Lord of Dust

by Erme Lander

  The people shifted and Daniel saw it behind the child, several lengths away and the lethargy hit. She finally realised her danger and screamed, pinned into place by the nightmare coming towards her. His own Talia froze at the noise. He twisted her hand out of his grip, wrenching it painfully when she refused to let go. Daniel could barely move, he had to pull the child out of the way. The monster was close, so close. He threw himself across the ground, grunting at the ground bruising his shoulder and rolled, aware that if he’d got this wrong, then he would be the next pile of dust.

  It reached down to grasp her shoulder and he hit her behind the back of the knees, making her fall out of reach and cradled her as they rolled. A muffled squeal burst from her at the impact. He was aware of his Talia moving back the way they’d come and he scrambled to his feet, pulling the child upright with him. So tired, he dragged himself back, swinging away from the grey man’s swipes in a macabre game of blind man’s buff.

  “This way!”

  A glance out of the corner of his eye showed Talia next to one of the barrels, rocking it back and forth, the water hitting the sides until it was ready to tip. They passed close to Talia and she shoved it over in the direction of the grey man. The heavy barrel struck the grey man making it stagger, then water slopped over in a wave and it paused, the fine details on it blurring. The lethargy lifted and taking the opportunity to get further away, Daniel scooped the child up and they ran.

  Downhill, through a side street, Daniel followed Talia, cradling the child in his arms. Fear had dropped from her the minute they’d got out of range. She wrapped her arms around him, pulling herself up to peer over his shoulder. He hoicked her into an easier position and kept going.

  She called, “There’s another one coming!” A popping sound and yet another grey leg appeared out of a trackway, the body sliding out to stand in front. It stood, casting its bulging eyes around and fixed on them. Talia swore and swung in another direction. Trusting that Talia still knew her way around, he ignored everything but running.

  Another pop to the side and she shifted them again. Talia’s lungs gurgled and she spat on the ground. “We can’t out run them.”

  “You mean we’re being herded.” The child in his arms was light but awkward and these grey men weren’t slow. His mind raced through options, Bronin was no longer here, they’d have to take her with them. Where could they go with her? A mad thought that he could take her home, take care of her…

  She twisted to touch his face, “I can get away, it’s easy.” He hushed her. Another pop and Daniel groaned, they couldn’t run fast enough. Talia wriggled hard enough to slide out of his arms. He grasped for her and failed as she danced out of reach.

  “We’ve not got time to play games,” he snarled. He couldn’t let her go, she had no one here.

  “I’ll see you in your place!” She spread her hands with a smile, pulled open a rift and was gone. Daniel stood in shock, utterly speechless.

  “Come on.” Daniel felt his muscles slow as the grey men rounded the corner. Nearly throwing up, he let Talia drag him away. Stumbling they ran faster without her in his arms. Pops began to happen all around them, grey men appearing to the left and right.

  “Fuck. We’re going to have to jump as well.”

  “Where?”

  “Anywhere! Away from here.”

  Talia ripped open the void and Daniel grabbed for her, hearing the next pop happen close by. He shoved her through, desperate in the hope nothing would touch him.

  Chapter 25

  They came back to Narith in the future, which time Daniel didn’t know or care. “We need to keep moving… something will come through…” But at least it’s only the one something, he thought. The Grey Lord wasn’t strong enough here.

  “Mamin.” Talia pulled in the other direction and stopped as the rift began to open again.

  Daniel felt the cold run down his spine at the nightmare returning. “What do you mean? We’ve left her time.”

  “This is the time she came through to, where she died. I was thinking of her, I wanted to help...” Talia moaned, caught between her terror of the grey men and the fear for her mother. Daniel swore and pulled her backwards as the foot appeared and hit the ground. Two hands held the break apart and a body began to appear.

  “We need to go.”

  The void snapped shut and the grey man stood, head swinging, searching and stopped, facing in their direction. They stumbled backwards, towards the mouth of the alleyway. The figure in the shadows seemed hesitant, it took a step and stopped again, turning in the other direction.

