The Seventh Star

by Mark Hayden

  And the bullet bounced off him. Shit.

  It had to happen sooner or later: someone would create an upgraded Ancile specifically to deal with my bullets. The old arms race. Time for plan B.

  ‘Down!’ screamed Karina.

  She and Lloyd were a careful three metres away from me, putting them outside the blast radius of my one remaining MK3A2 concussion grenade. Pulling the pin on an old, abused grenade was scary, and I closed my eyes. Why? Primal instinct. I released the lever and cringed.

  Ooof. Still alive. And-one-and … Drop. Right at the leading edge of the open door. Head down.

  Dirt, rock and bits of steel flew in all directions. I peered over the edge and saw that the blast had twisted the door on its hinges as well as punching a bite out of the bottom corner. They wouldn’t be closing that in a while.

  If Colm had wanted to live, he should have run in the opposite direction. He didn’t. He picked himself up and saw that the Gnome with him was kneeling with his arms in the air, surrendering. Colm lifted his axe, ready to decapitate his prospective clansman.

  There was a snarl and a howl, and suddenly the surrendering Gnome was protected by the pack. Colm swore and ran as fast as he could towards the doors.

  Karina, Lloyd and Albie were scrambling down the bank, and I joined them. Colm saw us and brought the pommel of his axe down with a burst of magick. Shock waves spread out, turning the loose rock underneath us to gravel. We all lost control of our descent, and instead of four on one, Colm had a free pass to attack or run. He ran. Into the mine.

  ‘All OK?’ I shouted. We were. I drew Great Fang and followed Lloyd through the doors.

  The tunnel was short, steep and held up by a rough concrete roof and floored with packed dirt. Not dirt. Something red. It was wide enough and high enough to get machinery down, and the only sign of magick was a chain of Lightsticks. As we began to descend, the temperature rose dramatically and a whiff of sulphur hit my nostrils.

  Lloyd moved slowly, scanning for Wards and traps. ‘They’re arguing,’ whispered Karina, presuming that I couldn’t hear it. She was right.

  I moved to Lloyd’s side as we approached the end of the tunnel and put my arm on his shoulder. He stopped, and I lay down to get a better angle – the downward slope meant I couldn’t see very far into the chamber beyond. When I saw no one waiting, I stood up and pointed down. We charged.

  A big round space. Twin scaffolding towers reaching up to the domed roof. Two archways leading off with concrete lintels. More red rock packed down for the floor. All as expected. The Octet – now Septet – were grouped at the foot of the right hand scaffold tower.

  Gregor had his axe lifted on to his shoulder, listening. His brother, Andriss, was at his side, and Colm had joined Fergus opposite them. That left Hans and two others trapped in the middle.

  We spread out in the same formation as on the roof and stood well back. ‘In the name of the King, surrender!’ I shouted.

  ‘We’re leaving,’ said Gregor. ‘You can get out of the way or you can die.’

  A skitter of claws on stone, and five wolves weaved their way into the chamber, staying behind our Anciles for protection and ready to cover the gaps.

  Gregor lifted the axe off his shoulder as if it were a broom handle and pointed it at Lloyd. ‘Why do you stand next to the Witchfinder. What is this wet one to you?’

  ‘He is my brother in blood.’

  Gregor nodded slowly. ‘And here he is, threatening the children of Mother Earth. Will you follow him in that?’ He lowered the axe and switched to Old High North Germanic. This was the moment of truth.

  ‘What are they saying?’ hissed Karina.

  ‘Search me.’

  Lloyd replied with a smile on his face. I think I caught a word with wîb in it. Woman. He turned to me and said, ‘Old prune face over there says he won’t attack you if you don’t attack him, and that means I’m not obliged to support you. He’s got a point. Not only that, he said he’d gift me the mine and farm if I stand aside. I said yes. Sorry, Conrad.’

  It was my turn to nod slowly. ‘I understand, Lloyd. You helped me before because Mina was kidnapped. I’d rather keep our bond intact than risk it over this lot.’

  ‘What!’ said Karina. ‘You can’t let them get away, sir. Not now. Not after what they’ve done. You can’t.’

  She was furious. Incandescent. It would not go well for her if she returned to Princess Birkdale having let the Count’s Killers live.

