Destroyer of Worlds

3

For once the streets of the Court of Endless Horizons were empty. Through the maze of dark alleys, side streets, squares and gardens, Bearskin and Shadow John led Veitch and Shavi at a breathless pace. Occasionally, Bearskin would stop to sniff the air or examine the dusty ground. To Shavi, there was never anything to be seen, but Bearskin would always nod and move on confidently.

It was Shadow John who forged the way, ensuring no obstacles lay in their path so they could advance at speed.

'How the bleedin' hell do you do that?' Veitch asked him as they moved quickly through another square packed with market stalls.

Smiling, Shadow John leaned in and tapped the side of his left eye. 'I am more at home in the shadows than I am in the light,' he said. 'That is where my true nature becomes clear. Best not to look too closely.'

Shavi closed his ears to the screams that regularly punctured the dark, but his alien eye would not allow him any respite. It had taken to showing him a constant procession of the spirits of the recently departed as they made their way towards the Grim Lands. In the grey stream, he saw the echoes of the terror of their final moments, and the dismay, and the confusion about their current state, so rapidly had they been snatched from life. The stream was becoming a flood. He wanted to look away, but could not.

'The Enemy are using the darkness as cover to slaughter in their search for us,' he said.

Veitch was enough of a friend to catch the hint of distress in Shavi's words, and he gave Shavi's arm a comforting squeeze. 'We all knew it was going to get a lot worse, mate,' Veitch said quietly. 'Keep your head up. We're going to make the bastards pay for what they're doing.'

Though he could not ignore the ghosts, Shavi responded to Veitch's words and refocused on the search.

Bearskin came to a sudden halt. 'I smell smoke,' he said suspiciously.

'Here!' Shadow John had disappeared into the gloom a few paces ahead, but he raced back excitedly. 'I think I have found what you are searching for. But we have company!'

Hurrying close behind him, they came to the stone wall of some impressive building, its shape and identity lost to the dark. A small pitched-roof porch protruded from the wall, with Doric columns flanking a gate of iron railings. Three of the Aztec warriors were using their spears to try to break the gate's padlock. Round, staring eyes roving in their mosaic skulls, they turned and brought their spears up sharply to attack.

'What are they?' Shavi asked.

'Don't bother getting into details,' Veitch said. 'Two categories — friend or foe. And they're not friends.' He drew his sword, the blue and black flames fighting for space along the blade. Shavi thought obliquely that there was more of the Blue Fire than he had seen before.

With astonishing speed, Bearskin loaded the blunderbuss that hung from his belt and fired. Flames and a cloud of black smoke exploded from the broad barrel and the head of one of the warriors disintegrated. The body took a couple more steps before realising it was dead.

Coughing, Bearskin wafted the smoke away. 'Apologies, friends of the hunt. I must find myself a better gun.' He shook his head. 'The number of times I have been left with a few flecks of fur and a morsel of meat-'

'You never learn,' Shadow John agreed.

Veitch hacked the head and an arm off the second warrior, but the third was causing him some difficulty. It moved rapidly, ducking beneath his attacks and jabbing with the spear. The razor-sharp obsidian blade sliced through Veitch's clothes and drew blood.

As Veitch lunged, the warrior whirled the spear's blunt end against Veitch's calf, upending him. The spear whirled again, ready to plunge into the prostrate Veitch's chest. Shavi grabbed the warrior's arm. As the warrior prepared to drive his wooden sword into Shavi's face, Veitch brought his own sword up into the warrior's gut. On his feet in an instant, Veitch rapidly made sure the warrior was dead.

'What are you doing, you mad bastard?' Veitch raged at Shavi. 'Don't ever get involved in a fight again. You'll get yourself killed.'

'Sorry. I thought I was saving your life,' Shavi replied wryly.

'Well, don't. It's my job to get hacked to pieces. It's your job to be all smart and mystical and bloody Confucius-like.' Taking a deep breath, Veitch cleaned his sword. 'But thanks anyway.'

Shavi grinned. 'Perhaps I could get a sword.'

'Don't push it.'

A loud clank echoed as the padlock dropped to the flags. Shadow John gave a flourish and swung the gate open.

'What's in there?' Veitch peered into the interior. It was even darker than the surrounding city.

'Why, the Labyrinth of the Court of Endless Horizons, of course,' Bearskin replied. 'It lies beneath the queen's palace. Every year the court would have a challenge with a prize of unimaginable value for any who could navigate the Labyrinth and defeat whatever foul thing the queen had let loose down there.'

'You've entered it?' Veitch enquired. 'You know your way through?'

'Entered the Labyrinth?' Bearskin exclaimed. 'I am no fool.'

'No one has ever survived the Labyrinth,' Shadow John explained.

'And now you're trying to get us to go in there.' Veitch glanced at Shavi. 'Is it just me or is there a pattern to our lives?'

'The scent of the Fragile Creature was rising up from the catacombs along our way. It could only be that somehow she has found her way into the Labyrinth through one of its many entrances,' Bearskin explained.

Shavi nodded towards the three corpses lying next to the gate. 'They were trying to get in there. The Enemy must be after the woman too.'

'Looks like Church was right — she is important,' Veitch noted. 'Not that I doubted him. All right, we haven't got a choice — in we go.'

Shadow John shifted uneasily. 'But no one has ever survived the Labyrinth.'

'The Enemy are right behind us,' Veitch said, ignoring him.

'It's what lies ahead that worries me,' Bearskin said, fingering his beard. 'Still, challenges make us stronger.' He clapped Shadow John on the shoulder and propelled him through the gate. 'Don't worry, brother — I will look out for you.'

'And we look out for ourselves,' Veitch said to Shavi before following them into the cold dark.