Dark Rain

by Tony Richards

  And what was he going to do with her?

  “Let’s see how you manage without dear Cassandra.”

  Without even thinking about it, I started pushing forward. If I could only get close enough to take a decent swipe at him. I’d fight him to the death before I let him hurt her.

  Saruak extended his right palm. I staggered to a halt. Both of my legs had turned rigid at the knees. And I could not go forward anymore, however hard I tried to. It was like being trapped in an invisible cage.

  He raised his left arm to Cass. And at first, the hand was balled into a fist, all bony knuckles and thick veins. It didn’t stay like that for very long. He extended a grimy index finger.

  Raised it.

  Cassie let out a frightened yelp as she followed the motion, lifting off the ground.

  In an instant, she was at head height, as if she’d been suspended there by strings. Her boots were kicking a couple of feet in front of my face. She was wriggling wildly like a small fish, hooked.

  She tried to bring her carbine back to bear, but lost her grip. It came whirling down, clattering on the sidewalk.

  Saul and his people started edging nearer again, but I waved them off a second time. Although I still couldn’t go any further forward, however desperately I tried. I could only stare helplessly at Cassie, shocked by the horrified expression on her face.

  “Let her go! It’s me you’re after!”

  “Altruistic to the last,” he grinned.

  Cass drifted a little closer to me. I tried to stretch out, grab hold of her ankle. But the fingers of his right hand twitched. And suddenly my arms were pinned down by my sides, I couldn’t even lift them.

  When she saw I couldn’t help her, her whole manner changed. Fright gave way to renewed fury. She drifted slightly to the right, till she was staring down at the guy’s battered hat. She spat at it defiantly, then let out a stream of language that she’d definitely not learned at any Sunday school.

  Saruak peered up at her, mimicking shock, although his eyes were laughing.

  “Such a lack of manners. Such a load of hatred, too. But you’re mistaken, dear Cassandra. Try to see things from my point of view.”

  He abruptly made a sweeping motion with his arm, a high arc through the clear, bright air. And – she was howling again, and I couldn’t blame her – Cassie’s body followed it. She went sailing off into the heavens, all her long limbs flailing. Ice replaced the blood in my whole body. I was certain he was going to let her fall.

  But that didn’t turn out to be what he had planned for her. He was simply showing off his powers again. Cass went hurtling right over the square, the podium, the flapping banners.

  She wound up on the high, gray-green roof of the Town Hall, where he’d been yesterday morning.

  So he hadn’t killed her. Maybe he was serious about keeping her when I was gone.

  I could hear the rattle as her boots hit slate. She only paused a short while, crouching, getting back her breath. It was hard for her to take in what had happened. Then she straightened, and began casting around for the best way down from there.

  She was probably safe for the time being at least. I felt the pressure in my chest relax a little. Off to the side of the square, Saul was pointing, shouting orders to his men. They holstered their weapons, then ran across to help her, sprinting up the Town Hall steps.

  They disappeared inside. So I looked back at our visitor, our grim tormentor.

  But his back was turned to me. Perhaps – for the moment – he’d forgotten all about me. He was gazing at the high roof, watching Cassie move across it. And the spectacle seemed to fill him with malicious glee. His shoulders were quivering with silent laughter. Damn him.

  I noticed that my arms had started moving slightly once again. And when I pushed hard, I found that I’d regained the ability to move forward. I had just dropped beneath his radar, hadn’t I? I seemed to have slipped from his attention temporarily.

  Perhaps I ought to draw my own gun, press it to his skull. And keep on firing till it was empty. I doubted it would do any more good than Cassie had. But maybe I ought to try.

  Then I remembered something else.

  I still had a pocketknife on me, the one I’d used to break into the judge’s home. Would I do any better with that, if I took him by surprise?

  The Dralleg was peering in the same direction he was. It was like the thing responded to, obeyed, his every thought.

