A Conspiracy of Alchemists

by Liesel Schwarz

  There were hundreds of them. Even with the massive distraction playing out before them, Marsh and the professor were outnumbered many times over.

  If he managed to draw from the power swirling about to fight them, it would mean that his enemies would do so too. There was no way he could wield enough power to attack and defeat all of the Alchemists assembled before him.

  Elle screamed and his blood curdled as he watched on, helpless.

  “We have to stop them, Mr. Marsh. We have to,” the professor said.

  “I know.” A plan was growing in his mind.

  Abercrombie suddenly turned his gaze away from the vortex and looked up to where Marsh and the professor were crouching.

  “I know you are there, Warlock. You know you can do nothing to stop us now.” He started laughing.

  A number of Alchemists turned away from the ceremony and looked up at the stairs. Their eyes were hollow and empty, their bodies mesmerized by the power swirling around them.

  “I wouldn’t be so sure of myself if I were you, Abercrombie!” He stood up from behind the little wall and straightened his shoulders. He had lived a long time, but none of those years seemed to matter now. A strange calm settled upon him. He would die right here if it meant he could save Eleanor.

  He closed his eyes focused on finding his center. He needed to draw up whatever power he could in one go. There would be no second chances today.

  “What are you doing?” The professor grabbed his leg. “Get down, for goodness sake.”

  “Stand well back, professor. The dark energy the Alchemists are calling will most likely cause me to burst into flames when I draw on it. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  “Good heavens, man. Have you gone quite mad?”

  Marsh didn’t answer. Light and Shadow energy always flowed together. They were like two sides of a coin, the one unable to exist without the other. Hopefully he could draw out enough of the one to stop the other before it was too late. His face twisted in a wry smile. “We need to shut that machine off somehow. And I think a flaming Warlock might just be what the situation demands, professor.”

  “Now, hold on for just a minute,” the professor said. He grabbed Marsh by the arm and pulled him down to the ground, next to him.

  “What are you doing?” He hissed at the professor.

  Abercrombie started laughing again. “What’s wrong, Warlock? Have you lost your nerve? Your kind always were cowards.”

  “Don’t do that.” Marsh took off his hat and ran his hand through his hair. It was slick with sweat.

  “Perhaps you should try this, before you needlessly caused yourself to combust,.

  “What is it?”

  “As the inventor of the machine that these villains are currently using, I must insist that I might be of assistance.”

  Marsh shook his head. “You built that thing?”

  “I did. Why do you think I am here? I told you that electro-biology was not my field. They gave me that work to keep me busy.”

  “And what does it do?”

  “Oh, it is an ephemeral multi-dimensional energy amplifier and necromantic re-animator.”

  “A what?”

  “A machine that rips open the different planes of reality and reanimates dead things and other spirit-type beasties,” the professor said. “The dead-things bit being an accidental but surprisingly appealing by-product of the energy process,” he said.

  “And why do they need Elle if they have a machine?”

  “According to my calculations, the Oracle acts as magical lightning rod for the machine. Too much power is flowing out of the Shadow realm into the Light. Something to control and channel the overflow is needed. Without her, the machine will overload and explode.”

  “Why didn’t you say something sooner?” Marsh hissed.

  “My dear boy, you will forgive me for being somewhat shocked at the spectacle that is playing out before us. For heaven’s sake,. that’s my daughter down there. And besides, you never asked.”

  Marsh sighed. “So how do we turn the machine off?”

  “Take this. I’m so glad I went back to collect it when we left my rather unpleasant little laboratory.” He handed Marsh a metal prong that looked like a piano tuning fork.

  “And?”

  “Oh yes, of course, you haven’t seen the plans, now, have you. It is a safety switch. Hence the reason why I named the machine an ephemeral energy amplifier. You see, the machine kept overheating during my trials and so I needed a way to shut if off quickly, before it exploded. There is one problem though … ” The professor went quiet.

