So Below: The Trilogy

by Matt Whyman

  “What’s wrong?” asks Billy, skating across to her. “We heard you scream and came as fast as we could.”

  Mae Lin doesn’t respond. Her eyes are glazed, and focused on nothing in particular. Billy passes his hand in front of her face. She blinks, gasps, and turns with a start to the party behind him. “He was here!” she says, clutching her throat. “Julius took one look at me and ran!”

  “He must know that he’s been rumbled,” mutters Yoshi. “But how?”

  “It was only a matter of time,” replies Aleister. “But now his cover’s blown we need to fire up that Faerie Ring as a matter of urgency. Julius will stop at nothing for control of it, and I don’t want to find he has one last trick up his sleeve.”

  Livia frowns, and waits for Yoshi to meet her gaze. “How do we know where to go from here?” she asks. “There may be seven of us, but that doesn’t count for much unless each of us knows how to find their waypoints.”

  “I haven’t a clue how to find them all,” says Yoshi, and takes a step backwards. “But we’re in the right place to find out!”

  “Where’s he going now?” Mikhail watches the boy dash back into the tunnel. A moment after he disappears, the party hears a series of ripping sounds. It could be trousers splitting at the seams, but when he reappears, with a crumpled batch of charts and diagrams under one arm, it’s quite clear what’s just happened.

  “There are seven maps here,” says Yoshi, distributing his haul. “Each one marks out the Faerie Ring in different ways, but all of them will direct you to a waypoint.”

  Aleister steps in, and reminds several of the young psychics of the dog-tags around their necks. “I’ve already worked out what waypoint you connect with most effectively,” he tells them. “But as Billy and Mikhail are newbies, I propose you guys take the waypoints that feel most comfortable.”

  “Hey!” says Billy, sounding stung. “Nobody calls me a newbie. According to Bunker regulations, a newbie is defined as a novice in the art of street magic.” He stops there to show everyone his hands. “I might be fresh to this kind of hocus pocus, but I believe I know what I’m doing.”

  Ignoring him, Aleister spreads his chart on the ground and waits for everyone to gather round. This one shows a detailed, modern map of the capital, with the seven-pointed star scrawled across it. “Mikhail,” he says next. “I’ll take you down to Limehouse. The waypoint is easy to reach. It’s built into the roof of the crypt.”

  “What about me?” asks Billy. “I’m ready to roll.”

  Aleister traces his finger from one waypoint to the next. As Yoshi has seen for himself, each black line marks a channel through which flows earth energy. If they can tap into the waypoint as planned, he knows they’ll be in for a dazzling display.

  “There!” The brute taps the map. “The waypoint under St Luke’s in Old Street.”

  Billy No-Beard looks up, puzzled. “But we’ve just been there. The waypoint is located in the troglodyte’s tunnel!”

  “They won’t hurt you,” reasons Aleister. “Now the Elder is out of their lives, I guarantee you’ll be safe among them.”

  “I’m sure I will,” he complains. “But I’ve only just come back along the riverbed. Please don’t tell me I have to do the same journey again? Won’t someone think of my poor feet?”

  “Billy!” This is Livia, whose barbed voice brings the Executive Deck Hand to attention. “As the newbie, just do as you’re told!”

  Yoshi checks his wristwatch. “Let’s give ourselves an hour to reach our positions.”

  “But how will we know when to lay our hands on the waypoint?” asks Blaize.

  “Just prepare to be amazed,” is all Yoshi says. “And when you are, press your palms upon that special brick as if you’re lives depend on it!”

  “Just be sure to think positively,” the brute reminds them. “If we can seed the ring with positive energy, our city will be safe.”

  For someone more at home in her dim sum kitchen, Mae Lin certainly knows her way around the passages, shafts, sewers and shortcuts under London. Volunteering to accompany Yoshi to his waypoint, she had promptly folded the map away and taken him there directly. The brick in question could be reached from a pedestrian bridge that spanned the rails of yet another disused platform. The last time he had been here, together with Livia and the twins, they had reached up together to connect with the waypoint, and summoned bolts of psychic energy in a bid to keep Aleister at bay. Back then, they had feared he would enslave them in order to crack open the ring. Now, they were working with him, and this was the closest they had come to success.

