On the Trail of Copper Bloodhounds… [16August06]

[Monty Tomasi]

Part XI:

Ella laid quietly asleep, her chest rising and falling gently as she slept under a single silken sheet. The lighting that had danced along her skin like zephyrs playing in the sands of Pelion had died away. She smiled in her sleep and unconsciously reached her arm over to the other side of the bed.

Suddenly the door flew open and Ella sat bolt upright. In her right hand she held a thin, serrated dagger and with her left hand she brought up the edge of the sheet to cover her modesty.

Standing in the doorway was Sergeant Perrin, radiating anger with such cold composure that Ella felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand upright. She glanced around looking for another exit but none presented itself.

“You’re better,” Perrin stated, leaving no room for argument. “Get dressed; we have a job to do.”

“Sarge,” Ella stammered. “What’s happening? I’ve never seen you like this…”

“Just get dressed, OK?”

“Yes Sir.” Ella responded getting to her feet. She lost her balance momentarily and then recovered it by leaning against the wardrobe next to her bed.

Perrin remained standing in the doorway staring at the other Harmonium officer.

“Sarge?” Ella asked uncertain whether Perrin was going to charge in to the room or not.

“Tell Oho to get dressed as well. Meet me in my office in five minutes.”

There was a small sigh from under the bed.



Narcovi sat at her desk going through the latest reports marking those of particular interest to her with a small chalk pencil. The pile of parchment marked with chalk had only a handful of sheets whilst the unmarked pile was almost a foot in height.

The dwarven officer took off the small spectacles that she used for reading and rubbed her tired eyes. Glancing up at the shelf with her collection of curios, she listened to the ticking and whirling sounds that they produced. With a contented sigh she put her spectacles back on at the exact same moment that someone began knocking urgently on her office door.

“Ma’am, may I come in please?”

“Who is it?” Narcovi responded, peering over the edge of her spectacles at the locked door. “This is not a good time; can you please come back later?”

“It’s me, Ella-Morro-Moo.” There was a lengthy pause from the other side of the door. “I’m sorry to bother you Ma’am but it’s to do with Sarge. He’s really lost it this time and I fear that he’ll go and do something… well, something regrettable. I’m sorry to bother you at this time…”

“Very well,” the dwarf jumped off her chair, manoeuvred around her large desk and walked over to unlock the door.

As soon as the door opened Ella grabbed her hand and began tugging her down the corridor.

“Hold on a moment, girl.” Narcovi said as she planted her feet firmly. “I can’t go leaving my post on a whim. Tell me what’s amiss girl and be quick about it.”

“It’s Sarge,” Ella panted with exertion. “He was ranting on about going in the restricted section and taking the files about Camp Fortune to Harry Hatchis. He said something about spilling the dark on Arcadia and some terrible mistake that happened at Training Camp Fortune… I’m sorry Ma’am but he was not making much sense. I tried to stop him, but…”

Ella doubled over and held on to the dwarf’s arm for support. Narcovi helped the other officer stand upright so as to let her get more air in to her lungs.

“There… there… child.” Narcovi patted Ella’s arm but her gaze was fixed on a point deeper inside the Barracks at a level that few knew about and even fewer visited. “It’s good that you came and told me this. Together we’ll go and put matter aright. Actually, best if you return to your bed and get more rest. You’ll need to regain you strength before all’s said and done.”

Narcovi locked the door to her office and was about to head off when she felt Ella’s hand on her arm once again.

“Please be careful Ma’am,” Ella said softly.

“Fear not,” Narcovi replied smiling. “I can handle Perrin just fine. In fact, I have the papers filled out already for his next demotion.” The dwarf’s grin grew even wider and she set off at a hurried pace down the corridor.

Once Narcovi had turned the corner and was lost from sight, Ella pulled the key to the office out of her sleeve and checked that the corridor was clear. She inserted the key in to the lock and was in and out of the office in the span of twenty heartbeats.



“Can you use these?” Perrin asked Oho showing him a pair of silver-plated knuckledusters.

“Uh yes, for sure.” Oho replied raising his eyebrows at the sight of the beautiful weapons.

“Good. Ella, I’ll need you to keep a look-out for trouble. Here’s a whistle in case anyone comes along that could spoil our little surprise party.”

Ella took the whistle and after a brief test she tucked it in to her belt.

“Any reservations?” Perrin asked.

“None,” Ella and Oho replied together.

“Excellent,” the Harmonium officer responded

The trio set off down a narrow alleyway in single file. They each stepped carefully over the guard that had been standing watch moments before in a carefully concealed alcove and who now lay unconscious up against the wall.

Graffiti was scrawled on the walls, a lone rat scurried along in the gutter and the caked mud in the narrow passageway had only a single pair of footprints in it. The graffiti was interspersed with random scrawls and drawings that a Xaosman had been inspired to paint a long time ago. As Ella glanced around her position as look-out in the alleyway, she noticed the words: “In/E/Di-gress, but where in Agathion?” written in florid, curvaceous letters.

Oho and Perrin continued down the passageway. After twelve feet the lead Harmonium officer came to an abrupt halt and turned to the wall on his right. Oho gently traced his hand over the brickwork until his fingers came across the outline of a doorway. Brushing away the cobwebs he traced more of the line separating the bricks and blew out some of the dust.

Oho spat on his palms, rubbed them together and then placed both his hands on the stone door. He pushed hard, his shoulder and arm muscles flexing but nothing happened. Taking a deep breath he tried once more but the door did not budge an inch.