  “And what is … the problem?”

  “You need to be close enough to insert it into the slot next to the big lever. Now, hurry, and get down there. We have no time to lose.” The professor glanced over his shoulder and down the corridor.

  Marsh lifted the spark-blaster. “Do you know what the range on this thing is?”

  The professor looked at the blaster. “Well, I’ve only tested it in the cell, but I think it could safely cover about ten yards. I’m not sure how accurate it would be if one were to aim any further.”

  Marsh pulled the Colt out of its holster under his coat and cocked it. The professor peered over his shoulder and his face lit up with recognition. “Why, that is Elle’s. I got it for her when she started flying. To keep her safe.” He looked at Marsh. “Is it loaded?”

  Marsh nodded. “It is loaded, but there are only four rounds left. Elle used one to defend herself. You had better hang on to both. Cover me as best you can. And if they come for you, shoot them to the underworld, all right? And run. Whatever you do, do not let them take you alive. Do you understand?”

  The professor nodded. “I’ll do my best.”

  The professor gripped the spark-blaster. He glanced over at the altar. “Do you think they have hurt her?”

  “I’m not sure.” Marsh was doing his best not to give in to the rage and panic he was feeling.

  There was a whooshing sound as the storm gained momentum. Elle cried out again. This time her voice was weaker.

  “Hold my hat,” Marsh said. “I’ll be right back.”

  The professor nodded. “Good luck and God speed.”

  Marsh shook the professor’s hand. He pulled out a card and handed it to the older man. “This is the address of a guesthouse in the old quarter. There, you will find money and a passage back to London. If I do not make it out alive, I want you to go. Go there and tell them I sent you.”

  The professor gripped his hand. “Good luck, old chap. It was an honor to have fought with you. Now go and liberate my daughter, before it’s too late!”

  Marsh stood up from behind the wall. He gathered up some of the black power that was pouring out of the vortex, and which was now sloshing halfway up the amphitheater. It burned his insides like acid, but he held firm.

  Abercrombie laughed again as he spotted Marsh. “You are too late, Warlock!”

  “It is never too late.” Marsh started running down the stairs. He needed to get to the machine before it was too late.

  Abercrombie looked at Patrice, who was standing next to the machine. He pointed to Marsh. “Kill him!” he bellowed.

  CHAPTER 54

  “Kill him!” Abercrombie shouted over the din of the machine. Elle turned her head and looked in the direction in which the Alchemist pointed. Through the fractured light she recognized Marsh. He was running down the stairs, towards her. Patrice stormed round the altar and collided with Marsh in a bone- crunching tackle. Both men rolled down the stairs as they fought each other.

  Elle tried to move, but the force engulfing her was like fast-flowing water. She was completely pinned down.

  I must be dying, she thought. The guiding voices of the Pythia were silent. There was no one to turn to.

  The sound of a thousand worlds ripping apart filled the air. A thick wailing shriek sounded from far away. It was the sound of pure evil. The specs of a thousand malicious creatures hovered above he
r in the vortex. They shrieked and clawed their way toward her. The rush of energy lifted her off the altar so she was suspended in the air. The black energy spilling out of the vortex rippled through her, down the chains and into the ground, where it shimmered with sinister blackness. Her only anchors to the world were the shackles that held her to the altar. She felt evil clawing and hissing at her. Whatever happened, she had to stop them.

  Time and movement slowed down. She felt a violent rush of energy pulse through her. She turned her head in its direction. Abercrombie was standing under her, his arms stretched wide, head thrown back as if in ecstasy. Runes and symbols crawled under his skin like black spindly insects. A giant ball of raw magic was forming in the space above his outstretched hands. She felt another surge rip through her, leaving her insides raw, on fire.

  He’s using me to channel this. I am the conduit. I am his source. I am his power.

  She focused on the energy around her. It roared in a torrent that ripped through everything. She took a deep breath and poked at it with her will. At her touch, the torrent slowed and cooled. She could control it. It listened to her.

