by P M Cole
On emerging from the sewer cover, the lack of light seemingly swallowed by the white mist confirmed it was night.
“Where are we?” asked Estelle.
“Near an old house,” said Lucas.
I looked around for anything I would recognise, but couldn’t make out much in the dark.
Lucas shifted his oil lamp around, then headed off.
A short while later, high walls appeared, covered in ivy, and then as we walked the length of them, Lucas grew increasingly concerned. Finally, we arrived at a set of gates, one of which was hanging from its hinges.
“What is this place?” I said.
He rested his hand on the rusting iron bar. “It used to be a house of great standing…” He pushed the gate to one side and rushed forward. Estelle went with him, but Colin and I walked behind, our own lantern leading the way. The land around us was overgrown, but it was still possible to be impressed by its scope. Statues, overrun by climbing weeds, appeared out of the mist, sat on pedestals. I was thankful to see these effigies in stone were of more content people and creatures, unlike those at the workhouse.
Eventually, we caught up with the glow of Lucas’s lamp, and a three-storey house rose up in front of us. Despite its grandeur, the broken glass and lack of lighting inside told a story of abandonment. I walked up the moss-covered steps to where the others were.
“You are here to see the former gentleman of this place?” I asked.
Lucas turned away from the front door and looked out into the fog. He then set off again. I sighed in having to follow once more. “Not the gentleman, the groundsman,” he said.
We were soon walking a darkened path, enveloped by a thick forest. Wood creaked and broke, and I was sure I saw yellow sets of eyes looking back at me as we progressed.
A light grew bigger in the distance until we were standing at the edge of a small cleared area, at the centre of which was a small thatched dwelling. Smoke rose from its chimney.
We all started to walk towards the door when a thundering came from the ground. We looked towards the sound of splintering wood and ripping branches. From the gloom, a giant form stormed towards us.
Estelle immediately raised her bow, letting go of an arrow.
“No!” shouted Lucas, knocking her arm and sending the projectile flashing past the oncoming juggernaut.
“It’s Lucas!” he shouted to it.
Colin and I ran to the side, trying to get out of the way of the path the thing was making through the undergrowth, but Lucas stood his ground.
I judged he had about five seconds before he would be trampled. I looked around me. A row of iron poles acted as a fence for the small garden. I ran my hand along them, each one transforming and joining the rest until under my control was a glutinous lump of iron, floating behind me. I sprinted in front of Lucas and threw my arm towards the giant. The metal slid forward. In my mind, I saw what I needed to create, and the metal rose up around the monsters legs, wrapping around and sending him falling to the ground.
A puff of dust rose up on impact. I could now see the thing was actually a man, but twice as large as any I had seen before, with limbs as thick as some of the trees around us.
Estelle ran forward, her bow pointing towards his head, which oddly was bound with rags as if he was blind.
“No! Do not hurt him!” shouted Lucas, running in front of her.
The giant stopped moving, lifting his head in Lucas’s direction.
“Lucas? That’s not possible. The Lucas I know was insane. A man who could not live with his actions or memories.”
Lucas walked closer still, his lamp illuminating the bearded man.
“It’s I, Arges. The old wounds are still with me, but quieter than they used to be.”
Lucas looked back at me. “Free him.”
I hesitated.
“It’s OK…”
Instinctively I waved my hand, and the metal fell away.
Colin briefly looked shocked at my action, but Lucas smiled then looked back to the man now getting to his feet. As he rose up, he appeared bigger than even we thought, eventually being twice as tall as the man in front of him.
“Why are you—” His words froze in the air and he appeared to look directly at me. Slowly he walked forward, as he did he reached up and started to unravel the bindings over his eyes and head.
“Stay calm,” said Lucas to us.
“Why would—” I looked up at a giant with one eye.
The giant smiled, then dropped to one knee. Even at this height, his eyes were above mine.
“Hephaestus… I have been waiting.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Arges’s home looked wholly too small for him, but he somehow navigated it without bumping his head on the roof beams, or knocking over any of the simple furniture. His one large eye acted as a magnet to most of our gazes, but we all did our best not to be rude. How he kept referring to me as master was a little off-putting, though.
“Is the wine to your liking, master?”
I held what he called a cup, but to me was a bucket, in both hands and took a sip. A burning filled my throat but then settled to a pleasant warmth. I smiled. “It’s good. Thank you.”
“Good! The climate is wrong for grapes, not like in the old country! But I do my best with the berries that grow here.”
Colin and Estelle sat quiet, which couldn’t help but make me smile.
“What happened at the house?” said Lucas.
“Mr Halbard’s business hit hard times. The family had to sell, but there were no new buyers.”
“But you stayed?”
Arges smiled. “I purchased this small piece of land from them… and this is my home. I could never leave.”
“Umm…”
“Yes, master?”
“Why do you… keep calling me master?”
He broke into a booming laugh, which shook my teeth.
“In a time before time. My kind worked for the forger… Hephaestus is what you know him as.”