  ‘Stand down, Lieutenant,’ I said. ‘Remember your blood oath.’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Stand down!’

  She lowered her bow, pain and anger twisting her face.

  ‘There’s just one small problem,’ said Lloyd

  ‘Oh?’

  ‘They want their wives back. The ones that are left.’

  ‘What have you done to them?’ snapped Colm. In English.

  ‘Arrested most of them and tied them up.’ I pointed to Colm. ‘Your wife tried to kill my fiancée and one of my team. Lieutenant Kent here shot her. Twice. A small part of me hopes she died in pain. The others are in custody. My custody.’

  All the heads bar mine turned to the tunnel behind us. I must get my hearing checked out. Ilse appeared, and tried to rush through our cordon until Cara the wolf growled and made to snap at her ankles.

  ‘Ilse!’ shouted Hans. He spoke in modern German, so I understood what they said next. ‘Are you okay?’

  ‘Yes, and so is Kathe. In the name of the Mother, surrender Hans. I have. Kathe has. You are not one of them.’

  ‘Silence,’ roared Gregor. ‘We leave them behind. We have a deal with Lloyd. You heard the Witchfinder.’

  ‘Sorry,’ I interrupted. ‘I haven’t finished yet. You can walk out with what you’re carrying now, and you can take a van. You’ve got until dawn, and then I make my pronouncement.’

  Fergus had remained silent so far. His weapon was a sword, and he drew it casually, as if he were putting up an umbrella. ‘Since when do Watch Captains make pronouncements?’

  ‘Classic fail,’ I said. ‘Your intelligence is out of date. I’m Deputy Constable of the Watch, now. Also Lord Guardian of the North. When dawn breaks, I will pronounce each one of you an Outlaw, beyond the protection of the Watch. Lieutenant Kent will WhatsApp your details to Princess Birkdale, and Lloyd will do the same to Clan Blackrod. Unless you surrender.’

  I turned to Karina. ‘Do you think the Nachtkrieger are watching the farm?’

  ‘Bound to be, sir.’

  ‘Tough luck, that,’ I said, more loudly. A disinterested observer might have noticed that the wolves changed their circling pattern. None of the Gnomes did.

  ‘What Nachtkrieger?’ said Hans.

  ‘They came for the pack,’ said Ilse. ‘It was the Witchfinders and their friends who fought them off. And the pack. I’m sorry, Fergus, but she didn’t make it. Caught in the crossfire. Two Nachtkrieger escaped. They are out there.’ She added, in German, ‘I swear it.’

  All Gnomes learn to fight, and all Gnomes have weapons, much like human men did before the nineteenth century, but like them, not all Gnomes are warriors. Hans bent his knees and launched himself into Colm, barrelling him into Fergus. Then he ran towards us, diving through the red grit like an American baseball player and shouted, ‘I surrender.’

  The two other Gnomes in the middle tried to follow him, yelling their submission. Kathe’s husband just made it; the other was not so lucky: Fergus shoved his sword into the Gnome’s back, killing him instantly.

  In a heartbeat, the pack surrounded the prostrate Gnomes, howling and baring their fangs.

  It was now a Quartet ranged against us, and they paused for half a second, staring at what had happened.

  ‘Fergus, that man had just surrendered, so you’re under arrest for attacking my prisoner,’ I said. ‘Karina, at the ready.’

  We’d passed the point of no return, now, and Fergus charged, making straight for me. The rest of the Quartet joined in:
Colm moved to take out Karina, his wife’s killer, while the Blackrod brothers joined together and attacked Lloyd.

  Karina fired an arrow into the dirt in front of Colm, well ahead of his Ancile. It exploded, sending smoke and red dirt flying everywhere. Some hit my lip, and I knew what it was: rock salt. Of course – the Cheshire salt mines.

  Colm’s Ancile protected him from the direct blast, but it didn’t stop the grit and particles hitting him, nor the second blast, to his right, nor the third. Even Fergus swerved to avoid it, and he came at me from an angle, sword raised to hack me open. I had no option but to go two-handed and meet his blade, forcing it down into the dirt. He backed up before I could recover and thrust at him.

  ‘Good one,’ he said. ‘They said you could use a blade. Let’s see who’s better, shall we?’

  ‘You can still surrender,’ I offered.