  Elle spread her thoughts wide. She wrapped her will around the altar and Abercrombie. She encircled the giant ball of power. Then, with every bit of strength she possessed, she gripped it. The energy contracted. It wound around itself so tightly that it became a black ball. The cloud above Abercrombie’s head disappeared. Elle gritted her teeth as the pressure built up inside her. Her insides stretched and bulged like an overfilled water bag. She glanced over at Abercrombie. He was frowning and looking at his hands as if they were the cause for the sudden loss of magic.

  Elle felt something inside her give way. The energy was starting to leak out all over. She had to get rid of it. She aimed all of her anger and frustration at the black ball inside her. This is for my mother. And my father, and for everything you’ve done to me since Paris! Then, summoning all her fury, Elle hurled the black ball into the vortex.

  The blast of raw energy that issued from her was so intense it turned the air white. The rebound spun out at them and hit Abercrombie square in the chest. Before he could even react, he hurtled straight into the machine. Glass smashed and metal groaned. Spark leaked from the shattered dome and streamed into the vortex. The hum of the machine amplified to a deafening din. Nightwalkers and Alchemists were grabbing their ears, screeching in pain.

  Then, quite abruptly, the machine cut out.

  The glow of spark vanished from the glass dome. The air went still as if in a vacuum. The vortex started collapsing in on itself.

  Chaos broke out. Alchemist and Nightwalker alike ran for the exits. The machine shook violently. The impending implosion turned the vortex to deep pit of blackness from which no light could ever escape. Panicked Alchemists and Nightwalkers trampled one another as they fought to save themselves.

  A massive ball of energy ripped through the amphitheater. The vortex started spinning, creating a maelstrom that sucked up everything in its wake. Giant blocks of stone tore out of the walls and disappeared. The machine broke loose from its tethers and flew into the maelstrom. There was a bright flash of light as it exploded.

  Marsh dove for the altar. He grabbed hold of Elle. Air rushed by as they looked into one another’s faces. “Hold on to me! The shackles will hold us,” Elle whispered.

  Marsh wrapped his arms around her and they held one another close. The whole amphitheater started shaking. One of the chains that held them popped out of the stone. They hung perilously suspended in mid-air between the ground and the vortex.

  Elle looked at Marsh. “I won’t let go! I’ll never let you go,” she shouted. Several of the slower members of the hooded audience flew past the altar as they were sucked screaming into the swirling mass.

  She had to stop it before it dragged everything into the dark. Elle threw her head back and let out a cry. It was primal sound that rippled through everything.

  A terrible crash of thunder tore through everything as the vortex finally imploded. The floor shook and, with a mighty rumble, the amphitheater split in two.

  A few more large blocks of stone flew past them into the maelstrom. Air whistled as the vortex sucked itself out of existence, leaving behind nothing but complete and utter silence.

  Elle and Marsh fell back down onto the altar. Blood ran from Elle’s face. Her eyes and nose streamed. Marsh felt the hot trickle of blood against his hand as it ran out of her ears. She made a little sighing sound and very gently , her head rolled back against his chest. Marsh held on to her with a growing sense of horror. Elle was pale and deathly still. He laid his head on her chest. “Please, my brave darling. Please don’t be dead,” he whispered as he listened for her heart.

  A deep booming sound resonated around them and what remained of the amphitheater shook. More stones fell out of the walls and crashed into the middle of the arena.

  “Earthquake! We need to vacate the area. This whole structure is going to collapse,” the professor yelled. He tugged at Marsh.

  “I thought I told you to get out!”

  Another stone crashed onto the ground next to him. Gently he let Elle’s body slip onto the stone.

  “She’s gone.” He was oblivious to the rocks that rained down around him.

  “We need to let her go, lad.” The professor spoke softly, as if his heart would break. He wiped his hand across his face, leaving dust-streaked tear marks on his cheeks.