  As gently as I could, I pulled the knife out and unfolded it. And then I stepped across. And plunged the metal into Saruak’s neck, driving it right in through the spine.

  There was no blood. And there was no response at all except the mildest shudder.

  Saruak’s gaze was toxic as he took in what I’d done and swiveled round.

  FORTY-TWO

  He reached swiftly round and yanked the blade out – it was still completely clean. Then tossed it to one side with a dismissive flick of his wrist. It had been a useless gesture, but I still felt glad I’d done it.

  “I’m disappointed in you, Mr. Devries,” his voice rang out. “You pretend to be some kind of paragon, an upholder of order. And then – hypocrite that you are – you try a stupid trick like that, just like some common thug.”

  He began taking a step toward me, then seemed to think better of it. Except I couldn’t see what was holding him back.

  I forgot about him for a moment, glancing up over his head. Cassie was still trying to find her way down from the roof. There had to be one, or else how did the flags get raised and lowered? But it was probably a concealed hatch, she hadn’t come across it yet.

  As I watched, she went up to the guttering, which had never looked that steady. Then slipped her lower body out into the void, making desperate kicking motions, trying to grab a drainpipe with her legs.

  My teeth ground. For God’s sake! She was so anxious to get back down here it was making her even more reckless than usual.

  I wanted to help her. But Saruak and his creature stood between us. I had to get around them first. It wasn’t exactly going to be an easy job. I fixed him with what I hoped was a challenging gaze.

  “Seriously, why not come and get me?”

  He drew himself up rather proudly, pulling both his shoulders back and puffing out his chest.

  “I, who have lived so long and caused so much destruction? Should I even dirty my hands, dealing with a pest like you? I think not. This is one job that I’m going to delegate.”

  I took a step back, not liking the sound of that at all. The Dralleg had turned to me as well. It seemed more alert than it had been before. A rumbling was coming from its throat, and its luminous eyes were pinned on me intently.

  Saruak’s eyes shone brightly, and the skin around his cheeks had taken on a little extra color. Oh, he was enjoying this.

  “How do you plan to win this time,” he asked, “without your little friend around?”

  The humor left his features and he bared his teeth again. His arms spread a few inches from his sides.

  I glanced briefly back up at the Town Hall roof. Cass was trying to do something pretty stupid with the ropes around the flagpoles. But one of the cop’s heads had now appeared, thank God.

  Saul Hobart had moved halfway toward us by this time, his gun still out in front of him. I tried to signal to him with my eyes. Don’t interfere. Stay back.

  “You end here, Mr. Devries!” Saruak was saying, yanking my attention back. “Well, any last words?”

  I pulled a face. “What difference does it make?”

  “You’re quite right. No difference at all.

  All his cool triumphalism vanished like a morning mist. He seemed to breathe outrage and petulance.

  I was already moving away from him. There was a lightness to my step there had not been before. A lithe springiness, my heels barely touching the ground. The fingers of both my hands were all curled up and twitching.

  Saruak swung around and faced the Dralleg. And then pointed in my dir
ection, siccing the thing on me.

  And I started to run.

  I’d never gone so fast in my life, as though a storm were after me. The Adderneck bobbed up ahead. As did the Iron Bridge, still full of approaching people.

  But here’s the odd thing. When it had first appeared today, shambling along behind its master, only the Dralleg’s shadow had caused people to react.

  Now that it was active, moving at full speed, a sudden shock went through the citizens around us. Once again, it wasn’t like they looked at it directly. But it was almost like they sensed the creature. Were aware of it as a strong vibration. Felt the violence of its motion, like a rumble of thunder out of nowhere. And it affected how they were behaving.

  Those who were about to mount the bridge paused, looking uncertain what to do. Those at the end stepped quickly off. The others, spaced along the middle, all shrank back to allow us through.

  And again, thank God for that. The thought of that creature getting in among those spellbound people – I’d do anything to avoid that.