  “Why is it doing that? It should be following you, we’re not that far away.”

  “Mamin. She’s in that direction.” Talia’s voice was anguished.

  Realisation hit Daniel. “We’re there too. It knows there are three people in that direction who can jump.” They watched as it made up what little mind it had and turned away from them. He squeezed his eyes shut. “They won’t be expecting another one. We need to distract it.” Talia’s eyes were huge and she whimpered and then stumbled into the alley towards it.

  Daniel smothered a swear word as it turned to face them. They backed slowly away and it followed. Its steps were slow and deliberate, it wasn’t moving as fast as it had in it’s own time. Still, the lethargy held its own terrors, the slow walk, trying not to get too far in front.

  “The sea, Mamin said the mud holds them until the water can deal with them.”

  Daniel nodded, trying to keep an eye on both directions at once. Neither of them wanted to trip, despite the slow pace. Arms linked around each other’s waists, they walked downhill towards the bay. After a while the grey man appeared not to be seeking anyone else and became more decisive in its stride. They backed into a larger thoroughfare and people scattered in slow motion, panic in their faces. Daniel and Talia kept walking, the sweat pouring off them in the chilly air.

  A shout of rage startled Daniel as Talia gasped next to him. They’d backed into a man so transfixed by the sight of the approaching grey figure he’d not seen them. He’d grabbed hold of Talia, fear twisting his face and yelled unintelligibly as Daniel struggled to free her. He had hold of her knife hand, Daniel could see her scrabbling to reach her knife with the wrong hand. Terrified, Daniel punched him hard and swung him around so the man was between them and the figure striding towards them. He had to keep the grey man away from Talia, he couldn’t stop it. Time slowed, each foot taking an age to hit the floor while he tried to free her. The skin of her wrist was pinched white between the man’s fingers and he didn’t seem to notice the punches Daniel frantically landed.

  The grey man loomed in their vision, its hand rose to take his shoulder. Talia twisted and her captor finally let go with a gurgle. Daniel dragged them both backwards, fighting the impulse to stay rooted to the spot. The man’s face etched itself in his mind, his mouth opening, pleading as he sank to his knees, the other grey hand reaching out for his shoulder.

  Inch by inch they crept away, the man’s face turning paper-like, the life sucked out. Dark red coated the front of his shirt in contrast to the drab clothes and the figure behind. It turned from crimson to brown. Daniel didn’t understand until he glanced down and saw the knife held awkwardly in Talia’s left hand.

  She saw his look, “I had to…”

  Choices – the man’s life or Talia’s. His stomach turned, if he’d had the knife he would have used it too. “Come on. Let’s keep moving, slowly.” The lethargy weakened as they moved further away. The figure straightened and turned back to them.

  “It’ll be faster, it knows we’re here,” Talia warned them both. They were coming down to the main street that ran along the water front. Daniel had a momentary worry of the tide being out, of a nightmare scramble over broken buildings covered by seaweed and sliding while the danger strode ever closer. One glance stopped his worries, the water lapped high, grey as the figure behind on the dull day.

  “Can you swim?” he asked Talia.
>
  She gave him a disgusted look, “Course I can. Mamin taught me before I could walk.” The street cleared in the same unhurried fashion, people drifting to each side, stalls and transactions abandoned in mid sentence.

  No barrier between the street and water. Daniel gave an inward sigh of relief at the lack of health and safety, common sense was clearly expected to be enough, and jumped in feet first. Thoughts of raw sewage crossed his mind in the split second before he hit the water and he shut his eyes tight and grabbed for his nose. Beside him, Talia dove smoothly in.

  The warmth of the water nearly made him gasp in shock. He surfaced and swam away from the docks, waiting for the figure to appear. The stride remained unaltered, a foot suspended in the air and then it plunged forwards, disappearing into the deep. A hotter stream of water engulfed them and pushed them further on, across the bay. A fine layer of grey dust spread towards them and not wanting to be near it, both he and Talia swam strongly away.