  I glanced left and right. Karina had swapped her bow for a short dagger and dived into the cloud of dust and smoke surrounding Colm. After that, she was lost to view. On my right, things were not going well. Gregor and Andriss really did know what they were doing: they’d lured Albie into attacking their flank while Lloyd was engaging both of them.

  Gregor took a big swing of the axe, Andriss covered him and Lloyd stepped back. Albie thrust at Andriss, who dropped to the ground. Gregor continued his swing and buried his axe in Albie’s leg.

  Fergus’s sword was longer and heavier than mine. His arm was stronger, too. And also shorter. He feinted, I thrust, he parried, knocking Great Fang to one side and coming at me with the reverse. I dodged. That was too close. If you’re wondering why a wolf didn’t jump on his back, that’s because I’d ordered them to protect anyone who surrendered at all costs.

  Fergus’s strategy was clear and simple: keep beating me back until there was nowhere to go, which would be in about six feet. I’d also felt him trying to use some of the magick in his blade, and Lloyd had done me proud: the resistive Works in Great Fang pulsed and pulsed again as they stopped Fergus trying to bend or break my blade.

  Andriss was not so lucky. It was his sword and Gregor’s two-bladed axe against Lloyd’s single blade, and Gregor had got carried away, impeding Andriss and allowing Lloyd to swing up, into Andriss’s chest.

  That was all I could risk looking at, because Fergus had pushed me back two more steps, right into the wall. ‘Look at your death, wet one,’ he said, taking a step back and working out his approach now that I couldn’t retreat any further.

  ‘En garde, shortarse,’ I countered. ‘It’s time for you to show me whether that’s a sword or a fishing rod. Do you want to know how Juliet died, Gnomeo?’

  Gnome jokes. Below the belt, but seriously justified. To add insult to injury, I placed my left hand on my hip and struck an old-fashioned fencing pose.

  ‘I’m going to enjoy this,’ said Fergus. ‘And then I’m going to hunt down your whore and enjoy her.’

  I focused everything I had on his eyes, drawing him in. ‘Your woman was trampled to death by a herd of cows. She was running away. Don’t worry, little man, we’ve already dealt with her body.’

  He came at me, and I let him lock swords, pushing me back and sliding the blades down towards the guards, when I would be at the mercy of his enormous strength and power.

  And he would be in my personal space, Anciles voided. That hand on the left hip, it had drawn my mundane SIG from its occluded holster. Three shots rang around the cave. I stepped over his body and went to look for Karina.

  She was lying on top of Colm, clutching her right knee and trying not to stare at the bone sticking out of her shin. Her dagger was buried in Colm’s neck. I pivoted, and turned to Lloyd.

  He was tiring, stepping back and back away from Gregor’s swinging axe, unable to break his rhythm. I circled round, aiming to approach Gregor’s right.

  ‘I got this,’ said Lloyd. ‘You’ll see.’

  Unlike Fergus, Gregor had nothing to say. He swung the axe again and again. Sometimes Lloyd parried, sometimes he dodged. What the hell was he doing?

  Working an angle, that’s what. He was leading Gregor to the scaffolding tower, and when it came up on Gregor’s right, Gregor switched his swing. Lloyd dropped his own axe, went on one knee and lifted his left arm. In a blur of magick and steel, he caught the blade of the axe with his prosthetic hand and wrenched it out of Gregor’s grip, pitching the other dwarf onto his face. Lloyd jumped on his back and broke his neck.

  The crack echoed around the chamber as more than just sound, it was a ripple in the magickal fabric as something half-done was undone. In the silence, our ragged breathing, the panting of the wolves and Karina’s moans were twice as loud.

  28 — Leader of the Pack

  ‘Someone go up and get the others,’ I told the wolves. ‘And tell the Earthmaster what happened so that he can call Mina.’

  Cara detached herself from the pack, loping up the tunnel, and I dashed back to Karina.

  ‘Why does my knee hurt more than my leg?’ she said.

  ‘Hands on your head, Karina. It’s good that you’re lying on your enemy, but enough’s enough. I’m going to drag you off him. Try to roll onto your left side a little.’

  She gave no more than a low groan through gritted teeth when I dragged her to the wall and propped her up.

  ‘That was awful, but yeah, better.’

