Lord of Dust

by Erme Lander

  “Are you sure Dodie will take care of her?” He’d had to ask the question before they’d jumped. The memory of those eyes, he hoped never to see the same look in Dominic’s.

  “More than most would. I’m here aren’t I?” The answer had been grunted while Talia gripped the sides of the rift. “Ready?”

  They stumbled over the pile of rubble that started at their feet as they’d come through – the wall at the end of the alley had fallen in the years between the jumps. A couple of shadows flitted over them and Daniel barely stopped himself from the indignity of squealing at the bats. It had been a close thing, a slender bolt humming past the entrance to the alleyway as they’d scuttled in. The men had laughed at the thought of them being trapped with no way out. Daniel wondered if they’d waited outside long before investigating.

  “Let’s move away from here.” Daniel didn’t want to know if a new grey man was going to come through and didn’t want to deal with it. Talia slipped her hand into his as they hurried. “What the hell is going on?”

  More people ran past, an anticipation fizzling through the air. “It should be curfew at this time of night. This shouldn’t be happening.” Talia frowned. “Let’s find out.” They followed the figures running down the hill towards the sea front. “Down by the mills.” Talia was all ears, trying to listen to the snatches of conversation, “Some sort of gathering.”

  “A riot?”

  “Look!” Talia pointed to the gaping hole of the cargo doors where several bodies swung. Daniel stared and gagged at the blackened faces in the flickering light of the torches. “It’s Igren, they’ve actually rebelled. Idiots.” An admiring horror was in her voice. Daniel recognised the guard from his first day in this world, the vines twisting down his arms no longer moving. A chill went down his spine, they’d stepped back into anarchy. A ragged cheer went up as someone bent to pick a cobble and sent a corpse spinning with a well aimed throw.

  The crowd swirled around them, pushing them on. “The square...” The mutter was passed on, a macabre game of Chinese whispers, the content changing every second. The nobs had cut off the supplies... they were going to be starved out... the mill owners had tried to keep people working... There’d been a riot down at one mill… the owners cut down... It had spread… people had had enough of being kept down… They’d blocked off the railway… were going in… They had a nob on their side… he was going to help...

  Talia pulled at Daniel’s shoulder, “This is serious, we need to get out.” Daniel nodded and they tried to push through and failed. Too many people were moving in the same direction, any other way was impossible. The electric lights were no longer working, the night was lit by torches. Why was it that a crowd looked more like a mob by torchlight Daniel wondered. Was it the way the light flickered over the faces? The shadows hiding the eyes except for the flash of whites? He could feel the suppressed violence ready to leap from one figure to another, waiting for a spark of ignition.

  The square was already packed. Someone had started a bonfire at one end and a silhouette was on a box in front shouting, “I can tell you where to fight. You can smash the walls, smash any who oppose us. Paradise is within your reach. Sunlight, green grass, a place to raise your children. No one can stop you. No one can force you to work for a pittance in the mills, split up your families on a whim. Every man and woman for themselves...”

  “Kill the bastards!” Several shouts of agreement as the figure paced on the makeshift stage.

  The firelight caught the speaker’s face and Talia said, “It’s Bay.”

  Bay had discovered his father’s gift for words. A scrawny young man with angry eyes, he charmed the mill workers, egging them on. Daniel shuddered, even the women were hard and muscled from their work. Tools were being passed from hand to hand amongst the crowd. No weapons but items people were used to handling, tools that could be vicious in the right hands.

  Daniel looked at Talia, “What’s he doing? This mob’ll tear everything apart.”

  “That’s the idea.” An older woman had overheard them, “They stopped paying us, so we stopped the mills and turned the lights off. Now we’ll turn them nobs off too.” She slapped a pair of carding combs together, the long spikes reflecting red in the firelight. She turned to scream her agreement into the crowd.

  He lowered his voice and bent closer to Talia’s ear so no one could overhear, “He’s gone bonkers. From what you said it’s all farming up on the plateau. This lot’ve no idea of how to live up there without help. They’re going to need the people they’re planning on killing.”

