The Londum Omnibus Volume Two (The Londum Series Book 12)

by Tony Rattigan

  One by one they patiently filed past her position and each of them, when it was their turn, politely waited, arm outstretched, to be rewarded with a handful of nuts.

  Suddenly, one of the zoo keepers came puffing up, out of breath from where he had ran to see what the trouble was. ‘Here, stop that, you can’t go past that barrier, get away from the cage.’

  Adele gave him a hard stare and he meekly held out his hand and asked, ‘May I have a peanut please, Miss?’ She poured the remainder of the packet into his hand and then ducked under the railing to rejoin Cobb.

  ‘Did you see that?’ she asked him as they walked away. ‘I was able to control the zoo keeper as well. My powers must be getting stronger all the time. I shouldn’t be able to control a human like that; I must have caught him with his guard down.’

  Cobb looked sideways at her. ‘Are you sure you never do that to me?’ he asked, suspiciously.

  ‘Wouldn’t dream of it,’ she lied. ‘Why don’t you take me and buy me some lunch?’

  His eyes widened and he stared into the distance. ‘Yes Mistress,’ he replied, in a deadpan, zombie-like voice. ‘I will take you and buy you lunch.’

  She gave him a poke in the ribs. ‘Give over, you fool.’

  ‘Hey, you’re not going to use your evil, mind-control powers to turn me into your sex-slave, are you?’ he asked, hopefully.

  ‘I thought you already were,’ she countered.

  ‘Fair enough,’ he said with a smile. ‘Let’s go grab some lunch.’ Taking her arm he led her away.

  ***

  In the early hours of the morning, just before dawn, outside Ambleside, a small town in the Lake District, in the north of Albion, a strange event was occurring. In the middle of the road that led into town a bolt of lightning appeared and struck the ground. What was unusual was that the lightning bolt had not come from the sky but a point in the air about fifteen feet above the ground.

  It was followed by other streaks of lightning that shot out in all directions until finally the centre point from where these bursts of light originated became a steady, fixed, ball of blue, dazzling light. Slowly the ball expanded, up and to the sides but only in one plane, not forwards or backwards, it was like a lady’s fan opening, until it touched the ground which stopped its downwards growth but unrestrained, the upper half spread out until it made a semi-circle, some thirty feet high. It had a flat surface as if someone had jammed a massive Wedgwood blue, china plate into the ground, only leaving the upper half exposed. The surface shimmered and danced as energy played across it.

  Nothing happened for a few minutes and everything was silent except for the low, electric sizzle and hum of the portal. For a portal is what it was, a gateway to another dimension, another Universe. No one was around to observe it except some puzzled sheep, so they were the only witnesses to what happened next.

  Out of the portal came three horses. The front horse carried a tall, noble looking, individual. His long, silver hair fell to his shoulders and framed his aristocratic face. His robes and cloak were of fine materials, his boots and gloves the sheerest leather. Either side of him the other two horses’ occupants were tougher faced than the noble, their clothing was hard leather armour. They carried wooden staffs strapped to their backs and swords and knives swung on their belts. The staffs appeared to be just ordinary staves but with an oval shaped bulge at one end, about twelve inches long. These two were obviously his bodyguards.

  All the riders cleared the portal and halted some distance away. Their leader turned back towards the portal and waved. A moment later there was a slight rise in the electric sizzle and the portal snapped off, like an electric light had been extinguished.

  Silently they turned their horses towards Ambleside and walked their mounts forwards.

  ***

  The sun was just coming up over the hills as they reached the outskirts of Ambleside. The three riders walked their horses into Ambleside and searched for signs of life. At that hour the only person out and about in the town was the milkman, making his pre-breakfast deliveries.

  The three horsemen approached him and their leader spoke, ‘Excuse me, is there any one around in authority that we may speak to?’

  ‘Authority? Well, I suppose you could call the coppers the authorities, they’re in charge of the law. Just go down that hill and you’ll see a house with a big, blue lamp outside that says “Police” on it. That’s the police station and they should be open by now.’