  The Dralleg was right up behind me. I could hear its pounding tread, and almost feel its breath hissing across my neck. There was suddenly a high-pitched singing noise back there, the air being parted. I lurched forward hard, almost stumbling over. Something brushed against my collar, but did not connect. Had the thing just swiped at me? I didn’t doubt it.

  Didn’t dare pause, either. But I pulled out my gun and tucked it under my left arm, firing backward blindly.

  The thing let out a wail. And I think it staggered briefly to a halt. But then, it kept on coming.

  My foot clanked down on metal. I was in among the girders, now. The Iron Bridge was far more stoutly constructed than it genuinely needed to be, a symbol of the new industrial age in which it had been built. A plaque on it read ‘1899.’ And it wasn’t really iron at all, despite the name. It was made of two matching webs of steel – the crossway clamped between them – riveted along its entire length and painted glossy black.

  The people still on it had abandoned the right-hand side. So I went in that direction, clambering up and swinging myself across the framework. And, clinging to the outside of a girder, finally turned around.

  The bridge had emptied out almost entirely, I was pleased to see. No one else had stepped onto it, and the last few shapes were now retreating. Another bare handful of seconds, and we were alone above the river.

  The creature had stopped too, looking puzzled. It hadn’t been expecting this. Perhaps it had believed I’d just keep running until it caught up with me. If it was an extension of its master’s consciousness, it was a pretty stupid part. Maybe this was the animal aspect of Saruak, the brainless, primal beast.

  It stared at me with those faintly glowing, pale green eyes. Its brow was furrowed once again. Its mouth was slightly open, so that I could see the rows of fangs. The whole of its body, from waist to neck, was hunched over.

  But I already knew what it could do. I smiled bitterly at it, more like a grimace really. And then fired two shots directly at the center of its face.

  It went flailing back a yard or so, pawing at its ugly features, howling.

  But then the Dralleg just recovered, and it flung itself at me.

  I barely got out of the way in time. Sparks flew from the girders as its long claws struck them, scraping along. One set whistled above my head. I started to edge away still further. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, but it had been the only one available. I couldn’t move and aim my gun at the same time. It was either one or the other.

  So I stopped and fired again. I managed to hurt it, sure. But much less badly than the last time. Or perhaps the creature had grown more determined. Moisture blew out of its nostrils. Then it lunged at me extremely quickly. One of its arms came snaking through a gap in the ironwork, the claws almost catching me across the middle.

  I had to hang right out across the water to avoid the blow. Which meant using both ands again. And then I went scuttling sideways, to the far bank of the river.

  We could keep this up, backward and forward, all day, I guessed. Or at least till one of us got too exhausted to continue. And it didn’t take a genius to figure out who that would be.

  But Saruak had moved up to the bank, by this stage of the game. He was watching us very closely. His sangfroid of earlier had returned. All of the rage had left his features. His expression was a calculating one right now.

  “Dralleg?” I heard him murmur.

  And the creature stopped and peered around at him. I could only wait and see what they were going to do.

  A few more words dropped from the Manitou’s lips, in that curious language that I’d heard him use before. I had no idea what they meant. But the monster seemed to understand. It craned its neck toward him for a second, then looked back at me.

  And in the next moment, it was climbing out itself, vaulting across the girders and then scuttling at me.

  There was nowhere else left to go.

  So I pocketed the gun and then gave in to gravity, letting myself drop.

  FORTY-THREE

  Despite the fact that it is not a particularly significant river, the currents of the Adderneck run strong. It is much deeper down the middle than it looks, a good couple of fathoms. I knew that because I used to swim it as a kid. And its waters are cold, whatever the season.

  The shock of it hit me as I went plunging in, but it wasn’t an unpleasant sensation. More like a purging, a release.

  Bubbles swarmed around me, clinging to me like a shoal of fish. They tried to push their way up through my nostrils and they crackled in my ears. My eyes came open. I could see the dark outline of the bridge above me. Beyond that, the sun looked slightly shapeless, rather weak.

