I had to leap back to avoid being killed.
Towers of fire had sprouted from both cots at the same time. They rose together to the ceiling and then started to swirl in a circular motion, like a fierce, fiery funnel of wind trying to escape the narrow confines of whatever was trapping it.
I screamed, as the flames leaped higher. I looked around the room for something to put out the fire. There was a pitcher of water on a stand against the wall. I grabbed it and hurled the liquid against the inferno. It splashed back in my face, repelled by the flames.
I screamed, ‘Mum! Dad!’
I desperately looked around for something, anything, to use to defeat the flames. There was a stack of sheets on another table. I grabbed them, then charged at the fire, trying to beat the flames out.
I got no closer than a foot and a half when I was again thrown back against the wall. I slid down, dazed and sick to my stomach. As I staggered back up, it happened.
And all I could do was watch.
From out of the flames rose my parents, up to the ceiling. They were not burned. They were not hurt in any way that I could see. And their eyes were open. They seemed to be awake even as the flames devoured them.
I screamed at them again, trying to get them to notice me, but it was as though I didn’t even exist to them. And then came a blast of wind and a shriek that was so loud I covered my ringing ears. In a blink of my eyes, they were gone. So were the flames.
I sat there slumped against the wall and stared at two empty cots that were not damaged in any way.
And yet my parents were gone.
I looked to the ceiling, expecting to see a hole there where my parents had escaped. But it was still simply a ceiling and completely intact.
The room did not even smell of smoke. With a massive effort, I struggled to my feet and, keeping a hand on the wall, I staggered over to the door, pulled it open and raced down the hall.
I thought I might see my parents soaring through the air and, with the aid of Destin, I could fly with them to wherever they were going.
Hurtling outside I looked to the sky, desperately hoping to catch a glimpse of them. Then someone slammed me to the ground.
I had no idea how long I had been in my parents’ room, but first light was weakly managing to break through the clouds and the rain. Its dim illumination reflected off the raindrops, making them seem dirty, misshapen.
Then I saw that hulking idiot Non standing over me. He was the one who had knocked me down and ruined any chance of following my parents. Waves of rage swept over me, even as Non looked down at me, a malicious grin spreading over his face.
He glittered in the rain, for he was wearing a metal breastplate. Over his shoulder was a long morta. In his belt was a short morta and a dagger. He must have been on patrol.
‘Caught you, didn’t I? Breaking into the Care. Valhall for you, Vega. That’ll teach you not to break rules.’
I tried to get up but he pushed me back down.
‘You’ll stand when I say you can and not before.’ He touched the barrel of his morta. ‘Official Council business, I’m on. Lucky for me I came round here to see that things were all right. What, were you stealing from the sick Wugs in there?’
‘You idiot!’ I screamed. ‘Get out of my way.’
I jumped to my feet and once more he tried to stop me.
That was an enormous mistake on his part.
When I hit him with my fist, I felt the breastplate bend and then crack under my blow. The next instant, Non toppled to the dirt. I looked down at my hand astonished because I had never been able to hit anything that hard before. My hand was swollen and bleeding.
I focused on Non lying on the ground. He was injured, perhaps even dead. I turned and ran. And then I took a few steps and, without intending to, my feet lifted off the ground and I was flying.
I soared instinctively, searching the skies for my parents, but they were not there. They were gone. I sobbed even as I flew.
Slivers later I landed on the outskirts of Wormwood. How could two Wugs be engulfed in fire and not die? How could the fire transport them from where they were to somewhere else?
Though first light was breaking, the clouds and rain made it still seem dark and the gloom was thick upon Wormwood as I headed back to my digs. Then a noise made me turn and look back, prepared to run or even take flight again. But it was only Harry Two.
He jumped around my legs, his tongue hanging out. He must have got out of my digs somehow and come looking for me. I knelt down and hugged him. He licked my face once and then sat on his haunches, gazing up at me. I ruffled his head, and we walked home together.
Back at the house I fed Harry Two with the last bit of food I had. As he ate by the fireplace, where the flames had long since expired, I sat on the floor, my knees to my chest, and gazed around the room. This was all I had now. John was gone. And now our parents were gone too. And with a sickening feeling, I realized that I would have to tell John about our parents.
And what would happen when Non told what I had done? Would I end up in Valhall?
‘Vega Jane!’ the voice called out from the other side of my door.
I turned at the sound of my name. I also recognized the voice and my spirits sank. It was Jurik Krone.
23
AN UNLIKELY ALLY
When I opened the door, Krone was standing there, armed with a long-barrelled morta and a sword.
‘Yes?’
‘You were at the Care earlier?’ he barked, the anger clear on his features.
‘Was I?’ I said dully.
He drew closer. I felt Destin tighten and turn hotter around my middle.
‘You were,’ he said firmly.
‘So, what if I was?’
‘Non has accused you of attacking him.’
‘Why would I attack Non? He’s three times my size.’
Krone looked me up and down. ‘But that is not all.’
I knew what was coming. I waited for him to say it.
‘Your parents are gone from the Care.’ He leaned in closer so his face was nearer to mine. ‘What did you see, Vega? You need to tell me. What did you see there?’
