Part 42 (1/2)

*I know,' said Marmion coolly, making rea.s.suring motions with both hands. *That's exactly what I want. And if you'll just stay calm, both our chances of making it out of this alive will significantly improve.'

Skender was having trouble keeping up. One moment he had been descending at a steady pace, the next the world had dropped out from under him and the Wall was streaming by. He had cried out, fearing for a moment that the rope had snapped and he was falling to his death. But the harness still had a tight grip on his backside; he wasn't in freefall and hadn't skinned himself too badly against the store. Somehow the crew up above had found a way to accelerate his descent without dropping him.

Then, with the ground finally coming appreciably closer, the heavy lifter had lunged for him - or so it had felt - and he had covered his face with his hands, fearing a new catastrophe.

Death spared him again. When he dared part his fingers, the dirigible was heading for the sky.

Skender looked down. Someone else had joined the party below. A Sky Warden, judging by the colour of the robe. He groaned, recognising Marmion's bald spot. What was he doing there?

The ground was coming up awfully fast. He fumbled at the pouch, thinking, Red for up, green for down, white to stop. He produced the white flag and waved it. Nothing happened.

*Pay attention, you idiots!' he cried uselessly, flailing the flag in desperation as the ground swelled beneath him. *White to stop! White to stop! White to -'

With a throat-closing jerk, the winch suddenly slowed, forcing his chin down on his chest and the flag out of his hand. It flapped around his legs on the end of its string as he came to an abrupt halt a metre from the ground. He heard a *glurk' and realised that it had come from him.

The rope jerked again and he dropped the rest of the distance. His feet hit the ground and his legs promptly gave way. He landed face first, staring at s.h.i.+lly's stick. He didn't even know he'd dropped it.

A stone snout poked him, hard.

*Ow!' Skender sat up and backed against the Wall with the stick in his hands. The reservoir of the Change in the carved wood trembled against his fingertips, aching to be let out. He stood and confronted his attacker.

It was the man'kin pig he had spoken to the previous day.

*You are needed in this world,' it said again, and trotted away.

Skender let out a panicky breath and looked around. The ground was as broken as a freshly turned field. Further along the Wall was a metal door, glowing red. The man'kin stayed carefully away from it. Several dozen man'kin congregated outside the tunnel mouth, to his left. He could feel the stone slabs shaking behind him as they closed ranks, gradually shutting the makes.h.i.+ft entrance to the city. A pang of compa.s.sion for the stone pig struck him: it would be stuck outside when the flood came. The water would dash it to pieces.

But what was death to something that saw all its life at once? He didn't know. He was, mainly, just glad that the other man'kin were ignoring him.

They stared, instead, at a confrontation taking place a dozen metres away. In the centre of a clearing, Pirelius and the twins had squared off against Marmion. Their voices were buried under the sound of the Wall rearranging itself, and another sound - a growing rumble the origin of which Skender tried not to think about. No one appeared to have noticed his arrival apart from the pig.

He went to move closer and was hauled up by the rope. He tugged on it, hoping the winch operators would take the hint. They did. Rope hissed to the ground, giving him much-needed slack. He followed the pig through a petrified forest of man'kin, none of whom paid him any attention. He was ready with the red flag and s.h.i.+lly's stick if they did.

Words gradually coalesced out of the noise.

*- really think she's coming back for you?'

*Of course she is. We have a deal.'

*We had a deal too, and look where I ended up!'

*I don't know anything about that - but I do know that the Magister is afraid at the moment. You can use that to your advantage.'

*Why should I believe you?'

*Because I'm down here with you.' Skender was close enough to see Marmion's expression. It was one of determination and fear. *Would I take a risk like this if I didn't think it worthwhile?'

*Pah!' Pirelius spat into the dirt. *I don't trust anyone without knowing what they have to lose.'

Skender peered from behind a statue of a horse as Pirelius dragged the twins away from Marmion. Pirelius came up sharp against a frozen man'kin, and flinched away from it into another.