  ‘Police you say? And they are your law keepers? Yes, that would be a good place to start. Thank you for your time.’ He gestured to his companions and they headed down the hill.

  ***

  Constable Greaves was just enjoying his first cup of tea of the day when he looked outside the station window. Three men on horses had just ridden up and stopped outside the station, looking around. He put down his tea and buttoned up his uniform. They didn’t look like trouble but it was unusual to see anyone stop by at this hour of the morning unless it was serious.

  ‘Sarge,’ he called into the back room. ‘We’ve got company.’

  ‘Well see to them then, Greaves, you don’t need me to hold your hand. Come back when you’ve found out what they want.’

  Greaves stepped outside and looked up at the horsemen. The sun had fully risen now and it shone on them all, reflecting off the decorations sewn into the leader’s cloak. Greaves studied them. The one in the fancy cloak was to the fore, he had a handsome face with piercing grey eyes. It was a noble face, the sort that one looked up to and instinctively called it ‘sir’. The owner of the face calmly looked back at Greaves whereas the other two ignored him and looked around as if they were scanning the area for threats.

  The leader spoke. ‘Good morning to you. I understand that you are the law keeper. Is this so?’

  ‘Well, yes. I suppose you could describe me as that. How can I help you?’

  ‘We wish to speak to your leaders, your tribal elders perhaps? The people who are in charge and make the decisions.’

  ‘I suppose that would be the mayor then and the town council. Perhaps you might tell me why it is you want to speak to them. After all maybe I can help with your …’ Greaves stopped talking and stared at the newcomer. As they were talking the man had casually, without thinking, flicked his hair back behind his ears. And the ear that the constable could now plainly see was pointed!

  ‘Is there something wrong?’ asked the man.

  ‘Your … your ear … it’s pointed,’ gasped the baffled constable.

  Yes, as is the other one,’ the man replied with a laugh, pulling back his hair to display it. ‘As are those of my companions. You see, we are Elves.’

  ‘SARGE!’ shouted Greaves. ‘You’re gonna want to see this!’

  ***

  Mayor Robbins sat behind his desk and studied the man seated before him. The two “bodyguards” he presumed they were, stood further back on either side of him. The police sergeant and Constable Greaves had relieved them of their staffs and swords but in the cause of keeping the peace, had allowed them to retain their knives. The two policemen remained in the room however, just in case.

  ‘Perhaps you could tell me who you are and what is so important that you must speak to me about it at this early hour?’ asked the mayor. ‘The sergeant here tells me that you insist on speaking only to the man in charge. Well, I’m here, please go ahead.’

  The man facing him crossed his legs and answered casually, ‘My name is Lord Felder. These are my bodyguards and servants Krillan and Urtsar.’ They bowed politely as they were introduced. ‘I am an ambassador from the court of the Elf King, Erlathan. He has sent me here to seek an arrangement with whoever owns the land around the large lake near here. Our people wish to settle there.’

  ‘And where exactly is this court of King Erlathan? I’ve certainly never heard of it around here.’

  ‘No you won’t have. It is in another dimension. We Elves have invented a system whereby we can travel from one dimension
to another. We want to use this machine now to come through to this dimension to live.’

  ‘To live here you say? And to what end? Do you intend to invade us and take us over?’

  ‘No, no, rest assured that is not the case. The truth is, to put it simply … we want to come home.’

  ***

  Mayor Robbins listened to the man’s … er … the Elf’s explanation of the reason behind his mission, with increasing incredulity. Although he ran the town of Ambleside he had never even met any foreign dignitaries, let alone ones from another dimension. This was way out of his experience. He needed to pass this up the chain of command.

  Welcoming Lord Felder to his town, he asked him if he would mind waiting while he contacted his superiors. They would be put up in the best hotel at the town’s expense while he telegraphed Londum.

