Lex Trent versus the Gods

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Lex slowly climbed the ladder back up to the griffin’s platform where Schmidt stood waiting. They both looked sadly down at the griffin in silence. It seemed a terrible waste just for the sake of a game and Lex found it hard to summon up any regret for the fact that the prophet had just fallen to his death. Served him right.

‘These Games are appalling,’ Schmidt said, breaking the silence at last. ‘I just don’t see the point of them. They’re anachronistic and should be stopped or, at the very least, modernised so that they aren’t so dangerous. Look at what’s happened on this one alone! Theba died in the first round, the prophet died in the third, Zachary is no longer even in human form thanks to you and now this griffin has perished as well. It’s disgraceful.’

Lex agreed entirely that it was a shame about the griffin even if he didn’t care in the least about the other three. He shrugged and said, ‘The Games would be pointless if they weren’t dangerous. They wouldn’t be exciting any more.’

‘I don’t understand that attitude at all!’ Schmidt said huffily.

Lex gently stroked the feather he still held in his hand. When he took it up to the Judge he’d be proclaimed the winner. But victory, somehow, now seemed to have gone a little flat. His eyes went to the three silver eggs still tucked away in the golden nest and, after a moment’s thought, he took a step towards them.

Then he stopped. There was a rush of cold air, a bright flash of white light, angry blue eyes and a tree made entirely out of crystal, from its huge trunk to the very last twig, leaf and bunch of berries clustered along its branches. There was blood at the base, for someone had cut themselves on the flowers… but it was only there for a moment before it was gone. Lex shook his head in bewilderment.

‘What is it?’ Schmidt asked.

‘It’s Lucius,’ Lex said. He didn’t know why he’d said that but he knew it was true. Something had happened to his brother, he could sense it. Perhaps it was a twin thing but he was suddenly absolutely certain that Lucius was in trouble. Before he could think any more about it, Lady Luck appeared on the planks beside them. She looked angry and hurt and Lex guessed that she had somehow found out about his betrayal.

‘I can explain-’ he began, but she cut him off.

‘Explain, Lex? Can you really? After all I’ve done for you too. But it’s backfired on you. For once, I don’t think you’ll like being lucky.’

‘What do you mean?’ Lex asked, a horrible feeling of dread creeping up inside him.

‘The enchanter you stole that ship from — he arrived whilst you’ve been down here. Jezra told him that Lucius and the prophet were playing the Game but that you’d sat this round out and were hiding somewhere, so the enchanter searched the ship for you.’

Lex felt the colour drain from his face. ‘He found Lucius, didn’t he?’ he croaked.

‘I realised it wasn’t you when he started begging for his life. I felt sure you would never beg like that.’

‘Is he still alive?’

‘The enchanter used magic to send him away. So you see how very lucky you really are, Lex. If you hadn’t double-crossed me the way you did then the enchanter would have punished you instead of your brother.’

‘Where did he send him?’ Lex asked. ‘I’ll go and get him back.’

Lucius might have been a wet, whiny wimp but he was the only family Lex had left. And — against his will — he couldn’t help but admit to himself that whatever trouble Lucius was in now was entirely Lex’s fault. His old benefactress, the Goddess of Luck, gazed coldly at Lex for a moment before leaning forwards to hiss, ‘The Lands Beneath.’

Lex heard the sharp intake of breath from Schmidt beside him. ‘The Lands Beneath?’ he yelped. ‘But that’s absurd! Humans aren’t allowed down there with the Gods!’

‘I know,’ Lady Luck smirked. ‘They’ll be very angry with him when they find him.’

‘But he didn’t do anything wrong!’ Schmidt exclaimed. ‘He’s not the one who stole the ship. He didn’t even want to be involved in the Game to begin with! My Lady, I implore you,’ Lex heard the crick as Schmidt bent down on one knee. ‘The injustice of the situation is-’

‘Is something Lex and his brother will just have to live with, I’m afraid,’ the Goddess sniffed. ‘I know you only ever worry about yourself, Lex. That’s one of the reasons I liked you. But if losing your brother will bring you some small measure of discomfort then I’m glad.’

And with that she left Lex and Schmidt standing in silence.

This is a dream, Lex thought to himself. I’m just dreaming, that’s all.

Lex was going to die young on an exciting adventure. But Lucius was going to live to a ripe old age, doddering around his little farm, gumming his food and reminiscing about the good old days.