  Marsh shook his head. “No. I am not leaving her here.” He grabbed hold of a rock and smashed the chains that held her to the stone. They were brittle from all the energy that had coursed through them and they shattered on impact.

  A large standing stone toppled and hit a carved pillar. Rocks rained down around them in earnest. Marsh gathered Elle into his arms and they ran for the passageway.

  “Professor, you go first. Blast anyone in our way!” He yelled over the noise of falling rubble.

  They ran. They ran until the passage turned into a tunnel. They ran until the tunnel ended in a gateway. And in a choked plume of dust, they ran into the small square with the Judas tree to the side of it. Under the tree they stopped, coughing and gasping the cool night air.

  Around them the city was in chaos. The smell of burning buildings and broken earth assailed them as the people of Constantinople sought to deal with the earthquake that shook their city.

  As gently as he could, Marsh laid Elle down on the cobbles under the tree. Her skin was like the palest ivory in the dusty moonlight around them. Her hair fanned out in the dried leaves. Gently he stroked her cheek. And then, with the slightest of movement, her eyelids flickered open.

  “Professor, she’s alive!”

  The professor crouched down and put his hand on the side of her face. “Oh, Ellie. Stay with us. We will get you some help.”

  Elle smiled and closed her eyes.

  “We need to get off the streets. I know where we can go for the time being,” Marsh said. He summoned all of his strength and lifted Elle up into his arms. Together, they stumbled their way down a rubble-strewn alley. At the end of it, they paused for to catch their breaths.

  Marsh looked down at Elle. Her breathing was shallow and fast, but she was still alive.

  “Mister. Marsh! Mister. Marsh. This way!” Marsh looked up. Inut was running towards him. “Mister. Marsh,. I got a little wagon for you. Come, bring the lady. Let’s take her to my mother.”

  “Inut, what are you doing here?”

  The boy grinned. “I knew you would be needing some help later. So I fetched my father’s barrow. Come. It’s this way. Bring the lady. She looks heavy.”

  And so they carried the greatest Oracle in living memory back to the guesthouse in a barrow borrowed from Inut’s father.

  CHAPTER 55

  Elle floated deep in the soft darkness. She wasn’t sure where, but it felt nice. It was a place of perfect silence. In the darkness she was safe. No one could touch her here. She had no name. No body. Nothing mattered. Al
l she needed to do was be. Complete. Weightless. Bliss.

  She lay back in the velvety blackness, suddenly aware of a sense of up and down. Something was trying to catch her attention. She did her best to ignore it, but a strange and vague awareness kept tugging at her. She felt her hair floating around her. She became aware of her arms, then her legs. And all the while the something kept tugging at her mind.

  Please come back to me. The words wormed their way into her head. They nagged at her.

  I shouldn’t be here, she thought. But I like it here. Here I don’t have to worry about anything. She felt her limbs grow heavy. Lifting them seemed like such an effort. She rebelled. I want to go back to floating, she protested.

  The time is not right yet. It is too soon for you to join us here. The voices spoke, jarring images and memories into her consciousness.

  One image in particular flickered in her mind. It was very faint. It was a man smiling. They were in a summer garden and the late evening sun touched everything golden. She heard herself laughing as she felt the man’s arms fold around her.

  A strange longing filled her. I want to go back, she thought.

  She started struggling and swimming through the darkness. The darkness fought back, sticking to her and dragging her down like a moth drowning in oil. She struggled and fought and suddenly she felt herself caught up in a strong current. The current dragged and pushed her up, away from the blackness. Everything became bright. Sounds crashed into her consciousness.

  She took a big gasp of air and opened her eyes. Above her, the unfamiliar wooden boards of a ceiling came into focus. She stared at the wood grain, confused. Slowly she became aware of the softness of a mattress beneath her. She was covered in sheets and clean-smelling blankets. She tried to move, but there was something heavy on top of her pinning her arms down under the blanket.