  A roar and Bay was picked up to be carried through the crowd. He waved his blessing as he passed people, reaching down to touch hands, calling out encouragements. Daniel’s height allowed him to see various mobs peeling off into the streets, following Bay’s instructions to start distractions by storming the wall in different places.

  “You know him. Let’s get to the front, maybe we can stop this.” Talia snorted at Daniel’s idea, but tried to wriggle through. The crowd pushed forwards, people shoving from the back as others gathered to leave. A scrum of people with sharp objects flashing in the available gaps, no way were they going anywhere. The thrill of fear ran down Daniel’s spine – mob rules. Anyone could get torn apart and no one would lift a finger to help. The crowd’s noise became louder and he peered over the heads and shoulders, Bay was coming their way. He bellowed, waving at Bay and gave up, it was impossible to catch his attention, everyone was shouting his name.

  “Hang on.” Daniel motioned to Talia, shifting her around to pull her onto his shoulders. Her place was immediately taken and he swayed with the extra weight as someone shoved into him. Talia waved, higher than the rest and caught Bay’s eye.

  “Whatcha doing Bay?”

  “We’re bringing down the system.” Bay’s eyes were drunk with power. He clambered down from his willing carriers and came closer, “It’s chaos up there with Father dead. That grey man you brought in, it’s going through everything.” People pressed close, anxious to hear his words.

  Daniel went cold. How many people could it take? What would happen by Bay letting this crowd in as well? They had to stop it but Daniel knew that the threat of the grey man alone wouldn’t stop them. “Look, capture the people. Don’t kill them.” His voice sounded a thin streak of reason in the noise of violence planned. “You need them.”

  Someone snorted and Daniel rounded on him, any fear forgotten. “You. Do you know how to farm? Look after animals and stop them getting ill? Do you know about any diseases they catch? What about crops? You need those people up there. Yes, storm the wall, stop the inequality, but don’t kill the people. Otherwise you’re killing yourselves in the long term.” The muttering increased, they were working themselves up to overthrow authority. Daniel knew they didn’t want to hear.

  Bay frowned and his face lit up, “I’ve just realised, this is your friend isn’t it?” Talia nodded warily. He leaned forwards and flinched away as Daniel glared back at him. He grinned and flung his arms into the air, a mad glint in his eye, “The Lord of Dust is on our side!”

  The circle around them widened and whispers started. Daniel hunched his shoulders with Talia still on them. She shifted and he allowed her to slide down. Some of these people would have lost friends and family to the grey men.

  She twisted to hear as Daniel said quietly, “This was going to happen with or without Bay. The system’s cracking up. He’s just a convenient figurehead, they’ll get rid of him when they don’t need him.” Bay wasn’t one of the mill workers, he’d not worked next to them, they wouldn’t trust him.

  She nodded, “Seen it before, when a local clique broke up. It wasn’t pretty.”

  Daniel gave it one last try, “You’re getting your own back by breaking everything Bay? How many people are going to get hurt?”

  “Does it matter? We’ll do things our own way, when we’ve cleared the old lot out.” The comments came from one of the muscular men around them and the hair
on Daniel’s neck stood up with the blatant acknowledgement that Bay wouldn’t be needed. He watched as Bay turned to laugh and agree with the man, not realising what Daniel had.

  Daniel muttered, “Let’s get out of here.” They began to move sideways, hoping not to attract any more attention.

  “Where are you going? You’re going to help us!” Bay’s voice cut through the talk.

  Talia grinned hopelessly, “We need to prepare. To get the help you need.”

  “You’re sneaking away.” He addressed the crowd, “Make sure they come with us.” Several people came closer hefting weapons. Bay raised his voice again, “The nobs in the walls haven’t the manpower if you attack in several places at once. That’s why I sent those other groups off as distractions. They’ve been lying to you for years. They need days to bring in more people to help. If we attack now we will succeed!”

