The Cathedral of Known Things

by Edward Cox

  ‘Then can one assume,’ said Van Bam, ‘it is also the home of the hierarchy within the Panopticon – the Sisterhood?’ Namji nodded, and Van Bam continued. ‘I cannot imagine that this House will be the most welcoming for us to visit at this time.’

  ‘Oh, I don’t know,’ Glogelder said happily. ‘Hiding under the noses of the enemy – nobody will suspect we’re there.’

  ‘Don’t be so bloody sure,’ Samuel growled. ‘You’re saying that to reach Known Things we have to go to the one place that we should be staying very clear of?’

  ‘This portal isn’t used anymore,’ Namji said, nodding at the archway. ‘It leads to a secluded area. No one will see us arrive.’

  ‘You sure of that?’

  ‘I don’t make the rules, Samuel. I just follow the avatar’s instructions.’

  ‘Don’t we all?’ Samuel grumbled, and Glogelder chuckled.

  ‘But we have contacts in the Sisterhood of Bells,’ Namji assured them. ‘We have friends waiting there.’

  ‘That’s right,’ said Glogelder. ‘I sent a message sphere to a contact earlier on. I’ve told her to meet us.’

  ‘And speaking of message spheres –’ Namji began. From her satchel she produced a ball of blue glass. ‘This came through the portal a short while ago. It’s a message from Councillor Tal. I waited until we were all together before hearing it.’ She looked at Van Bam. ‘I assume Gideon will keep Clara informed.’

  The illusionist nodded, and Glogelder whistled lowly at the mention of the changeling’s name.

  ‘I saw the wolf before she ran off into the forest,’ he said to Samuel. ‘She’s a big girl.’

  ‘Hillem,’ said Namji.

  Hillem stepped forward and took the message sphere from Namji. He carried it to the communications device.

  Four fist-sized crystals, clear and roughly cut, sat on the clearing floor, each a corner of a square. At the centre of the crystals, a metal rod had been stabbed into the ground. It rose three feet, and supported a metal bowl. Thin copper wires ran from the bowl, down into the tops of each crystal. The crystals themselves were further connected by four more wires, running along the ground, to complete the shape of the square. The device had the appearance of a pyramid’s skeleton.

  Hillem placed the message sphere in the bowl atop the metal rod. He placed a cap for the bowl on top of the blue glass ball, concealing it within what was now a sphere of metal, topped with a small power stone. Hillem pressed the stone and it began glowing. He and Namji then moved back to observe with the others.

  Hissing, like wind rustling leaves, was followed by the muffled cracking of glass. Blue smoke leaked from the join between bowl and cap, but only momentarily, before it was sucked back into the metal sphere. The copper wires began to glow with heat, and the crystals on the floor were illuminated with the pale violet light of ambient thaumaturgy. A hum filled the forest air. The space within the pyramid frame became thick, grainy, turning dark blue. A face began to form in it.

  Slowly, the head and shoulders of an elderly Aelf materialised. Councillor Tal’s image was detailed in varying shades of blue, as if he was forming from mist. The councillor looked harassed, apprehensive. His large Aelfirian eyes shifted left and right as though checking no one was observing him, and then he looked directly out at the group.

  ‘My friends, I pray to the Timewatcher this message finds you alive and well,’ he said, his voice slightly distorted. ‘News of the Toymaker’s attack in Sunflower has reached the Panopticon, but they say no human casualties were found. I hope this is true.

  ‘I have been called to the Sisterhood of Bells to report on what happened in Sunflower. The whole place is up in arms—’

  Tal broke off to look around, as if distracted by a sound. ‘Everything is being blamed upon the humans,’ he continued hurriedly, urgently. ‘The Sisterhood is using your breakout to its advantage. Its members are drumming up support in the Panopticon, and once again raising the question of why the Aelfir continue to send aid to the Labyrinth. They are saying that you killed the police officers in Sunflower, not the Toymaker. They are saying that you are planning to release all humans into the Houses of the Aelfir.’ He rubbed his forehead. ‘And this time a lot of former Labyrinth sympathisers are inclining to the Sisterhood. Especially in light of another incident—’

  Councillor Tal’s voice ground to a halt, his image fizzed and died, leaving behind only grainy air. Namji gave Hillem a reproachful look.