Perrin pushed forward and thrust his man-catcher in to Oho’s hands. Placing both his hands against the stone door Perrin pushed once and the door swung open silently revealing a dark passageway leading down. The other Harmonium officer raised an eyebrow as he passed the man-catcher back.

“Must be a knack to it,” he muttered as the pair descended down the slime-encrusted staircase. The walls of the downward sloping passageway were roughly cut from crumbling dark stones. Water trickled down the sides of the walls and the stairs had been worn away by the steady rivulets of water seeping down over the dark blue slime.

“Number fifty five sword,” Perrin said as he drew a gleaming short sword that curved around in a spiral like a corkscrew. The less-than-a-foot long twisting stubby short sword gave off a silvery glow that illuminated the passage for about twenty five feet in either direction.

“Nice sword,” Oho said just above the sound of a whisper.

“Yeah, made by an archon that was between paths. She did not really understand what the sword was going to be used for.”

“That’s not very nice.”

“I’m not a very nice sometimes,” Perrin said treading softly down the rest of the stairs and in to the passage beyond.

The corridor came to a junction a few steps away from the stairs branching off in to three directions. Each was as dark and dismal as the other with no signs distinguishing them except for a series of marks at head height in each passageway. The marks consisted of zeros and crosses in line with a seemingly random number of each in no particular order.

Perrin paused to look at the lines and chose the left-most passage way. Oho handed him back his man-catcher and the two set off down the tunnel deeper in to the warrens and catacombs beneath the city.

At times they passed dark things scurrying past, some of which they saw and some of which they only sensed were nearby. At least once Oho thought that he caught sight of something man-like hunched over a sarcophagus but Perrin quickly pulled him along.

After about ten minutes of wandering the pair began a slow ascent up several sloping corridors, an underground well and up a set of broad winding stairs. When they go close to the top a dark shape dropped out of the shadows sending both Perrin and Oho tumbling down the stairs.

“Should not have come for me,” the barbazu said as it licked the fresh, hot blood off its glaive. Its beard writhed like a mass of blood-hungry worms and the dark cape it wore fluttered behind it like a pair of shredded leathery wings.

Perrin recovered quickly and charged at the fiend with his man-catcher. The barbazu side-stepped the attack and smashed the glaive in to the shaft of the Harmonium officer’s weapon breaking the wooden handle cleanly in two. However, the fiend recovered too slowly from the attack. Its attempt to sunder the other’s weapon had met with far less resistance than it had anticipated and the fiend was caught off-balance.

From behind it felt a series of sharp stinging blows as the other Harmonium officer jabbed it in the back with silver-plated knuckledusters. The cloak it wore offered no protection and the final blow connected with the middle of the fiend’s spine with a wet crunch. The barbazu lashed out with its glaive forcing Oho to dodge to the side but as the momentum spun the fiend around it let out an agonised scream.

With Oho on one side lower down on the stairs and Perrin higher up on the other side, the fiend decided to evade the pair by leaping up in to the air. The ragged leathery cloak spread outwards in to a pair of bat like wings that would have let the barbazu escape to the bottom of the stair had not Perrin leapt to attack once more.

Using the spiralling celestial blade Perrin punctured one of the wings and stabbed in to the barbazu’s side. The pair came crashing down and rolled from stair to stair, stabbing and clawing at each other as they tumbled right to the bottom. Both lay bleeding heavily, groaning in pain as they fought to stay conscious above the rising tide of pain.

“You’ll pay for that,” the fiend spat dark blood and coughed up some more as it tried to rise to its feet. Looking down it saw that the Harmonium officer was holding on for dear life to a spiralling silver sword that protruded from the fiend’s side.

Perrin’s other arm was bent at an odd angle and his breastplate had come off as the pair had bounced down the stairs. His trousers were stained dark red and Perrin almost passed out as one of his knees lost the strength to support him.

The fiend smirked despite the pain and closed its eyes in concentration. Just as it was about to teleport off it felt a sharp stab of pain and saw that Perrin had retained just enough strength to twist the blade in a fraction further. Not wishing to inflict upon itself more pain by trying to get the blade out the fiend once again mustered the remains of its flagging willpower to make a quick exit but it was thwarted a second time.

Oho had managed to clamp the remains of the man-catcher on the fiends foot as he’d run, then leapt and finally slipped head first down the stairs. The fiend stared incredulously at the metal pincers pinching its toes and snarled in pain, hatred and outrage. When the Barbazu tried to bend down to unclamp the weapon though it found that the celestial blade stuck in its side prevented it from bending over.

Perrin laughed hoarsely and Oho rose to his feet as quickly as he could in order to restrain the fiend to prevent its escape. The barbazu put up little further resistance.

“You cut a deal with the erinye,” Perrin said through gritted teeth as he lay on the ground. He crawled over to the bottom of the staircase and propped himself up on the arm that was causing him less pain.

“I don’t much care what the deal is, but what I do care about is getting my officer back. Now tell me where she is before I get really unpleasant.”

A barking noise came from the barbazu’s throat that sounded like a dog drowning with a large toad attempting to crawl down its throat. The fiend opened its mouth to reveal sharp, yellowed teeth and a stinking maw that did little in the way of unnerving the Harmonium officers.

“Twist the blade,” Perrin said causally. Oho twisted the blade with a calm detachment of a tinker examining a new toy.

The Baatezu let loose with a string of expletives in its native tongue whose coarseness crossed the language divide by sheer malice and vileness. The fiend’s eyes blazed a deep glowing red and for a moment the creature’s aura seemed a living thing that spread outwards to envelope the two Harmonium officers.

