by D. D. Miers
"They aren't programmed to deal with intruders, I guess," Cole said.
Slowly, we climbed out of the cart, trying not to burn ourselves on the hot metal and wary of any change in the Construct's behavior, but they didn't even look at us.
"I guess we're not in any immediate danger, then?" I shrugged as we moved out of the way of the Construct's working and tugged at my shirt, suddenly wishing I wasn't so committed to wearing all black. "Except for this heat, God, it's too hot!"
Gwydion put a hand on my shoulder, and I instantly felt cooler.
"Stay close," he recommended. "I can keep the worst of it at bay. Also, if you get within a half a foot of any of that magma, you will catch fire."
"Oh, sweet, Gwydion's a portable AC," Ethan said cheerfully, slapping his hands on Gwydion's back and sighing in relief. Cole made a face but put a finger on Gwydion's shoulder experimentally.
"Oh, damn," he muttered, looking surprised. "That really is nice."
As all three of us huddled closer, Gwydion looked like he'd just bitten into a lemon.
"So, what do we do?" Ethan asked, his arms around Gwydion from behind, his chin on top of the other man's head.
"Figure out some way back up to the surface," Cole said with a shrug from where he was pressed against Gwydion's left side. I was molded to his right side, and we'd both stuck our hands under his shirt for more direct access to the cooling properties of his skin. I was shocked Gwydion was tolerating this but was not about to jinx it by saying anything.
"I wish we still had that stupid staff," I said, frustrated. "There's no other way to just pop out of those wells in the City, right?"
"Not without the second staff," Gwydion sighed, arms crossed over his chest. "And without both, you'd only be trapped there— and would you stop that immediately?!"
He slapped Cole's hands, which had been creeping higher up his ribs.
"What, are you ticklish?" Cole asked with a wicked grin.
"I will drop you in the lava," Gwydion said without a hint of humor. "Do not test me."
"Okay, so our only option is to fight our way out through an army of Dwarves?" I said, changing the subject quickly. "Because without any magic, that doesn't seem like a fight that we're likely to win. Also, a lot of them just kind of seemed like normal people?"
"What about these things?" Cole asked, gesturing to the Constructs. "You said you can change their commands if you open them up, right? What if we change a bunch of them to make them protect us, then have them just escort us out?"
"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Gwydion said, frowning. "You would need to crack them open to get at their scripts and then figure out how to alter the commands..."
"It's worth trying, right?" Cole said. "Better than nothing?"
Gwydion made an unsure noise, but Cole peeled away from him and approached the Construct with the geode face.
"Ethan, help me wrangle this guy."
Ethan reluctantly let go of Gwydion and helped Cole restrain the Construct. It didn't seem bothered by being held back. It just kept trying to walk in the direction it had been, ignoring Cole and Ethan.
Cole let Ethan hold it for a moment as he searched around, grabbing one of the pickaxes the Constructs had been using to expand the cavern.
"Alright, let's crack this bad boy open," he said. Ethan adjusted his grip on the Construct to get out of the way, suddenly looking unsure.
"Uh, I don't know about this," he said. "I mean, you can't just hit the poor thing with a pickaxe. What if you kill it?"
"I can't kill it, it's not alive," Cole said impatiently. "Just hold it still so I don't miss!"
"Oh, this is going to end very badly," Gwydion said with grim certainty. I was inclined to agree, but we were also out of other ideas.
"One," Cole said, lifting the pickaxe like a baseball bat. "Two..."
Ethan held the Construct as far away from himself as he could, closing his eyes.
"Three!"
Cole swung for the fences and slammed the pickaxe into the Construct's chest with a loud crack of stone.
Instantly, every single Construct in the cavern stopped, dropped what they were doing, and turned in our direction.
"Yep, there it goes," Gwydion shouted, grabbing my hand. "Run!"
Ethan released the Construct he was holding, which instantly turned and swung a stony fist at his head. Cole hit it with the pickaxe, scattering its geode head, but that barely seemed to slow it down. Meanwhile, every other Construct in the cavern was heading this way with murderous intent. Gwydion and I booked it, and Ethan and Cole, still clutching the pickaxe, ran after us, shouting curses.