There had been a conversation shortly after the priest had confirmed that Alistair Trent was indeed cursed with the soulless wake. It was still in the early days so Alistair’s memory had not been too badly affected by that point. He had taken Lex aside one day and spoken to him — quietly, calmly and with just the smallest sad hint of regret.

‘This is going to get ugly, Lex,’ he’d said. ‘Things are all going to change and I just want to… apologise now for the pain I’m going to cause you when I don’t know who you are any more. Try not to hate me for it. I’m sorry to put this on you two boys but… you’re strong, Lex, so I know you’ll be okay but you’ve got to promise to look after your brother. Lucius is a good boy. He’s gentler than you, perhaps, and more open-hearted. But he doesn’t have your inner strength and determination. I know you’re not going to stay here on the farm for ever and I wouldn’t want you to. But Lucius will need to lean on you soon and I want you to be there for him for as long as you can.’

Of course, Alistair Trent had been quite wrong in what he’d said to Lex that day, for Lucius had risen to the occasion when their grandfather’s condition worsened whereas Lex had chosen to run away instead. It had seemed easier to live with cowardliness at the time. Alistair’s illness had brought out the best in Lucius and the worst in Lex. After running away, Lex had realised that he wasn’t the person his grandfather had believed him to be. He wasn’t even the person he’d believed himself to be. But there was no point in moping over it. You couldn’t change who you were or undo past mistakes. Better to embrace greed and selfishness and have done with it than to go on desperately pretending to be brave.

‘Do you understand now, Lex?’ Schmidt asked, breaking in on his thoughts. ‘Do you understand that when you break the rules people get hurt, even if it’s not always you? What you did might have cost your brother his life. If Lady Luck won’t help Lucius, you’ll have to ask Jezra-’

‘Jezra won’t do anything,’ Lex said. ‘Neither will any of the other Gods.’

‘What? Why not?’

‘Jezra made sure the enchanter believed Lucius to be me by telling him I was hiding on the ship somewhere. He wants him sent to the Lands Beneath. The other Gods will never interfere in human matters. Lady Luck might come round eventually or she might not but either way it will be too late for Lucius.’

Schmidt thought about it for a moment before throwing up his hands in defeat. ‘You’re right,’ he said flatly. ‘They’ll never help. You won’t ever see Lucius again. Still, at least you got your feather. You’ll win the Game. And that’s why we’re here, isn’t it?’

‘Yes, it is,’ Lex said, carefully folding the large feather into his pocket. ‘Well, thanks for the lecture. I’m going to go talk to the enchanter now. Perhaps… if I explain what happened he might be prepared to switch us-’

‘No! No, Lex, he won’t. He’ll just send the pair of you down there. Trust me, he doesn’t know the meaning of the word mercy. He won’t take pity on you.’

Lex picked up on the tone and looked at him. ‘You know this enchanter, don’t you?’

‘Yes, I know him,’ Schmidt said flatly. ‘I was his servant for two years, so believe me, Lex, when I say you won’t be able to get anything from him. You must stay completely away from him and make sure he never finds out that you escaped.’

‘What do you mean you were his servant?’ Lex asked, staring at him.

Schmidt sighed. ‘Something happened and I had to leave my home when I was a young man. The only way to do that was on board an enchanter’s ship, so I made a deal with him. I agreed to be his lawyer for a year.’

Lex had known from the little things Schmidt had already let slip earlier on in their travels that he must have had some contact with magical peoples. But he’d never dreamt that he had actually once worked for an enchanter. He could be disbarred for that, even now.

‘I’m afraid that, where you always seem to get good luck, I’m often cursed with the opposite. In fact, sometimes I think I must be Lady Luck’s favourite victim. I recognised the enchanter on the docks the morning you stole his ship.’

‘Why didn’t Bessa recognise you?’ Lex asked.

‘She wasn’t his crone when I was with him.’ Schmidt hesitated a moment before going on. ‘After my year of service was up, the enchanter refused to let me leave. He kept saying I had to stay just one more month. By the time two years had gone by I realised he was never going to allow me to go.’

‘But the things you must have seen!’ Lex breathed. ‘Living and working with an enchanter!’