“Twist it again,” Perrin said seemingly oblivious to the hate and fear-laden atmosphere. Oho wound the blade a little more and sat back to watch the effects.

The Barbazu thrashed around for a long time, cursing and screaming until it seemed that all of its strength had gone. After some time the fiend lay still.

“I think that we killed it, Sarge.”

“No, it’s just playing with us.” Perrin sat upright and rolled his shoulders, flexing the muscles in his arms. He then slowly stood up, turned his head from side to side as if to ease the stiffness in his joints and took a few steps.

“How did you heal like that?” the fiend whispered, its eyes grown large as it stared up at the Harmonium officer standing over him. “What are you?”

“Nothing you want to mess with,” Perrin replied. Lowering himself down on one knee and he placed his head beside the fiends so that he could whisper in its ear. “Now tell me where my colleague is ad we’ll leave you in piece.”

“She in the Foundry with K. A., that’s where she takes the past lives.”

“Why did she take Valori and not Ella?” Perrin asked looking over at Oho.

“Because the harlot can’t build machines like the innocent one can.”

The fiend began to laugh again, but its bark-like chortling was cut off midway through when Perrin wrenched the sword out of its side.

“No time to lose,” Perrin said and the two Harmonium officers headed off to meet up with Ella before going off to the Foundry.

 

[Monty Tomasi]

Part XII:


Ella hugged her arms to her chest for warmth and shivered each time a trailer of black energy ran down her spine towards her arms and legs. The frequency of the arcs of dark lightning was increasing and she clenched her teeth as she fought against each occurrence. One hand reached unconsciously for the pistol that she had tucked in to her belt, but when she felt the cool touch of the metal she jerked her hand back as if stung.

Eventually after waiting for what seemed like hours she heard footsteps coming from further in to the alleyway. Ella pressed herself deeper in to the alcove and waited for what ever was in the alleyway coming closer. Two red clothed figures emerged from the darkness and Ella breathed a sigh of relief.

“Where have you been? I’ve been waiting ages and this whistle doesn’t work anymore. I only used it twice and now it’s stopped working.” Ella jabbed her whistle accusingly and clutched her chest with her other arms as she felt another spasm of the black electricity rushing down her spine.

“I know about the whistle, it works twice for normal hearing and then for those with special hearing.” Sergeant Perrin beckoned Ella forward and he held up his lantern to have a closer look at her. “How long since it came back?”

“Half an hour perhaps,” Ella replied looking down at her feet. “It’s not as bad as it was previously.”

“Can you make it to the Foundry?”

“Sure,” Ella said and promptly collapsed in to Perrin’s arms. Her eyeballs rolled upwards so that only the white of her eyes was showing and her body began to tremble without pause.

“Here,” Perrin said as he gently and firmly passed her over to Oho. “You sort it out.”

Oho took Ella in to his arms and she visibly relaxed almost immediately. Her eyes returned to normal and she blinked rapidly as she tried to get her bearings.

“I’m fine Sarge,” she said. “It was only a brief spell, it’s passed already.”

“Yeah,” Perrin replied. “Look I need to get to the Foundry to get Valori out in one piece. Can I trust you to get Fey back to the Barracks?”

“Yes sir,” Oho replied as he held Ella close. “But are you sure that you don’t need me to come with you?”

“We don’t have a choice, Fey needs your help.”

“Sarge,” Ella whispered as she clenched her jaw against the rising tide of pain and discharges. “Oho and I could…. You know… and then I’d be OK. It would only take… well as long as it takes.”

“Sorry, I don’t understand.” Perrin frowned, his eyes narrowed and he stared at the pair. Oho blushed furiously and despite the pain that Ella was in she still managed a lop-sided smile.

“I believe that she means… well you know Sarge… erm, some woo hoo,” Oho said looking out in to the street.

“Yes I know what she meant! I just don’t understand how you can be talking about it when Valori is in danger!” Perrin attached a leather strap to his man-catcher and slung it over his shoulder. He took several steps out of the alleyway before stopping and glancing back over his shoulder. “Just do what is right and stay away from Narcovi. We’re all going to be in a lot more trouble before this is over.”

Perrin strode away leaving Oho and Ella holding on to each other in the side-alley. The Sergeant crossed several main thoroughfares, passed through a market that was in between trading times with some shop-keepers closing up and other just beginning to put out their wares. Several of the merchants cast wary glances towards the Harmonium officer but he walked by without giving them a second look.

After having crossed half a ward Perrin reached several rows of streets where artisans plied their trade and he chose the middle street that ran directly all the way up to the Foundry’s rear gate. Along the road were a group of black Abishai loitered around a small fountain and they amused themselves by scrawling graffiti on the wings of angelic statues that stood silent vigil around the fountain. When they saw the Harmonium officer approaching they each stopped and formed a semi-circle facing towards him.

Perrin marched up the street with the measured tread of an officer of the law. Just as he was about to enter the semi-circle he veered to the left and broke out in to a sprint. The Abishai cursed and snarled as they turned to pursue him, several of them taking flight in a bid to overtake their quarry.

With the dark shapes hot on his heels and flying overhead Perrin pumped his elbows and knees with all his might as he raced for the rear gate of the Foundry. The guards spotted his approach and hefted their weapons, several of them taking aim with their crossbows.

When the Harmonium officer got within thirty yards the Godsmen guards let loose their first volley. Perrin dived down and narrowly avoided get struck by the hail of bolts. The cries of pain and outrage from behind him spurred the red-armoured man back on to his feet and running towards the gates in front of tall chimney stacks that belonged to the ward’s biggest metal-works.