“But why me?”
“I can see an aura around you. All godly creatures have it. I recognised yours as belonging to Hephaestus. You are the embodiment of his powers. Many sunsets have passed since I have seen it. Maybe now we can stand against the scourge that is Hades…”
“How long have you known?” said Lucas.
The Cyclops frowned, looking into the fire. “I know what your thoughts are, Lucas. But you were a young man when we met. You were not ready to face him. That was for others to try.”
Lucas stood and paced away, then stopped and looked back at the huge man. “I tried to accrue power, to protect my family… to protect all of us.”
“I know, old friend. You were an ambitious young warlock…”
Lucas sighed. “Cog is under a grave threat, Arges. Hades and his cohorts know of her. He wants her powers for himself. Even one of the sisters—”
“The Furies?”
Lucas straightened his back as if a realisation struck him. “Of course… the other sisters,” he said to no one in particular.
“Just how many sisters are there?” I said.
“You’ll find family plays a major part in magical lore. But the Furies are said to have been three sisters of demonic variety, that do the bidding for Hades… I should have known, but they have not been seen for aeons. Hades must have brought them back from the underworld.” Lucas looked back to his big friend. “Yes, the Furies are involved, but I was referring to the Gorgons…”
“Roselyn?” said Arges.
“No, the older sister.”
“Ugh… I never cared for Martina. But still… they had no time for Hades… I wonder why they are doing his bidding.”
“What do you know of Finlay?” I said.
Arges looked as if he had swallowed a fly. “Yes, I know of Sisyphus, and how he controls the fallen humans.”
“Sisyphus? We know him as Cephas Finlay.”
“That is his name for this time, but when I was youn
g, he was a king. Despised by many, he tried to trick the gods, but instead, he himself became trapped by a game of Zeus’s making.”
Lucas looked into the roaring flames of the fire. “Another Hades has brought back… how many others from ancient times are walking among us?”
*****
I looked at Bernard and Colin, both shaking their heads. We were sat in Colin’s hut, together with Lucas and Olivia. The sound of pipes clanging and children laughing came from outside.
“Why would you want to go into the devil’s home?” said Colin, his face flush.
I had decided that I would attend Byron’s birthday ball at Grayton Manor, a choice some in our group did not agree with.
“All of this is about me. I never asked to be different. But I am, and my whole life has been cursed because of it, because of Finlay and Hades. Gods, monsters, I don’t know about any of it, but I know I have to confront them. I have to ask him for myself why he’s done this to me!”
Colin shook his head. “But why just give yourself to him? And on your birthday!”
“It’s the only way… I can’t hide down here forever.”
“If you go in there, to his place of power, there may be nothing we can do to help you…” said Bernard.
“Not necessarily,” said Lucas. “I—”
The sheet moved back revealing Vernon, his face was covered in grease. He looked to me. “We’re almost done.”
“You got the cylinders and meters as well?”
He nodded.
“I’ll be out in a bit.”
He nodded and left.
“He doesn’t know we know,” continued Lucas. “We have the element of surprise.”
“Are you sure of that?” said Olivia.
Lucas paused. “Well, even if he does, he doesn’t know what Cog can do yet… And we will be there as well.” He looked at Bernard. “You told me Finlay wanted you to work for him?”
Bernard sighed. “Yes.”
“Then that probably means Hades wanted that. If you make your interest to attend the ball known, I suspect you will gain an invitation.”
Bernard raised an eyebrow, then folded his arms. “It could work… but how will we protect Cog?”
I was growing slightly annoyed at the attention that was being paid to me being protected, although I had to admit I was not looking forward to seeing Cannington again. “I’m not a child. I fought the Fury and survived.”
“Barely,” said Colin.
“With the greatest respect Cog, a Fury is not a god,” said Bernard.
“Next time will be different, I will be more prepared.”
My head bandage had now been reduced to a much smaller piece of gauze, and the injury itched more than hurt.
“You’re still injured…” said Colin.
“There’s still over a week until the ball, I’ll be healed enough by then.”
“I will train you more before the ball,” said Lucas. “But I did notice your abilities to control metals had increased when you put down my old friend…”
Lucas was right but I had hoped the others hadn’t noticed. By thought alone I was able to manipulate the iron of the fence without touching it, causing it to act as if it was alive. But I had no idea if I could do it again.
“Umm… I don’t know how I did that. It just happened…”
“Then we need it to happen again.” Lucas looked at the others. “We have a week to prepare a plan of how we can defeat the god of the underworld.”
“Right…” said Colin. Everyone else remained quiet.
“I should get back then, I have some meetings to arrange,” said Bernard.
“Before you go, I want to show all of you something outside,” I said, then looked at Lucas. “And it will be good training!”
They looked at me, puzzled.
I got to my feet and moved out of the tent to the main square, the others followed. Some of the villagers started to emerge from their huts. A massive clang rang out as Arges dropped a heap of iron and copper pipes on the ground, near the other collected items. On his shoulders sat two children both laughing.