"There!" I yelled, pointing out a departing cart, just starting to build up speed before the ascent towards the track near the roof of the cavern. Gwydion took two bounding steps and leaped onto the cart with inhuman grace, spoiled only by the awkward, scrambling dance he had to do to get his footing on top of the ore piled inside the cart. As soon as he was stable, he turned back and grabbed my outstretched hand, swinging me up next to him. We both reached out for Ethan, dragging him onboard, then for Cole, lagging just behind, pursued by a hoard of eerily silent, bloodthirsty Constructs.
"Drop the pickaxe, dumbass!" I shouted.
Swearing loudly, he chucked it back at the Constructs, taking out a chunk of one stone creature's shoulder to not much effect. A little lighter, he sprinted the last few steps, and we grabbed him, dragging him onto the cart just a second before it began rocketing upwards and we all had to scramble to re-secure our footing.
The Constructs climbed after us, silent and relentless and bound to catch us the minute the cart stopped or slowed down. The single Dwarf down near the ring had noticed us now and was shouting furious orders at the Constructs, presumably reaffirming their orders to kill the shit out of us.
"Destroy them!" the Dwarf shrieked. "Don't let them near the portal!"
"Fantastic job, idiot," Gwydion said, giving Cole a murderous look. "That definitely helped!"
"How was I supposed to know they'd turn all murdery?" Cole shouted defensively.
"By maybe using an ounce of common sense for once in your life!"
"I didn't see you rushing to stop me, asshole! Or coming up with any better ideas!"
"Shut up!" I shouted at them both. "This cart is heading for the furnace!"
That got both their attention fast. In our haste to pick a getaway cart, we'd picked one of the ones sending ore up to the forge. In just a few minutes, we would be dumped directly into a massive vat of super-heated molten metal.
"Son of a bitch," Cole said quietly.
I scanned around for some way off the cart, my heart racing. The track behind the cart swarmed with killer Constructs. Ahead, there was only the furnace and a two-hundred-foot drop to either side.
"We're fucked," I said, not at my most articulate.
"We're definitely going to die," Ethan agreed, both of us a little too stunned to react properly to our imminent horrible demise.
"Fuck it," Cole declared. Then he grabbed me by the shoulders and dragged me into a rough, passionate kiss, so abrupt and powerful that I could hardly respond. Maybe it was because we were about to die, but he kissed with a desperation, a frantic, burning hunger, that I'd never experienced, which made my heart race and my adrenaline spike. Then, all at once, he let go of me, leaving my mouth feeling bruised and bereft. In the same motion, he yanked Ethan down by his shirt and kissed him too, with the same blistering intensity. I saw Ethan's eyes widen, and then I felt the sudden wave of power from his curse. Cole must have felt it too, because he shoved Ethan away, grabbed my hand, and jumped out of the cart. Gwydion hesitated only a moment, staring at Ethan as the werewolf doubled over, howling, shifting more rapidly than I'd ever seen him change voluntarily. Then he jumped out too.
Cole grabbed the edge of the suspended track, dangling in the air. I scrambled for purchase, almost lost my grip, and only regained it when Cole caught me, holding me up till I was secure, Gwydion hanging
on the other side of him.
Above us, Ethan— no, the Wolf— howled as it leaped from the cart a second before it dumped him into the forge.
The Wolf only tangentially resembled Ethan's normal wolf shape, which was quadrupedal and much like a normal wolf, albeit a very big one. The Wolf was something from a horror movie. Massive, bipedal, bristling with thick dark fur over powerful, top heavy muscle. It drew itself up to its full height, broad chest heaving, and fixed its terrible yellow eyes on us, full of an all-consuming hate. We were completely exposed here. It would barely have to touch us to send us plummeting to our deaths.