  A roar and the crowd carried them through the streets. Daniel linked arms with Talia, knowing that the first stumble would end up with them being walked over. Bay kept them close the entire way. Despite his obvious fear of Daniel, they were permanently surrounded by people watching them. Groups separated to harass other parts of the wall. Bay followed the railway tracks up the hill to the tunnel leading through the wall. Several trucks had been overturned, partially blocking the way in.

  Bay turned to Daniel, “You gonna send a grey man up there for us?”

  Daniel squared his shoulders, glared back and lied, “I can summon one, but I can’t control it once it’s here. You want it running riot through this lot?” He waved his hand at the crowd surrounding them and Talia squeezed his other tightly. What if he insisted? The only way to summon a grey man would be for Talia to open a rift. Could they both get through it without being torn apart? Talia stepped closer, tucking her arm through his.

  Bay stared at him with narrow eyes. A stand off, sweat ran down Daniel’s face at the murmuring around them. He could see Bay calculating the pay off between having a grey man and the chaos it would cause in his own troops. He barely stopped himself from sagging in relief as Bay, sensing it wasn’t the right time to insist, called for people to start up the tunnel.

  Men armed themselves with wedges to keep the automatic doors from the trucks open and gathered in a group to start the long walk of death. Bay waited outside the tunnel, shouting his encouragements. Bolts flew down hitting those not covered, hot sand hissed through holes in the ceiling. Metal sheets and doors were used as makeshift shields. Daniel and Talia watched the workers staggering out, burnt, blinded and wounded. Daniel tried to blank out the screams, wondering if he’d ever forget this night, the torchlight flickering and the howling of the mob. Talia’s hand gripped his hard and he tried his best to sink back into the peace of the morgue. He knew then that nothing he met there could ever faze him.

  A roar from the tunnel, messengers raced back. The first people had got in. The gate keeper had taken one look and run – the coward. Daniel was jolted out of his fugue. They were moving, a door hoisted overhead for protection and they walked up the tunnel. Bodies lay all the way through and Daniel could barely see them in the torch lit, crowded tunnel. Groans and cries mixed in with shouts of triumph. He found himself apologising to every soft part he trod on, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry….”

  They were pushed along with the mob, no chance of getting away. Bay encouraged his troops, spit flying and his eyes wild as he righted all his perceived wrongs in one glorious night. Nothing lighting up the corridors this time, the electric had been cut off, everything was lit up by smokey torches. Daniel kept his battery torch in his pocket and accepted the brand given.

  The situation in the tiny rooms and long corridors was horrendous and the muscular mill workers made mincemeat of any who got in their way. Daniel could see the so called nobs didn’t live much better than those in the city, maybe a little more food, a little more sunlight but not much else.

  No one was paying attention to them now, he pulled them both into a side room and was shoved out of the way by an excited worker. He shifted to protect Talia, despite her abilities, her small size was against her here.

  “We need to get to Kenderick’s rooms.”

  “I think we’re going in the right direction. I don’t think it’s too far from the railway, do you remember?”

  “I never saw the gates. Can’t you take us there instead?” He mimed opening his hands.

  Talia shook her head, “To much risk of a grey man coming through. Can you imagine what it would be like in here?”

  “Let’s start looking then.” Daniel peered out of the doorway and they joined the stream of looters. The crowd was beginning to disperse, Bay was way out in front. Comments were passed back along the line of people, who they’d found hiding where, the riches discovered. It all seemed very little to Daniel, for the price paid. All the rooms and corridors looked the same to him and he glanced at Talia to see if she had any ideas. A louder murmur in the distance and abruptly the reports turned to panic and a knot of people began shoving their way backwards.

  Daniel flattened himself and Talia out of the way against the wall. “What the hell’s happening down there?”

  He muttered a swear word as the torch licked flame against his hand and ground it out against the stonework. Talia tugged on his arm and mouthed something at him, fear in her face. She shoved at him, turning them around into the current.

  “What is it?” He could still see nothing in the narrow corridors, hear very little above the echoes and cries. No one was paying attention to them, so he pulled out his electric torch to send a beam of light on the stampeding people.

  “Grey man!” A shout rose above the din.