‘The things I saw would make your hair curl!’ Schmidt said sharply. ‘I was barely treated better than his crone. Besides, I became a lawyer to help people, not to swindle, cheat and ruin them and that’s what the enchanter was having me do. The law can be twisted so easily but it’s supposed to be something noble not just another way of destroying people. It sickened me and I knew I had to get out so I managed to convince his crone to help me escape. She’d grown fond of me whilst I’d been living with them, for I showed her more kindness and consideration than her master ever did. So she helped me to run away when we stopped at the Bandy Towns one night. She gave me some magical help that made it easier for me to disappear and after lying low for a while I was able to change my name and start again. But the enchanter banished his crone as punishment for helping me.’

‘How do you know he banished her?’ Lex asked curiously.

‘I met her a couple of weeks ago,’ Schmidt said shortly.

Lex looked at him, puzzled for a moment before he remembered. ‘Matilda?’ he grinned. ‘You really do have bad luck, don’t you?’

‘That’s why she needed to keep the crown,’ Schmidt said. ‘With an object like that she’ll be taken back into the care of an enchanter again, for any one of them would love to get their hands on a royal crown. Crones don’t feel complete without enchanters.’

‘Why did you have to leave your home in the first place?’ Lex asked, quite unable to stop himself from asking the question.

Schmidt hesitated and for a moment Lex thought he wouldn’t tell him. Then, with a sigh, the lawyer admitted flatly, ‘My real name is Marvin Briggs.’

There was complete and utter silence as Lex stared at Schmidt, his mouth hanging open, wondering if he could be dreaming. ‘ Marvin Briggs? ’ he whispered. ‘You almost destroyed a whole province!’

The name of Marvin Briggs was respected by every scoundrel, rogue and good-for-nothing in the Lands Above. The name had even become part of popular culture. To ‘pull a Marvin Briggs’ was to create an unmitigated disaster.

‘Oh, don’t be so stupid!’ Schmidt snapped. ‘Can you see me doing something like that? It wasn’t me. I was set up. Besides, it was a city, not a province.’

Everyone knew the story. Briggs had been a young, opportunistic lawyer in the Leylands who had flooded the black market with Judges’ wigs. Now, Judges’ wigs were in some ways similar to enchanters’ hats except, instead of storing magic, they stored authority. There was something about a Judge’s wig that made anyone who wore it instantly authoritative, so that other people flinched if the wearer so much as raised their voice and almost fell over themselves in their hurry to obey any commands the wig-wearer gave them. As more and more criminal leaders got their hands on Judges’ wigs, the Leylands went through a serious crime crisis and the city almost collapsed altogether. Order was re-imposed only just in the nick of time. Marvin Briggs was exposed by another lawyer but evaded arrest and disappeared. He was never heard of again and no one had the slightest clue what had happened to him.

‘So what happened?’ Lex said. ‘If you didn’t do it, why did you end up taking the blame for it?’

‘It was you!’ Schmidt snarled, looking uncharacteristically vicious for a moment before checking himself. ‘Or it might as well have been. Someone just like you, Lex, except a few years older. His name was Oliver Simp.’

Lex recognised the name from the story and, after a moment, he placed it. ‘The lawyer who turned you in?’

‘Yes,’ Schmidt said, grinding his teeth. ‘We started at the firm at the same time. Oliver was hardworking, industrious, charming… Everyone liked him. I liked him. And then, one day, I discovered what he’d been up to with the wigs. So I gave him the chance to turn himself in. He said he hadn’t known how dangerous the wigs were, that he’d only wanted to make a bit of extra money to pay off his student loans and that everything had just got out of hand somehow. I believed him and said I would help him with any charges that were brought against him. He promised to go straight to the police and thanked me for being such a good friend. The next thing I knew I had police banging on my door shouting for my arrest because Oliver had reported me as the perpetrator! I would never have believed it of him, never, for he was so convincing! A flawless performer, just like you, Lex! That’s how I was able to recognise you for what you were as soon as you walked in the door back in the Wither City. I tried to explain what had really happened, that it was all a mistake, but Oliver had been clever about it — planting evidence to incriminate me and destroying anything that could incriminate him; making sure every tiny little detail was correct. And then giving the performance of his life when I accused him, and acting every bit the hurt, mortified friend who simply couldn’t believe that I would try to shift the blame onto him. People had been injured because of the wigs and all this money had been lost… I was looking at ten years or more. So I fled and took the first means of escape I came across with the enchanter.’

