by Tim O'Rourke
“But why kill Zach…?” the other started. “That wasn’t part of the deal. I would never have agreed to help you if I’d known…”
“Just make sure they head for the Canyon,” Throat rasped. “I will have my army of dead peacekeepers waiting for them. It won’t be me who kills the boy – it will be the very people he has come into Endra to lead.”
The dust fell out of the air and settled on the floor before him. With one skeletal foot, he brushed the dust away, scattering it to the four corners of the Queen’s chamber.
That had been some hours ago, and he waited for more news. It would come in time. With his cloak being carried behind by the thousands of spiderpedes that thrived over it, Throat went and stood before the Queen.
He stood and watched her sleep like he had so many times before. Then sighing deeply he rasped, “My only mistake was not snapping your neck the moment our mother brought you into this world.”
Chapter Eighteen
They walked in silence, the ash growing deeper, and now almost to their knees as it now fell from the sky like giant snowflakes. It settled in their hair and on their shoulders. Bom clawed it from his beard and grumbled. Faraday’s jet-black hair now looked grey where the powdery ash had settled. The wind whipped it up into small flurries as the Seek-Wasp headed through the falling ash, every few minutes calling out, “Thiz way! Thiz way!”
Then, Zachary noticed something sparkling in the distance. The light almost seemed to dazzle and spin like a Catherine Wheel firework. As he drew closer, his heart began to quicken as he realised it was the sun starting to rise over the burnt-out remains of Clockwork City.
“Neanna,” he breathed, looking back at her. She trudged through the ash-snow, her cloak pulled about her shoulders, head down, and hair covered white with ash. Then looking over at Faraday, he said, “How long to that building? We don’t have time for any detours, Faraday. We need to get my friend out of the light.”
“We’ll make it in time,” Faraday said, “we are on the edges of the city now. It’s not far.”
“How far?” Zach pushed.
The Seek-Wasp swooped out of the sky, its wings buzzing. “Seven-point-three miles,” it hummed.
“Seven miles!” William howled. “We’ll never make it in time.”
With his face as expressionless as a shop mannequin, Faraday
stuck two of his rubbery-looking fingers into his mouth and made the most ear-splitting of whistles. Instantly the air was alive with the sound of beating wings. Zach looked in the direction of the noise and his legs began to wobble. To his amazement, three giant butterflies fluttered from the sky and hovered a few feet above the ash-covered ground. Neanna rubbed her eyes as if they were deceiving her somehow. Zach looked at them more closely, and could see they weren’t in fact real butterflies, but machines that looked like they were. Their bodies were flat like surfboards, and covered in a fine coating of silky, black hair. From either side protruded two large, metal wings that beat majestically up and down. On them had been painted the most intricate of patterns, more beautiful than the markings he had ever seen on butterflies in his own world.
Without hesitation, Faraday leapt on board one of them, bent forward, and snatched hold of what appeared to be a set of reins. He pulled on them, and the butterfly-machine swooped through the air in a wide arc and came to hover just above Zach and his friends.
“Get on!” Faraday said, pointing to the other two butterflies which hovered just above the ground.
“How high does it go?” William yelped, fear in his voice.
“I don’t understand?” Faraday said back.
“He doesn’t like flying,” Zach said, remembering how scared William had been on the aeroplane back in Earth. Zach climbed on board one of the metal butterflies and gripped the reins in his fists. Then glancing down at Neanna and holding out his hand towards her, he said, “Come on,
Neanna, you don’t have a lot of time before the sun is...”
Before Zach had had a chance to finish, Neanna had blinked, and was standing behind Zach, her arms thrown tightly about his waist. Then to everyone’s surprise, Bom was clambering on board the remaining flying machine.
“What exactly are these creatures?” he mumbled, reaching for the reins.
“They are called the Butter-Flyers,” Faraday said, pulling back on the reins so the creature swopped around in the air again. The Butter-Flyer cried out, but not in pain. The sound it made was like that of tiny children laughing, enjoying some secret.
“Another one of those entangled contraptions,” Bom sighed.
