Back to front…Ivy knew someone who saw the whole world that way.
“Anyway, this is a pointless conversation,” Johnny Hands said, fixing his jester’s hat tightly over his straggly hair. “Even if you find the place, it’s deep, deep below Lundinor. You’d never get in or out undetected.” He began dissolving back through the rafters. “I’ve got to alert my patron with this information. Till our paths cross again, Ivy Sparrow!”
Once he’d gone, Ivy, Seb and Valian were quiet for a moment, then Valian pulled the Great Uncommon Bag out from under his jacket.
Judy looked up. “You can’t be serious.”
“If we leave now,” Valian said, “we might have a head start. Selena can have only just received Jack-in-the-Green’s featherlight.”
“I think Scratch might be able to help us when we’re inside,” Ivy suggested, stuffing him into the left pocket of her dungarees, and her yo-yo into the right.
Seb pulled on his mandarin coat, stowing his drumsticks within.
Judy’s mouth fell open. “You’re all stupid,” she said. Her eyes lingered on Seb. “Braver than anyone I’ve ever met…but still totally stupid.”
Ivy wasn’t sure where her earlier surge of confidence had come from, but once she’d crawled out of the Great Uncommon Bag and into the Skaptikon it swiftly left her.
At once her ears were assaulted by noises: a roaring wind, the distant clang of metal bars and incoherent shouting. The sounds seemed to permeate right through her skull, stifling her thoughts and blurring her vision. “Argh—” She rubbed her temples as a hand pulled her up off the cold stone floor.
“Just stay still,” Valian said, his voice trembling. “It gets a bit better after a minute or so.”
They were in a windowless room about the size of a changing cubicle. The air was warm, as if they were standing close to an open fire.
“The Skaptikon is messing with our senses.” Valian was shivering. Ivy reached out to him; his skin was like ice.
Seb arched his back and rubbed his shoulder. “I feel bruised. Like I’ve just fallen down some stairs.”
“It must be affecting us all differently.” Ivy was starting to sweat beneath her jacket but decided against taking it off. Johnny Hands had said that the Skaptikon fooled you; perhaps it was tricking their senses, telling them one thing when the reality was quite different.
Valian picked up the Great Uncommon Bag and stuffed it inside his jacket. “There’s no alarm going off; the bag must have worked.”
The three of them examined their surroundings. A ragged hole in one wall appeared to lead out onto a dusty stone staircase covered in thorny weeds. Wind whistled through the opening.
“What do you think this room is?” Seb asked, wincing as he bent to pick up his rucksack. “A cell?”
“The Skaptikon famously doesn’t have cells,” Valian said. “It must be an old warden’s room. They stopped using them after a while; not even the wardens lasted long in this place.” He pulled a small garden trowel out of his inside pocket. Ivy recognized it—Johnny Hands had given it to him last winter; it glowed pale blue when it sensed the presence of the dead. “Hopefully we can use Ivy’s whispering to find the jar and get out of here ASAP.”
Ivy’s face flushed. She didn’t like the thought of them relying on an ability she didn’t fully understand; she’d only really been able to harness her talents once. “I’ll try,” she said with a forced smile. “If the broken soul inside the Jar of Shadows is powerful enough, I could use it as a homing beacon and pinpoint where it’s coming from.” The soul inside the Great Uncommon Bag was stronger than most; she didn’t see why it shouldn’t be the same with the Jar of Shadows.
“Let’s stay close,” Valian suggested, zipping up his leather jacket and rubbing his gloves together to keep warm. “It’ll be better if we face this place together.”
Ivy was still sweltering. Seb drummed his fingers against his thighs, trying to relax. “Think of Johnny Hands’s advice,” she told him. “Try and fool the Skaptikon like it fools you. Beat it at its own game.”
Seb looked at her blankly. “Yeah. Because we all totally understand what that means.”
Ivy led the way out into a series of interweaving staircases, doors, platforms and porticos—all constructed of the same gray stone. Light and shadow fell strangely, so it wasn’t clear where one structure ended and another began. Wind screeched in her ears; she couldn’t tell where it was coming from.