‘What happened to Oliver?’

Schmid shrugged. ‘He got away with it, of course. Last I heard he’d retired to the Bandy Towns with a huge fortune.’

‘Marvin Briggs,’ Lex muttered to himself with an incredulous shake of his head. It certainly explained why Schmidt had loathed him so much if he had once been the victim of a conman himself. ‘All right, I know you don’t have the imagination to make up a story like that. If you say this enchanter can’t be reasoned with then I believe you. I’ll just have to go down to the Lands Beneath and get Lucius out myself.’

Schmidt stared at him. ‘You’re not serious? Lex,’ he said in as gentle a tone as he could manage, ‘it would take thousands of years to climb all the way down the Space Ladders so, even if you were able to get food and water out here, you still wouldn’t have enough years to reach the Lands Beneath.’

‘I’m not going to climb the ladders,’ Lex said. ‘I’m going to use the enchanter’s hat. It’s in my bag. I brought it just in case.’

‘Don’t be a fool,’ Schmidt said softly, cursing himself for the harsh words he’d spoken earlier. ‘Lex, what’s happened to Lucius is tragic and I’m afraid it is your fault and you’re going to have to live with that. But there’s certainly nothing you can do to fix it; it’s too late for that. Heroics will only get you killed as well-’

‘ Heroics! ’ Lex sneered. ‘These aren’t heroics, old man! You don’t stop being selfish just like that. I told you before — I want to die young. It wasn’t just something I made up to shock or impress you; I really meant it. Lucius is the only one I have left. He doesn’t want to die young but I do so I’ve got nothing to lose by going after him. Besides, I’ve always wondered what the Lands Beneath look like. I can’t let Lucius have all the glory by being the only human to see the home of the Gods. I’m highly competitive. You should know that by now.’

He swung his bag off his back and crouched down beside it on the floor, rifling through it in search of the hat.

‘But it won’t solve anything!’ Schmidt said desperately. ‘The enchanter will know you’ve used his hat and if you ever made it back to the Lands Above he’ll be waiting for you. This is why you don’t mess around with enchanters, Lex! There are reasons for playing by the rules!’

Lex hesitated, the hat now in his hands. ‘Well, then,’ he said with a slow smile, ‘I’ll go down and get Lucius now and I’ll deal with the enchanter when I get back. All right?’

He stood up and put the hat on his head.

‘Human minds aren’t built for magic,’ Schmidt tried once again. ‘Lex, I’ve told you, you’re just as likely to kill yourself with that hat as you are to accomplish anything with it.’

‘Look,’ Lex said impatiently, ‘I’m not arguing with you about it any more. My brother’s down there and I’m going down to get him. Or at least I’m going to try. If all I accomplish by putting on this hat is to blow my own head off, well… then at least there’ll be one less rotter in the world, right?’

‘If you really mean to go, take me with you.’

Lex stared at him, shocked into silence for a moment. ‘I’m not making up a picnic of it, Monty,’ he managed at last. ‘I can’t think of a single reason why you’d want to-’

‘Employer’s liability,’ Schmidt said promptly.

‘Eh?’

‘You’re a minor and technically still my employee. If I let you go down there and you get yourself killed, I’ll be held liable for your death as your employer and sent to prison. Just because we’re not in a law office doesn’t mean my duty of care towards you is discharged.’

‘So fire me.’

‘I don’t have the authority to fire you on my own. The other partners would have to approve it.’

‘Then I resign.’

‘It’s the same thing!’ Schmidt exclaimed in frustration. ‘Your resignation has to be accepted by all the partners before it’s effective. You never know — I might be of some help to you, so just take me — assuming you’re able to get there without killing yourself with magic first.’

‘Fine,’ Lex said with a shrug, very aware of how much time had been wasted and unwilling to waste any more. He closed his eyes and spread his hands, the silence of space pressing in on them for a moment whilst Lex concentrated on getting them both to the place of the Gods. Then he drew a deep breath and said loudly and clearly, ‘The Lands Beneath.’

The stories about the Lands Beneath were all wildly different and had changed constantly since the Great Divide. But most people agreed that there was treasure down there. And monsters. Some people claimed to have seen the Lands Beneath in nightmares but when these accounts were compared they all seemed to be completely lacking in common features.

