The Progeny of Able (The Burrow of London Series Book 1) Page 15

  *

  Early the next morning Roe slipped into a tight fitting set of leather armour with a riveted back ridge of short steel spikes. He grabbed a silver form fitting helmet and placed it on his head. It ran the length of his snout, was open on the bottom to keep the jaw free, and draped over his skull like silver silk. He always felt more comfortable in battle garb and savoured a moment of stillness amongst the array of weaponry resting in various states of disrepair.

  The Inari armoury was housed in a series of arched catacombs, each of which housed a different type of weapon. It smelled of oil and leather and slowly rusting steel. Most of the curving walls were stripped down to chipped bricks but in places tenacious chunks of plaster still clung, hinting at a place well organized and expensively ornamented.

  Daegal and Mercia had already left as had many of the other Inari to help set up a new and temporary base of operations. The ancient Inari headquarters were quiet and empty. Roe wasn't sure if he would ever see the place he had called home for the past five years again.

  “It is time to move on, anyway,” Roe said to the darkness. “ It is time to find out who I really am.” He took a deep breath and a clarity of vision flowed resolutely through him. For a moment he thought the dark light within the armoury had gotten slightly brighter. He paused and listened and waited but the effect did not repeat itself. He started up the steps to the barracks, putting the occurrence down to a fatigued mind and empty gut.

  He stopped at Bemia's, as promised, planning on telling her it wasn't going to work for him to deliver the puppy. All he needed was a small dog tailing him as he attempted to rescue Samson and escape from hundreds of Shadow Foxes and the regime at the same time.

  “Sky, glad you made it this morning,” she yelled to him, while he was still far off. “I didn't think you would come, given the events of yesterday. She is all ready to go. She is not a working canine but a family one, so she has a soft collar made from the finest mouse skins and her lead is a finely woven silk cord. Try not to get it dirty.”

  She got up as he approached, putting the ring on the end of the cord between her jaws to keep the small animal from running to greet him.

  “You are right, Bemia, you don't want to dirty the animal,” Roe said, then continued hesitantly, “I actually don't think it will be a good idea, for the safety of the canine especially, for me to bring it today. I'm sure you could find someone else to make the delivery.”

  “Why? You are going there right now, are you not? Is it because of the trial? Don't worry, she is very good around large numbers of foxes. She'll be fine. Now I won't listen to any excuses. Here.”

  Bemia tossed the end of the lead to Roe who instinctively caught it between his jaws. He could tell there was no way he was going to talk his way out of it and without managing to come to a stop, she had kicked him and the dog down the tunnel on their way. The little orange animal let loose a series of delighted yips and yelps.

  Bemia smiled as she watched them go and said to herself, “Clear as day those two belong to each other. Looks like I am going to be out my fee.”

  *

  Daegal contemplated the series of circumstantial events that had led him to navigating the crowded central Rotunda of the Great Burrow of London with half a dozen explosives tucked neatly within an ammunition belt and strapped under his robes. He wondered if he should have kept his puppy head buried in books, following the back of Ursula as she departed for the surface in exile. The distant fantasy of what might have been made him sigh.

  “I think it is fair to say,” Mercia began smiling, “that Sky owes us one and you mustn't let him forget it.”

  “What worries me more than Sky forgetting our help,” Daegal whispered fighting through the crowd, “is one of these Shadow Foxes bumping the wrong part of one of these explosives before I have a chance to speak with Sky ever again.”

  “Just stay away from those oil lamps and you'll be fine.” she responded. “Besides, if they decide to explode you'll never know because you'll be a fine mist before you even hear the click.”

  Finally, beating their way through the maze of spectators, they reached the outer ring of Shadow Foxes who formed a small sea of quadrupeds surrounding the heaving form of Samson at its centre.

  “Since the explosives are encased in plaster and painted, they should go unnoticed within the rest of the ceiling rubble,” Mercia explained, with a reassuring smile.