“It’s like this artist I studied at school,” Seb said. “Escher. He painted all these illusions and impossible constructions—stuff where it looked like a staircase was going down, when it was actually going up.”
No wonder it sends you mad, Ivy thought.
She tried to concentrate on her feet, treading carefully over the weed-covered stone. Taking a few steps forward, she reached out with her senses. Echoing voices murmured all around her—the fragmented souls of the dead.
Valian’s trowel glowed brighter. “Could be inmates,” he said. “Or could be Selena and Jack-in-the-Green. Be on your guard.”
Ivy listened carefully to each voice, checking for the jar, but couldn’t find it. After a while searching, she sensed a strange whisper carried on the wind. She closed her eyes and concentrated, trying to distinguish it from the others. It didn’t seem like the mutterings of one of the dead because it wasn’t moving. Instead, it felt trapped. Older. Darker, like someone chanting deep under the earth.
Ivy’s eyes snapped open. “I think I’ve got it,” she announced, surprising herself. It had to be the Jar of Shadows; it sounded similar to the Great Uncommon Bag. “But sensing it isn’t the problem; it’s locating it that’s going to be difficult. We need to go farther in.”
They moved onto a platform with a sheer drop on both sides. Beneath them, a tangle of staircases twisted down into the shadows. Ivy’s sense of perspective warped every time she looked up from her shoes—the gray paths and steps seemed to fracture into jagged pieces and overlap. She didn’t suffer from vertigo, but the feeling was very similar, like seeing your surroundings through a kaleidoscope.
Seb rubbed the space between his eyebrows. “Is it me or does it feel like we’re walking upside down?”
Valian swayed. “Or like the ground is moving.”
“Time to call on a friend, I think.” Ivy reached into her satchel and pulled out Scratch, who was trembling.
“Ivy don’t likings in the Skaptikon,” the bell said, whirring nervously. “Gettings of out?”
“No, Scratch,” Ivy said. “We have to stay in here till we find the Jar of Shadows. Can you help us? What does this place feel like to you?”
“Normals not,” he said in an unsteady voice. “Scratch sensings storm can.”
At that moment a deafening clap split the air. Ivy threw her arms out for balance, the sound reverberating through her bones. “Was that thunder?!” she exclaimed.
“No way.” Seb tipped his head back. “This is impossible.”
It was raining.
Droplets fell from nowhere, spitting off the gray stone. Ivy felt her cheeks; her skin was bone-dry. It must be some kind of illusion. She searched for clouds and instead spotted two figures standing on a platform high above her. One was incredibly tall and green; the other hovered over the floor, robes flapping in the wind. Even through the rain Ivy could see them glaring down at her.
No! Her legs jerked. “Seb! Valian!” she shrieked. “We need to run. Now!”
Ivy lurched into a sprint, her heart pounding, Scratch clutched tightly in her hand.
“They’re coming!” Seb shouted, chasing her down. “Faster!”
She glanced over her shoulder. Jack-in-the-Green was airborne, shooting toward them with his spiky limbs tucked under his torso like a giant green dart. Alongside him, Selena sped through the rain, her dark braid lashing whiplike over her s
houlders. She bared her needlelike teeth as she locked eyes with Ivy. “Your bodies will rot in here!” she shrieked. “No one will ever find you!”
Ivy thumped into Valian’s side.
“Ivy—look out!”
But she had already overbalanced.
“Whoa!” She felt her feet slip from beneath her….
And then she was falling.
“Seb!” The gray stone blurred past her on either side. Her limbs flailed. “Valian!”
She hit an invisible surface and stalled in midair, as if she was floating. She couldn’t see anything supporting her. After a few seconds she began sinking again, but this time there was something cold pressing against her body.
She wriggled frantically. “Scratch!” she screamed, bringing him to her ear. “What’s happening?”
“State changings Skaptikon,” he cried. “Ivy needs be swimmings!”
Swimming! Ivy kicked her legs. She stretched her hands above her head and hauled them down to her sides in powerful strokes. Her body surged upward.