Then looking down at William, he said, “C’mon.”
William stood in the ash, his long, brown dreadlocks twisting in the wind like a headful of snakes, and shook his head.
“You need to man-up!” Bom roared.
“You can talk,” William snarled, brandishing his teeth at him.
Zach looked down at his friend and smiled. He thought it strange how someone so big, so powerful - a werewolf - could be afraid of flying.
William glanced up at him, his bulbous glasses glowing red. “And what are you smirking at, Zachary Black?”
“Nothing,” Zach shrugged, trying to mask his smile.
“Please,” Neanna said from over Zach’s shoulder. “Do it for me, William.”
Yelping like a scared puppy, William leapt onto the Butter-Flyer and flung his thick, hairy arms around Bom’s neck.
“Let go, you stupid wolf!” Bom shouted. “You’ll strangle me!”
William lessened his hold, but not much.
With some trepidation, Zach took hold of Neanna’s hand, and this time, she didn’t let go.
“Ready?” Faraday asked the others as he hovered about in the air above them. Then he was gone, soaring away towards the smouldering remains of Clockwork City.
Zach pulled on the Butter-Flyer’s reins and the creature – machine – made that soft, playful noise. It tilted to one side and Neanna tightened her grip on Zach.
“Are you sure this thing is safe?” William howled as Captain Bom banked his Butter-Flyer to the right, then left.
“How should I know?” Bom roared, and then shot away after Faraday.
Zach glanced over his shoulder at Neanna, as their Butter-Flyer fluttered up into the air. The wind tugged at their hair and clothes as they swept through the sky right behind the Seek-Wasp that raced ahead of them all. With his arms still firmly wrapped around Bom’s waist, William dared to look down at the city way below. And as he did, he was startled to see through his telescope-like lenses, a never-ending stream of abandoned beet-wagons snaking away in every direction. It was like the people who had once lived in the city below had fled.
They soared over deserted streets and buildings that had collapsed into mountains of smouldering rubble. Giant drifts of ash leant against what few gutted buildings still stood. Most of what William saw through his glasses looked like little more than a burning wasteland. Eventually they left the deserted city behind and swooped over pastures and fields covered in a blanket of grey ash. Banks of hills lay ahead and as Bom guided the Butter-Flyer over them; to Williams’s amazement, he saw and heard of the strangest creatures he had ever seen. Neanna saw them, too.
“What are they?” she shouted over the roar of the wind.
Zach looked down and nearly lost the grip of his reins. The huge, brown animals herded across the fields, their shaggy-looking coats being tugged by the wind, and their hooves sending up clouds of dust. But just like the other creatures Zach had encountered in the Outer-Rim, these bears had been entangled with machinery. Although their bodies were covered in hair, their giant heads looked to be constructed of some shiny, silver metal. And it wasn’t only mechanical bears that Zach could see in the milky shafts of sunlight which where shining over the hilltops. He could see what looked like giraffes with necks that were made out of an intricate column of cogs and pistons, just like Faraday’s face. There were zebras with clockwork legs, and a family of ele
phants breathing fire from their tusks.
“I don’t really know what those creatures are,” Zach told Neanna, but in his heart he knew they were the creatures Der Cribbot had smuggled through the doorways from Earth, and had become entangled with the technology he had brought with them. At first Der Cribbot had sounded like some kind of conservationist, wanting to help protect animals, but he had just created monsters.
Faraday pulled back on the reins attached to the Butter-Flyer machine and he began to descend back towards the ground. As Zach steered his Butter-Flyer through the sky, it banked sharply to the right. Bom was just ahead, and as his banked, William tightened his grip around Bom’s neck and closed his eyes. He remained like that until he heard Bom gasp, “You can let go of me now.”
William cautiously opened his eyes and peered down at the ground, which was now only a couple of feet beneath him. Zach’s Butter-Flyer machine had come to a halt and sat hovering just above a set of wooden gates, which led to a large, sprawling farmhouse. Zach recognised it from the holographic image that the Seek-Wasp had conjured in the desert.