  ‘I know, I know – it’s a bit improvised,’ Hillem admitted, stepping forwards. ‘Give me a second.’

  He began fiddling with the wires where they were connected to the crystals. He winced a couple of times as he burnt his fingers on the heated copper, and when he adjusted the third crystal, Councillor Tal’s misty blue image returned.

  Momentarily frozen into an unflattering expression, Tal’s face crackled, blurred, reformed, and he started speaking mid-sentence.

  ‘… happened in Hammer Light of Outside. The monks there say their House was attacked by an evil presence. Information is sketchy at this time, but by all accounts, a portal ripped open in mid-air. Monsters came through it, demons of some kind. They killed many monks, and dragged a few more back through the—’ another burst of static disrupted Tal’s next words. ‘… Witnesses say the portal led to a hostile House – they describe it as a nightmare realm that carried the stench of corruption and death.’

  Samuel shared a meaningful look with Van Bam.

  Councillor Tal made an angry noise. ‘The Sisterhood has been shameless in its crusade,’ he said bitterly. ‘The Panopticon of Houses has sent an official statement to every realm. It claims that the attack on Hammer Light of Outside was the result of your escape – that by breaking out you have caused cracks to appear in the barrier between the Houses and the Labyrinth. It claims that the Retrospective has followed you here, and it is trying to drag you back to where you belong.

  ‘All magic-users agree – magic-users in the Sisterhood’s employ, no doubt – that the only way to seal the breach and prevent the Retrospective attacking other Houses is to execute you, and throw your corpses into the portal to the Labyrinth in Sunflower.’

  Again, Tal looked around nervously. His face became bigger as he leaned forward and dropped the volume of his voice.

  ‘I am doing all I can to help you, but it isn’t easy. I’ve never been popular around here, and it’s become a lot worse. There is much to this situation that I don’t yet understand, but the Sisterhood has created hysteria within the Panopticon. All the Houses are on alert. Everyone is looking for you, not just the Toymaker. You must keep moving and reach Known Things before …’ Tal broke off as voices came towards him. ‘I have to go—’

  And the councillor vanished.

  The grainy, blue air within the communication device faded and died. The crystals lost their thaumaturgic light, and the glow of heat drained from the thin copper wires. In the following silence, Samuel felt a chill.

  ‘Hammer Light of Outside,’ said Van Bam. ‘I know that House. It is a spiritual retreat.’

  ‘The Retrospective?’ Hillem said. ‘Could the demons have really come from there?’

  ‘I … I am not certain,’ Van Bam replied.

  ‘Yes, you are,’ Samuel said sharply. ‘It was the Retrospective.’

  Another quick, charged silence.

  ‘How is that possible?’ Namji said.

  ‘I have no idea,’ Samuel said, staring at Van Bam. ‘But a place of nightmare? Wild demons? The stench of corruption? What else could it be?’

  ‘I do not know,’ Van Bam said. ‘The Retrospective is trapped within the Great Labyrinth, Samuel. It cannot move beyond—’

  ‘Wait!’ It was Hillem who had intervened, and he had lost all interest in the conversation taking place around him. ‘Namji,’ he said agitatedly. ‘There are other portals in the Face
of Grace and Truth, right? That isn’t the only one, is it?

  Namji looked at the archway, and then shrugged, confused. ‘I don’t think so. Why?’

  Hillem showed the group the proximity device strapped to his wrist. The red crystal was glowing. ‘Someone’s here.’

  And Samuel sensed it too; his prescient awareness flared as a bad feeling in his gut. He drew the ice-rifle, and glared at Van Bam.

  ‘Clara …’

  By the time Clara took a rest from exploring the forest, stopping beside a stream to lap at the cool, clean water, the sky was dimming towards twilight and the shadows of trees were stretching across the ground. And it was while she slaked her thirst that Gideon decided to break his silence along with the serenity. He carried a warning from Van Bam.

  Clara—

  I know, she said. The wolf had already detected the change in the atmosphere – something bad.

  Looking up from the stream, Clara scanned the trees surrounding her. She could feel that a menace had come to the forest, a nonhuman menace, magical, unnatural. She heard rustles in the undergrowth, tapping against the bark of trees.