At first she couldn’t see the surface of the water—she could only feel the change between air and liquid—but then she angled her head and spotted the ripples made by the rain. The water came up to her shoulders.
She took a deep breath and started treading water to stay afloat. She wasn’t sure how, but as she was falling, the air must have changed from gas to liquid.
The nearest solid surface was a tall stone staircase thirty feet away. At its summit she saw the underside of a circular platform, spilling over with weeds. Ivy paddled desperately toward it. With Scratch still locked in her grasp, it took all her energy.
She yanked herself onto the bottom step and lay back, panting. Her clothes and skin were dry; around her was only air. “Can you see Seb and Valian anywhere?” she asked Scratch. “Do you know where I am?”
“Goings where Scratch try to see,” he said somberly, “but fallings too fast went.”
“It’s all right,” she said, giving him a squeeze. She was grateful just to have him there; she couldn’t imagine a worse place to be alone.
As she recovered her senses, she considered how she might reach Seb and Valian. She had no clue how far away they were, and she had no feathers left with which to contact them. She regarded the endless maze of stairways and viaducts surrounding her and tried to dispel the feeling of panic.
“Ivy?” Scratch trilled in her hand. “Beings don’t sad. All is not losings.”
Ivy sniffed, fighting the urge to cry. She clutched the little bell to her chest, using her whispering to sense the fragment of broken soul inside him. It was so warm and chirpy that it gave her hope.
She thought about her whispering. Perhaps she could use the Jar of Shadows to help navigate; it was a fixed point in the Skaptikon. She wiped her nose with the back of her hand and tried to refocus. Keep it together, she told herself.
Thunder rumbled overhead as she got to her feet and plodded up the stairs to the circular platform. She concentrated on trying to control her senses—though in the thunderstorm it was difficult. Eventually she fixed on the heartbeat of the Jar of Shadows….
And it was closer than before—much closer.
As Ivy reached the top step, she hesitated. The platform was covered with weeds and pockmarked with crevices, as if an ancient battle had once taken place there. In the center, standing by itself in its frame, was a wooden door painted powder blue and decorated with pale dancing figures. It was the only structure not made of stone that Ivy had seen in the Skaptikon.
She lifted Scratch to her chest. “The jar is here,” she decided. The heartbeat was stronger than ever before, and a mournful voice began to crystallize in her mind. She caught words, but they weren’t English. “It feels like it’s right in front of me.”
Suddenly the floor tipped and Ivy dropped to her knees, clinging to the weeds for support. Her vision wavered.
Scratch jangled. “All in Ivy’s head it’s beings!” he told her.
His voice sounded warped. The Skaptikon must be playing tricks on her hearing as well as her balance, Ivy realized. She knew she had to fight against it. She curled her hands into fists and summoned all her strength, focusing hard on the Jar of Shadows. Its voice tapered into one clear pulse. It was coming from behind the door.
She approached it slowly. The broken soul within the jar sounded louder and clearer with every step. This is it. Her stomach fluttered as she reached for the brass handle and pressed down.
“Ivy, no!” Scratch screamed.
She drew her hand back, feeling his anguish. “Scratch, what’s wrong?”
“Scratch not understandings,” he said, his voice brittle. “Ivy not wantings to open jar. What Ivy thinks doing?”
“Open the jar?” Ivy repeated. “I don’t want to—” She froze and stared at the door handle, suddenly remembering one of the punch lines from Stanley’s jokes. When is a door not a door?…When it’s ajar.
Her chest tightened as she took a step back, realization sweeping through her. The Skaptikon was tricking her….The door was the jar. She’d been about to open Pandora’s box!
She steadied herself. Fool the Skaptikon like it fools you—that had been Johnny Hands’s advice. Perhaps she had to make the Skaptikon believe that she could see the truth—a jar, not a door?
Imagining hard, she reached down to the base of the door and spread her arms wide as if she was about to lift the entire doorframe into the air. As her hands touched the wooden surface, it transformed into porcelain, and a large jar—covered in the same white and blue patterns as the door had been—appeared before her. Ivy strained to lift it but managed only to slide it to the very edge of the platform.