Bom let go of the reins and said, “Are you gonna let go of me, wolf-boy, or what?”
Brandishing his teeth at Bom, William leapt the few feet to the ground, sending up a shower of ash with his huge claws.
“You can let go, too. That’s if you want to – I don’t mind you holding onto me,” Zach said, peering over his shoulder at Neanna, who had now totally immersed herself beneath her cloak.
“Don’t flatter yourself,” she half-joked from beneath her cloak and let go of Zach. She then blinked towards the farmhouse door.
The farmhouse, with its white-covered roof and stone walls, reminded Zach of a picture you might see on the front of a Christmas card. But the stone house didn’t look welcoming. There was no warm, orange glow of firelight shining through the windows. No snowman – Ashman – in the front garden to welcome guests. It sat dark and empty-looking at the end of the front garden path.
Faraday stepped from his Butter-Flyer machine and joined the others at the front gate. He pulled the silver coloured disc from his pocket again, flipped open the lid, and held it up in the air. The Seek-Wasp zipped back and forth one last time and then dived into the device. With a quick snap of his wrist, Faraday closed the lid on the Seek-Wasp and placed it back into his pocket.
“I told you we would make it in time,” he said, looking at Zach. Again his voice was so expressionless. Faraday swung the gate open and made his way up the ash-covered path towards the house where Neanna stood, cloak draped about her.
“Be careful!” Bom warned him.
William pushed his shoulder against the door, but it didn’t budge. It was locked tight. Rolling up the sleeve of his flight suit, Faraday removed the skin covering his right arm and handed it to Bom.
“Hold that for me,” he said.
Bom took it between two fingers and Faraday’s skin swung in the wind like a latex glove. Zach and his friends watched as Faraday’s metal fingers withdrew into his fist of cogs. There was a whizzing and grinding noise, as what looked like some ancient can opener appeared where his fingers had been just moments before. Holding his hand against the wooden door, he cut a hole in it with a cutting tool protruding from his hand. Splinters of wood showered from his fist. When the hole was big enough, he placed his free arm into it. With the side of his face flat against the outside of the door, he felt for the lock on the other side. There was a clicking sound, then withdrawing his arm, he pushed the door open. Taking his skin from Bom, he covered his hand again as if it were a glove, and stepped inside the house.
Chapte r Nineteen
Wally stood before Willow. She looked at him and yelped. His long beard had gone, as had his fangs, claws, and yellow eyes. Wally looked human just like he had when leading her through the woods. He stood before the trapped doorway and smiled at her. His face was young-looking, his skin smooth and flawless. It was pale, as were his eyes, which were no longer bright yellow, but hazel. His hair was ash blond, short, if not a little on the untidy side. For a human, he wasn’t bad looking, Willow thought. He no longer wore his scruffy dungarees, but a crisp white shirt and blue jeans.
“The doorways have such untapped powers,” he smiled.
“But...” Willow yelped, her paws clacking on the ground.
“I have discovered there are many ways of passing through the doorways,” Wally smiled, looking pleased with himself. “Frontways, sideways, and backways! Each of them changes you in a different way.”
“But you look like a human,” Willow woofed.
“I know,” Wally said, looking down at himself. “Disgusting, isn’t it? But, it has its benefits.”
“Like what?”
“Oh, I dunno,” Wally said thoughtfully. “Like when I need to mingle with the humans, which doesn’t happen often I must admit, but there have been occasions.”
“Like when?” Willow pushed, her tail wagging from side to side.
“Oh, let me see,” Wally said, rubbing his chin. “Like when your son, William, decided to rip a car apart in Parliament Square and then scale Big Ben.”
“Who is Big Ben?” Willow asked him.
“It’s a what not a who,” Wally smiled at her ignorance. “Big Ben is a giant clock.”
“What was William doing climbing a clock?” Willow barked.
“It’s such a long story, and one not for now,” Wally said. Then gesturing towards the doorway, he smiled at Willow and said, “Go on, give it a try.”