Fortunately, it was quickly distracted by the swarm of killer Constructs. The stone men threw themselves at the Wolf with no regard for their lives. They hammered it with crushing blows made by fists like cinderblocks, and it only threw them aside, sending them flying off the bridge to shatter on the floor below. The Wolf tore through the crowd of Constructs like they were nothing, reducing them to rubble with a swipe of its terrible claws. It charged down the track, knocking Constructs aside like bowling pins. Once we had some space between us and the Wolf, Gwydion dragged himself back up onto the rail and pulled me up after him. I turned back to help Cole, though my arms were burning from hanging that long.
"We have to get out of here," I said, clinging to Cole as I watched the Wolf tear its way through Construct after Construct. "Now!"
"How?" Cole asked. "Another cart?"
"No," Gwydion said, pointing down at the wheel. "We'll use that."
"The Dwarf called it a portal," I said, catching on. "Wherever it leads, it's probably better than here!"
Cole looked unsure but threw his hands up.
"Fuck it, it's worth a shot!" he said.
We ran down the cart tracks, a safe distance behind the carnage the Wolf was causing, until we could jump down, sliding down the wall to the cavern bottom.
The Constructs were all busy with the Wolf. The only thing between us and the portal was the Dwarf. He brandished his stone book at us with shaking hands.
"This is my life's work!" he declared. "I won't let you hooligans destroy it!"
"You designed this?" I asked, filled with sudden admiration and a million questions.
"Sir," Gwydion said, cutting me off, "you are without a doubt the greatest enchanter of this age, and among the best I've ever heard of in all the realms. I have immense respect for you, which is why it will be a tremendous shame if I had to bludgeon you to death right now because you will not get out of the way."
He had picked up a shovel from somewhere, which the Dwarf eyed now, his expression somewhere between flattered pride and fear.
"To hell with it," the Dwarf said. "I always hated working for commission."
He got out of the way.
There was some kind of control panel near where the Dwarf had been sitting, and I grabbed it, staring at the controls, completely lost.
"How do we control it?" I asked, looking around for the Dwarf, but he was already making tracks for the nearest tunnel.
"We don't need to control it," Cole insisted. "Just turn it on! Anywhere is better than here!"
I jabbed a few buttons, pulled a few levers, but nothing happened. The keystone and all the panels were in place, but there was no reaction. Cole licked his lips.
"Vexa," he said. "Remember that thing I told you never to do again?"
"Do stupid things that put my life in danger?"
"More specifically."
"Tap into primal pan-universal power sources?"
"Yeah."
Gwydion and I both gave Cole a goggle-eyed look.
"You really think that will work?" Gwydion asked.
Cole looked back at where the Wolf was rapidly running out of Constructs to destroy. The big ones from the forge had ambled over on slow, heavy anvil feet and were finally giving it a proper fight, but even they wouldn't last long. The Wolf appeared to be as indestructible as it was furious.
"I think we don't have a lot of other options," Cole replied. "Just dump as much power into it as you can and hope for the best!"
I guess that was the soundest logic I could hope for.
"Fuck it," I said, echoing Cole's earlier sentiment. "Here goes everything!"
I closed my eyes, reaching down in the deep place inside of me where my connection to the Candle was anchored. I knew what to expect now, and only hesitated a moment at the dim memory of how much this hurt last time, before I grabbed the fire and felt myself burst into flame.
Cole and Gwydion both jumped away as fire surrounded me. Power rushed through me like a dam breaking, like lightning, and I seized on the control panel to ground myself.
The energy tore through me as it passed, leaving me ragged in a way that was more spiritual than physical. But as I stared through my burning eyes, I saw the ring begin to move, spinning, components floating and moving independently as the spells burned into life.
This beautiful machine should have made an equally beautiful portal, something utterly perfect, not just stable but permanent, a fixed point outside of time bridging two realities. What I forced it to produce, incomplete and inexpertly piloted, was a damn mess, crackling with waste energy, lopsided and collapsing even as it began to open. But it WAS open.
Gwydion grabbed me, dragged me away from the console. I could feel him siphoning away power, though I'd fortunately already dumped most of it into the portal.