The crossbowmen raised their weapons for another volley just as the approaching figure came skidding to a halt in front of the halberd-wielding guards. Perrin did not have to look behind him to see that the Abishai had broken off pursuit as several of the crossbow had lowered their weapons and one of the sighed with relief. The guards who had crossed their pole-arms to deny the Harmonium officer entry uncrossed their blades and one of them stepped forward.

“Having some problems are we officer?”

“As a matter of fact yes. Please open the gates and stand aside.”

“Now, now officer. Can’t have any random sod simply marching in just ‘cause they ask for entry. Got to have the right paper-work and get agreement ‘fore-hand…”

Before the guard could finish his sentence Perrin trust an official Harmonium stamped piece of parchment under his nose.

“Paper-work like this.” Perrin held the ends of the scroll so that the guards could read the text of the document clearly. The guard who had stepped forward read through it carefully, his lips silently mouthing the longer and more complicated words. At one point he creased his brow and looked over his shoulder at the other guards, but he then carried on reading until he got to the bottom of the document.

“It’s an arrest warrant,” the guard said.

“That is correct. I am in hot pursuit of two men and one woman wanted in connection of the abductions of members of the Believers of the Source.”

“Wanted? As in they had something to do with it?”

“No, as in they have information that we need to wrap this case up.”

“Oh,” the guard lent on the haft of his halberd and beckoned over one of the other guards. “Well it’s certainly true about hot pursuit.”

“Listen, are you going to let me in or not?”

“Well,” the other guard replied with a sly glance at his colleague. “Seeing as you’re in such a hurry and this is a heavy gate perhaps you could make it worth our while.”

Perrin scowled, picked several silver coins out of his purse and slapped them in to the outstretched hand of the second guard.

“That’s very generous, but considering we just saved you from being torn apart by those Baatezu perhaps we could be compensated with a bit of danger jinks.”

Perrin slowly unclenched his fist, reached in to his purse again and took out the remaining silver coins. Before placing them in the guard’s hand he looked them both steadily in the eye. “Now please open the gate,” he asked.

“Sure,” the second guard signalled the others gathered near the gate and the metal barrier slowly swung open. With bars each as thick as a man’s arm and spikes that could shear through a Vrock with ease, the entrance was both formidable and well guarded.

“Just one quick question,” the first guard asked. “What’s with the Baatezu chasing after you? I mean they’ve been hanging around there for well over a week now and you’re the first berk that they have taken such an interest in.”

“That is Harmonium business,” Perrin replied. He was about to step through the gate when the two Godsmen guards caught him up.

“Sorry to be rude,” said the first guard barring the way once again with his halberd. “But seeing as this is happening on our doorstep I’d really like to know.”

“Think of it as one of life’s little mysteries, a test if you will.”

“Oh a-hah hah, very jolly of you officer to say so. Now just sodding tell us what is going on.” The guards carrying the crossbows raised their weapons to aim at the Harmonium officer.

“Is that a threat?” Perrin asked placing his hand next to his empty scabbard.

“No, no of course not. Look we’re just nervous about everything that’s been going on around here.” The second guard hefted his money pouch and jingled it a little. “Listen we can make it worth your while and the Lady’s word we’ll not spill the chant to anyone. Just please tell us who has been nabbing our friends and stealing our past lives.”

The Harmonium officer stood very still, ignoring the crossbowmen and looking at each halberd-wielding guard in turn.

“Are you trying to bribe an officer of the law?”

“NO! Look…. Lady’s grace but you’re a hard one to deal with… all we want to know…”

Perrin grabbed the money purse and tucked it in to his belt.

“This is now officially evidence,” the Harmonium officer said much to the shocked and surprised of the guards. “I’ll overlook the attempt at bribery and since you are so desperate to know I’ll share this bit of information only. The Baatezu have set up base in the Foundry and have a machine that steals past lives. They intend to skip through the process of improving themselves in each incarnation and instead use your lives to boost their own.”

“That’s monstrous!” both guards exclaimed, forgetting about the money pouch momentarily. The other guards started murmuring and weapons were lowered as they got in to a huddle to discuss this bit of news.

“In the Foundry you say?” One of the guards asked.

“Right under our noses,” another commented. “We had a Barbazu walking around here plain as day not to long ago.”

“Listen officer you can go through,” the guards waved him through as they became absorbed in to their discussion.

The Harmonium officer did not budge instead he stroked the stubble on his chin and looked back down the street.

“I said that you can go inside,” one of the halberd-wielding guards repeated. “So are you going inside or not? We can’t keep the gate open all the hours of anti-peak.”

“I’m the first one they chased,” Perrin mused. “A mistake for them, a break for me.”

The Godsmen guards were surprised to find that the Harmonium officer turned to walk down the street away from the Foundry. However, none of them called after him as they turned back to their discussion that was getting more and more heated by the second.

Within five minutes of the Harmonium officer’s visit the guards had dispatched three of their number to spread the word of Baatezu using the Foundry as a base to kidnap the Godsmen. Within fifteen minutes the Foundry was swarming with guards, artisans, labourers and every available Godsmen looking for any sign of a Baatezu.

Part way through the search of the gatehouse one of the Godsmen guards grabbed the other by the shoulder as his eyes widened.

“He took my money pouch,” the guard exclaimed pointing down the empty street. The other guard laughed so hard that he dropped his halberd.

 

[Monty Tomasi]

Part XIII:

Perrin made his way back slowly down the street towards the fountain where the Abishai congregated. Several sat on the nearby roofs of shops and artisan’s quarters, tall black gargoyles calling out to each other in their dark, authoritative and sinister language.