  Clara, said Gideon, as small points of dull violet light appeared in the forest, do you remember what I told you about the Toymaker?

  The wolf ’s hackles raised. You never see him, only his toys.

  I think it’s time you returned to Van Bam and the others.

  Clara growled. Too late, Gideon.

  Slowly, they came from all directions, tightening the circle around the wolf: hand-sized, insect-like automatons. They crept though the brush and over the trunks of trees on thin legs of silver. With metallic tails tipped with pale light hanging above their bodies, the Toymaker’s toys closed in, massing for an attack.

  The wolf stepped into the stream water and bared her teeth.

  If the Toymaker himself was anywhere close by, Clara could not detect his scent. His toys were odourless too, but their presence buzzed in the air with the hum of magic.

  See the lights on the tips of their tails? said Gideon. Each one is a thaumaturgic sting, Clara. I’d imagine one strike is enough to kill a man. How many do you suppose to kill an oversized wolf?

  With cool water reaching halfway up her legs, Clara turned full circle in the stream, her yellow eyes scanning the environment, her brain trying to calculate how many of the Toymaker’s minions surrounded her. A hundred? More?

  I can’t run, Gideon, Clara replied, tense and anxious. They’ll swarm me if I try.

  They’ll swarm you whether you run, fight, or stay still. I think it would preferable if we were facing wild demons from the Retrospective. Am I right?

  Where are Van Bam and Samuel?

  Hold on … Whilst Gideon fell silent for a moment, the small, insectoid automatons crept closer. Van Bam says help is on its way, Clara.

  The first of the automatons approached the edge of the stream. The wolf lowered her front quarters and showed it her teeth.

  Don’t do anything rash, Gideon said, his voice sober. If you fight, you die, and that wouldn’t be good for any of us, would it, Clara? Hold your nerve. Help is coming.

  With their tails shining with deadly light, the horde of hand-sized attackers amassed at the stream’s edges on both sides of the wolf. A stillness unfolded, in which they seemed to be preparing for a synchronised attack.

  Gideon …

  Hold your nerve, Gideon repeated. Stand your ground.

  A breeze blew through the forest.

  The Toymaker’s toys skittered, and then froze as one.

  The wolf smelled a new presence.

  There was a blur of movement approaching Clara, following the line of the stream. It disturbed the gentle waters like a stone skimming upon the surface as it sped closer. There was a rush of air that crackled with energy. The diminutive automatons moved a little way back from the stream’s edge, as if uncertain. And then the small form of an Aelfirian woman materialised at the wolf ’s side, reeking of magic, holding a spell sphere.

  Ah, the cavalry, Gideon chuckled.

  Namji shouted in defiance as she raised the sphere above her head and crushed it in her hands. With the tinkle of glass, the spell was released. Fizzing, the magic descended to protect Clara and Namji within an umbrella of wavering energy. With obvious effort Namji uttered a word too fleeting for Clara to catch, and the magical energy shot outwards, slamming into the malevolent toys, sending them rolling and tumbling back into the trees.

  Namji collapsed at Clara’s side, only managing to keep her head above water by gripping the wolf ’s pelt.

  ‘They won’t stay down for long,’ she told Clara. Her voice was hoarse. Casting the spell that had given Namji preternatural speed had clearly exhausted her. ‘We need to run, Clara. Can you carry me?’

  Clara allowed Namji to climb onto her.

  ‘Follow the stream,’ the Aelf said, lying flat against the wolf ’s back, digging her fingers into the thick hair. ‘Go back the way I came.’

  Van Bam says the portal is activated and waiting, Gideon said, his tone excited. But if you want to live long enough to deliver your message to Known Things, then you’ll have to be quick, child. Run!

  As Clara bounded out of the water and ran at fast as she could alongside the stream, the Toymaker’s minions recovered from Namji’s magic, and gave chase.

  The insectoid automatons moved with frightening speed. Their motion as quick as fleas, they pursued Clara and Namji, jumping from tree trunk to tree trunk, scurrying on metal legs, following the line of the stream. The wolf could scarcely keep ahead of them.

  Hold tight, Clara thought to Namji, which made Gideon cluck his tongue.

