Alchemist (24 page)

Connor walked over
to his backpack to have a look. At the same time, Fallo opened his
eyes and sat up. Terry paid no heed to his movement and did not see
the tentacle that rose up into the air above her. Its end
transformed in a large metallic spike.

“Terry...” was all
Faye could say, before the sharp device plunged into the back of
her neck.

Terry screamed,
crumpling over. Lyle’s head shot up at the noise.

Faye and Connor
made for her but Fallo warned them off with hisses as they came too
near. Seconds later the spike pulled free and the tentacle
retreated.

Terry’s friends
rushed to her, while Fallo looked on.

“I’m fine,
I’m fine.” She said to the chorus of panicky voices around her. She
turned to her dad, her expression dark. “What the hell is wrong
with you? You could have told me you were going to do that! You
know how
much
that
stings!”

Fallo growled
indifferently, lying back down.

“What did he do?”
asked Connor, examining her neck.

She pushed his
hands away. “I’m fine! It was just an energy shot.”

“A what?”

“He gave me some
of his energy. I’m not hungry now. It’s fine, that’s all it was.”
She said, brushing them away.

Darius stared at
her in disbelief. “I thought he was attacking you or
something!”

Taking exception
to the remark, Fallo turned and hissed through barred teeth. Darius
shrunk away.

“Dad!” Terry
shouted, raising a hand to him. He growled but backed off. “Can we
all calm down please?” she asked, looking around all their faces.
Everyone stared at her, unsure what to say or what to do next.

Lyle grumbled.
Rolling over, he fell back asleep.

******

They did not set
off again until after nightfall. Two primeval Alchemists,
especially an abnormally large one like Terry’s father would not
have gone unnoticed. After walking for the first several miles,
suburbia ended and they entered the wilds once more. The two giants
ceased the opportunity to run; the foot soldiers running swiftly
behind.

As the morning sun
crept over the horizon the ocean appeared as a glittering silver
ribbon to the east. Fallo and Lyle has changed course during the
night, heading further to the north east in direction of the Alega
Sea to give Marrich as wide a berth as possible.

The brothers had
slowed to a trot, although Fallo still appeared fresh despite the
huge distance he had just covered. Lyle was beginning to hang his
head from exhaustion and their escort were beginning to trail.

Progress came to a
sudden stop when Lyle gave a whimper and stumbled to the ground.
Fallo stopped and turned round. He growled in question.

Lyle groaned,
barely opening his eyes. Fallo grumbled a response.

Terry leapt down
from her father’s back, landing in a crouch. Connor and Faye had
already disembarked Lyle when he went down.

“Shit. He doesn’t
look so good.” said Connor, fearing for the fallen Alchemist.

Fallo growled
something else.

“He’ll be alright,
he just needs a rest. Dad, you’ll just have to carry us all for the
rest of the way.” said Terry, kneeling down beside Lyle and patting
his muzzle. He grumbled, peering at her through half-lidded
eyes.

Faye looked around
the flat grasslands. The soldiers trailed into view. The first to
arrive began to sit down, without leave. But they still kept a keen
eye, despite their fatigue.

Faye continued to
look this way and that. With exception of the occasional rise and
tree they were exposed in all directions. She knew that this was
the worst place for them to have stopped, especially being so close
to the capital, but she did not say it – she knew everyone
harboured the same concern.

As midday
approached the weather had gone into reverse. A heavy drizzle and
murky fog swamped the landscape. Having grown weary of the rain,
Fallo had opted to seek shelter in a small stand of woods. The
cover was not great, but it gave him and the soldiers the
opportunity to lie down and rest. After the brief respite they
continued northwards, using the cover of the weather to their
advantage. Little did they know at the time that the rain and fog
would last another two days.

It was long after
nightfall that they crossed into the border lands. No one
celebrated the fact that they had reached safety; everyone, save
Faye and Darius were cold, soaked, tired and hungry.