The ones standing by the fountain were positioned in such a way as to appear as if they were simply casually standing around. But the fact that they were positioned strategically around the fountain and corners of the adjoining streets meant that Perrin had no doubt in his mind that the Abishai were guarding the location for a specific reason. There was only one shop that the creatures did not have covered.

“I need some kind of distraction,” Perrin muttered under his breath whilst he stroked the stubble on his chin. He watched the black reptilian creatures for awhile and noted the pattern in which they moved from one position to another. It reminded the Harmonium officer of watchmen standing guard outside an important building such as the City Courts.

As if responding to Perrin’s request two Harmonium officers appeared from the opposite direction and they were walking at a good pace towards the fountain. The male officer was average height, had spiky white hair and wore only a simple red shirt and trousers. The female officer had coppery red hair, wore a corset and tight-fitting leggings, with an assortment of small weapons about her person.

“Oh bugger,” Perrin said watching his two colleagues getting closer. They’d not spotted him, but they did not appear to be aware of the threat that the Abishai posed either. In fact as the two Harmonium officers got closer, it became readily apparent that the officers were in the midst of a heated argument.

When the two Harmonium officers got closer to the fountain, the Abishai once again lined up in a semi-circle this time fanning out their positions a little more to ensure that the pair would not slip passed the way that Perrin had. Oho noticed the Baatezu manoeuvring first and came to an immediate halt, he grabbed Ella by the wrist and stopped her in her tracks.

“Trouble,” Oho said stating the obvious.

Perrin began walking toward the fountain from the other direction, his mind trying desperately to formulate a plan. However, his attention kept coming back to the fact that the creatures had abandoned all of their positions except for one. They’d come off the roofs and away from the shops, but one of the creatures was now loitering in front of the shop that had not been guarded previously. The shop had a sign with a hammer and swirling aura of coloured lights around it, the words “Sephus’ Artificer Works” were painted in golden letters along the bottom.

“Sephus,” Perrin said aloud in an effort to jog his memory. He began to walk faster and sped up so that he was jogging towards the fountain at a steady pace. “He’s one of the Godsmen that we did not get to interview. His written testimony was the most detailed though.”

“Sarge!” Ella called out when she saw her superior coming from the other direction. The Abishai had surrounded Oho and Ella but had not attacked them yet.

“Don’t draw your weapons!” Perrin called back. He sprinted to the circle that had now formed around his colleagues and shoved his way past two of the reptilian gargoyle-like creatures.

“What?” Oho asked. He’d raised his fists and was ready to defend against an attack but Perrin’s command had caught him off-guard.

“Just do what I say and we will walk out of here alive,” Perrin said quietly when he got to the others. “These creatures were sent here to guard the location, chase us away if we got close but I do not believe that they are permitted to kill us.”

“You don’t believe…” Oho replied as his voice got a pitch higher.

“Just pike it Oho, ok? Belief’s all we’ve got at the end of the day,” Ella said. She’d drawn her pistols and after Perrin’s command had lowered them so that they were pointing at the ground. With slow and deliberate care she tucked them back in to her belt.

“Right,” Perrin stated. “We’re going to walk very slowly and without making any sudden moves to the shop there called ‘Sephus’ Artificer Works’.”

“Hey, that name is familiar,” Oho stared at the sign and his face lit up with recognition.

“We’ll make a blood hound of you yet,” Perrin said slapping Oho on the back and steering him in the direction of the shop.

The Baatezu responded by moving the circle that they’d formed towards the shop as well, keeping pace with the red armoured city guards without closing their distance. The creatures whispered to one another using their regimented and corrupting tongue. It sounded like they were cursing, threatening and offering traitorous alliances all at the same time.

“Just keep moving towards the door,” Perrin said calmly.

He’d taken each of his colleagues by the arm and was almost dragging them towards the shop. The aura of menace and fear that was emanating from the ring of Baatezu increased with each step and only Perrin remained unaffected by it. Through sheer force of will alone he was able to get them to the shop entrance.

Just when the three Harmonium officers reached Sephus’ darkened workshop the door swung open a small flame appeared in the darkness beyond outlining of two creatures with writhing beards, barbed glaives and hulking figures. Ella gave out a small, strangled cry and Oho’s face went as pale as his hair.

“You should not have come here,” one of the Barbazu growled in an angry tone. “You were warned to stay away.”

“The rules of the game have changed,” Perrin retorted. “The leader of your merry trio is dead and she’s the one who gave the order. Looks like she turned stag on you even after you thought you’d cut a deal with her.”

The Barbazu looked at each other for a few moments, one of the shook his head and the other turned to respond.

“How do you know that he’s dead?” the bearded devil asked seething with anger as its beard writhed faster.

“I saw the body,” Perrin stated and he briefly described where he and Oho had left the remains of the Barbazu. “If you don’t believe me then go check it out for yourselves.”

The Barbazu who had been doing the talking barked a savage, disparaging and scorn-filled command at one Abishai. The reptilian creature snapped to attention and it teleported away with a muffled popping sound, leaving behind an acrid smell of brimstone.

“In the mean time,” Perrin said as casually as he could muster. “We have Harmonium business to attend to.”

The creatures blocking the doorway stepped back to permit the three Harmonium officers entry. The devils’ beards writhed outwards as if seeking to grasp the three officers and they held their glaives at the ready.

Oho did not waste time looking around the artificer’s workshop, he spotted the trapdoor that was located near one of the workbenches and rushed over to it. Hefting the trapdoor up in one big pull Oho jumped down the hole and disappeared from sight.