*Get out of my way!' he bellowed, flailing with his free hand for the thong he had used to whip Skender into submission.

*They're afraid of the Homunculus,' said Marmion, following him, *and with good reason. You have to listen to me.'

*I don't have to do anything.'

*Kill it or we'll all die!'

*No!' The twins' mingled voices rose up over the argument between the two men. *You must let us go! We still have work to do!'

Pirelius s.h.i.+fted his grip on the knife and plunged it deep into the Homunculus's shoulder. The twins howled and fell to their knees. Pirelius removed the blade and wiped it on his leather pants.

*I'm tired of this game,' he said to Marmion. *Tell the Magister that if she's serious, she needs to come down here now and talk face to face, or -'

Pirelius stopped. It looked to Skender as though he had finally noticed that his main bargaining chip was worthless. The man'kin weren't attacking the city. They were standing around him and his captive, waiting for something.

His gaze took in the tunnel mouth for the first time. His eyes widened, then narrowed as he turned to Marmion.

*You lied to me, you dirt-faced, blue-coat b.a.s.t.a.r.d.'

*I told you the truth, every word. The Magister is afraid because you can hurt her. You can use that to your advantage, if you're quick.'

Pirelius stiffened as he looked over Marmion's shoulder, along the Divide. His mouth opened in shock, but no words came out.

Skender followed the direction of his stare. Over the heads of the man'kin, a foaming, dirty-white wall had appeared.

*G.o.ddess,' he breathed. The rising wind took the word from his lips and swept it away.

s.h.i.+lly stared at the approaching flood, not quite able to comprehend the scale of it. She had happened to be staring up the Divide as it came into view, rounding the bend to the east. It looked like a giant wave rus.h.i.+ng in from the sea, but there was no chance of it slowing and retreating, as normal waves did. This was growing nearer with the speed and power of a tsunami, sweeping up everything in its path.

*What's going on down there?' she asked Sal, barely able to tear her eyes away from the sight. *Why are they taking so long?' The view over the edge wasn't encouraging. No one had moved, and every second was precious.

*Pirelius has just worked it out,' came her lover's distant reply. Sal's fingers clenched the rail as the Wall shook and rumbled beneath them. *I don't know what he's going to do.'

*How long until the tunnel is closed?' she asked the giant man'kin. *Are we still in danger?'

The man'kin nodded.

A prolonged shudder forced them to their knees. s.h.i.+lly resisted the urge to instruct the man'kin to haul Skender up to safety. Wis.h.i.+ng with every breath Skender would hurry up, she peered over the edge and waited for the red flag.

Kail was as still as one of the man'kin caught in the wake. He hadn't moved throughout the entire confrontation. Sal could feel the ache in the tracker's legs and back and the patience with which he endured it. The older man was exhausted but his poise was perfectly intact. Waiting was an integral part of being a hunter. It was all about seizing the right moment to strike, no matter how long it took to come.

It was strange, Sal thought. The longer he dipped into the tracker's thoughts, the more he picked up. Not just fatigue and philosophy, either. There were glimpses of people and places he'd never been - from Kail's memories, he a.s.sumed - and emotions that triggered faint echoes in him. The most surprising was a surge of affection for someone he recognised instantly: s.h.i.+lly, as she had looked on the edge of the Divide, shortly after he and Skender had flown away. Her expression was concerned and determined at once. He felt Kail looking at her with pride and sadness.

The mixed emotion was s.n.a.t.c.hed away as Kail focused on events in front of him. Pirelius was a man who had never been particularly stable. Kail had watched him long enough to know that for certain now. Pirelius was backed into a corner, feeling betrayed and operating on the very limits of his resources, but he was far from stupid.

Kail could practically see Pirelius's mind working: in a moment the tunnel into the city would be closed, while something vast and terrible bore down on them from the east - a flash flood of stupendous proportions - that he would be caught up in if he didn't act soon.