‘Go to Hel!’
‘Do you want to go to Valhall for this?’ he asked with maddening calm. ‘Or worse?’
He put a hand on his sword. I felt Destin turn ice-cold against my skin.
‘Krone,’ a voice said.
We both turned at the same time.
It was Morrigone.
I looked around for the carriage but did not see it. It was as though she had materialized in our midst on the Low Road.
Krone looked perplexed by her appearance.
‘Madame Morrigone,’ he said stiffly. ‘I was just about to arrest this female for criminal acts against other Wugmorts.’
Morrigone drew closer, her gaze fully on Krone.
‘What criminal acts?’
‘She has attacked Non outside the Care. He has given evidence of this. And Hector and Helen Jane disappeared from the Care at the same time Vega was there. These are serious matters that must be brought before Council.’
‘Have you spoken to Thansius about this?’ she asked.
‘I have only just been made aware—’
She interrupted him. ‘What does Non claim Vega has done?’
‘He caught her leaving the Care well after visiting hours. He was about to arrest her for that when she attacked him for no reason.’
‘Attacked him? How?’
‘Non says that she struck him a terrific blow and knocked him out.’
‘A Wug as large as Non was knocked out by a fourteen-session-old female,’ she said sceptically. ‘I find that very, very difficult to believe, Krone. And you simply accept Non’s word for this?’
‘You say that Non is lying?’
‘You’re saying that Vega is a criminal based only on Non’s statement,’ she retorted.
‘Did you know she has taken up residence here, in her old home? A Wug unde
r the age of fifteen cannot live by herself, but she does not care for rules, do you, Vega?’ He glanced menacingly at me.
I didn’t answer Krone because I was unsure how to. I looked at Morrigone, whose gaze still held steady on Krone.
‘I am aware of it, Krone, as is Thansius,’ said Morrigone in a low, even voice that still managed to carry more menace than Krone’s louder words. She stared at him for a few moments longer. ‘Unless there is anything else, Krone, I think you may safely leave us.’
Krone bowed curtly. ‘As you wish, Madame Morrigone. But I trust this will be followed up appropriately.’ Then he turned and marched swiftly away.
Morrigone waited until he was out of sight before turning to me.
I started to say something, but she held up her hand. ‘No, Vega, I do not need to hear anything. I will speak to Non. He will not refer charges.’ Her gaze dipped to my hand.
I looked down and saw that it was swollen and cut from where I had struck Non. I hastily slipped it into my pocket.
‘I am sure you had good reason,’ said Morrigone quietly.
Neither of us spoke for a bit.
She finally said, ‘I know there has been much change in your life, and that this change has been difficult.’
‘Do you know what could have happened to my parents?’ I blurted out.
‘I could not possibly know, Vega, since I, unlike you, was not there.’
This statement split us like a wall of blood.
‘What exactly did you see, Vega?’
‘I saw nothing,’ I lied. ‘I went to visit my parents.’
‘At night?’ she said sharply.
‘Yes. I wanted to see them. I . . . I was . . . sad.’
‘And?’ she said expectantly.
‘And when I got there the room was empty. I ran outside and that’s where Non grabbed me and pushed me down. I struck him to defend myself.’
She considered all this and then said, ‘I ask you not to tell your brother about your parents, Vega.’
‘What?’ I said, gaping at her. ‘He has to know.’
‘His knowing of their disappearance cannot help in any way. And it will distract him from his duties on the Wall.’
‘His duties on the Wall?’ I cried out. ‘So we keep him ignorant of his mother and father being gone?’
‘I can assure you that he is indispensable, so, again, I would ask that you keep this information to yourself.’
She and I stared at each other over the threshold of my doorway.
Finally, I nodded my head. ‘I won’t tell him.’
Her next words truly astonished me.
‘I admire you, Vega. I really do. I can even say that I envy you.’
‘What?’ I said. ‘Envy me? But you have so much. And I have nothing.’
She said wistfully, ‘You have nerve and courage, and you accept and take risks like no other Wug I know.’
I stared at her blankly. She was both looking at me and not looking at me. As though her words were directed at a distant place that only she could see.
Then her gaze settled squarely on me. ‘You are sure your parents were already gone when you arrived at the Care?’
I nodded my head, not confident of my tongue to deliver another lie in a convincing way. It had occurred to me that my parents might have suffered Events. But I was not prepared to voice that to Morrigone.
She nodded, sighed and looked away. ‘I see.’
And I could tell that she did see, quite a lot, actually.
She said, ‘I hope, after all this darkness, that good fortune shines on you, Vega – indeed I do.’
Then she turned and slowly walked away.
I watched her until she dsappeared from view. Then I looked to the sky. I wasn’t sure why. Maybe to find answers I could never hope to discover down here.
24
THE PIT
I continued on to Stacks, walking, not flying. I didn’t care if I was one or even ten slivers late. I didn’t care about anything any more. My parents had disappeared, vanished into fire and smoke. Maybe they were dead. Maybe they had journeyed somehow to another place, though I had no idea where that could be. The questions flooded my brain: Who was I? And who were they? And what really was this place I called home? I suddenly felt that nothing I’d ever been told was true.
