The Circle Line (7 page)

‘Presence is all very well, but sometimes it's just more satisfying to use more conventional violence, don’t you think Tarak? When did you lose your presence? Was it when your wife died? Or have you killed it with drink?’

Tarak just lay on his back, blood running from his nose, in a line over his cheek.

Ferus turned away and began to walk to the door. ‘I've finally come for the secret you keep. You’re coming with me’ he said over his shoulder and Tarak's body stiffened before sliding along the floor after Ferus as though pulled by an invisible rope.

After they had left the innkeeper crept from behind the bar and shook his head at the empty room.

How had it come to this?
he thought to himself. The one person that they had thought might be able to save them all, now nothing more than an overweight drunk. But it was worse than that. They had hoped that Ferus and the Riven King wouldn't think the secret keeper worth their attention once Tarak had turned to drink, but in a way it was inevitable that they would come for him. That man held many secrets. Why wouldn't the Riven King want them? The only surprise was that it had taken this long. The innkeeper shook his head again and let out a breath. Still, at least Ferus had left the inn standing. He supposed he should feel lucky.

It was then that the first ball of fire smashed through the window, then another and another. The fourth hit the innkeeper in the chest, taking him off his feet and smashing him into a wall. Within moments the place was in ruins but the innkeeper was not conscious when the burning roof collapsed upon him.

A fire was crackling in the grate. A pot above it emitted a warm and delicious smell and Sam felt his stomach grumble and his mouth begin to water.

‘I'd clean up first’, said Weewalk, following Sam's gaze. He gestured towards a large wooden bowl before a mirror. Sam walked over to it, slipped his rucksack from his shoulders and pulled off his jumper. The bowl was full of water. Looking in the mirror he saw that dusty smudges covered his face and there were cobwebs on his clothes from the escape through the tunnels. He thought back to the feeling of malevolence he had felt in that dark room and a shiver ran up his spine.

He dipped his hands into the water and scrubbed at his face, feeling it tingle and realising the water was salty, the tang of it on his lips. He rubbed at the scab on his forehead more gingerly, feeling the lump there too. He winced as the salt water stung the wound. The water before him turned dirty and he looked again at his reflection. Rinsing his hands and shaking them dry as best he could he went and sat at a table to one side, pulling at the wet ring of his t-shirt at his neck before pulling his jumper back on and pulling back his sleeves.

Weewalk set a wooden bowl of what looked and smelled like apple porridge before him, with a cup of cool fresh water. Sam nodded his thanks, his mouth already full of porridge.

Hadan busied himself with what possessions lay around the shack putting them into two packs which lay open on a bed.

‘How are you feeling?’ asked Weewalk.

‘Better.’ said Sam ‘Thank you for looking after me. I don’t know what to do now. Everything is different. I've never felt anything like what we felt back in those tunnels. Such... evil.’

Weewalk clambered up onto a chair opposite Sam. ‘Ferus is one of the worst you'll ever come across. With some luck it will be a while before it is realised that you survived the fire.’

Hadan came over too and sat to one side of the table, studying Sam with a hard gaze.

‘I've got a question Weewalk,’ he said, ‘What are we going to do with him? We can't keep trying to hide people from Ferus. If he's as important as the Riven believe then they'll come looking for him.’

Weewalk sighed.

'Why did you help me? Why come to get me away?' asked Sam.

'Well, we're looking for someone. And we try to save people who are threatened by the Riven.' said Weewalk. ‘I don’t think it's safe for you to go back. No-one will believe whatever you have to say and your police certainly won't be too impressed by a story about an arsonist who can move between worlds.'

'Where are all the other people who you've saved?' asked Sam.

'Ummm, we haven't actually managed to save anyone yet. We nearly did. Once. But, anyway. you're here now. The longer you evade the Riven the more interesting you'll become to them. They'll think you're special. We’ll have to find somewhere safe for you to stay while we work out what to do. We don’t live here.’ He gestured to the shack. ‘We don’t really live anywhere, although we have stayed here on occasion. We tend to move from place to place making a nuisance of ourselves as much as we can. At the moment we're just trying to find a way back to our world. The lines between worlds have always been very rare and usually fixed in position. But recently we have noticed that they are becoming more numerous, perhaps as our worlds rub more closely against one another. Strange things have been happening and the paths, the lines, have been shifting.'