A couple of hours
after their crossing, Fallo suddenly stopped, his antennae standing
on end. Terry and Lyle stood; the latter still a little sluggish
despite having regained much of his former strength.

“What is it?”
Darius asked worriedly.

Fallo craned his
head and barked a cry the young man had never heard before. The
world fell silent again all but for the patter of raindrops
striking against the king’s metal armour. Then out of the night
came a reply; distant, but clear.

Fallo roared and
then continued forward.

Darius grabbed a
spike for support as the Alchemist launched forward at a shocking
speed. “What was that?” He shouted as he was jostled about.

“The border
patrol!” Lyle shouted back to him, holding on. “We’ll be getting an
extra escort back to the colony.”

Darius laughed
with relief. “I can’t wait to sleep in a proper bed again.”

Lyle wiped his
face, the rain doing little to refresh him from his fatigue. “Yeah,
I think I could sleep for a week.”

Connor looked at
Terry and she smiled back at him through the dark. The relief of
the party was palpable as the thought of safety filled their
hearts. Fallo ran on, leaving the fears of the road far behind
them.

Dance with the
Dead

Fallo plunged his
head into the fountain, ignoring the officials who had gathered
about him. The councillor who had been nattering away fell silent.
The act had been simple but poignant. The King was in no mood to
listen to the politics that took place during his absence - he
simply wished to satisfy his thirst after such an exhausting
journey. He drank deeply for a few minutes.

As soon as he
raised his head the clamour began again. “Councillor!” shouted
Lyle, silencing the man. The man’s babbling was beginning to grate
on his nerves.

Fallo roared, his
cry ringing through the large amphitheatre of the family quarters.
Unnerved, the councillors bowed awkwardly and hurried away, fearful
of provoking his wrath. The King snorted wearily.

“Bloody pain in
the arse the lot of them,” Lyle swore as he sat down on the edge of
the fountain beside his niece, “You would think at this time of
night they would have enough sense to stay in bed regardless of our
return.”

Terry smirked.
“They’re politicians, they don’t sleep.”

Fallo growled and
darted his head in direction of their quarters. It was time for
bed.

******

“Terrifallo!
Terrifallo!” The King called, storming threw the large oak doors
that led to her rooms. “Daughter!” he bellowed, his face turning
red as he crossed the large room to her bed. He was dressed in his
finery of office, a high-neck, open fronted, knee length robe. The
crimson garment was heavily embroidered with golden highlights.
Beneath it he wore a simple white under-shirt and black trousers,
to maximise the draw of the eye to his robes. Her bed was empty.
Hissing furiously, he turned, his robes billowing behind him.

“So there were ten
of them?” repeated the man as he leant over the table.

“Aye, ten of
them.” Terry said again for affect. A dozen faces had gathered
around the bar table, listening intently to her tale. Behind them
even more Alchemists gathered.

“I’ve seen those
things before, they are really strange looking beasts.” said one
woman from down the end of the table. A murmur of agreement went up
from the crowd and some of the older Alchemists, men and women
alike gave a knowing nod.

“But that’s the
thing, they aren’t dangerous.” Terry jabbed a finger against the
table. “You could walk through an entire field of them and they
would not even look at you. But this time was different.”

“How?” asked the
man who sat opposite her. He was enthralled.

Terry leant
forward on her elbows, as if to whisper. Everyone else followed
suit, hanging on to her every word.

“I was walking a
friend’s dog.”

A laugh went up
from further down the table. “You silly girl, cow’s hate them!”
chuckled the old man.

Terry held
up her hands in a
guilty as charged
manner. “See, I’d forgotten that. That’s why they had formed
a circled around me and the bull was making his merry way towards
me.”

The young man who
sat beside Terry shook his head. “I don’t understand Your Highness,
why were animals so big so scared of something so small?”

An older woman
cackled. “Ha! The boy has never been to Earth, he has never worked
on a farm!”