At my table I took up the first strap that I would work on this light. It was many feet in length, very rough, and its edges would slice through bark, leather and certainly skin. My job was to smooth out the roughness. Then I would work in holes towards the ends of the metal. That would allow tethers to be used to hold both ends together for stability after the straps were wrapped around a stack of planed timbers. It was difficult, tedious work, and I found that even with my thick gloves on, my hands – one of which was already injured from striking Non – became cut and scarred as the straps’ edges on more than one occasion tore through the gloves’ leather and sliced into my skin.
During my meal break, I went outside and fetched a bowl of water for Harry Two and then gave him a bit more food I had managed to scavenge. I sat on the ground next to him and stared up at Stacks. It was a colossal building and I had only seen a small part of it in my two sessions here. Yet I wagered I had probably also seen more of it than any other Wug who had ever laboured here. I counted off the turrets and towers and floors, and it suddenly struck me that it was far taller than simply two storeys. This was puzzling because when I had headed up the stairs that night, they ended at the second floor. There were no other stairs. But that wasn’t exactly right. There were no other stairs that I could see.
As I passed back through the double doors, Domitar barred my way.
‘What were you doing, Vega?’
‘Just feeding Harry Two.’
‘You were nearly late this light,’ he noted harshly.
‘I had a good reason,’ I said.
‘I can hardly wonder what would be a good enough reason to be late to your job, particularly in times such as this.’
I hesitated. Ordinarily, I would not convey personal information to Domitar. ‘My parents seemed to have taken a turn for the worse at the Care,’ I replied.
He bowed his head, something that surprised me. But his next words stunned me. ‘I pray at Steeples for their recovery. They were good Wugs. And may the Fates be kind to them.’ We locked gazes for an instant before he turned and left.
The rest of my slivers at Stacks that light went by in a sort of blur. I must have worked hard, because when the end-of-work bell rang, all the straps I had been given to finish lay coiled on the trolley with their edges sanded, their surfaces smooth as a baby whist’s skin, and the requisite holes cut precisely as instructed in the parchment. I went to the locker room, changed into my other clothes and headed out.
Dis Fidus closed the doors behind me and I heard the lock turn. And that’s when I made up my mind. I was going back into Stacks. I remembered the vision of the fierce battle and the torrent of blood that had washed me away. I recalled the screaming Wug on the doorknob. I, of course, remembered the jabbits.
But what I most vividly recalled, as I plunged into the red abyss, were the images of my parents. I needed to find out what had happened to them. Wormwood was not what it seemed to be. It held secrets – secrets I was now determined to discover.
A sliver later, Dis Fidus came out from a side door and walked down a path away from me. A bit later, I saw Domitar emerge from the same door. I crouched down low in the tall grass. Harry Two copied me. Once Domitar was out of sight, I said to Harry Two, ‘OK, I’ll be back. You stay here.’
I got up and started to walk away. Harry Two followed me. I put out a hand. ‘You stay here, I’ll be back.’ I started to walk again. Once more he followed. ‘Harry Two,’ I said. ‘You stay.’
He simply smiled and wagged his tail and followed. Finally, I gave it up as a bad job. It looked like we would do this together.
I accessed Stacks through the same door as before. Harry Two followe
d me in. I wasted no time and made right for the stairs. I found the door the jabbits had knocked down. It was fully repaired. I opened it and went inside.
I could now see that what had toppled down on me and revealed the little door the first time was a suit of armour. It was all righted and shiny now. I managed to move it aside, again exposing the little door. Harry Two started growling when he saw the screaming Wug on the doorknob, but I told him to be quiet and he obeyed instantly. I closed the door behind us. At the same time, I braced myself for a wall of blood hurtling at me. I had already planned to use Destin to get to my parents’ images in that abyss. And I did not intend on drowning Harry Two and myself in the process.
But there was no blood.
As I stood there, the cavernous walls disappeared and an enormous pit was revealed directly in front of me.
Stacks had clearly been something else many sessions ago. There was something in this place, some force that was absolutely foreign to me.
I squared my shoulders and stepped forward until I came to the edge of the pit. I stared down, unable to process what I was seeing. So stunning was it that I felt myself teeter on the edge. That’s when I felt Harry Two bite down on my cloak and pull me away from the abyss before I might topple in.
I composed myself and once more drew close to the pit and stared down again. What I was looking at filled me with both anger and hopelessness. For what was down there were all the things that Wugs who had long laboured at Stacks had made. The ones on the very top I recognized as objects I had very recently finished: a silver candlestick and a pair of bronze cups.
How could all these things have ended up here? I had always assumed they were being made for the Wugs who had ordered them. I could never afford any of these things, but other Wugs I believed could. They were custom-made. They— Here, my ridiculous thoughts broke off as the truth hit me. They were made so they could be thrown into this pit. They had never left Stacks. All my work was in that hole.
Without thinking, I slammed my already-injured hand against the hard ground, then yelped in agony. I grabbed it with my other hand and squeezed, trying to stop the pain. But it only grew worse.
Vega Jane and the Secrets of Sorcery Page 11