“Could have waited for us,” Perrin muttered under his breath.

“Let’s jus get out of here in one piece Sarge, please? If I could keep up with Oho I would be running as fast as he is now. It’s just that those damn fiends have got me petrified with fear and every step is like climbing a mountain.” Ella broke away from Perrin’s grip and headed for the tunnel beneath the trapdoor.

Perrin leapt to catch her up and joined her in descending the stairs below the trapdoor. “She’ll have more guards than this,” the red armoured guard warned his colleague.

The pair set off down the tunnel that was illuminated with fading spiral runes which lit up and then darkened as they passed by.

“Which direction are we headed in Fey?” Perrin asked as he was less familiar with the streets and layout of the city.

“This tunnel leads in the direction of the Foundry,” Ella whispered. “Although if it does link the workshop to the Foundry I am surprised that it is not better guarded.”

“You mean less well guarded than almost a dozen Abishai and two Barbazu.” Perrin chuckled, but never the less his hand moved over his empty scabbard.

A little while later they heard running feet heading towards them from the other end of the tunnel. They each saw the runes light up and roll along the sides of the wall as if a cresting wave was headed in their direction. Perrin whispered a number and drew a dull red short blade and Ella drew her pistols.

“Don’t shoot,” Oho called out as he came sprinting towards them.

“Running back to take on the Baatezu all by yourself, eh?” Perrin asked, not bothering to hide his sarcastic tone.

“No Sarge,” Oho said whilst trying to get his breath back. “This tunnel leads to a chamber that looks like a side chamber for storage that leads to either a tunnel or a larger room; I could not make it out. But in the storage room are four men that we arrested less than a week ago.”

“The kidnap gang? Marco, Herstanz, Frendick and Gyzz?” Ella asked astonished at the fact that the kidnappers they’d arrested had somehow got free.

“The very same,” Oho replied. “Looks like this time they have even better gear than before. I recognised Valori’s crossbow and some of the other items looked like something she’d dream up.”

“Stuck between the Baatezu and the four very well equipped mercenaries,” Perrin mused, stroking his chin and trying to come up with a plan.

“Fear not Sarge, for I have a cunning plan,” Ella said with a sly grin.

“Oh dear. Does it involve us getting passed the guards, evading the Baatezu, capturing the erinye and freeing Valori?” Perrin asked.

“Well, not all of the above no,” Ella said glancing over her shoulder at the sounds of clawed feet marching from the direction of the workshop towards them in the tunnel. “But it’s better than waiting for them to come and catch us up.”

“OK,” Perrin stated folding his arms. “You’re in charge.”

“At last!” Ella shouted with joy, the looks that Oho and Perrin gave her soon brought Ella back down to earth. “It’s a simple plan really. We make plenty of noise, rush in to the room and then I pull my ace out of my sleeve.”

“Something tells me I’m not liking this plan,” Oho said starting to edge away from the direction the Baatezu were coming from. “But I don’t think that I’m in a position to argue.”

Ella grinned, Oho sighed and Perrin started to drag his blade along the wall which created a metallic screeching noise that reverberated in both directions of the tunnel.

“CHARGE!” Perrin roared as he led the assault with his two Harmonium officers towards the bowels of the Foundry. From behind them they could hear the sounds of clawed and booted feet running to catch up. From ahead of them they could hear the sounds of boxes being dragged in to position to form a barricade.

 

[Monty Tomasi]

Part XIV:


Perrin, Oho and Ella emerged from the tunnel in to a large underground chamber. In the centre of the chamber stood a structure of copper, brass and glass consisting of a central column of glass with brass and copper globes floating around it. Gears and clockwork machinery powered the device and connected the globes to the central column. Inside the glass pillar was a fluid consisting of a mixture of colours that moved through each other like Limbo chaos matter colliding.

Near to the glass and metal structure in a far corner stood a circle of black mirrors with a wood and metal chair in the centre. The chair was covered in copper wires, metallic plates with runes etched on to them as well as gem-stones embedded in to the wood. Boxes and crates were piled nearby with one open crate displaying several large uncut gems carefully nestled amidst some packing material.

In the corner opposite was a structure that was partially completed. Scaffolding had been erected around it revealing only a massive clock and extensive gear-works. That corner of the room had metal sheets covering the floor and walls that had etched on to them rows of magical glyphs and runes. Boxes, crates and sacks lay strewn around with building materials spilling out across a corner of the metallic floor.

On the other side of the central structure were a staircase leading upwards and a heavy set of double–doors that stood ajar at the base of the stairs. Surrounding the central structure were four mercenaries including a mace-wielding figure dressed in plate armour that had been decorated with leering faces. Next to him stood a handsome man in a long, glyph-woven robe and carrying an ornate wand made of blackwood and mithril. On the other side of the mace-wielding man was another man in a dashingly handsome outfit that included two rapiers in scarabs on either side of his belt. The final figure was dressed in a simple shirt and breeches and his fingers were covered in rings crackling with arcane might.

Two female figures stood next to the scaffolding of the partially completed structure. The shorter woman had mousy brown hair that was tied back in a ponytail and she wore a simple red dress without any adornments or belt-pouches. She held a small wrench in her hand and was facing the other woman who was looking with concern at the stairs. The woman standing next to her was half a foot taller, stunning beautiful in a leather bodysuit and carrying a barbed whip and a serpent-like short sword.

