Carnacki: Heaven and Hell

by William Meikle

  “Surely this was a far-flung alien landscape – or so I thought. But as I was taken across that vast plain, I started to distinguish landmarks, and so help me, I started to recognize places. I am asking a lot of you chaps to believe me on this – but I am now convinced in my own mind that I traveled over our own future – a dim, distant future where the works of man have all but disappeared completely. I said I recognized landmarks – and that I did, the most prominent of which was a small volcanic knob of rock jutting up from an otherwise flat patch of ground. Lava poured from a crater rim, and ran down over walls of broken and tumbled stone. But I have visited the place enough times to know the outline – the rock was in Edinburgh, and the crumbled stone was all that was left of the fine castle. As for the city itself, nothing remained. Where once the New Town had stood was now a mass of more of the purple foliage, and the Royal Mile was a snaking river of lava, with no sign of any of the fine town houses that had once stood there. A glance north showed that Arthur’s Seat had survived the ravages of time, rounder and softer than I remembered it, but still distinctive. But of Leith and Portebello there was nothing remaining but dust and rock.

  “I was given no time to grieve for the death of my old friend. I was tugged north and west, across a barren plain that was all that remained of the heart of Scotland. I came to see, in the far distance at first, the black pyramid sitting like a bloated spider waiting for my approach to its lair. And I also came to realize for the first time the significance of its position. On the east side of the black edifice I saw another structure of tumbled rock and stone, a square patch of masonry that I knew intuitively was the remains of Sir John’s keep.

  “I also knew that the pyramid sat four-square on what had once been the Dark Island.

  “Once more I found I was being dragged towards the dark entrance at the top of the pyramid. I gripped the iron poker tight, turned the cage’s voltage up full – do not ask me how, but in some fashion it was still connected to the generator – and waited to see what would come.

  “I descended into the luminescent glow inside the pyramid.”

  * * *

  Carnacki paused, ostensibly to tap out his pipe on the hearth. But he was a cunning storyteller, and well knew how to build anticipation in his audience. We all sat quiet, none willing to break the spell he had us under, and several seconds later he continued.

  * * *

  “Now that I had sufficient time to look around I could see that the pyramid itself was also a relic of a bygone age. It had once been a structure of some magnificence, with many levels, and high vaulted cathedral-like structures inside the edifice. But all had fallen into dust and ruin. Work was in place to repair some of time’s ravages, and figures scurried to and fro patching stonework and building walls. It was only as I descended almost to the base level that I saw the nature of these workers – they were all swine!

  “But, more horrific still, it seemed that I recognized two of them, for they wore remnants of clothing; one the scraps of a nightshirt, the other the remains of a sturdy tweed suit.

  “My journey came to a gentle stop on a soft floor that gave slightly as the cage bumped to a standstill. I had kept my eye on the two workers, and got as far as opening the cage door to head in that direction when the green luminescence seemed to gather in a far corner of the pyramid. A vortex came towards me like a waterspout across the surface of the sea, and I braced myself for an impact.

  “But none came. The whirling cone of light stopped just before reaching me and proceeded to dance around the outside of the cage. I felt the tugging in my mind again, but it was an easy matter to keep it at bay. The dancing light started to throw itself at the cage, bringing showers of blue sparks and crackles. The cage rocked slightly, but my defenses held.

  “However through the light show I was able to see that the two figures of Sir John and Doig were moving ever further away from my position. If I was to attempt a rescue, it had to be at that very moment, for I might not get another chance.

  “I took a chance and opened the door of the cage. The dancing light immediately made straight for me. I called the exorcism spell to mind and shouted it out.

  “Ri linn dioladh na beatha, Ri linn bruchdadh na falluis, Ri linn iobar na creadha, Ri linn dortadh na fala.

  “At the same time I thrust forward with the poker, using it like a rapier and stabbing at the centre of the attacking lights. I was not prepared for quite so violent an outcome. The swirling vortex exploded with a concussion large enough to knock me off my feet. When I recovered I saw I was now alone – the attack had been completely dispelled.

  “Making a mental note to thank old Monroe for the cold iron, I strode off across the pyramid floor as fast as I was able, calling out for Doig.

  “At first I thought both he and Sir John were lost to me, for as I approached I could see that they were almost completely turned to the swine-things, having been changed to that form to serve as slaves for whatever the intelligence was that was master here. Sir John in particular was almost full changed, and as I approached he raised a snout and snuffled at me in a manner that the man himself would have found terrifying mere hours before.

  “Doig was closer to the man he had been, but when he looked at me I saw that his nose had already flattened and elongated, and his eyes had become deep set, pink pupils showing. He tried to speak, but only grunts would come, and a single tear of frustration ran down his cheek. But he came with me when I took his hand, and he likewise dragged Sir John along behind as the three of us in tandem started back towards the cage, which suddenly looked an awful long way away across the pyramid floor.