  Lord Felder agreed that would be more than satisfactory and the mayor asked the sergeant to take their visitors to the best hotel in town and to find them the best rooms, while he went to the Post Office to send a telegram.

  He contacted the Home Office as it concerned internal security but they passed it to the Foreign Office as it involved a ‘foreign nation’. Eventually it went to the prime minister’s office, who ordered that a delegation from both offices be sent to Ambleside to talk to them.

  They met the Elves, listened to their story, asked the relevant questions, wrote down the replies and sent them back to the prime minister, Lord Parmesan. He studied their reports and decided that he wanted to meet Lord Felder face to face and hear his story in his own words.

  After notifying the king of what was afoot, he rounded up a security detail and headed off to Ambleside under conditions of extreme secrecy.

  The two Lords met in the mayor’s office while their bodyguards waited in the outer room. Lord Parmesan poured them both tea and then took the mayor’s chair behind the desk.

  ‘Ah, tea,’ said Lord Felder. ‘A delightful drink. We don’t have it on my world but I’m coming to realise what an important part of your culture it is.’

  ‘Excuse me?’

  ‘Well, not only do you use it for sustenance but it’s a crucial part of your tribal customs. The ritual of preparing and pouring the tea provides the opportunity to study one’s opponent prior to negotiations. Is that not so?’

  The PM studied the Elf sitting across the desk from him. As reported he was a good looking devil but what they hadn’t mentioned was the marked intelligence behind the eyes. A naturally suspicious man, the PM surmised that this was a shrewd character and one to watch closely. ‘Negotiations?’ he asked.

  Up to now Lord Felder had been helpful to the civil servants sent to interrogate him but had confined himself to just politely answering their questions, now he realised that at last he had met someone with real power, so it was time to reveal his true intentions.

  ‘We have come here to ask for your help. The few of us that are left need a new home. Of course we do not expect to just be welcomed with open arms so we are prepared to offer our knowledge in exchange for sanctuary.’

  ‘Knowledge such as the device that allows you to travel between Universes, for example?’ the PM threw in to test the water.

  ‘Exactly, that and other advancements in medicine and so forth. As this would be our new home we would do whatever we could to advance its cause by sharing our knowledge.’

  The PM pondered Felder’s offer as he sipped his tea. That dimensional travel device would be an attractive prize. It would guarantee him winning the next election. ‘Lord Felder, I’ve read the reports from my diplomats but they are just dry facts. I’d like to hear the story of the Elves from the beginning in your own words, if I may? For instance, we have no records of the Elves time on Earth, sorry, I mean this Earth. As far as our history shows you only existed in myths and legends. Why for example did you leave Earth?’

  ‘Many, many generations ago my people lived peacefully alongside the humans. We were based here, in what you call Briton and our influence spread throughout Europe. We nurtured and helped the less advanced human race but as they grew in knowledge we began to see a parting of the ways in our eventual goals.

  ‘The Elves are a deeply spiritual people. We delved deep into the realms of mysticism and Magick to advance our race. All our breakthroughs in medicine and so on came about as the result of the work done by our Magi. Humanity however preferred the path of science and practical things; Magick was a secondary consideration, barely acknowledged. The Elves and humans took different paths on how to deal with the mysteries of the Universe.

  ‘Eventually this led to friction between us. I mean no disrespect when I say this but humanity’s way is to change the world around it, instead of adapting to it as we Elves do. Rivers were damned and redirected to provide power for mills, whole forests destroyed for fuel and raw materials, the very Earth ripped open for its minerals. It couldn’t go on. We protested vigorously of course and this led to animosity between the two races.

  ‘The human race rounded on us and we were forced to pull our borders further and further back to avoid conflict. We had no wish to kill our fellow inhabitants of this world, we’re a peaceful people. We withdrew from Europe completely but our wish to remain in solitude was not to be granted. Our enemies invaded this island, intent on destroying us.’

  ‘So how did you escape?’ asked the PM. ‘With the dimensional device you mentioned?’