Weewalk looked at Hadan who glanced up from where he was carving a series of numbers in the wood of the table with the point of a knife.

'We're concerned about what it means for the future. At the moment we can't find the right line.' Hadan said.

'At some point I'll tell you a little more about the history of our world, Mu.' said Weewalk 'and then you'll understand. We are the resistance. There are a few others, here and there, but there's not many of us left. Staying with us is far from safe. Over the last few hundred years a dark power has grown in our world and its actions threaten us all. The Riven. They're cruel and powerful and getting stronger. The Riven King has gone to great lengths to destroy rebels like us. He came once to my home. He killed my family, my friends. He led a band of Riven who all but wiped out the kobolds that day. I've made it my mission to protect others, where I can, to stop them going through what I went through. Only I haven't been doing very well so far.' He turned to Hadan with a sigh. 'I wonder whether we should consult someone else, like Tarak perhaps?’

‘That old drunk.’ snorted Hadan. ‘He’s useless.’ He slammed his knife into the table making Sam's bowl jump ‘Tarak Everune is a drunk and a traitor. He's lost his presence. He's finished.’

‘The Riven King, is that Ferus?’ asked Sam.

‘No,’ said Weewalk. ‘The Riven King is much more powerful than Ferus, though Ferus is powerful enough. The King hasn't left the Rivenrok Complex, his palace, in many years. Ferus is one of his most important deputies, sent out to do his master's dirty work. That work is mainly hunting down and killing those who have any power that might threaten the King.’

'But why come to get me?' said Sam.

Weewalk now looked at Hadan. ‘He could sense a presence.’ he said, gesturing towards Sam. ‘Ferus was quite keen to kill him.’

Hadan looked stern ‘You’re saying he has some ability?’

‘It's possible. The signs are there. He could even be the one.’ said Weewalk laughing.

‘What do you mean?’ asked Sam, ‘What ability?’

Weewalk looked at Sam carefully for a moment.

‘What do you believe is possible Sam? Do you believe that people can move things with their minds?’ He stretched his fingers towards the table and Sam jumped backwards, almost falling off his chair, as his porridge spoon rose out of the bowl before him and hung in mid-air. Then it dropped back with a thunk.

‘Telekinesis, in your language. But we call it presence.’ said Weewalk

‘How?’ said Sam ‘But that’s magic.’

Hadan snorted ‘There’s no such thing as magic. Only children believe in magic tricks. Magic is simply a word to describe events which haven’t been properly described by your science yet. Your people used to think fire was magic. This is no different.’

‘I think you have some of this power within you.’ said Weewalk ‘Often it's awakened when someone who has the potential for it goes through some massive trauma like when their life is in danger or sometimes it occurs when somebody goes through some great emotion, such as when a loved one dies.' Weewalk gave Sam a hard look. 'Ever heard of women who are suddenly able to lift great weights after an accident to save a trapped child? They could never do that in an ordinary situation. It's like a beacon when the presence gets released. Drawing the Riven in.'

Sam rubbed at his arm as he often did when he was nervous. He remembered only too well when he had found his grandfather's body. Weewalk noticed the puckered line that ran along Sam's finger.

‘Nice scar.’ he said ‘Where’d you get it?’

‘Oh, I got it when I was a baby.’ said Sam looking sad, ‘My parents and I were in a car accident. They died, but somehow I survived. The police couldn't work out how I lived. They couldn’t even work out what caused the crash. It's a mystery. I must have been thrown from the wreckage because the entire car went up in flames. They said there was nothing left. I was found lying by the side of the road. They didn't even see me at first. The only injury I had was this burn. He held up his arm and pulled the sleeve of his jumper further up for them to see the scarlet third finger and the pink snake that wound up his forearm.

Sam looked down to see Weewalk staring at his arm curiously.