  You’re adorable, the ghost said dryly. Do you think Namji would be clinging desperately to your back if she had the strength left to cast a telepathy spell? Just focus on getting out of here, you idiot.

  Nonetheless, as if hearing Clara’s mental address, Namji’s grip tightened and her legs clamped hard against the wolf ’s sides. The Aelf weighed so little that Clara was able to push her legs to full speed, focusing on the way ahead, not daring to look back – a silver-grey streak rushing through the forest.

  She could hear the Toymaker’s minions rustling, clicking and clattering behind her – just behind her. The glow of their tails shone weak light on the ever deepening shadows in the forest. Clara knew that if her step faltered for a fleeting instant, the horde would swarm her, and her passenger, pierce their skins with those glowing stings, a hundred times over, injecting into their bloodstreams their special brand of poison designed by thaumaturgy.

  Stick to the stream, Gideon said. It will lead you straight to the portal.

  Namji gave a cry of despair.

  Two of the automatons had come abreast with the wolf. They jumped from the branches of a tree, flying towards their targets. They were supernaturally fast, but the wolf ’s reflexes, and the magic that fuelled them, were equal to the attack. Clara ducked and vaulted the stream to the other side. She didn’t slow, she didn’t falter. Namji, not expecting the sudden change in course, slipped on her back, almost falling. Thankfully, the Aelfirian magic-user righted herself, but it was too late anyway.

  On the opposite side of the stream, one of the Toymaker’s toys had pre-empted the wolf ’s manoeuvre and had managed to get ahead of her. It now scuttled head on towards Clara, metal legs a blur of movement; and Clara was left with no time to stop or change directions. All she could do was charge through her foe and hope for the best. The hand-sized automaton vaulted into the air, the light of its tail lashing for the wolf … but then disappeared from Clara’s path, as a projectile hit it with a glassy clang.

  Namji cried out again as Clara ran through tiny and sharp shards of shattered ice hanging in the air. A figure stood further ahead, aiming a rifle.

  ‘Keep running, Clara!’ Samuel bellowed.

&nb
sp; The old bounty hunter continued shooting. Power stones flashing, the rifle sent dart after dart of hard ice into the forest with a low spitting sound. The projectiles whistled over Clara’s head, clanging and shattering as they hit their targets. Samuel’s sure, cold accuracy never missed.

  Beside him, Glogelder aimed his spell sphere launcher. The big Aelf ’s teeth were clenched as he pulled the trigger and sent a sphere hurtling through the trees. It exploded behind Clara, but she outran the fiery blast. She risked a glance back, saw the flames chasing her, and a few automatons who had not been knocked aside by the detonation. They were close.

  With Samuel still peppering the forest with lethal projectiles, and Glogelder readying a second spell sphere, Clara carried Namji past the two men and into a clearing, where an archway of roots and vines was filled with the oily swirl of a portal. Hillem stood on one side of the archway, Van Bam on the other.

  ‘Don’t stop!’ Hillem shouted, gesturing for Clara to head straight into the portal.

  Van Bam stepped forwards as Clara neared, dropping to one knee and stabbing his green glass cane into the ground. With Namji clinging desperately to her back, Clara just had time to see a spray of green illusionist magic shooting into the forest before the portal swallowed her, and the world turned black.

  Forty Years Earlier

  The Reason of Traitors

  Van Bam woke up with a start. It was the dead of night and his heart was racing. He wondered for a moment if troubled dreams had disturbed his sleep. But no; it was a bad feeling, a feeling bordering on panic that suggested something was very wrong.

  He sat up, instinctively retrieving his green glass cane from the bedside table. Although the desert breeze coming in through the wicker balcony doors had cooled the room, a thin layer of sweat had formed on Van Bam’s smoothly shaven head. He wiped it away. High Governor Obanai’s house seemed calm and quiet under the desert moon. Yet something was amiss in House Mirage.

  The events during the High Governor’s banquet were still fresh in Van Bam’s mind. The troubles faced by the ruling family, and the secrets they chose to keep, jockeyed with the stories of a giant blood-magicker haunting the desert of Mirage. And the performance of Buyaal, the self-proclaimed Master of the Desert, still bothered the illusionist.