I stepped forward, placing my hands on the pipes, then let go and stood back. I had no idea if I could create what I saw in my head, but I needed to try.
I closed my eyes picturing the network of metal channels that needed to be created to form a system to distribute water to the village.
The pipes started to rattle, then one of them sprung up as if being ordered. Surprise rang around the onlookers.
I stretched out my hand and another stood to attention, then another. Moving my hand to the sheer brick walls, the pipes took to the air to the gasps of those around me. Even though I was not physically touching any, it seemed as if I could feel the weight and I struggled to keep them aloft, but I redoubled my concentration, forcing my will upon the long pieces of metal. They swept through the air, impacting against the brick walls, then as if I was piecing a clock together started to fuse to become one and rotating when needed. More pipes moved off in other directions, down small sewer openings towards the source of the water. In my mind the design was clear, and the air was alive with pieces shifting and locking into place. Then came the really hard bit, the pump. The large cylinder slid across the ground, as meters, gauges, dials, and valves came together, attaching to it until finally… the last piece fell into place in the village square in front of us.
Everyone stood in silence. Then came a chugging. The pipes vibrated, and water started pouring onto the slabbed floor.
“Oh… I forgot the tap…” I said exhausted.
Everyone cheered and children ran to the flow, splashing water at themselves.
Lucas walked to me smiling. “That really was something, but you know what I think you need now?”
I wasn’t sure what he could mean.
“A good bath…”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
A blast of steam almost swallowed me, but I stood mesmerised by the pistons of the locomotive slowing down as the train stopped next to me.
“You know, it can move up to sixty miles per hour!”
Lucas lifted his suitcase. “That’s very interesting, Cog.”
I frowned.
He looked along the length of the platform.
“I’m sure we’re quite safe,” I said.
“Just seeing if we’re being followed. We probably are, and I want to lose them before we get to our destination.”
“How would they even be able to track me?”
“Remember what I said before, that to know where you are, they just need some blood?”
“Yes, but… oh.”
“Yes. Doctor Hopkins.”
A station guard blew his whistle. “Paddington to Bath, leaving at nine fifty… that’s nine fifty. All aboard!”
“Then how can we lose them?”
“I’ve cast a spell to block any they may have used, but that doesn’t mean they can’t spot us the old-fashioned way. Let’s board.”
Excited, I pulled on the brass latch and the train door opened. We had paid extra for private seats, and found our section and moved inside. I sat near the window. It was only my second ride on a train, the first being when Mr Gladwell and I travelled to Brighton to deliver a clock for a client.
The squashed together buildings that backed onto the tracks were mostly hidden from our view due to the fog, but I still watched to glimpse what I could of London as we pulled out. It wasn’t long before we were free of the capital and were moving through the Berkshire countryside.
I noticed Lucas looking at me smiling.
“What?” I said, smiling back.
“That’s the first time I’ve seen you smile… apart from when you’re thinking about Mr Ashmore, of course.”
My smile dissolved and I returned to the low hills and deep green woods. “Mr Ashmore is just a… was just a friend… now I do not know what he is.”
“From what you described of his demeanour he is no friend to Hades.”
Lucas laid his head back on the cushioned headrest, then closed his eyes. “He’s going to have to choose a side eventually.”
“This Oracle person we are going to see. Are you sure she’s worth this journey? What if something happens back in London, and I’m not there to help?”
Lucas’s eyes remained closed. “Arges is there to help if they are besieged. And we will be back early in the morning.”
I too rested my head. Fields passed by, bordered by hedgerows and containing copses just visible in the mist, then darkness as we moved into a tunnel. I looked into the blackness then noticed the strange girl reflecting back at me. She looked different. Her eyes older, her demeanour more confident. I closed my eyes and let the rhythmic shunting take me away…
Fangs and wings fluttered through my mind. Blazing red eyes pierced the fog, then the drumming of hooves. A whip snapped to drive the carriage forward, which I was trapped inside of. I was small again, and only just managed to sit on the crimson leather seats. I crawled across and looked through the window into hell. Tormented souls, writhing in agony. A whole sea of bodies bathed in blood and—
A whistle blew and I opened my eyes.
“What… where are we?” I said, looking at sand-coloured houses passing by.
“We’re pulling into the station,” said Lucas. “I thought it best not to wake you. You appeared to be in a deep sleep.”
I rubbed my eyes. “Yes… I was.”
The train slowed and crowds of people on the platform slid past the window. Excitement grew in me again. I had never been this far from London before.
Lucas retrieved his leather bag from the above compartment, and we made our way along the narrow corridor and emerged onto a steam laden platform.
“Mr Wraith?” Came a voice behind us.
We turned and a smartly dressed diminutive man, with a thick black moustache smiled and approached us.
Lucas shook his hand. “This is Agatha Hoxted.”
“Good to make your acquaintance,” he said.