  “Is that far enough?”

  She managed to shrug as she trod water, drifting slowly. “Let’s try landing further up.” This current was harder to swim across, it wanted to push them towards the end of the bay and out to the open sea. “It’s taking us towards the fish traps.” Talia pointed at the curved structures and she cut across towards them.

  “We saw these being built.” Daniel couldn’t stop himself from commenting. So many years ago, they looked nothing like buildings now, they were just a natural feature of the harbour. Nets were hung on the sides, waiting to be thrown when the tide had gone out. Daniel swung his head around as they were swept into it, high walls, slick with slime confronted them. Talia swam to the middle of the wall and found a series of grooves, the surface covered in barnacles. The chill air hit and steam poured off them as they pulled themselves up.

  They scrambled over the stones to where the shore started. Daniel began to shiver, the air was far colder than the sea. Talia led him to a building with an awning over the windows and haggled with the person inside. He hopped from foot to foot, still dripping. A large blanket was thrown at him and he was nodded inside to see the brazier heating the room. The owner left them to dry off.

  “So, do you think you’ll be okay?” He qualified himself, “I don’t remember seeing you as a child, do you get to me in my time?”

  “Yes. I’d been jumping to get out of trouble a lot. They’d marked me last time, nearly got me. I remember seeing you now, you were standing in your garden.” Her voice turned thoughtful, “I don’t think the grey men can go through time on their own, it must take too much energy. They must need someone to open the rift for that, otherwise what would stop them from coming through at any point?”

  “So you’ve let one of those things into my world?”

  “You’ll deal with it.”

  Her arrogance left him gaping. He pushed for more detail, anyone could get hurt by one of those things. “You remember me dealing with it?”

  She shook her head, “My mind’s blank after seeing you.”

  “How come they can come through without anyone opening up the trackways in your mother’s time?”

  “There are so many holes there, it’s nothing like that in my time or even here.” Her face was serious as she thought, “If it’s stronger back then, it might be able to push them through.”

  He agreed, “I think it was dying when it got me. It hated me. I could feel its contempt all the way through my time with it but I was better than the alternative.”

  Talia nodded and then swore, “Mamin said they couldn’t get through to the tower – no holes, I must have jumped back to her.”

  “But why and what was wrong with you when we saw you after she’d jumped?”

  “I don’t know.” She squeezed her eyes shut, “All I remember is a noise and a smell.”

  “What sort of noise?”

  She twisted, “Don’t know.” Daniel gave up as she moved towards the door. He’d stopped dripping by now although he was still damp. “Come on.”

  He shook his soggy jeans, “What?”

  “We need to find Mamin. We might be able to help.” Her face was tight. Daniel couldn’t blame her for wanting to try, despite knowing it wouldn’t help.

  They ran through the streets, Talia pointing the way and stopping to catch her breath to cough. As they got closer to the underground room, Daniel felt something waking inside, a stain beginning to spread. He slowed in horror, he thought he’d got rid of it. He remembered the tendril brushing at the contact with himself in the cellar and the shove as his other self had gone through the rift. Somehow it had left a part of itself inside him and been waiting for the right moment to wake.

  Talia tugged at his hand, not understanding. The opening to the cellar hadn’t changed, a little less rubble in front, the doorway partially closed by a rotting door. Talia kicked the remains down and Daniel recognised the now tattered entrance from their first visit. They both hesitated at the thought of going down there without a light. They stopped in the entrance to let their eyes adjust.

  The stain plucked at Daniel, calling to a part deep within him. “Talia, I don’t think...”

  She ignored him, sliding her hand in his to pull him down the rubble. He knew it was in there, in the second room, waiting for him. He pulled away, not wanting to go closer and turned to see a figure blocking the light through the door. Small, grey with the golden light appearing from cracks in its skin to shine onto the walls of the cellar. They were too late. Bronin’s corpse walked steadily through, ignoring them.