  “Are you ready, big boy?” Mae Lin remains on the platform. She watches Yoshi find the blackened brick with the seven-pointed star etched into it. Carefully, he brushes at the grime with his fingertips. At once, sooty flecks fall away and come alive in a riot of colour. Yoshi smiles as they float past his face. “I’m ready as I’ll ever be,” he calls back, and checks his wristwatch. A minute from now, his fellow psychics will have had an hour in full to find their positions.

  “This is a monumental moment for you, Yoshi.” Mae Lin has taken herself to a bench, where she sits now with her hands clasped neatly in her lap. “I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes when Julius finds out, of course.”

  “By then,” replies Yoshi, watching the second hand sweep around, “It’ll all be over.”

  With that, Yoshi focuses on the star scratched into the brick above, and places both hands upon it. He closes his eyes, sensing a humming sound building from within. At the same time, that tell-tale tension builds inside his head. If this is another remote-view taking shape, he thinks, it’s the wrong time and place for it. Yoshi grits his teeth to counter the pressure between his temples, grimacing at the same time, but it doesn’t stop the white flash from going off again.

  Except this time, it isn’t restricted to his mind’s eye.

  30

  Freedom of the city

  “It’s working, big boy! You’re powering up a ley line!”

  Yoshi opens his eyes, and sees his hand is enveloped in a bright light. He blinks, and realises that it’s the source of an incandescent beam that extends into the tunnel behind him. “Who’s at the next waypoint?” he calls out.

  Mae Lin consults the map he has given her. “Livia!” she calls back. “That girl isn’t stupid, Yoshi. As soon as she sees the light, she’ll reach for her brick.”

  “Let’s just hope that everyone does the same thing.”

  Turning her attention to the dark tunnel opposite, Mae Lin grins to herself. “I guess we’ll soon find out for ourselves.”

  As they speak, the beam shooting into the tunnel behind them strengthens. Colours begin to swirl and swim through this psychic tube of light, which makes Yoshi laugh out loud. “I’d say we’ve just struck first base!” he calls out, upon which the light brightens once again, sparking like a bonfire this time around.

  “It must’ve reached one of the twins!” yells Mae Lin, raising her voice to be heard over the hum. The light has broadened now to fill the tunnel, and continues to intensify with every waypoint the pair judge it must have passed. He imagines it switching back and forth between each one, travelling not just through tunnels but solid clay, sewers, vaults and cellars on its journey around this magical seven-pointed star. Within seconds, the hum has grown so loud that it sets off tremors. With dust and mortar breaking free from the tunnel brickwork, it feels like the city is being shaken to its foundations. Despite it all, Yoshi stands firm. He keeps his hand pressed firmly to the waypoint, from which this intense beam of light continues to flood into the tunnel. Then a rumble builds from the opposite direction, and a triumphant smile breaks across the boy’s face.

  “It’s coming full circle!” he yells, turning to face the dark mouth of the tunnel behind him. “Who knows what’s going to be mixed up in it!!”

  From his position on the footbridge over the tracks, Yoshi sees a steady glow begin to build. It’s the same intensity as the light st
ream flowing from his waypoint, even if it has some way to travel before it reaches them. It could be a tube train knifing towards him for all he knows, but there’s something about the glow that convinces him otherwise. Next thing he knows, the sound of yelping greets his ears. He strains to see what’s causing it, upon which a pack of hyenas sprint into view. They hurtle along the tracks with their tails between their legs, and fail to give the boy on the bridge a second look. Instead, they scramble for the platform, ignoring the old lady on the bench in their bid to find cover in the exits. At any other time, he’d consider it to be a lucky escape. As it is, the reason for their flight is still bearing down upon him. What’s more, a rising wind sweeps up out of nowhere. It billows in from the opposite direction, and races to meet the fiery glow. For a moment, Yoshi feels he might be sucked into the tunnel along with all the dust and rubbish currently tumbling in that direction. Whatever’s happening feels out of this world, and yet somehow totally natural. There’s even a smell in the air like soil after a rainstorm. It’s as if all the energies now racing around the city could only have been summoned from deep beneath his feet.