  It seemed so far away, a wavering smudge of brightness. Maybe, if I stayed down here, then all this awfulness would pass on by me. But my lungs weren’t buying into that.

  I broke back through the surface. Gasped. It sounded like old timbers, creaking. Wavelets were splashing up around me. Dampness spilled across my face. The world went blurry for a few seconds.

  But when it cleared and took on proper shape …

  I had already been towed some twenty feet or so from the bridge. Saruak was still there on the river’s bank and following me along. There was a jauntiness to his tread, and he seemed cheerful. So maybe I had only postponed the inevitable.

  He drew level with me and pointed at my bobbing head. I only had a split instant to wonder why.

  There was a sudden, large dark movement in the corner of my eye. And then a massive churning, an enormous splash that sent far bigger waves rushing out.

  Only one thing could have done that. The Dralleg had plunged in after me.

  My first instinct was to swim away from it. And first instincts are usually good, so I went with it. I must have taken twenty strokes before I slid to an uncomfortable halt. Then – treading water – I turned back around.

  I had expected it to come after me. But the beast was nowhere to be seen. I scanned round quickly. There was nothing. No pale gray head moving in my direction. And no further commotion of any kind. Had the river simply swallowed it … where had the monster gone?

  The coldness of the water had seeped right into my skin. But that wasn’t bothering me. Not knowing what was happening did, not even being able to see. I tried to circle round and take another glance at Saruak.

  Something tugged very briefly at the left hem of my waterlogged pants, drawing my attention down. Maybe it had been a clump of weed or a piece of sunken debris.

  But the sensation was replaced by a searing pain, next moment. I struggled upward wildly, dragging myself free of it. My body cleared the surface halfway to my waist. Then I flopped back down and floundered.

  My ankle was killing me. It smarted like darning needles had been driven right through it. I knew what had caused it immediately. Something had just cut me, badly. And it didn’t take me very long to figure out precisely what.

  I wasn’t
swimming anymore, but the current was still dragging me along. I raised my lower body as much as I was able, keeping it horizontal in the drift, putting as much distance as possible between my legs and the river’s bed. And then, I gazed downward.

  A vague shape was on the move, in the depths below me. It was sunken too far to make out any proper details. Just a vague silhouette, that was all. But there were two luminous glimmers down there, keeping the same distance from each other. Two inhuman, glowing eyes.

  I saw what the truth of the matter was. The Dralleg, apparently, couldn’t swim or even float. But it had walked along the riverbed, and caught up with me that way.

  There were two thin streams of bubbles coming from its nostrils. They were bursting right in front of me. I wondered if it even needed oxygen, a thing like that. Or maybe it was simply holding its breath.

  The creature lashed at me again. But it couldn’t seem to reach me this time. I paddled away from it, kicking gently with my unharmed leg and staying belly-down, trying to ignore the pain now spreading through the other one. I wasn’t sure how badly I was bleeding. But in waters as cold as this, it wasn’t going to be long before my body temperature began to drop.

  The current was still bearing me along, and tugging at me even harder. We were entering the fastest stretch. The monster kept on after me. But, satisfied it couldn’t hurt me for a while, I took a few more seconds to absorb my surroundings.

  Union Square was fading off into the distance. The Town Hall had dwindled, the crowd in front of it lost from view. Ordinary houses were beginning to appear around me – the suburbs of East Crealley and Pilgrim’s Plot to either side – although I could tell that most of them were empty. There was no help coming from that direction then.

  Saruak was still following me, pacing down the river’s footpath like a bloodhound on a scent. He reached a little rowboat tethered to a pole. And looked like he was considering using it, coming after me that way.

  But all he did, in the end, was stop where he was and shove his hands into his pockets. His gaze on me was very taut. He was silent, but his whole mood seemed expectant. Why?