Destroyer of Worlds

3

When the blast happened, Ruth and Laura had been quietly questioning the occupants of one of the overcrowded inns, but few had any knowledge of the Enemy Fortress itself, and those that did were too afraid to discuss it. Only one street away, the explosion shook the building so furiously that tankards flew from tables, spilling ale and wine across the sawdust-covered boards. Fearing the worst, the anxious drinkers flooded from the inn into the screaming mob outside, leaving Ruth and Laura to edge through one of the vermin-infested alleys to find a view of the blast site.

'I can do the reconnaissance,' Ruth suggested. 'Why don't you head back?'

'You don't have to keep treating me like I'm a baby,' Laura responded with undue harshness. 'Hunter's gone. I'm dealing with it. I'm not going to collapse in tears at the first sign of trouble.'

'Sorry for thinking of you.' Ruth bristled.

At the end of the alley, rubble and twisted metal were strewn across the street along with the bodies of several passers-by caught in the blast. Flickers of flame and thick, acrid smoke rose up from the ruins of a demolished building.

As the smoke shifted, they caught glimpses of a giant figure strapped to an X-frame in the wreckage of the building.

'He couldn't have been there before,' Ruth said. 'There'd be nothing left of him. He must have been brought in after the explosion. Why?'

'Maybe it's his place, and someone wants to make an example of him,' Laura replied. 'You know, like tar-and-feathering. He probably sold some gangster a knock-off watch.'

The shifting smoke revealed wild black hair and a beard. Ruth's tart response to Laura died in her throat. 'I know him! I saw him, back in London, when the Void had me living that fake life. He's the one Mallory said gave him the lantern… the Caretaker.'

'What's he doing here? And… who did that to him?'

As the smoke finally cleared, the extent of the Caretaker's plight was revealed. Wounds gaped on his arms, his head sagged and more ragged cuts marred what skin was visible on his face. Jagged twists of barbed wire held his wrists and legs to the X-frame, and another had been fastened around his neck.

'Poor man!' Ruth said. 'It looks like he's been tortured.'

'He's not a man, is he, though?' Laura replied. 'He's… something else.'

'That doesn't mean he can't feel pain.' Ruth brushed away a stray tear. 'We have to help him. He's going to die there.'

Wrenching his head back painfully, the Caretaker said in a booming voice that would have carried three streets away, 'Brothers and Sisters of Dragons! If you can hear me, stay away! My time here is nearly done, and there is nothing you can do to aid me!'

'Did he hear me?' Ruth whispered, before realising, 'The Enemy must be nearby. He's saying it so loudly so they won't realise how close we are.'

The Caretaker sucked in a juddering breath of air. 'The Enemy knows you are here,' he continued. 'They wish to draw you out. You will not be allowed to get any closer to your destination. They fear you, Brothers and Sisters of Dragons. They fear the power that burns in your hearts.'

Ruth began to cry silently at the Caretaker's suffering. 'He needs our help,' she said desperately. 'We can't just leave him to die.'

'You must forget me,' he continued. 'The Oldest Things in the Land have attempted to help you as best we could during your long struggle. But that aid may well be coming to an end. We face our own battles, with our own kind, and now, as the great plans fragment on both sides, only chaos beckons. The outcome is uncertain.' Wincing, he took another deep breath. 'Your lessons are not yet complete, but this desperate time has brought the teaching to an end. We must all hope that you have learned enough to defeat the Enemy.' He paused, then repeated wearily, 'The outcome is uncertain.'

'You think we should risk it?' Laura asked. 'Whip out there quick, drag him down and bring him back? We might be able to get away with it.'

'We have to listen to him,' Ruth said dismally. 'He's right — there's too much at stake.'

A deep shadow fell across the ruined building, though the source was not visible from Ruth and Laura's vantage point. As they craned to see, a noise behind them alerted them to the approach of Veitch and Shavi.

'The lights are going out all across the lands,' the Caretaker intoned, 'and I will no longer be there to keep the last lamp lit.' His eyes flickered, and his head slumped forwards onto his chest.

As Ruth stifled a cry, Veitch put his arms around her to comfort her. 'If even they're dying…' he began, before catching himself.

An intense blue light burned where the Caretaker had hung from the X-frame, and when it finally cleared his body had gone.

The deep shadow remained, however, and grew stronger. Across the rooftops, something feline darted, its shape altering as it moved into an almost-human form. A mirror glinted in its hand. As they tried to perceive what it truly was, darkness folded around it and briefly blocked out the sun. Cold fingers of dread touched them all.

'I do not think it wise to stay here any longer,' Shavi said.