thy defense, may be preserved evermore from all perils.

  I removed the Ring of Seven Powers from my pocket. Each stone granted a different power…yet the white, center stone was missing. “Pienne? What happened to this ring?” I held my hand up for him to see.

  The man peered around his shoulder. His brow narrowed until it obscured the top part of his nose. “Pienne’s brothers sold the stone to a collector in London. Its power kept one safe from edged metal.” He turned back and resumed his work.

  So I could call it the Ring of Six Powers now? “What powers do the other stones give?”

  Pienne paused. “As best as Pienne knows, the ring also grants a shield, increased strength, increased speed, enhanced hearing, enhanced smell, and protection from spears and arrows. All Alexander need do is remove a stone and crush it in his hand. The spell lasts for a short time.”

  At least some of them would be useful.

  I turned back to the room and collected more items.

  Chapter 12

  Pienne closed and locked the earth-covered door behind us, leaving Cavendish, Ravenlea, the Treyo Duthku, and me in the weed-infested lot. We had spent all night and most of the next day in the room. The gnomes wanted to make sure they had the best items and understood how to use them. Perrin and I took the opportunity to r
etrieve his boarding axe and guns and then get some much needed rest. As such, we stood in the late afternoon of the day of Schaever’s wedding to Elizabeth Stewart, of the time when a man would marry a machine while a machine presided over the ceremonies – if the Bishop had been replaced already. Given the man’s opinions concerning the marriage, I had no doubt that the only way he would agree would be as an automaton under Schaever’s influence.

  Even though we found ourselves in the most forsaken part of the town, indications abounded that something extraordinary was about to take place. To say that electricity filled the air would have been an understatement. Perhaps I could blame an after-effect of the Heart’s magic or the anticipation of the coming fight with Frengarn and Schaever for making me sensitive to the underlying excitement of the crowd that filled the lanes of the Gray Area. Perhaps. Yet many people enjoyed watching a wedding. They simply could not let pass the opportunity to partake in the marriage celebration of the most eccentric man in the world. As such, an underlying rumble filled the town from the noise of all the people. The presence of airships added to the effect – dozens of them circling the Expo grounds.

  I said, “I hope The Misters have verified the location of the new Gateway. We have so little time to waste.” I took a deep breath and savored the smell of Campden. The coming night could be my last in the town. Death certainly called louder and louder as we moved closer and closer to our enemies. What were the chances of emerging alive?

  “Very small,” Perrin said. “But we must try. Too much depends on us.”

  Indeed. Even though our tasks had changed – from stealing the Gray Heart and taking it to the Elders to saving the magical realm from destruction and the scientific realm from invasion – and our loyalties grew convoluted, one purpose remained – free the Donnavans and, if we found her, Sera. To get there, we would take one step at a time. First, we would destroy the new Gateway. If we survived, then we would deal with Frengarn. Past him waited Schaever with Reckard and Aimee at his side. Survive that, then we could try to save those we cared for.