Just as the three Harmonium officers emerged in to the central chamber the four mercenaries surrounding the main structure of glass and metal leapt to intercept them. Ella crushed a bead she’d been holding in her hand and the three Harmonium officers were instantly surrounded by a globe of clear force. The momentum of their charge carried them forward inside the sphere and the trio were soon tumbling head over heels as they smashed through the line of four defenders in to the main structure.

The four mercenaries picked themselves up quickly and began pounding on the outside of the sphere as well as assaulting it with spells. The mace-wielding man went in to a frenzy as he tried to batter through the globe of force. The man with the glyph-covered robe spat out one word of power after the next but each time the magical onslaught dissipated across the surface of the sphere. The man with the many rings waited patiently whilst the duellist paced impatiently.

The two women stared at the three in the sphere. The mouse-haired woman smiled in delight at witnessing her friends and colleagues mounting a rescue. The other woman frowned as she surveyed the destruction that the sphere’s entrance had caused.

“This was your plan?” Perrin asked as he tried to right himself within the sphere or force.

Ella laying upside in relation to Perrin grinned like a child playing her favourite game and Oho groaned from having tumbled over and over too many times after they entered the room. Oho covered his mouth with his hand and turned a paler shade of green.

“Now comes the cavalry,” Ella stated as she pointed with her foot towards the tunnel that they’d just come out off.

A moment later the enraged Baatezu came charging from out of the tunnel. The Abishai spilled outwards like a seething mass of giant black wasps intent on destroying all in their path. The Barbazu behind them stepped more cautiously in to the chamber, took one look around and charged for the leather-clad woman.

Pinned between the three Harmonium officers inside the globe of force on one side and the Baatezu onslaught on the other side the four mercenaries fought like cornered rats to defend themselves. Ella dispelled the globe of force shortly after the Abishai reached the central structure and the trio of Harmonium officers found themselves in the midst of a savage, no-quarters given melee.

“We have to reach Valori,” Perrin shouted over the din of the battle. He’d swapped his dented short blade for number forty three, a hefty scimitar with a silver skull as a cross-piece.

Ella and Oho fought back to back against the mace-wielding mercenary and two of the black, reptilian Baatezu. Ella was about to shout a response when the pair of Harmonium officers were cut off from their commanding officer. She shook her head in frustration and fired both pistols point blank at the mace-wielding mercenary. A space was opened up briefly as the armoured figure was thrown backwards on to one of the Abishai, but another of the Baatezu soon filled his place.

“Go!” called out Oho from amongst a tangle of arms and legs, fighting off the devils in a desperate bid to stay on top.

Perrin sprinted round the back of the structure made of glass, brass and copper; past the stairs and around to the unfinished structure. As he passed the stairs he heard the sounds of many booted feet drawing rapidly closer. The din of a rabble of men coming down the stairs was unmistakable and was accompanied by shouts of anger and calls for revenge.

Shortly after he reached the section of the floor covered with metal plates Perrin glanced over his shoulder briefly to see a wave of Godsmen bearing heavy tools and all manner of anvil-forged weapons come crashing from the stairwell in to the chamber. They soon joined the melee and the Baatezu, remaining mercenaries and two Harmonium officers did not miss a step as a free-for-all battle ensued.

The leather clad woman was battling against the two Barbazu with her whip and blade. One of the bearded devils fell beneath the blows that she rained down on it and the other began to back away just as a whole mass of Godsmen came charging in to join the fight. The erinye’s delight was evident as she laughed at the repressed emotions erupting in to an orgy of mayhem and death.

“Valori, we…” Perrin grabbed hold of Valori’s arm and was about to drag her away from the fighting when he felt her brush his cheek. He looked down at her hand and saw coloured liquid dripping from her fingers that was exactly the same as that inside the glass column.

Huh? Perrin heard himself think aloud.

I’m sorry Sarge but there’s little time to explain, Valori thought back to him.

Valori first pointed mentally in the direction of the black glass mirrors in a circle. That is where she extracts the past lives; she uses them as fuel for the device in the central chamber.

The device in the central chamber is a possibility condenser. Valori indicated with her mind at the device in the centre, her thoughts tracing the outline of the tall glass pillar filled with coloured fluid.

A what? Perrin thought in utter confusion.

A possibility condenser, it’s a device that looks at the likelihood of an event occurring and then influences the outcome. The device uses the same principles as a celestial etheroscope but allows one to influence outcomes. It’s powered by the past lives through the choices that they have made and the karma that each choice has accrued. Valori closed her eyes momentarily and imagined the flow of lives in to a river of energy in to which a seemingly infinite number of streams were flowing in to.

This sounds awfully like chronomancy to me, Perrin thought dubiously.

It is and it isn’t’, it’s complicated, Valori thought. When I have more time I’ll explain it further. In any case, although the condenser can change things it’s very hard to control and hence why we were building this third machine. The other snag that we hit is that there is some kind of spell woven in to the city that prevents the condenser from working properly.

I’m sorry did you just say… I mean think “we”? Perrin furrowed his brow.

Well it was either work with her or be horribly tortured, Valori mentally shrugged.

Oh… right, Perrin nodded. So what can we do? And how long has this conversation taken us, it seems like this is all happening at the same time.

This conversation has taken place at the speed of thought, Valori took a step forwards and Perrin felt the connection between them beginning to fade. The possibility of us communicating this way can only be sustained for a couple of heartbeats in any case. We have to get to the central pillar and I can hopefully get us out of this mess.

No chronomancy, you hear? Perrin thought as he fell in to step behind his colleague.

Valori and Perrin quickly made their way around the back of the combatants towards the central device. The Godsmen crowding around the stairs and trying to get in to the fight parted around them as if they were not there and within a matter of seconds the pair of Harmonium officers found themselves next to the glass pillar.