Despite his worry over Lucius, and fear at his own unbelievable stupidity in trespassing into the home of the Gods, Lex couldn’t help but feel a sense of excitement at the prospect of getting to see exactly what the Lands Beneath looked like, and mentally prepared himself to be ready for anything. After speaking the words ‘Lands Beneath’ on the Space Ladders there was a brief, slightly worrying moment of insubstantiality before Schmidt and Lex found themselves standing in the snow in… in the most beautiful place that Lex had ever seen in his life! It was a forest of crystal, set beneath a silver, star-spangled sky. And the colours! Lex didn’t even know the names of some of them! Sparkling, glittering, twinkling loveliness..

He automatically reached out — to touch, to grab, to close his hands around the beauty that he saw… but then his nose suddenly started to bleed. Schmidt said something in a sharp, anxious kind of voice and reached out towards him but Lex pushed him away impatiently.

‘I don’t need your help!’ he snapped.

And then the cornucopia of colours started to spin, reminding him of the kaleidoscope he’d had when he’d been small. He lost his balance on the lurching ground as a deafening silence rang in his ears, blocking out all the sound…

About twenty seconds later, Schmidt was still bending over Lex trying to work out if he was dead or not when one of Lex’s eyes opened and he squinted at the lawyer in the silver light.

‘Am I dead?’ Lex asked.

‘Not yet,’ Schmidt grunted.

‘Oh good.’ Lex closed his eye and tried to breathe normally, uncomfortably aware of how fast his heart was beating and how cold the snow was beneath him. But after a moment, he couldn’t help a soft, rather breathless laugh.

Schmidt stared at him in blank incomprehension. ‘What in this whole situation,’ he said, ‘could possibly be even remotely amusing?’

‘I got here,’ Lex said. ‘I’m in the Lands Beneath.’ He opened his eyes and grinned at the lawyer. ‘I won’t believe you if you tell me you’re not even the least little bit excited to be here.’

Schmidt sighed and offered his hand to help Lex to his feet. ‘I don’t think you need have any worries about dying young,’ he said. ‘It’s a miracle you’ve survived this long as it is.’

‘I’m lucky,’ Lex replied, dusting the snow off his clothes.

Apart from a slight feeling of nausea, he now felt fine although he was beginning to rather dislike the hat. He considered taking it off now that he was here but decided against it. Although the enchanter could sense him when he wore it, he was most unlikely to attempt to pursue Lex to the home of the Gods. Even an enchanter would fear to do that. So in the meantime, he might as well keep the thing on although even Lex realised by now that if he used it again anytime soon it probably wasn’t going to improve his situation an awful lot. But if nothing else, at least it made him look taller.

‘This place is stunning!’ he said, looking round himself properly.

A hundred different colours dappled about them where they stood on the forest floor — for all the trees were made entirely out of crystal. The trunks and branches were white but the leaves were a mixture of bright colours. In fact, no leaf seemed to be the exact same shade. They ranged from emerald green to saffron yellow to peacock blue. The effect was enchanting beyond anything Lex had ever seen before.

The place was utterly silent. There didn’t appear to be anything or anybody around. Lucius certainly wasn’t there, nor was there any sign that he ever had been. The crystal forest did not move or sway in the breeze — even the smallest leaf was absolutely still. It was cool without a sun but it was not uncomfortably cold, partly because there was not even a breath of wind. The air itself was still and beautifully, wonderfully fresh as if no one had ever breathed it before. It was as if they were polluting it just by being there.

Lex and Schmidt could make out a clearing through the trees so they started to walk and came out of the forest within moments. Lex stared around at the new scenery, sure that his eyes must be almost popping out of his head at what he was seeing. He was used to forests, for there were lots of them in the Lands Above, even if they weren’t made of crystal. So whilst he hadn’t exactly felt at home in there, he had at least not felt as if he were on a different planet altogether. But the forest really had been nothing more than a small glade put there for recreational or aesthetic purposes and they weren’t actually in the countryside at all. They were at the edge of a huge city, the likes of which Lex had never dreamt of.

Towering before them were huge glass skyscrapers that must have been well over a hundred storeys. Considering the fact that neither Lex nor Schmidt had ever seen a building higher than five or six storeys before, this was an awe-inspiring, terrifying sight to them. There was a white monorail running quietly between the tall buildings but other than that there was no sound or movement at all. Gazing up at it all, Lex couldn’t help but feel discouraged. ‘It’ll be a nightmare finding Lucius in that lot,’ he said hopelessly. ‘Especially now that Lady Luck has abandoned me.’