  Daegal looked around him. “I'd like to minimize the loss of life on both sides. We should make it look like Sky planted them himself earlier in the day. We need to reduce the number of questions that come our way over the next few days.”

  “I agree,” Mercia said looking at the Shadow Foxes around her. “Besides I'd rather not piss off our new friends.”

  “There are fewer foxes near the central fountain. Let's aim the charges there and hope the noise and destruction create enough hysteria to distract soldiers and Shadow Foxes alike from Roe and his insane rescue attempt.”

  The fountain was situated in the secure and cleared gap between Shadow Foxes and the spectators. Daegal shifted his robe and several chunks of innocuous looking plaster fell out. He put them in his jaws and tossed them over the span into the dried out pool of the fountain. Mercia followed suit and they filtered back in to the crowd without being noticed.

  “How do you set them off?” Daegal asked.

  “Trade secret, boss. If I told you that, you'd no longer need my services.”

  A great stormy cheer swept through the crowd and the pair turned to see Roe trotting into the rotunda with a canine sticking close to his heels.

  “What is he doing with that dog?” Mercia asked.

  “It is a delivery for Alodia.” Daegal began pensively, before cutting himself short. He knew she would be attending the trial with Gremian and his heart was being eaten by butterflies, as it always did, when he knew he was going to see her.

  “Well, I hope he gets rid of it before he attempts this rescue.”

  Roe had been right. The guards, the Shadow Foxes and the entire crowd parted to the side, creating an open aisle that led directly to Samson.

  “We can watch from the outer ring of spectators,” Mercia whispered.

  “Yes, you go. I'm going to stay close in case Sky needs a hand. As soon as you trigger the explosion I want you to return to the safe house and make sure the rest of the Inari lay low for a few days. I'll meet you there.”

  She looked at him, staring at the entrance to the palace, and knew it wasn't because of Sky that he wanted to remain close to the front. He wanted to be within saving distance of Alodia if any harm started to come her way. She left him with a nod and hoped indeed she would see him again safe in their burrow.

  The fact that the Supreme Councillor and his wife hadn't yet arrived created a bit of a dilemma for Roe as he crossed towards Samson through the crowd. He looked down at the dog wagging along next to him. She was the most beautiful canine he had ever seen. Her coat was a thick dense red that puffed like a marshmallow when she looked up at Roe.

  “If they don't come soon I'll have to release you to the crowd little animal. I'll let you off the lead, but stay close.”

  He unclipped the silk cord from the leather collar and got a lick on the nose for the effort. She stayed by his side as they continued towards the lonely form of Samson.

  He knew Daegal and Mercia had planned a diversion and he thought he saw the vixen making her way towards the outer wall of the rotunda and over the river.

  Samson was breathing heavily. The slash and gouge to his left eye was caked with dried blood but burnt hard and clean. Roe winced when he saw it and wondered if he had made the right decision in handing him over. He hoped so. He hoped the fox would forgive him.

  “No. Don't doubt what you've done,” he said assuring himself. “In order to save him I first needed to capture him.”

  Samson's working crusty eye swung towards Roe as he approached.

  “You come unarmed, Roe. If y
ou intend to finish me off with a bite you are likely to contract the disease. My son, we can be driven to madness together!”

  Roe stayed well away from Samson and tried to position himself in such a way that looked as if he was there to taunt from a distance. The audience seemed to accept the ruse and continued to fight each other over a better view.

  “Samson, you are very sick, you need treatment,” Roe whispered quickly. “I intend to rescue you, set you on the mend and then we can discuss your revenge on me as well as on the Supreme Councillor. You told me to learn cunning. I have. The frothing disease has taken it away from you.”

  Samson's breathing increased, as did his confusion and panic.

  “Roe, Roe my boy. It has been such a long time. I must kill the Gremian. You must let me.”

  The chain around his neck rattled as the urgency of his words over took him.

