The Burning Man

6

Church looked out of the window at the ravens, remembering a time more than a thousand years earlier when he had been told that the ravens and their premonition of death would follow him.

‘I’m scared,’ he realised as he watched the birds fly. ‘I never was before.’

‘Scared of what?’ Ruth asked.

‘When it was just me on my own, I’d take risks, do whatever needed to be done, even if it meant putting myself in danger. Now I’ve got something to lose. You.’

Ruth fell silent for a moment. ‘That’s bad.’

‘That’s bad. That’s good. That’s bad.’ Church shook his head, confused.

Mallory burst in, startling them. ‘We’ve got to get out of here. Now.’

‘What is it?’

‘Police. They’ve closed off the street, doing house-to-house.’

Church noticed a flash of blue and white lights further down the street.

‘Looking for us?’ Ruth asked as she stuffed her meagre possessions into a hold-all.

‘Got to be,’ Church said. ‘Get the others. We’ll go out the back, over the rear fence into the next garden. I checked the route earlier.’

As Mallory ran out, Laura was already emerging from her room, and Church could hear Shavi, Sophie and Caitlin talking insistently as they made their way down the stairs.

The hall still smelled of the landlord’s fry-up. Mallory checked the street through the small window at the side of the front door, then motioned to the others to move towards the back of the house. ‘They’ll be here any minute,’ he whispered. ‘There’s an armed unit wearing flak jackets. We won’t stand a chance if they get us in their cross-hairs.’

‘The anti-terrorist squad?’ Ruth said.

‘Makes sense.’ Church finished fastening the harness that held the sword hidden across his back. Ruth carried her spear in a long, customised, cylindrical map bag. ‘The spiders will have people in the top positions everywhere, but they’re still going to need some kind of cover story so they don’t risk wrecking the Mundane Spell. Branding us terrorists will do the job nicely.’

Church pushed past the others into the darkened kitchen. His boots made a wet, sticky sound on the old linoleum. He had only a second to register the inert body of the landlord lying in a shaft of streetlight falling through the window by the door before a stool swung out of the shadows. He half-fended it off, but it clipped his temple and he went down, unconscious.

The others pressed into the kitchen before they even realised Church had fallen, and they were stunned when the light flashed on.

‘Hmm. New faces, new blood.’ Leaning against the cooker was a man who exuded a dangerous air of power and flamboyance. He was a pool of gloom, wearing sunglasses despite the dark; long, black hair, a black goatee, a black overcoat and black motorcycle boots: a studied cliche that still managed to summon up an air of menace while laughing at itself.

‘The Libertarian,’ Shavi noted.

The Libertarian removed his sunglasses to reveal lidless eyes the colour of blood. ‘One name, amongst many. If Mr Churchill were awake he could not really claim to know me. Here at the source, I am a different person. At the height of my powers. I can touch you in a way I never could before. Touch you! Ah, euphemisms! I should have said “butcher you”.’

Mallory kicked the kitchen table so that it pinned the Libertarian’s legs against the cooker. At the same time, Caitlin snatched a carving knife from a block and threw it forcefully. It sank deep into the Libertarian’s shoulder, but although he winced slightly his smile did not waver.

‘Spirited. I like that.’

Caitlin followed up in rapid succession with the other five knives from the block. Shavi and Ruth helped up a groggy Church and dragged him out through the back door.

Mallory noticed that the Libertarian made no particular effort to pursue them, but he didn’t have time to consider why. Kicking the table hard one more time against the Libertarian’s legs, he snatched the key from inside the door and locked it behind him. Through the window, he saw the Libertarian pull out the knives one by one. The Libertarian saw Mallory watching and gave a little wave.

‘Well, you’re a vicious bitch,’ Laura said to Caitlin as they raced by the broken-paned greenhouse towards the thick bushes and tall fence at the bottom of the garden.

Caitlin looked dazed. ‘I just saw the knives and knew what to do.’

‘I had my doubts before, but you’re definitely on the first team.’

Four streets away, they paused to catch their breath. ‘We obviously can’t stay in one place for any length of time,’ Mallory said. He eyed Church. ‘Didn’t you think of that?’

Ruth bristled. ‘Don’t criticise him-’

‘It’s okay.’ Church looked Mallory in the eye. ‘I thought it was a risk worth taking to get us some rest. We got out. What’s your problem?’

‘It’s early days yet.’

Shavi stepped in between the two men. ‘This is not helping. Where do we go now?’

‘We split up, as planned.’ Church glanced up and down the empty street. ‘They’ll be all over this place soon.’

‘We go to the Far Lands?’ Caitlin said uneasily. ‘Mallory, Sophie and me?’

‘It’ll be all right.’ Sophie gave her a reassuring smile. She was confident and calm and that helped Caitlin.

‘Where do we cross over?’ Mallory asked. ‘Shit, how do we cross over?’

The flashing blue and white lights moved into the next street.

‘Just find one of the old sites,’ Church said. ‘Best if you don’t tell us which one you’ll aim for — if we get caught, we won’t be able to betray your location.’

‘Use the Craft to help you cross over,’ Ruth said to Sophie.

‘I don’t know how,’ Sophie protested.

‘It’s inside you. It’ll rise up when you need it, trust me.’

‘How do we meet up?’ Mallory asked.

‘We’ll find a way.’ Church shook Mallory’s hand. The others nodded to each other, silently and uneasily, and then they split into two groups and slipped into the night.