‘She hardly abandoned you,’ Schmidt pointed out. ‘You double crossed her.’

‘Well, it’s the same thing,’ Lex snapped irritably.

He stalked across a snow-swept path leading away from the crystal forest and towards the city. Schmidt hurried after him and, falling into step beside him, said, ‘What’s your plan?’

Lex glanced at him. ‘Why do you always assume I have a plan? I’m just going into the city to see if I can find some Gods.’

‘Is that it?’

‘That’s all I got,’ he said with a shrug.

As Lex had suspected, finding the Gods did not prove to be problematic. Most of the Gods were not omniscient, but they were sharp-eyed, and forbidden trespassers in their realm were not likely to go unnoticed for very long. Lex and Schmidt had only just started to walk down one of the skyscraper-lined streets when two startled-looking Gods appeared in front of them in human form. Lex recognised them from their statues. One was Deryn, God of Music and the other was Saydi, Goddess of Beauty and owner of Lex’s favourite sun.

‘No, no, no!’ Deryn exclaimed in a distinctly whiny tone as Lex and Schmidt automatically bowed. ‘You’re ruining the Race!’

‘What Race?’ Lex asked, straightening up from his bow.

‘ This one,’ Saydi said, waving her arm to encompass the city and glaring at them. ‘It’s ongoing! It’s the longest one in our history and you humans are ruining it. You’re not supposed to be down here!’

Lex glanced at the transparent buildings and gasped as he realised, for the first time, that there were people moving about in them and, like the buildings themselves, they were made entirely of glass.

‘Are they alive?’ Lex asked, still staring at them.

‘They’re half alive,’ Saydi snapped, then she paused and stared at Lex. ‘You look just like the other one,’ she said. ‘Except you’re wearing different clothes. And you’re not bleeding so much.’

‘You’ve seen my brother?’ Lex said eagerly. ‘My brother, Lucius? Is he okay? He got down here by mistake. We’ve just come to get him and then we’ll gladly be on our way.’

‘No, no, no; we simply cannot have humans down here; it just won’t do! You must be made examples of,’ Deryn said irritably.

‘What’s the point in separating the Lands Above and Beneath if humans are going to contaminate both? You’re too unpredictable — you ruin the Races,’ Saydi complained. ‘It’s like trying to play chess with chessmen who won’t follow the rules — it undermines the point of even playing at all.’

‘Well… what is a Race?’ Lex asked, giving the glass city a puzzled look. If this was a sort of Game then where were the castles and dragons and other mortal perils?

‘It’s a Race of Progression,’ Deryn said. ‘It’s taken our men hundreds of years to get this far. They started out living in caves but just last year they built their first spaceship and started exploring the orbiting underworlds. You humans will never reach such a level because you squabble with each other all the time and it hinders your progress. If one of our glass men comes into contact with you they could be infected with unstable emotions and the entire Race would be in jeopardy then. They wouldn’t do what we told them to any more. They’d start thinking for themselves. Come along. We’ll put you in with the other one.’

And Lex and Schmidt found themselves plucked from the ground by the Gods and deposited some way from the city before a huge, hulking monster of a crystal tree that stood all alone. This was what Lex had seen when he’d had that funny moment out on the Space Ladders. The alarming amount of scarlet blood splattered around the base of the tree was in sharp contrast to the snow, and Lex’s heart seemed to lodge in his throat at the sight of it.

A crystal ladder fixed to a branch near the top joined up with the lowest Space Ladder and led on past the twilight sky into dark space above them. The Lands Above couldn’t be seen beyond the great mass of Space Ladders but they knew it was up there. Unlike the crystal trees they’d seen in the forest with multi-coloured leaves, the leaves of this tree were all golden — pale and beautiful like they’d been painted with sunshine. There were other snow-covered cities in the distance and Lex guessed that other Gods were playing their own Progression Races in these although there was a still, unbroken silence all around them. In the distance was a sparkling crystal mountain where the Gods lived when they weren’t playing Races with the glass men in the glass cities.