  Roe responded by fixing the old Fox with a piercing blue gaze. Anger had built over the past five years at his abandonment but as he looked into the face of the fox who had raised him, the frustration became insignificant and was washed away in the overwhelming feeling of love that Roe felt for the animal in front of him.

  Suddenly there was a pulse of energy and the feeling between them became palpable. Samson looked around himself, lucid and fully aware, as if the gaze between them had washed clean his mind.

  “Roe. Roe, I am so sorry for bringing you into this in this way. The sickness overtook my mind. Now it is clear somehow. You must listen to me. I remember now. I didn't return to find Gremian. It was to find you. I've discovered something. When I went abroad. It is within me, Roe. Once they have finished with me you must seek out my body before they burn it. You must recover the document sealed within me. But you must run now, Roe. Do not try to rescue me.”

  His words were rushed and his brief lucidity was already bending and breaking from the constant barrage of the sickness.

  “Good, Sky Fighter, you have arrived.” Gremian had entered, with Alodia by his side, and was looking at them from the steps of the palace. He continued with a chuckle, addressing Roe and Samson as much as the crowd. “Stay away from that filthy traitor. I don't want my new champion to have to be put down because of the frothing sickness. Back away. I'll have some questions for you following the execution. I mean trial, of course!” he bellowed with a mocking laugh.

  “Samson, I am not going to leave you even if it costs both of us our lives,” Roe said before backing away slightly and turning towards Gremian.

  “You...don't...understand...Roe...you...are...too important!” Samson barked.

  “Supreme Councillor! I come bearing a gift for your lovely wife, the Princess of Sunniva's Womb,” Roe said, indicating towards the unusual dog. “Bemia has found this treasure and trained it for palace life.”

  “Ah yes, the dog. Come here, beast, let's have a look at you.”

  Roe was surprised and slightly disappointed to see the animal immediately go to heel next to Gremian.

  “This animal knows the leader of a pack when she sees one!” Gremian said with a smile deforming the skin around his missing eye.

  At that moment a curious question came to Gremian. A question he was surprised to have not asked when he first learned of the Sky Fighter. He hadn't asked it because most of the fighters, especially the successful ones, took on a pseudonym when they entered the arena. He had never met the fox close up and he realized now there was something oddly familiar about him.

  “Alodia, why do they call him the 'Sky Fighter? Death from above or something like that? Or is his soul as black as the night sky?” He spoke with his wife but never bent his gaze from the pair of foxes huddled in the centre of the rotunda.

  “Close, but no!” she smiled, excited to tell her husband something he did not already know. She nuzzled the orange dog as she spoke. “It is because of his eyes! They are the bright blue of the sky above on a clear summer's day.”

  Gremian was silent for a moment, his mind stilled, and confused by what his wife had said.

  Roe looked about him, on the verge of loosing a bark in the hopes it would signal Daegal and Mercia.

  Samson was quickly losing all sense of himself again. Roe hovered at eye level, coming in and out of focus. The face he had cared for so much, the life he had dedicated his own to saving, was at risk yet again and with a last huge effort he gathered a great growl from his bowels and boomed across the crowd, across the rotunda and along the grand entrance.

  “Roe. You must run!” A hail of spittle and blood flung out of him as he screamed.

  It was the name that brought everything back to Gremian and suddenly the final events in that Highgate graveyard, twenty years earlier, played out in front of him. In a flash it became clear what had actually happened during the period of time since then. The boy was not dead. Roe, that pup, the Sky Fighter, the saviour of the Light, was standing in front of him and very much alive.

  He became ravenous and screamed at the guards and Shadow Foxes alike.

  “The old fox is nothing! Kill the Sky Fighter! Kill him now!”

  Alodia was pushed to the side as her husband bounded down the steps intent on killing Roe himself. But he was brought to a sudden halt and screamed in pain as the orange dog bit down hard on his hind leg.