‘What?’ he asked ‘It's not that bad!’

‘Oh,’ Weewalk said ‘Sorry, it's just...’

‘Weewalk, you look like you've seen a ghost.’ said Sam.

Weewalk seemed to recover himself and smiled ‘I'm sorry, it's nothing. It's just, well you say its a mystery but we've found that few things happen without reason. But, please forget it. Here I'll show you some of my scars. I got this one from a fight with a huge garoul, almost ripped me in half!’ he said, and began to pull up the hem of his spotted dress.

‘Urgh!’ said Sam ‘Please, it's fine. I don’t need to see that.’

At that moment there was a clatter on the roof and they all looked up. Hadan dashed to the door, opened it a crack and looked out.

‘Time to go’, he cried and slammed and bolted the door and then began throwing the remaining things into bags.

‘Sam, grab your things’ urged Weewalk and they all dashed to pick up their belongings.

Just then something hit the door with enormous force. The bolt flew into the room as the wood around it splintered. They all stopped. There was a moment of pure silence. They looked at each other, frozen. Then there was an almighty crash and the door was smashed into pieces. Something terrible threw itself into the shack and roared.

Chapter Seven

Kya sprinted across the open plain, getting ever more distant from the Rivenrok Complex, her feet a blur above the short yellow grass. But she knew she could not run forever, the pounding of heavy feet behind her was getting closer and she could clearly hear ragged breath. She would have to turn and fight.

Despite the pounding of blood in her ears she could hear the line not far away, hear its hum. But, she wouldn't reach it in time. She skidded to a stop, her boots kicking up dust as she span and faced the giant. It lunged immediately, desperate to reach her, its eyes wild, its teeth bared. Kya twisted and placed a foot into the thing's groin, moving onto her back and rolling underneath it so that its own momentum carried it over her. It staggered forward but it quickly turned back to her as Kya pulled her knife from her belt.

She did not have to fight the Sitecah very often. But this one had caught her scent and would not give up. She knew that the giants patrolled this piece of land mercilessly. It was the main reason why the line nearby was used so rarely. But she had been told to come this way. She didn't know whether this Sitecah had simply come across her trail, or whether it had been sent. Someone might have seen her leave. The beast stopped for a second, sizing her up. It was big, easily twelve feet tall. Shaggy red hair covered much of its body. Its small eyes narrowed as it tightened its grip on the large club in its hand.

Kya used her presence and pushed, so that she leapt up, away from the ground and towards the giant, twisting as she did so, spinning inside its flailing arms and slashing with her knife. The monster bellowed in rage and fell back as blood glistened on the red hair covering its chest. But it was barely injured, and certainly not beaten. It threw its head back and roared so loudly that Kya could feel the air move around her.

An answering howl came from behind it and Kya saw what she had been dreading. Three more shapes thundered towards her. She threw her knife into the air ahead of her and, with a movement of her arms, the blade flew towards the face of the nearest Sitecah. She didn't wait to see it land. She turned and ran again, her long dark hair streaming behind her.

She could feel that she was getting closer to the portal she needed to escape. Up ahead she saw an old, squat building appear over the crest of the grassy hill and she turned towards it. That was it! As she neared the building, her legs began to tire and she turned her hands to the ground and used presence to push off the ground so that she moved in huge leaps. She reached what appeared to be an abandoned farmhouse and scrambled onto the porch. Offering a silent prayer she moved a hand across the door, her eyes closed. It was a presence lock, she realised with relief and in a moment there was an audible click. She turned the handle and opened the heavy door. It swung open and she dashed inside, the giants close on her heels. She turned and slammed the door shut, bringing down a large iron bar to seal it. The first Sitecah smashed into the door with a howl of rage, but the door held and Kya scampered away from it and slumped, her back against a wall, grateful that someone had had the sense to build a very, very strong door.

The interior of the house seemed to consist of a single room. Broken furniture lay scattered about. There was no way out visible other than the door through which she had come. Thankfully, she could sense the line was here. Its unique hum emanated from a space inside the fireplace. Although lines were rare, where they did exist it was common for lines to be within houses, and especially fireplaces, in this way. When people found entrances to lines they often built a house around it, keen to keep access for themselves.