  “It looked even further after I spotted a whirling vortex start to coalesce at a spot only several hundred yards from out position. I tried to pull Doig, urging him to move faster, but he was encumbered by Sir John. The Lord seemed completely incapable of grasping the enormity of our situation and indeed seemed intent on going back to his work on the repairs where I had found them.

  “All I could think of was the exorcism spell. I raised the iron poker in the air before me and called out, my voice ringing and echoing throughout the pyramid.

  “Ri linn dioladh na beatha, Ri linn bruchdadh na falluis, Ri linn iobar na creadha, Ri linn dortadh na fala.

  And in answer, not only did the new vortex start to fade and dissipate, but I thought I heard, dim and far distant, a soft voice join with mine, strengthening the power of my ritual.

  “We made it back to the Faraday cage just as more vortices started to swirl and dance around us. It was a tight fit to get all three of us inside, made all the worse by the heavy animal odour that came off the others. But I managed to get the door closed behind us just as we were totally surrounded again by dancing light.

  “And that was as far as I had thought ahead. I had no idea of how we were now to escape this predicament. The cage started to rock and sway as the attacking vortices grew stronger. I threw the voltage to its maximum level and once again raised my voice in the ritual.

  “And once again I was accompanied by another, sounding closer this time. I felt a tugging in my mind again, but this time it was different – this time if felt like being called home. I gave myself to it, allowing my mind to wander, allowing this new voice command over me.

  “The cage started to rise off the floor of the pyramid. That seemed to enrage the attacking forces, and the cage was buffeted and thrown around as if caught in a storm. Sir John, or the thing he had become, chose that moment to try to escape and I’m sorry to say I was forced to give him a hefty tap on the head with the poker, which quietened him down rapidly enough. I went back to my ritual while Doig attended to him. And now it was as if there were two of us chanting in unison, echoing and expanding in my head and filling the inside of the pyramid with ringing music.

  “Ri linn dioladh na beatha, Ri linn bruchdadh na falluis, Ri linn iobar na creadha, Ri linn dortadh na fala.

  The cage gained speed, rising up and away, spinning like a top such that my
senses were lost and blackness took me away. The last thing I noticed was the high singing, drawing us through the blackness, calling me home.

  * * *

  “When I came back to my senses I was lying on rough rock with a heavy body on top of me. I heard a voice I recognized.

  “Come on man, now is not the time to be lying down on the job.”

  Old Monroe helped me to my feet.

  We were back in the long barrow on the Dark Island, and the old man helped me disentangle Doig and Sir John from the wreckage that had been my Faraday Cage. If old Monroe was in any way disturbed by the swine-like appearance of the men he did not show it, merely hurried us outside,

  “Quick man… there’s a boat waiting for us. And if I know our Stationmaster, he won’t wait long.”

  “Mr. Neild was indeed waiting, sat in a long rowboat just off-shore as if afraid to make land. And he was less sanguine about what he saw and crossed his torso in the Catholic style, muttering prayers as we piled into the boat. I took some small delight in noting that Doig’s features were rapidly returning to show his normal face, and that Sir John, despite an egg-sized lump on his head, had started looking around as if he knew where he was.

  “Mr. Neild and old man Monroe wasted no time in rowing away. I was surprised to see that night was about to fall. Almost a whole day had passed.

  “We got back to the far shore without further mishap, but Monroe would not let us return to the keep itself.

  “Do you not know by now? Have you learned nothing?”

  “Instead he took us to his croft and plied us with strong drink and bread. After an hour of that Doig and Sir John had their humanity back, and both had fallen into deep sleep as if completely exhausted. Indeed I myself only managed to stay awake long enough to swap stories with Monroe and try to piece together what had happened.

  “In the end, neither of us could fully explain it to the other’s satisfaction. From my viewpoint I had seen that the Outer Realm encompasses both space and time stretching far into the vastness of the cosmos, and only the Sigsand ritual had saved me. From Monroe’s viewpoint, we were saved from the clutches of faerie only by the old songs and a piece of cold iron.

  “And thinking on it later on the long train journey home, I believe we were both right.

  * * *

  Arkwright was first to applaud.

  “See, I knew it would all turn out right in the end,” he said.

  Carnacki spoke softly.

  “Sir John can never go home again, and Doig is a broken man,” he said. “And even that last night, sitting at old Monroe’s window and looking over the loch, I saw the green miasma shift and shimmer over the island. It is still there. And the black pyramid is still there. Indeed, I believe it will always be there. No old friend… it did not turn out all right in the end. Not at all.”

  None of us spoke after that, all lost in our own reverie.

  “Now, out you go,” Carnacki said, and ushered us into the night.

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