  ‘No. We did not have it at that time. It was all done by our Magi. As a result of their combined efforts they managed to rip a hole in the walls between dimensions and allow us to escape through it, to avoid destruction. It was at a terrible cost, however. It destroyed most of our Magi, they were ruined after that massive effort, shattered, broken husks of Elves who were unable to practice Magick ever again. And therein lay our downfall.’

  ‘How so?’

  ‘The act of opening the wall between dimensions was a desperate measure, a last resort. To escape the threat behind us we had no option but to travel to whatever world was presented to us when the wall opened. We had no choice in where we went. Alas, the world we arrived on was a barren place, barely able to sustain life. For over a thousand years we have struggled to survive there. Our first thought was to try again, to go to somewhere more hospitable but as our Magi were spent, we could never muster enough practitioners of Magick to try again. So we sought to do it the way man would have done it, we tried to do it with science. We knew that it could be done but for centuries we were unable to repeat the process.

  ‘We eventually mastered the science and mathematics required but we lacked an adequate power source. So we remained on our barren, dusty rock and each generation became less than the one before it. Fewer children were born, our tribes became weaker and instead of flourishing we diminished as a people. Civilisations need to expand to survive but with each passing year we became less and less. We are a dying race, Lord Parmesan. The few thousand of us that are left had resigned ourselves to being the last of our kind. Then a miracle happened.

  ‘A few years ago a new mineral was found, just a single nugget of material of incredible power. We called it Livarium, after the Elvish word ‘Livar’ meaning life, for it gave us a chance at a new life. At first we used it just for heat and lighting but then we wondered if it might be able to power the dimension machine. Fortunately that turned out to be the case. At last we had the secret of inter-dimensional travel and our salvation. That is what allowed us to come here.’

  ‘I imagine that you could have used it to go anywhere,’ said the prime minister. ‘So why come here?’

  ‘Believe me, we tried other worlds. I don’t think you know how lucky you are to be on this Earth. The other ones we visited ranged from scorched rock to lush, luxuriant growths of poisonous plants. Each one left much to be desired as a place to survive. If there are other worlds out there as pleasant and nurturing as this one, we were unable to find them. Eventually we realised our only choices were to remain where we were or return to the onl
y place that we knew to be inhabitable. Here.’

  ‘But when you left this Earth you say it wasn’t under the best of circumstances. What made you think we would welcome you back?’

  ‘We had no option. Staying where we were meant that in a generation or two at most, we would be finished as a race. We wanted to come home. It was decided that we would rather throw ourselves on your mercy and plead for sanctuary than let that happen. Besides, our remaining Magi can see sporadically into this world and we have studied you for some time now. Mankind has come a long way since we left. You are now a kinder, more caring race than you used to be. Magick is blooming again and although you have made great technological advances you have also made great strides in your stewardship of the planet. Briton’s empire has spread across a quarter of the planet and its subjects are among the best treated in the world. We feel that we could be safe as subjects of the same empire.’

  ‘What exactly are you asking from us?’

  ‘Men can live in towns and cities but we Elves prefer the open fields and forests of the countryside. My race evolved in the area around where we are now and we would like to return here. We need access to water so we would like to settle down around the large lake, Windermere I believe it is called. We don’t expect charity; we can pay for the land. If we could be allowed to live around it, the few thousand there are of us could return to our roots.’

  ‘And what do you hope to achieve?’

  ‘Nothing at all, except perhaps … to be remembered. On the rock where we live now we will fade away and no one will know that we were ever there, we will be forgotten by the Universe. However, we thought that if we came here then maybe our race could survive, even flourish. But possibly it is too late for us … so if we are to die out, at least it will be at home, in pleasant surroundings. And there will be your people left to remember us. To sing songs and tell tales about us when we are gone.’ There was a slight catch in his voice and there was an uncomfortable silence in the room as the PM was lost for anything to say. He covered up the awkwardness by pouring them both another cup of tea.