Behind her she heard a rustle, and she swiveled on her heels, reaching for her yo-yo.
“Ivy, you found it!” said a familiar voice.
“Seb?” Her eyes glowed with relief as he came into focus. “Thank goodness! Are you OK? What happened?”
“We tried looking for you,” he told her, stepping closer.
Ivy felt so thankful, her legs went weak. “It’s all right. I had Scratch with me.”
“You should get away from the jar,” he urged, staring at it over her shoulder. “It’s dangerous.”
Ivy frowned. She wanted to run over to him, but there was something about his voice that made her hesitate. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it. “Are you…OK?”
Behind Seb, Ivy spied Valian heaving himself up onto the platform. He caught her eye immediately and put a finger to his lips. Ivy wasn’t sure what was going on. His uncommon trowel was glowing brightly, but it didn’t make sense; there were no dead people nearby.
“Just step away from the jar,” Seb repeated.
As Valian stalked up behind him, a cold chill ran down Ivy’s spine. She raised her yo-yo in her right hand, Scratch clutched tightly in her left. “Why do you want me to get away from the jar, Seb?” she asked.
He scowled and came nearer.
It’s not him, she thought with a start. It’s definitely not him.
Against all her better judgment, she flicked her wrist in the direction of her brother, sending a torrent of wind spinning toward him. Seb made a horrible hissing sound and dived aside, dodging its path. Then, with a swift shake, he shifted into Jack-in-the-Green.
Valian charged him from behind while Ivy did a loop-the-loop with her yo-yo, blasting off another cyclone.
“STOP!” screeched a voice from above. Selena Grimes hovered down to meet them, the real Seb struggling in her arms. Jack-in-the-Green snatched Valian in a razor-sharp grip.
Valian screamed as if he’d been stabbed.
“You ignorant little children,” Selena spat. “You really thought you could stop me from getting hold of the Jar of Shadows?” She laughed and gripped Seb even tighter, making him yelp in pain.
Ivy gritted her teeth, knowing she had to keep Selena talking to give herself time to think. “What are you going to do with it?” she asked.
“Break it open,” Selena replied, her eyes glinting. “In the Grivens stadium. All around the world millions of uncommoners will be watching the contest. It will be the ultimate demonstration of the Dirge’s power.”
Ivy thought of all the traders who would be at the stadium, her friends among them. “But everyone will be killed!”
Selena grinned. “Of course. The Jar of Shadows contains the greatest fears of everyone on the planet. With its power, we will overwhelm anyone who dares oppose us, and the Dirge will finally rule Lundinor.”
No matter what, Ivy knew she couldn’t let Selena take that jar—there were too many lives at stake. She wouldn’t be able to overcome Selena and Jack-in-the-Green by force; she needed some other leverage….
“This can all be over in matter of seconds,” Selena said with a nasty smile. “Step away from the jar and tell me where you’ve hidden that journal.”
Amos’s journal? Ivy didn’t know why Selena was asking about that now. She looked at the Jar of Shadows, standing close to the edge of the platform. Perhaps that was her leverage….
“You can’t use the jar if I destroy it first!” Ivy shouted, stuffing her yo-yo and Scratch into her pocket and putting both hands on the jar. If she gave it a hard enough shove, she could push it over the side.
Selena’s eyes flashed with panic. “No!”
“She’s bluffing,” said Jack-in-the-Green. “If she destroys the jar, she will kill herself and her two friends.”
Ivy turned and put her back to the jar so that they knew she meant business. “But at least then you won’t be able to use it. The Skaptikon might even contain its power, and no one else would be hurt.” She looked down. If she pushed the jar in the right direction, it would land in that patch of water she’d been floundering in a few minutes earlier and wouldn’t break.
Selena scowled and put her sharp teeth to Seb’s neck, hissing.
Hoping her plan would work, Ivy pushed with all her might. With a loud scraping sound, the jar toppled over and disappeared into the abyss.
The Uncommoners #2 Page 15