  Roe saw Gremian falter and in that pause a rage took hold of him. He gripped the ground and a warm vibration shook through his body. It was stronger than it had been five years ago. He felt an energy issuing from the space around him that wasn't in the night forest at Shon's Spring, feeding into his sense of connection with the floor, the ground, and even the great fading mosaic above him. Just as he was afraid he could not control the immensity of energy coursing through him, he had the simplest shift of thought, grabbed hold of it, and gave it a focus and a purpose. He looked at the pillar restraining Samson. The image of it overwhelmed him and the entirety of the world ceased to exist by the magnitude of its shape and texture. When the roar issued out of Roe he felt nothing and heard nothing. All of his senses had gone numb. All he could see was the pillar, solid and rooted to the earth, in one moment and then vanishing into a billion bits of dust, amidst a muted world, the next.

  Samson fell to the ground as the focus of the roar cut across the ground tearing up the paving stones and cracking one of the massive granite pillars of the palace. He was still but continued to breath slowly. His metal bonds had turned to ash and scorched a burning weave across his fur. Seconds later, the fountain burst in a giant fiery explosion which sent Roe and Samson flying through the air.

  Roe landed on all fours and quickly grabbed Samson throwing him on his back. The world still floated in a wild and slow silence, as he moved.

  Reality came back to Roe like a single crash of thunder, the power of it taking him off his feet nearly making him faint.

  The drama of the situation had played out so rapidly in front of Mercia she hadn't even had the trigger in her hand before the explosion. A noise of incredible strength had come from somewhere near Roe and Samson, the power of which had set the explosives off early. Miraculously the tall and ornate fountain seemed undamaged.

  Foxes were picking themselves off the ground including Gremian who had been tossed by the shock wave close to the feet of Daegal whose massive bulk had kept him on all fours. The orange dog was rousing itself, its jaws still holding on to Gremian's leg. Thinking to distract Gremian and gain some trust, Daegal pushed the canine away and shifted the Supreme Councillor upright.

  “Let go of me!” Gremian screamed, recovering quickly. The majority of his Shadow Foxes had roused themselves and before Roe and Samson could make it past this guard, he issued another order to stop them.

  “Do not let them escape!” he yelled across to the poised and ready army of Shadow Foxes. “Tear them to pieces! You will all be rewarded and treated for the sickness should you contract it.” he lied, knowing no such treatment existed.

  Daegal looked towards Alodia who was picking herself off the ground. Their eye
s met for a moment and she sent him the weakest of reassuring smiles. He turned back towards Roe and could see the Shadow Foxes quickly closing ranks in front of the retreating pair.

  Roe had halted and was shaking his head to clear it. Trying to gather his wits, he searched for another means of escape. Now would be a good time for the mighty roar to manifest itself again, he thought, but it did not come. Something was gone. The energy felt spent and the brightness of it diminished.

  With no other choice but to fight his way through, Roe began to focus his energy on a final battle. Suddenly, the Shadow Foxes, all of them together, turned their backs and began to physically encumber the soldiers who were also in pursuit. They were helping them escape, thought Roe. We are one family. The family of Shadowfall. The Shadow Foxes pushed and a clearing formed in the chaotic crowd, a clearing which Roe ran down, Samson draped across his back, leading directly to the swift flowing river along the wall.

  The last thing he saw before diving into the cold water was the image of Fireson fighting to keep the palace guard at bay. The last thing he heard was the rage of Gremian. The last thing he felt was the warm fuzzy touch of the orange dog following at his heel.

  Then all was silent, as the three were whipped and torn and bashed by the great current. They passed below the bridge and were taken down by the maelstrom out of the reach of the air. He held his breath and he hoped Samson did as well.

  *

  Few foxes were aware that if you held your breath long enough, the Tate Spring, which flowed along the rim of the palace rotunda fed and released you into the murky and muddy Thames above. As Samson and Roe came floating to the surface, Roe realized that falling into the river years ago, having gotten inebriated after his first victory in the pits, hadn't been such a bad thing after all. It had showed him a wet way out.

  Chapter Nine