  “Mamin...” The cry came from deep within Talia. Daniel followed the figure as though attached by a string. He swayed like he was in a dream. The stain spread and darkened, it was inevitable he thought, to be consumed again. Years of hatred, years of waiting, a never ending madness. Doomed to repeat the circle.

  The emaciated being in the room raised its arms in a parody of a child wanting to be picked up. Bronin knelt before it as Daniel held onto Talia’s other arm. He was no longer sure if it was to stop her from rushing forwards or to stop himself from doing the same as her mother. He could feel the ecstasy of feeding and wanted to go to it. The sane part of him shrieked soundlessly and he forced the words out. “Talia, she’s dead. We need to go… I can’t stay… it’s going to want me too…”

  Talia reacted as though he’d slapped her. White faced and with eyes blazing, her hand snapped out and hit him across the face. It didn’t help. He reeled backwards, hands over his face, dizzy from the emotions pouring through him. A hand grabbed his arm and shoved him towards the door. The pull grew stronger, it had nearly finished. Daniel held his head, helpless, he’d be finished if he stayed here. He took a step towards it and folded over as a hard fist slammed into his stomach. Unable to stop Talia, he let her pull him out, dry retching from the punch and the greasy feel in his mind.

  Outside in the cold air and the daylight, his mind cleared a bit. Talia shoved him against the wall and peered closely. The dunking had done nothing to improve her looks.

  “You’d better be worth this. You still there? You ain’t going nowhere nob.” She grabbed his hair and pulled until tears came into his eyes.

  “I’m here.” A movement caught his eye and he groaned again. “Talia, I’m here. You need to get me away.”

  “Come on.” She moved to take his arm.

  “No. I’m here, over there I mean.”

  Talia turned and saw the figure walking down the street, hood over his head and a blanket over his shoulders. Daniel watched himself as though in a dream. A strange sight, nobody expects to see a complete copy of themselves walking around.

  She ordered, “Grab him.”

  “I can’t.” A glower from her and he explained, “That last rift you opened, he’ll go back to your mother’s time.”

  Understanding bloomed. Daniel looked at his own face and saw nothing he recognised in it. He recalled the nightmare of not remembering anything and felt dis-orientated. The pull came from both directions now. One from
the being in the cellar, another, equally strong coming from the person in front of him. He wanted to embrace himself, to take away the pain and recognised the stain running through his previous self.

  Daniel forced the words out, “Don’t let him touch me...” He reached out to himself, in the same way the grey men did. Fear chilled him more than the air.

  “Take hold of me then.” She stretched out and grabbed the arm offered in front of her, swung the unresisting figure away and tore open the rift with ease. The mental howl from the cellar stunned him and Daniel saw his other self stagger. Joy coursed through him, it didn’t have the strength to stop them getting away! Talia elbowed the rift open and dragged them all through.

  Chapter 26

  Talia twisted through the void, trying to find the correct route. None of the trackways before were quite right. She felt her way through carefully, it had to be the right time, they had to put Daniel back where he belonged. Her arms ached from keeping hold of the dead weight of one of the Daniels, the other held tight around her waist and pushed with her. Finally they were expelled to fall into the leaves.

  The warm air of late spring hit Talia. The soft green of the leaves and the tall straight trunks of the woods. Birdsong and fresh green smells all around. She let go of the dead weight and flopped. Safe.

  “We’re home again. Who stays?” Daniel was sprawled on the leaves, feeling gingerly at his eye.

  Talia jerked her head. “He does. I’ve got us back so you’ll be in the right place for me to find you.” The other Daniel sat, staring into space. “I’ll get him back to your home while you recover. You’ll need to find water in case anything comes through.”

  “There’s some further along. I’ll hide close by. Shout for me, but not too loud. You know they’ll be looking for him. Can you find your way down?”