  I squatted down and put my hand on her shoulder. ‘Did he land on you?’ She nodded. ‘I think you’ve ruptured a ligament. That’s why it hurts more. Well done, by the way. Apart from your obvious mistake.’

  ‘You mean getting rolled on by a Gnome?’

  I took a packet of curried worms out of my uniform pocket and showed them to her. ‘You forgot these. I’ll leave these with you for next time.’ I gently unfastened her breast pocket and dropped them in. ‘There you go. They really do make a difference.’

  ‘No they don’t, but I appreciate the thought.’ She ran her hand down her leg again. ‘This is bad.’ She breathed out slowly and closed her eyes. ‘You set it all up, didn’t you? You and Lloyd?’

  ‘We did. And Ilse. Couldn’t have done it without her.’

  She looked upset. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’

  This was no time for sugar-coating things. ‘Do you remember Piccadilly Gardens, outside the station?’

  ‘Yeah. What’s that got to do with it?’

  ‘The Mayor of Manchester has been trying to reduce the number of homeless for years. The ones left are all addicts, and that’s their favourite spot. Addicts will do anything, and I mean anything to keep their supply going. I wanted to see whether Princess Birkdale had reeled you in.’

  She looked down at her leg again. ‘I suppose I deserved that.’

  I stood up. ‘There was another reason. You’re a terrible liar, Karina. Like Vicky. I needed an honest reaction from you to convince the Octet. We’ll get you to a hospital as soon as we can. I’ve got to go now.’

  ‘Thanks, sir. Thanks for giving me a chance.’

  Lloyd had put a tourniquet on Albie’s leg. ‘He needs to get out right away,’ he said. ‘And he can’t join us for the Consecration.’ He looked up. ‘Here come the others.’

  I could get used to having a pack of Mannwolves at my service. What I couldn’t get used to was the presence of naked teenage girls. Still, that was my problem, not Cara’s. She had a whole pile of flip-flops in one hand and she was followed by Wesley, Kenver and Kathe, who rushed straight to her husband. Wesley headed for Lloyd, and Kenver came to me.

  ‘The Earthmaster’s on the phone to Mina,’ he said.

  ‘Good. I’ve got a boring but really important job for you, Kenver: gate duty. There’s going to be a lot of comings and goings over the next few hours, and someone has to let them in and out. Did you sort out those access tokens?’

  He nodded.

  ‘Good.’

  I surveyed the scene and who needed what. I arrested the two Gnomes, Hans and Max, then put them to work making a stretcher, under the supe
rvision of the Pack. They were both dazed and stumbled off to do their duty, and that included clearing the dead, once the living had been evacuated. Ilse and Kathe didn’t need instructions – they were already heading for the cottage kitchen.

  I took one last look around the chamber and climbed the tunnel to the surface. That night air felt good, so naturally I lit a cigarette. Chris Kelly had just finished on the phone and gave me a smile. ‘Mina says she’s got a surprise for you. They’re on their way, and Tom Morton is organising an ambulance with police escort.’ He stared at the twisted door to the mine. ‘It’s been an eye-opener, Conrad, that’s for certain.’

  ‘Thanks for everything, Chris. We had the bare minimum tonight. I couldn’t have done it without any of you, and that’s the scariest part.’

  Yee Hah!

  ‘What the hell?’ said Chris.

  ‘Excuse me. That’s Tom Morton.’ I walked away and took the call.

  ‘Ambulances are on their way from Macclesfield, Conrad. I’ve got the control room on hold. Anything to say to them?’

  ‘Yes. Albie needs to get to the nearest trauma centre asap. For Karina, can you pull rank and order them to Queen Elizabeth’s in Birmingham? I wouldn’t want her anywhere else. I know it’s a long way, but they did miracles on my leg, and what little social support she has is in Warwickshire.’

  ‘Right. Anything else I can do?’

  ‘Yes. We’re going to need your specialist skills tonight.’

  He could hear something in my voice. ‘As what?’

  ‘A lawyer. There’s a conveyance to transact.’

  ‘You know what, Conrad? That’s the most outlandish thing I’ve heard today. Right, I’m going. See you soon.’

  He arrived at the farm entrance shortly after, and the Gnomes ferried the wounded down to meet the paramedics under my guidance.

  Mina arrived just behind the ambulances, with Lucy, Scout and another passenger: Hannah. Crap. What was the Boss doing here?