“I’ve had enough of doorways for one day,” Willow said. “Besides, the only doorway I want to go through is the one which will take me home.”
“Oh, c’mon! Live a little, Willow Weaver,” Wally teased her with that smile of his.
Willow looked at him with her red eyes, then at the doorway that had been fixed in place.
“What’s not to like?” Wally asked her.
Slowly, Willow trotted towards the doorway. Wally didn’t take his eyes off her. “Which way will you choose?” he grinned like someone who was just a little bit mental. “Frontways? Sideways? Or backways?”
Willow looked up at him and then went sideways through the doorway. The bang which followed shook the very walls of the cavern just like before. The flash of white light reflected in Wally’s eyes as Willow stepped from the other side of the doorway. She looked like and was dressed as a Noxas once again. The platted braids of silky blond hair hung from her cheeks and beneath her chin. She raised her claws before her dark eyes and looked at the hair which covered them. Willow wore the long, flowing blue robes that she had worn in Endra. It was good to be a Noxas again, she thought to herself.
“Oh, wow!” Wally breathed. “Warden Weaver is a very lucky man.”
Willow’s cheeks flushed red beneath the hair which covered them. “Thank you,” she smiled, flashing her long, sharp teeth.
“How about going backways through the doorway?” Wally said, rubbing his hands together.
“No – I’m fine just like this,” Willow told him.
“Oh, don’t be such a spoil sport!” Wally teased again. “It’s just a bit of fun.”
Looking back at the doorway, then at Wally, she suddenly giggled like a child. His sense of fun was infectious. “Okay, I’ll give it a go – but just the once you understand.”
“I understand,” he smiled at her.
Turning her back to the doorway, Willow slowly walked backwards. She passed through its wooden frame and the cavern shook and flashed white. Then from the other side stepped a tall and elegant-looking woman. Her long, blond hair flowed about her shoulders in bright ringlets. Her dark brown eyes sparkled. Her lips were full and red, her skin so smooth-looking, it was like a child’s. A pair of hip-hugging trousers covered her long legs, and she wore a pale blue top, which was cut into a ‘V’ shape at the neck.
“What do I look like?” Willow asked.
“Not bad for a human,” he said. “But don’t worry, I’ve seen worse.”<
br />
“Do you have a mirror?” she asked, holding out her hand.
“Somewhere around here,” Wally said, disappearing into the shadows. “I’m sure Jennifer-The Martian-Green left one behind. Then stepping from the shadows, he handed Willow a small compact mirror.
Willow peered into it then gasped. “Oh my, I look hideous!” she cried.
“Look on the bright side,” Wally said, taking the mirror from her. “At least you can change back, humans are stuck looking like this. It would be enough to drive me completely insane.”
“I guess,” she said, trying to get used to the way she now looked. “I can change back anytime I want, right?”
“Anytime you want,” he smiled. “But not just yet.”
“Why not?” she asked him, hoping that he hadn’t tricked her in some way. She had heard from Warden that his friend was rather wild.
“We need to go and mingle with the humans,” he told her.
“Why?” she gasped.
“I have something to show you,” Wally said, heading back towards the slide.
“Show me what?”
Wally sat on the slide, and the blades of grass waved back and forth like thousands of green coloured fingers. “You said you wanted my help to save Endra.”
“Yes,” Willow said.
“Well, I need to take you to the Railway Station,” Wally said, glancing back at her as those blades of grass started to carry him back up the slide and into the dark.
Chapter Twenty
They stood huddled in the narrow doorway. There was a staircase which led up into the darkness. Faraday followed Zach’s stare. He turned to look at the others, and with eyes as black as the shadows at the top of the staircase, he said, “Do not worry, the house is empty.”
“How can you be so sure?” Zach asked him.
“The whole city is empty,” he said back, and pushed open a door which led off the hallway. After seeing all those wild animals roaming freely about, Zach couldn’t help but fear what might be waiting for them on the other side of the door. Faraday stepped inside and then made a screaming sound in the back of his throat. It sounded like unoiled gears grinding together.