Tearing his eyes away from the incredible sights on the horizon, Lex turned back to the tree. The trunk itself was at least twenty feet in diameter and curled up in the middle of this was Lucius, head bent over a bloody ferret that was clutched to his chest and seemed to have gone rigid with fear. In another moment, Lex and Schmidt had been put in the crystal tree with him.

‘Lucius, are you all right?’ Lex asked, striding over to him, trying to work out where the blood on his arms and on the ferret was coming from.

Lucius jumped at the sound of his brother’s voice. After a moment of stunned surprise he scrambled to his feet, clutching the ferret with one hand and flinging his other arm around Lex’s neck in a suffocating hug.

‘Oh, Lex. I hoped the enchanter wouldn’t find you too. I’m sorry he got you but I’m so glad to see you!’

For once Lex allowed himself to be hugged — even hugging Lucius back for a moment before pushing him away and running a sharp eye down him.

‘Who’s bleeding? You or Zachary?’

‘It’s me.’ Lucius awkwardly held out his arms. ‘When I arrived here I fell on the crystal flowers at the bottom of the tree out there.’

Lex glanced out of their tree prison and saw that the blood outside was indeed staining the remains of the broken crystal flowers responsible for the deep cuts on Lucius’s arms. Lex rolled his eyes. It was just like Lucius to fall straight over into the deepest patch of jagged crystal he could find as soon as he arrived.

‘I just put my hands out automatically when I fell,’ Lucius said, looking at his worst arm miserably and turning even paler at the sight of the blood dripping from it.

‘Don’t hold it out like that,’ Lex said impatiently. ‘You need to stop the bleeding. Here, use the weasel.’

Lex took the unresisting ferret out of Lucius’s hand and pressed him over the deep cuts on his brother’s arm.

‘Hold him there,’ he ordered. ‘For God’s sake, Lucius, do you want to bleed to death?’

Lex, Lucius and Schmidt all jumped as Deryn knocked on the glass trunk of their prison. ‘Hey! Humans!’ Although the trunk of the tree was thick, they could all hear the God’s voice as clearly as if he were standing right beside them. ‘We can’t leave you here like this,’ Deryn went on. ‘We don’t know whether to turn you all into glass people and let you stay down here or whether to kill you and send you back to the Lands Above as a warning to the others not to come. Any preferences?’

They all stared at him in horror. ‘There isn’t a third choice by any chance, is there?’ Lex asked. ‘Like, maybe, you sending us back to the Lands Above alive? All in one piece?’

‘No,’ the God said coldly. ‘You’ve got two choices. Pick one or we’ll pick for you.’

When the three humans just continued to stare at him stupidly, Deryn turned away with a sigh and started having a muttered conversation with Saydi.

Lex turned to Schmidt. ‘I’m going to have to use the hat.’

‘If you do, you won’t survive,’ Schmidt said sharply. ‘Give it to me. I’ll do it. You’ve already used it once today.’

‘That’s very noble of you, Mr Schmidt,’ Lex said, smiling. ‘But I don’t think it will work. You’re old and frail, after all, so the hat would be more dangerous to you than to me. And I doubt you’d be able to do any magic with it anyway.’

‘Give it to Lucius then,’ Schmidt said. ‘He hasn’t used it at all yet.’

‘What are you talking about?’ Lucius asked.

Lex glanced at Lucius but he could tell at once that it was no good. His twin was even paler than usual and had obviously lost a fair amount of blood. He probably wouldn’t be able to get them all out even if given the chance. It was going to have to be Lex or no one at all.

It really wasn’t at all fair, he thought, as his eyes lingered resentfully on Lucius cowering with fear and clinging to the ferret as if it were a lifeline. Why should Lex have to die so that Lucius might live? What kind of life was he going to lead anyway? Pottering about on some farm, never doing anything more exciting than riding a tractor? Lex was the one who enjoyed life more — he was the one who relished it, made the best of it, stuffed as many experiences into it as he possibly could…

Then the thought occurred to Lex that it might not be so dangerous to transport one person out of the Lands Beneath rather than three.. He shook himself in alarm. What was he considering? Hadn’t he come down here in the first place to rescue Lucius? It was a gamble and he would just have to take it for there was no other obvious way out. Perhaps it might be okay. After all — Lex was a lucky person even without her Ladyship. So perhaps the hat wouldn’t kill him.