  “Hold on, big boy!”

  Yoshi hears Mae Lin, but a blinding glare sweeps into the station at the very same time. It’s bright as a solar flare, and causes the wind stream to switch back in a blink. The light force racing for the boy on the bridge is alive with luminous colours, all of which meld into one molten mass on connecting with his waypoint.

  With a boom like a thousand and one thunderclaps, an ancient, mystical forcefield under the city unlocks at last. To Yoshi, what feels like a life-affirming blast of energy passes right through him. The boy throws his head back as every fibre in his body falls from his control. In that same moment, he senses his heart beat in time with every other psychic in the ring. From Aleister to Billy, Mikhail, Livia and the twins, they work with him as one to connect with the power inside the Faerie Ring.

  “Think positively,” he reminds them all. They may not be here in body, but he picks up a vibe in this energy rush that confirms his message has been heard. “Let’s do this for Jenks, and for the freedom of the city!”

  “Well done! Bravo! What a terrific performance!”

  Despite finding himself inside a maelstrom of light, Yoshi’s attention is drawn by the voice on the platform now. For it doesn’t belong to Mae Lin. She remains seated on the bench, seemingly switched off to the arrival of a figure that joins her now. He’s wearing a patchwork coat and half-moon spectacles, and a victorious smile behind that bushy white beard.

  “Oh no!” The boy feels trapped all of a sudden. He struggles to release his hands from the waypoint, but they feel stuck fast. The wind kicked up by this energy storm makes his eyes stream. Even so, there’s no mistaking the book the old man takes from under his arm, and opens in his lap. The boy has only seen it once before, but even then it struck him as odd and out of character.

  Julius Grimaldi leafs through The Hypnotist’s Handbook, settles on a page, and then invites Mae Lin to look into his eyes. “When I click my fingers,” he tells her, “you will forget everything I have instructed you to do. You will no longer know your way around under the streets of London, and nor will you remember why I asked you to lead Yoshi and his friends to the troglodytes lair.” He stops there to address Yoshi. “Had I volunteered to take you there myself,” he says with a shrug, “you would’ve refused to go along with it. As soon as I suggested sacrificing that unfortunate runt, Jenks, you began to question my integrity. It’s a shame he couldn’t fire it up in time, of course, but I am very grateful that he chose to pass on his gift to Billy and Mikhail when it all went wrong for him. If I had been present then Aleister would never have volunteered himself to make up the numbers. If anything, he would’ve done everything in his power to prevent me from getting my hands on the ring.”

  He glances at Mae Lin, who could be asleep but for the fact that her eyes are wide open. “It seemed easier to employ a little hypnotism to suit my needs. Indeed, I have Aleister to thank for introducing me to the art, all those years ago. Had we not become such enemies, I feel sure we could’ve made a marvellous double act!”

  Caught up in this vortex of his own creation, Yoshi struggles to make sense of what Julius has just said. It explained why Mae Lin had proven so expert in negotiating the warren of tunnels and sewers under the city, but does nothing to calm his rising fury at such a grand deception. At the same time, trapped within this stream of psychic energy, he senses his strength begin to ebb. Facing through the streaming light now, he meets the old man’s eyes, “I trusted you!” he yells.

  “And I knew that you alone could help me to unlock The Faerie Ring!” Julius replies, raising his voice to be heard over the windstream. “No other psychic shares your drive and determination, Yoshi. As soon as I clapped eyes on you, I knew I had found the key to my quest.” He stops there and observes the timepiece pinned to the lapel of his jacket. “At any moment, if my calculations are correct, this marvellous spectacle will vanish from sight. Then, at last, you will have served your purpose.”

  As he speaks, the boy continues to weaken. His legs tremble, and a spinning sensation starts to orbit the inside of his skull. Had he not been caught up within this massive vortex of earth energy, he’d have dropped to the ground like a rag doll. And that’s exactly what happens, in fact, when Julius’ prediction comes true.