She stood, looking around before she used the ethereal door thinking there might be something of use. But there wasn't much to see in the gloom. The windows were heavily shuttered and barred and they allowed little light into the dusty room. Whoever had been brave or mad enough to live within the shadow of the gaze of the Riven King and at the heart of the land of the Sitecah had clearly had the sense to build a strong home. Looking again she could see that much of the interior structure of the building was crafted from metal. This was less a home, more a fortress. On one wall she found several racks which looked as though they had held weapons long ago. They were empty now. Next to the racks she found a cracked mirror hanging from a single nail and she took a moment to study her reflection, pushing her long black hair away from her freckled face. Outside the giants howled and began to throw their weight against the door and she realised it was time to leave. There was nothing of use here.

She turned and tensed allowing power to flow from her hands as she sent her presence into the portal and pulled it open. She tried to gather some sense of what lay on the other side of the door, beyond the dark hole before her, set between the grey stones that formed the chimney. With effort she could almost visualise where she would appear but it was more a suggestion of shapes rather than an actual view. One had to be careful. More than a few people had opened doors that proved to be underwater or underground. She had heard that people in the other world had noticed the strange round sinkholes that appeared when doors were opened carelessly. Kya had been into the other world only a few times, and only fleetingly. She didn't like it much. But, that would come later. Her first destination was Suun-t-Marten. She stepped through allowing the sensation of disembodiment to overwhelm her.

Kya appeared inside some kind of dim and circular hut. She barely had a moment to absorb her surroundings before she found a man standing before her with a spear levelled at her throat.

'Who are you?' the man shouted. 'Riven? Are you Riven?'

'No!' said Kya. Then more gently. 'No, I am a friend.'

The man moved the spear tip back an inch but did not look sure. 'Who are you then?'

'My name is Kya. I have been sent here for the Great Line.'

The man lowered the spear and stepped back in wonder. As he did so he moved into a patch of light and Kya saw with surprise that his skin was completely green.

'It is you. We were told that you would come.' said the green man.

'You were? By who?'

'The Secret Keeper came. He said you would follow one day. I must tell the others. Please, follow me.' He turned and walked towards a door.

For the first time Kya was able to get a proper look at the figure.

His skin was entirely green. His head was shaved bald and he wore a mixture of green and brown clothing of a style that she had never seen before. Around his neck were a number of beaded necklaces and similar trinkets hung from his ears.

As they crossed to the door Kya also looked around at the building. The hut was round, with wooden walls and although simply made it was richly decorated with fabrics and tapestries hanging from the high ceiling. A fire in the centre of the space provided a little light, the smoke moving out through a narrow hole in the roof above it. Kya could see low pieces of furniture that looked like beds around the edge of the round room, interspersed with chests and cabinets. Behind her, an empty doorway, shaped by three large pieces of stone, seemed to indicate where the line hummed behind her. There was a smell of spices in the air and peering into a nearby bowl she could see what looked like a dish of green beans in some sort of broth. It appeared as though she had interrupted a meal.

‘I am sorry for the welcome.' said the man over his shoulder. 'We do not see many visitors here and nothing good ever came out of that door. That is why it is guarded. Once a black-robed Riven came through and started killing immediately using presence to tear men apart. Over fifty died before we were able to stop him. To make matters worse we are in mourning as something terrible has just happened here.’

‘What?’ asked Kya.

The man stopped and turned to face her, with his back to the door. ‘Two of our children were playing nearby when they heard a strange sound and they both disappeared. It seems as though a line of some sort opened up and they entered it not realising what it was. Before anyone could stop them the hole had closed again and is gone. It is unlikely that they will ever be found. They will have entered the other world but the chances of them arriving somewhere that is safe are slim. There is a lot of grief in the village. We Green Men have never known the barrier to act in this way before. We are worried that the barrier is being affected by something, or someone. The Great Line to the other world has always been stable, at least for as long as we have protected it. But we have never known another line to just appear near our village before. But I have already said too much. Come, the elders will want to meet you.’