Ignoring her
Terry answered loudly for all to hear, “Because these
dogs
, that humans keep as pets used
to be a different animal. They used to be bigger and hunted in
packs thousands of years ago. They still exist in the wild today.
They’re called wolves.” She tapped a finger on the table as she
spoke. “See, the point is despite having domesticated dogs and
cows, there is still something built deep into the cow’s psyche
that they are predators. No amount of breeding or handling has ever
taken that out of them. So no matter how much an animal is
conditioned you can never make it fully lose its true
nature.”

“Like you
child.”

“Shit.” Muttered
Connor, lowering his head and making a serious effort to pretend he
was minding his own business; something he poorly performed by
taking a sip of his drink.

The rest of the
drinkers quickly dispersed, many abandoning their drinks and
lowering their gaze as they moved away. Others gave slight, awkward
bows to the King before scurrying off as soon as they realised he
was paying them no heed.

Connor was
not sure how to react. He looked first at Terry then at the King.
Finally Fallo noticed him. “
Leave.”

He did not need to
be told twice.

Terry also stood,
making to leave.

“Sit.”

With a look of
resignation she sat back down.

Her father leaned
across the table, his face set in anger. “This is the third day in
a row I have found you here.” He said, his tone brittle. “What have
you to say for yourself?”

Terry lowered her
voice. “Do we really need to go over this again?”

His eyes flashed.
“If we do the answer will be the same as yesterday. You are not
here on holiday. Your powers and rank have been restored. You will
do what is expected of you, not tell tales in bars.” He spat the
last part.

Terry gave a
slight nod. “Ok.” She said, gesturing to a seat. Her father
remained where he was. “Can you please take a seat so that we can
discuss this like adults, please?”

He stared at her
sternly.

“Dad, will you
please stop being a total...” Terry stopped herself when his gaze
narrowed. She sighed and closed her eyes for a minute. “I was just
having some fun. I’ve not been home for a long time and when we
arrived we were not here for very long.” She shrugged innocently.
“I just want to catch up with everyone, that’s all.”

Now he
sighed, the first emotion she had seen from him during this frosty
encounter. “You are not a child anymore. You have responsibilities
now which I
must
teach you.
You are already far behind on where I would like you to
be.”

“Dad.” Terry said
firmly. “I’m not staying. As soon as Lyle can source another
temporal device I am going back to Earth. We still need to find
Edward.”

Fallo
straightened. He looked stung. “You would abandon me and your
people?”

“No, I’m not doing
anything of the sort. I’ll be coming back...soon.”

Fallo sighed
tiredly. “Daughter, you must drive these human ideologies from your
mind. You are not one of them. You can never have a live like them.
Your place is here. Your family, your people are
here
.” His expression hardened once
more. “And do not think I have not seen you struggling to keep your
form. You are yearning to be free of
this
carapace.” He gestured toward
her.

“I’m fine.”

“Do not lie to
me!” He slammed his fists against the table, the wood splintering
under the force. The abandoned tankards rattled with a clatter.
“Everything about you is reawakening. Do not deny what you
are.”

“I am doing
no such thing. Besides, you know I have a condition. I can’t always
control
her
.”

He raised a hand
to her. “I grow wary of this. You should not fight it, you should
let it out. Maybe then you’re fractured mind will begin to
heal.”

When she did not
reply, he continued. “Your uncle Kila and officials from Troqueer
will be visiting in two days for a banquet celebrating your
return.” He leaned closer. “You will be there and you will behave.”
He turned away without waiting for an answer.

Terry watched him
leave. After he had gone she glanced around the empty bar. She was
surrounded by twenty million people but she had never felt more
alone.

******

Attendants
tampered with the King’s robes. With a nod to the aide sorting his
collar, they were dismissed. Looking in the full-length mirror
before him, he fiddled with the collar of his white and gold
trimmed robes. He stopped when he saw his daughter enter his rooms
in the mirror’s reflection. He spun around, stunned.