"Hurry!" Gwydion shouted to Cole. "Now, before it collapses!"
They ran towards the portal, half dragging me, barely conscious and drunk on power and the already fading memory of burning agony. But there was one last thing I had to do before we left. I dragged myself loose of Gwydion to make him stop, put my fingers to my lips, and whistled as loudly as I could.
"Ethan!" I shouted as the Wolf paused its destruction and looked towards me. I waved my arms. "Over here!"
Gwydion grabbed me around the middle, threw me over his shoulder, and sprinted for the portal. Snarling, the Wolf sprinted after us. Gwydion jumped through the portal, and I saw the Wolf leap, claws outstretched, just a second before chaos engulfed us.
Chapter 16
For several minutes or possibly an eternity, we fell through space.
I lost track of the others entirely almost at once. Flashes of worlds exploded on either side of me. Light, dark, fire, ice, Manhattan skyline, Titania's castle, worlds I could only see in cross section, worlds I could only hear, or smell. Once, a dark hall, full of candles.
And then, all at once, I slammed face-first into white vinyl tile. Gwydion landed on top of me, elbows first. Cole crashed down a foot to my left. The Wolf came last, slammed its head on a shelf on the way down, and landed unconscious on the floor.
We were in, I assumed, some kind of supply closet. White fluorescent lights glared down at us from above.
"Where are we?" Cole asked, squinting and disoriented.
"Judging by the antiseptic smell and the bedpans?" I replied, my voice a little slurred. "Hospital. Ow. Ow! Shit!"
I'd just noticed a burning pain in my hip, which was rapidly getting worse. I scrambled to my feet and dug into my pocket, pulling out the lucky penny Gwydion had given me when we'd met. The damn thing was smoking it was so hot and predictably burned my fingers when I pulled it out. I dropped it, and it bounced and rolled away out the open closet door.
I exchanged a look with Cole and Gwydion, who were still getting to their feet.
"Well, go after it," Gwydion said. "It's lucky, so it's bound to be leading you somewhere. And someone is probably on their way to investigate that crash anyway."
Without another word, I ran after the coin.
I was right about it being a hospital, albeit a strangely quiet one for the time of day that the light coming through the windows suggested. The smoking penny rolled away down the tiled hall, and I raced after it. Suddenly, its path began to curve, until it tipped abruptly onto its side. With the last of its momentum, it skidded under the door of a private lon
g-term stay room.
The name on the door read E. Bellefonte.
I opened the door cautiously, worried about disturbing someone. But there were no visitors in the room, and as soon as I got a good look at the patient, I could tell there was no worry about disturbing them.
E. Bellefonte was an older man, late forties, early fifties maybe. He still had his hair, though its golden blonde was shading to white. He must have been movie-star handsome once, I thought, though I could probably only tell due to my experience with corpses. A long, wasting illness had reduced him to a shadow less substantial than the one that hung over him, signaling his rapidly approaching death. He was only alive now because of the machines crowded around his bed, keeping his body functioning even as it fell apart. But even that wasn't enough to keep the shadow at bay.
"Here you are," Gwydion said, entering the room. Cole, with Ethan's arm over his shoulders, limped in behind Gwydion, dragging the werewolf, who'd been hastily shoved into some ill-fitting surgical scrubs. Gwydion bent to pick up the lucky penny, which smoldered in his hand, the metal pitting and crumbling. "You've completely burned it out. I've never even seen that. What kind of—?"
He shut up abruptly as he saw what I'd already seen.
The Candle of the Covenant was sitting on E. Bellefonte's bedside table. Gwydion looked at it, then at the withered coin in his hand, before tucking the coin's ruined remains into his coat. "That is one lucky penny."
"What's it doing here?" Cole asked. "Who is this guy?"
"It's keeping him alive," I answered instinctively. I could feel it, how the Candle was connected to him, maintaining his life force in a way the machines never could.
Before we could say any more, a portal blossomed into existence in front of us, and Gilfaethwy appeared, having stuck himself only halfway through it.
"This way," he hissed in an urgent whisper. "Hurry!"