‘It’s got to be me,’ he said, trying to sound grandly self-sacrificing in case any of this made the cut for the final round when it was broadcast to the stadiums. He spread his arms wide and said nobly, ‘I shall save us all or die trying.’

Lex closed his eyes and concentrated in preparation but then hesitated again — cold fear pulsing through him…

Do it, he said to himself. Just do it. There’s no other way out of this…

But before he could do so, a female voice was speaking in his ear, ‘You surprise me, Lex. I would have thought you’d have jumped at the chance to be made into a glass person.’

Lex opened his eyes and looked at the Goddess of Luck standing before him in the tree.

‘Are these yours?’ Deryn demanded, waving his hand at the prisoners.

‘This one is,’ Lady Luck said, tapping Lex lightly on the head.

‘Well, what are they doing down here?’

‘It was an accident. Please be quiet,’ her Ladyship said, waving the other God into silence. ‘Well, how about it, Lex? Are you sure you want to pass up this chance to be made into a glass person?’

Lex stared at her. ‘My Lady, why in the world would I want to be turned into glass?’

‘Isn’t it obvious, darling? These glass men they make down here — they don’t grow old. They can’t catch illnesses or disease. They don’t die. They just go on and on, progressing all the time. They’re out there, even now, exploring the underworlds in their magnificent glass spaceship. Wouldn’t you like to do that, Lex?’

‘Well, I can’t say that exploring the underworlds in a glass spaceship doesn’t appeal to me,’ Lex admitted. ‘But those glass men have no emotions so life’s wasted on them. They’re just chess pieces — the only reason they’re exploring is because the Gods told them to. It’s just… pointless. A farce. I don’t want to live twice as long if it means I can only be half alive.’

‘Well, you’re right, of course. This is a silly sort of Game. I don’t even really see the point of it myself. It’s like being constantly amused with a doll’s house. But you realise that if you were turned into a glass person you would never risk getting the soulless wake?’

Lex shrugged impatiently. ‘I’ll take the risk gladly. There are so many things left that I still want to do,’ he went on, aware that a slightly whiny tone had crept into his voice. ‘I haven’t seen enough or experienced enough. I want to see and do everything before I die.’

‘Are you asking me for help, Lex?’ the Goddess asked, raising an eyebrow. ‘After the way you double crossed me?’

‘I’m sorry for that,’ Lex replied — finding that, for once, he did actually mean the apology. ‘I promise — I solemnly swear — that if you take me back I will never betray you ever again for as long as I live. I give you my word.’

The Goddess regarded him, her head a little on one side, making a show of considering what he’d said. ‘The problem, Lex, is that I don’t trust your word. Not one bit. I know who you are, remember. You’re a liar and a fraud and a cheat. You’d say anything to save your skin. So why should I believe you?’

‘Because we fit together,’ Lex said at once — feeling a little desperate, for it seemed to him that he was losing her. ‘I don’t trust you either, my Lady. But when all your other followers left you because you were too fickle and unreliable, did those traits bother me? Not at all! I joined your church and prevented it from being closed down. I saved it for you single-handedly. You owe me a second chance for that.’

‘Oh, I do, do I?’ the Goddess said.

‘Yes, you do. I demand it!’

Schmidt and Lucius were staring at him with shocked expressions on their faces and, for a moment, Lex even wondered whether the Goddess might be about to slap him. But then she smiled — a dazzling, brilliant smile, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

‘You’re my favourite, Lex,’ she said. ‘Future Games just wouldn’t be the same without you. You know, when I was cross with you before, I never intended to stay angry for ever. And I simply never dreamed that you’d actually come down here like this. Dear boy, you might have got yourself killed… ’ Lady Luck fluttered her hands anxiously at the thought. ‘Oh, well. Never mind. No harm done,’ she said, turning to look pointedly at Deryn and Saydi who were both still standing outside the tree, sulking.

‘Sorry to have interrupted your little game, darlings,’ she said cheerfully. ‘I’ll just take these humans out of your hands and then you can go back to your little chessmen.’

‘Just see that it never happens again,’ the Goddess of Beauty said with a huffy sniff.

‘I can put you back on the Space Ladders,’ Lady Luck said, ignoring the other Goddess and turning back to Lex. ‘Then you’re on your own, but it’ll be an easy enough thing from there.’

And with one last conciliatory smile at the two disgruntled Gods outside the tree, the Lady picked up the three humans and put them back on the Space Ladders.