  31

  I must be on my way

  In one moment, both tunnels are host to a burning bright light. The next that light has vanished. The gale drops away entirely, leaving the litter to settle back down upon the ballast bed. For a second, there is silence. Then a slow hand clap strikes up.

  “Jolly good show, dear boy. Come on now. Pick yourself up. I’m sure you feel a little drained, but I’m dying to tell you what it is you’ve actually achieved.”

  Yoshi simply lies there, with one cheek pressed to the floor of the footbridge, panting like a beached fish. As his wits return, the first thing he can think about doesn’t concern the Faerie Ring at all. It’s the fact that this figure who’s just appeared on the platform is the one who deprived him of his parents. Summoning his own energy now, he rises to his feet, grips the railings, and glowers at Julius Grimaldi.

  “If Aleister is telling the truth about what you did to gain control of me as a baby,” he warns, much to the old man’s amusement, “so help me you’ll pay for it now.”

  “It’s too late for all that,” Julius tells Yoshi. “Now you’ve fired up the Faerie Ring, my work here is done. I’m about to leave, in fact. I just popped down to say farewell.”

  “But we’ve charged the ring with positive energy. If you’re planning on letting the devil ride you’re in for a big disappointment. The city is safe now. We’ve made sure of it.”

  Julius strokes his beard, combing through the bushy white hair and squeezing the tips like a sponge. If his look is one of contemplation, he ends it with a long chuckle. “Yoshi, I have lived among street magicians for so long that even I know the number one rule. Let me tell you what it is—”

  “Don’t believe everything you see,” Yoshi cuts in abruptly. His eyes narrow as he thinks things through, but no explanation springs to mind.

  Julius sighs, seemingly disappointed. “OK, let me spell it out. Firstly, the Faerie Ring is not a force for good or evil. It never has been. It’s about power. You can think as positively or as negatively as you like, dear boy, the end result is just the same. I am sorry that I had to trick you into firing it up on my behalf, but I really am very grateful.”

  “What about the devil?” asks Yoshi, faltering now. “When we first met, you showed me a great shadow swoop across the city at night. It scared the hell out of me!”

  Julius shrugs, looking almost bashful. “What can I say? It all comes back to spending too much time with street magicians. My interest may lie in earth magick, but some of their stunts are second nature to me now.” As he says this, he draws a black cloth from his pocket, and
snaps it deftly through the torchbeam cast by Yoshi’s headlamp. The silhouette on the platform wall leaves Yoshi dumbstruck. For it exactly resembles the wraith-like shape he’d witnessed over the rooftops. “I must confess it takes some practice to make it sail convincingly. Like so many illusions, much depends on your perspective. The closer I can make it swing across your eyes, the more formidable you believe it to be. It works especially well on a clear night, I find. The way it blots out the stars is sure to leave the punter spellbound. Once I’d convinced you of the devil’s existence, the rest was very easy.” He pauses to allow Yoshi to take it all in. “Never underestimate the power of suggestion, my boy. That should be the second lesson in the street magician’s rulebook.”

  Yoshi shakes his head, unable to believe what he’s hearing. “But the Faerie Ring exists!” he protests, “The Hawksmoor churches are no illusion. They really are arranged in a seven-pointed star. You even pointed out how seven planets in our solar system sometimes swing around to form the same shape!”

  “You’re right. That’s no illusion. Hawksmoor was a true visionary. He recognised that everything in this life is connected, as above and so below, on earth as it is in the heavens. The number seven is what links it all together. It is used through the scriptures, accounts for the number of days in the week—”

  “--and the colours in the rainbow,” Yoshi says to interrupt, as if to remind Julius that he has told him this before. Except this time, it begins to dawn on the boy that there’s more to this number than the old man had been prepared to reveal. “It’s everywhere in life, just like you said.”

  Julius smiles. “There are seven continents in this world, seven seas and, well, I could go on. Let’s just say that when the number crops up in the sphere of earth magick, it connects man with the creator. The Faerie Ring is not a force field, you see. It’s a portal.”