By the time Ellis had regained consciousness, the Absolution had already been sailing for a few hours and had left
the mysterious lake cavern far behind.
All the crew members who had left the boat to gather wood had been
returned - including those Ellis had seen mutilated or killed - and although
the repairs made had to be done with existing supplies, as no wood had been
gathered, the vessel was able to continue at a slower speed than before. The whole adventure in the snowy forest had
taken far longer than Ellis had realised and it seemed that Annabella, Gulliver
and himself were away from the ship for several hours before the lake was
plunged into darkness and all the dreams had vanished.
Annabella and Gulliver were still recovering. Gulliver was conscious, but needed more rest,
whilst Annabella was still sound asleep.
Miss Barkcastle and Rockspark were happy with her condition, however and
merely checked in on her regularly. It
was left to Ellis, therefore, to explain what had happened to them.
He met with the Former Baron, Lord Blood Dragon, Rockspark, Miss
Barkcastle, Harker and, of course, Siren, in the captain's cabin. They sat where there was space and he told
the story as well as he could remember it.
When he was done there was a long silence as everyone processed what
they had heard.
Eventually the Former Baron spoke.
"You said this creature looked familiar, when you saw it for
real?"
"Yes, but I can't think why.
I don't recall ever encountering anything like it before and yet... it
just reminded me of something... recent."
Von Spektr let out a long, thoughtful "Hmmmm..." and stroked
his chin. "The long face you described,
along with the wide, halo like head certainly should be familiar. We saw its like just a few weeks ago, however
the circumstances were very different
and I don't blame you for not recognising it immediately."
"The Spectres," Siren said with sudden realisation.
"Precisely. I believe what
you encountered was corporeal example of the beings we know only as the
incorporeal Spectres."
"Well, if they are really an ancient race, then that would tie in
with what they had been saying about waiting so long. And those lights I saw in the lake could have
been a kind of city, I suppose."
"But my people twaverthed thothe canalth for thenturieth,"
Blood Dragon interjected, "how could we not have notithed them?"
"They said they were asleep, yes?" The Former Baron asked,
glancing at Ellis. When the construct
nodded in reply he continued, "I think we must have woken them in a way
the Vampires never did."
"But how?" Ellis asked.
"By you."
Ellis stared at the Former Baron in silence for a moment, then opened
his mouth to ask the obvious question, but Rockspark interrupted before the
first syllable was even out of his mouth.
"What Franck means is that there is something about you that seems
to trigger these... Spectres. In
Whispercove it woke the ghosts from their ritual dreamwalk, and here it woke
those that slumbered beneath the lake."
"I would surmise that it wasn't just you, of course," Von
Spektr continued, "but that Annabella had some part in it as well. There is obviously something about your
constructed souls that they respond to."
"They said we were keys," Ellis continued, feeling a little
dazed by it all, "that we unlocked realities."
"Well, that was certainly why you were both created," said the
Former Baron. "Rosetta wanted you
to open the way to Earth and Tiberius used Annabella to open up whatever
reality it was that that Lakhma was hiding away in."
"And you thaid that they were waiting for you," Lord Blood
Dragon continued, "tho it theems that you were ekthpected."
Ellis sighed. "I thought I
was just coming to terms with who, or what I am, that it didn't really matter
anymore and now there's some ancient race that's been waiting around millennia
for someone like me to come along... Can
it not just be over, now?"
Miss Barkcastle leaned over and put an papery hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sure it will be one day, dear," she said.
"But for now we can't even focus on these Spectres," Harker
interrupted. "We're nearly at Lake
Nightglass and we need to focus on defeating Lakhma. All other concerns can wait!"
Murmurs of assent rippled around the table and, reluctantly, Ellis
looked up and nodded.
Siren had stayed silent throughout all of this, something that had been
making Ellis increasingly nervous, like she was, perhaps, not really back to full
healthy after all, like the knock on the head had maybe done some damage, but
now, it seemed, she took her cue and stood up.
"Blood Dragon reckons that we're only a few hours away from the end
of the canal, at which point we'll break out into the surface world through a
hidden cave on the slopes of Everfell and we'll be sailing out in the open
across lake Nightglass. We will no
longer have any benefit of concealment and Lakhma and his/her lackeys-"
"Lakheys," Ellis muttered.
"-will be able to find us in no time, that means we need to be
prepared and we need to know where we're going so that we can find shelter, or
a way out of this thing, as soon as we possibly can."
“Fortunately, there is already a plan in place,” Miss Barkcastle said,
clearing a space on the table before her to reveal a set of notes hastily
scribbled in a mixture of hands. “Now,
before we begin, would anyone like some tea?”
The meeting went on for about another hour, after which time Ellis
really needed to get out on deck and stretch his legs. He made his way to his usual spot by the bow,
to stare along the seemingly endless tunnel towards the future.
“It must have been tough,” came Siren’s voice from behind and he smiled,
knowing she would have followed him up and yet gratified all the same. “What you described in the cavern… it would
have shaken anyone’s resolve and yet you took charge to save as many as you
could.”
“It was all an illusion, though, just like the memories they were
dredging up.”
“Perhaps, but that doesn’t invalidate the actions you took any more than
fake memories invalidate the person you’ve become. It sounds like you did a really good job and
I just wanted to tell you that… that I’m proud of you.”
He turned to face her and was surprised to see that her eyes were
glistening in the half-light.
“When we first met you were this passive thing, just following orders,
letting others take charge and.. I think that was as much a function of what
you are as it is of your personality. It
frustrated me at first and then… then I wondered if there was more to you, and
now… well, it was gradual, I think… but you’ve started to show that there has
been more hidden inside. I think knowing
the truth about yourself is helping you to unlock a deeper potential and… it’s
wonderful to see.”
He took a step forward, cupped her face in his hands and wiped away a
stray tear with his thumb.
“Thank you,” he said. “It’s true,
I was always passive and it frustrated me as much as it must have done
you. I wanted to take action, but I
didn’t understand this world or any of its rules and I think I made that an
excuse for just going where the rails took me, but now I have you and even
though I still don’t understand half of what’s been going on around me… I want
to do things for you and I want to make this work. I can’t just hang on for the ride any
more. I have to act and to act
well. I hope that, in the end, I do
something to really deserve your pride.”
She
smiled, then, and leaned forward and kissed him. It was warm and tender and perfect for making
him feel safe and alive and real, but then she suddenly went rigid and pulled
back.
“Oh
no,” she said, her eyes widening, “it’s much too soon, there isn’t enough
time!”
“Time
for what?” Ellis asked, trying to read in her panicked expression some kind of
explanation.
“Turn
around, Ellis,” she replied, “take a look at what’s coming. I need to go find the others.”
She ran
off below deck before he could say anything else, leaving him confused and
uncertain and cold in the gloom. Then slowly, unsure what to expect, he turned to
see where they were heading and, to his surprise, and then slowly dawning
horror, he saw the light at the end of the tunnel.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please let me know what you think of this episode!