He opened the door and Kya stepped into a world of an eerie light. It was as if the sun was still in the sky but had been hidden somehow, as if during an eclipse. She turned and looked up but could not see the source of the strange light. The noise of crickets filled the warm air as they walked over short grass towards a large group of the green-skinned people. Many were dressed in warrior garb and carried spears but there were women and children too. They were deep in conversation and did not seem to have noticed Kya approach.

Kya had the chance to study the strange new land and saw that behind the hut was a wide body of water, although it could not be water as it glowed with a faint phosphorescence that made it seem brighter than the grass that grew at its edges.

‘You’ve probably never seen anything like this place.’ said the green man as they approached the edge of the people. He pointed with an arm. ‘In that direction the land is in permanent sun. It's a harsh lifeless place of endless heat, a desert of shifting sands. To the other side the land is in perpetual darkness and it is a place of savage beasts. Little grows there but glowing mushrooms and plants that take their energy from the ground rather than the sun. We Green Men must guard constantly against those borders to keep our families safe. No-one has ever crossed either expanse and returned to tell of it.’

They stopped at the edge of the group and now the people saw Kya and gasped in surprise. They parted for one of the warriors who had been at the centre of the group. This man was clearly quite old and particularly short. As he approached Kya's guide bowed low and Kya followed suit.

“Welcome daughter.' said the man 'We have been expecting your arrival. I am afraid that you reach us at a time of grief and uncertainty. But, I presume you will not wish to delay. Please follow me.'

Kya's guide bowed to her and set off back to his post, but the rest of the village followed her and the elderly man at a distance, whispering to each other.

Kya's guide led her past some more huts toward a small wooded hill. As they approached two round stone columns appeared from between the trees, one at either side of a narrow path. As they passed between the worn pillars the whispering crowd fell back so that Kya and the elderly man continued alone, up the hill. It was not long before they came to a slope that led down and Kya was led along a path to a huge set of metallic doors set into the side of the hill and covered in an elaborate swirling filigree. They stopped before it and Kya looked up at the gates.

'The lock has been designed in such a way that two people with presence are needed' said the green man. 'One person is not enough. I am the only one with presence in my village so therefore I always require a visitor to open this door. Similarly, a single visitor could not open it alone.'

'How many times has it been opened?' asked Kya.

'Once.' said the man. 'Come, place your hand here.'

He indicated a space and Kya pressed her hand against the cold metal. The man did the same in another spot on the other door. Kya sent her mind into the internal workings of the door, feeling the green man do the same. She was amazed to find how complex the inner mechanism was and it took some minutes for them to work the lock open. They worked together, one holding a hidden section apart while the other pulled or pushed at some catch. Then with a final click the lock was open and the doors swung inwards.

A domed brick tunnel led into the darkness of the inside of the hill. The green man produced a flint and had soon lit two torches that sat in a sconce on the wall. Together they walked down the passageway.

It was not long before the tunnel ended and they faced a dark open space. The green man let go of the flaming torch he held and using his presence lifted it out into the darkness. Looking into its light Kya could not see anything beyond but then the flame caught something else and with a whoosh a line of fire suddenly spread around a system of chandeliers that hung overhead and then the room was illuminated.

Before them lay the largest room Kya had ever seen. She could not see the sides or the ends. But that was partly because of the shelves. The room was full of rows upon rows of shelves and each shelf was full of thousands upon thousands of books. They stretched in every direction. Fascinated Kya walked towards the nearest row and touched the spine of the books there carefully. They were written in a language she did not understand. The letters were familiar but the words meant nothing. The first word on the spine of the first book was '
Philosophiæ
'. Kya puzzled over the last letter. She had never seen that before. She looked to the next book '
Harmonice Mundi
'. Something about harmony perhaps? The green man's voice was startlingly loud in the quiet echoing room.

'A great store of knowledge.' he said. 'But there is something else here besides old books. That which you seek. A Great Line to the other world. Come.'