Impressive, Perrin thought.

I can’t keep this up much longer, Valori replied wearily. I’m not a possibility mage, mechanika is my strong suit.

What about the erinye? Perrin asked.

Katya is a possibility mage at least that is how I mentally refer to her. Right now she’s playing with the Baatezu and Godsmen fighting here as she can leave at any time. The only thing is that she does not want to lose the power that she has stored in this pillar.

What happens if she catches us? Perrin thought

“Too late”, Valori said aloud as she looked to where the erinye was cleaving a path straight in their direction. “Quick, lift me in to the pillar,” the short mouse-haired Harmonium officer commanded.

Perrin wasted no time in lifting Valori up and in to the opening at the top of the glass pillar. He watched his colleague slide feet first down inside the glass column and stood transfixed by her for what seemed like an eternity.

The battle raging around them slowed to what seemed like a crawl. It was as if each participant was moving though treacle and the din of battle became a dull muted roar. The erinye had a look of utter contempt and hatred on her face as she continued moving slowly towards Perrin and the pillar.

The red dress swirled around Valori inside the coloured fluid in which she was suspended a foot off the base of the pillar. The globes, combatants and everything else around her seemed frozen in time. For that one moment in time she felt as if she could reach out and touch every strand of possible futures. It was a moment of pure and simple enlightenment in which reality took on a whole new level of meaning and awareness. Valori was for an instance in touch with the Multiverse without filters or impediments.

Her thoughts drifted back to the scene around her. Viewing the battle from numerous different possible futures she felt a slight tug and a whisper of blades slicing across her consciousness. Remembering suddenly the stories that she’d heard about Her Serenity The Lady of Pain, Valori’s thoughts turned to the City of Doors in general and she saw in her mind’s eye the spell woven in to the streets of the Cage.

As she felt the presence of the city’s ruler approaching she desperately tried to reach out to the strands of the spell as a means of linking it to the strand of the future that she desired most. A single word dear to her heart that reminded her of home escaped her lips inside the fluid filled pillar and suddenly the world around her became a cloud of colours and light.

Perrin had only just lifted Valori up in to the pillar when it suddenly exploded. Glass and coloured fluid sprayed outwards in all directions filling the room with clouds of memories and experiences. As each person and creature was covered with the fluid they experienced memories and emotions of the past lives that had been harvested and trapped inside the central device.

The battle stopped instantaneously and when the cloud evaporated the scene that Perrin witnessed was quite different to the way that he’d remembered it only moments before.

The Godsmen were still carrying tool and weapons but also muskets, pistols and gear-bows. Several of the Godsmen were wearing hulking great big suits of armour that had conduits connecting rune-marked metal plates along the outside. Steam belched out of the vertical pipes at the back and at the base of the stairs he spotted what looked like a metal golem powered by steam as well. Instead of having two arms though, one of its arms ended in a large barrel with the other arm wielded a large hammer that crackled with lighting energy.

The Baatezu also had mechanical and magical devices that they used to fight instead of the simple blades they’d been using previously. The Barbazu still had their barbed glaives and they too had metallic armour similar to what some of the Godsmen were wearing. One of the Barbazu had a metal arm that was attached at the shoulder and yet it seemed to function in exactly the same way that a normal arm would.

The biggest surprise that Perrin got was when he looked at the erinye as well as Valori and Ella. All three women were wearing long dresses that reached down to their wrists and ankles. Ella’s dress had hoops that expanded it at the back and she wore a small flower-decorated hat that sat at a slight angle on her head secured with large pin. Valori wore a similar outfit, although it was noticeably plainer and she had long gloves that went all the way up to her elbows. The erinye wore the most severe and yet somehow most enticing dress of all. She looked more like a school headmistress than a devil in the midst of battle.

Looking around him Perrin saw that Oho was wearing a smart pair of trousers, starched shirt, pin-striped jacket, a funny little butterfly-like tie and a rounded hat with a rim around the outside. For a moment Perrin thought that he would burst out laughing but the he noticed that many of the Godsmen were dressed in a similar fashion.

The erinye let out a very unlady-like scream of rage and disappeared from sight, leaving behind a honeysuckle-scented breeze. The other Baatezu followed suit except for the fact that they left a palatable smell of brimstone. The Godsmen began to pick up their wounded and their dead whilst others surveyed the wreckage left behind in the hidden laboratory underneath the Foundry.

“What the sodding hell is going on?” Perrin asked angrily.

“Now, now, my dear Sergeant Perrin,” Oho said amicably as he tried to nonchalantly saunter over with Ella support. “It’s been a ghastly day chasing down that no good wretched devil and now it seems that she has got away.”

“No truer a word have you spoken my good man,” Ella said with a smile.

“I fear that our good Sergeant has been rather taken aback by what has gone on today,” Valori interjected. “Perhaps we should all go for a nice cup of tea and we can all try to make sense of this curious affair.”

“Damn straight. You’d better share the dark of what just happened,” Perrin said through clenched teeth. “I’m not a berk who likes surprises and right now I feel as though I’ve peeled right and proper.”

Perrin made his way towards the stairs and stomped up them. The ladies lifted the hems of their dresses jus enough not to have the front trailing along the ground and each of them accepted the arm that Oho offered them.

“What an adventure it’s been,” Ella said in a sing-song voice as the trio ascended the stairs. “I do hope that the tea shop across the road has fresh crumpets today. I had some jam tarts in a café in the Lady’s ward only yesterday that were positively divine.”