  Panic filled him, so little space. People shoving and time slowed with the familiar lethargy. Daniel’s only thought was to get Talia out of range. He could deal with a grey man, send it back into its component parts. Talia had to be kept safe. So tired, it must be close by, no room to get past people. No one had a care for their neighbours, the smell of fear and panic rose. An intersection and the corridor cleared, people stumbling away in different directions in the hope it would go another way.

  Daniel’s hope grew, they should be able to out run it, even at this pace until someone shoved Talia against the wall, half falling over her in his desperation to get away. Daniel saw her head connect with the stone and her eyes rolled. He grabbed for her as she slid, getting pushed aside by the same man. His knee twisted and he cried out as he stumbled, reaching out.

  He looked up and saw himself. The grey man stood in the corridor, only a few paces away, a woman in front of it. The familiar desiccation, the clothes sagging and the thud of a body no longer filled with life. The lethargy, Daniel knew all he had to do was touch it, he didn’t need to worry. These grey men didn’t move fast, not like that one from the past.

  It raised its head and looked in Talia’s direction. Daniel groaned, his knee, the weight of his limbs, all he had to do was reach out… The grey man moved, faster than expected. Talia lay, half propped up against the wall, a dazed terror in her face at the nightmare of her friend coming towards her. Daniel coiled his good leg and flung himself in her direction. He gasped at the pain lancing through his knee and flopped across the floor. His finger brushed its leg and dust began to hiss, the lethargy lifting.

  He closed his eyes in relief and was jarred by the sound of Talia’s scream. The grey man’s leg was dissolving but it had grabbed her arm. The dust was sweeping over her skin in the same way it had with her mother.

  “No...” Daniel pulled himself up to bat at the figure, dust flying under his fingers, falling around them both. The dust seemed attracted to Talia, sticking to her. He swept his fingers over her wrist and found the dust moved away from him. The remains of the grey man lurched over Talia and engulfed her.

  “Daniel...” Her hands clutched at him, gripping his shirt. Pale skin, shifting dust as he touched it. He couldn’t stop it moving over her, covering every part. “No...” She stood awkwardly. �
�I don’t want to go.” Tears ran down her face and were absorbed. “Help me. It’s taking me.” Cracks appeared in the grey covering her and Daniel remembered the golden light when her mother had died – he had to keep her alive.

  He stumbled to his feet, ignoring the pain in his knee. Daniel moved his hands to her face, keeping her mouth and nose clear. Talia began to walk away. He pulled at her arm and she screamed again. Most of her was covered now. He was barely aware of the people watching as he frantically moved his hands over her face as she walked stiff legged towards the door.

  Daniel had thought it bad when Talia’s mother had been taken, this was worse. She slid out of his fingers every time he touched her, the dust shifting. The only thing he could do was keep it away from her mouth, her eyes bulged as she gasped for breath between the waves attempting to cover her mouth and suffocate her.

  The crowd parted at the sight of them, doors opened, people huddling out of the way in the narrow corridors. No one wanted to help, no one could help. Daniel, tears streaming down his face, ignored everyone. Hobbling along, his knee now an unnoticed inconvenience stopping him from helping his friend. Forget not being able to get out of this world without Talia, forget his family. All he could do was keep her mouth and nose clear of the infernal dust. Memories rose to blind him, making him stumble and trip. Playing with the dust on the floor, swirling patterns, raising men. The explosions of power, lust and hate…

  He needed both hands free. He shoved the torch in Talia’s hand, unpeeling her fingers and wrapping them around it in the hope she could keep hold. The beam lurched with her, waving through peoples faces and dark doorways. He ignored everything and concentrated on keeping her breathing. The cool morning air hit him. At some point daybreak had begun. It pulled on Daniel’s sense of unreality, a nightmare happening during the day. No time to switch the torch off. Talia’s eyes were covered and he remembered the grey film that had covered everything. He babbled at her helplessly, “You’ll be okay… I’ll sort you out... You’ll be okay,” unsure who he was trying to reassure.