The Cornerstone, page 24
‘Then they’re doomed,’ Elijah said, as he bent down to look at one of the fallen men. ‘We should slit their throats now to make sure they can’t cause any more trouble.’
‘Don’t be so hasty, Arma,’ Garrowain said, struggling for breath. ‘You’d be in your grave if we’d taken that attitude. This Cornerstone can’t help anymore, but Morodai’s might. He used it to free them all from the void… maybe we can reverse the process.’
‘Stealing the Morodai Cornerstone so you can test that theory will be impossible,’ Elijah replied. ‘Lucas keeps it close by and well protected.’
Max stepped in. ‘Which is why - as I said before - we should stop talking and start moving. Corny’s brother is with Morodai and Merelie’s parents will be floating about in the same vicinity.’
‘What makes you say that, boy?’ Borne asked.
‘Gloating. What’s the point in vanquishing your foes and taking over the world if you can’t have a good old fashioned gloat, eh?’
Borne didn’t look too sure about that explanation.
‘If we just go running out into the Chapter House, we’ll be overwhelmed,’ Imelda said.
Max looked at the unconscious bulk of Osgood Draveli. ‘I’ve got an idea.’
- 10 -
Elijah woke the fat man with a few slaps to the face.
‘Get away from me!’ he squealed, backing against the nearest wall.
‘Now look here Porks-a-lot, the situation’s simple,’ Max said. ‘You’re going to help us get through the Chapter House without a fight, or this day’s going to get a lot worse for you.’
‘Never! I will never help you and your worthless gang, boy!’ Draveli spat back.
Max leant forward, the rest of the worthless gang crowded round him. ‘Really? What if I promise to pull your head out through your arse if you don’t?’ he said, supplying Draveli with the nastiest grin he could muster.
Five minutes later, a white faced Osgood Draveli walked along the corridor leading to the upper floors of the Chapter House. He couldn’t even begin to picture what having one’s head pulled out through one’s bottom would look or feel like, but was determined not to find out.
The Chapter Lord walked in front with Borne, who was trying his hardest to still look under Dweller influence. He’d picked up a guard’s helmet to cover his eyes, so they didn’t give away the fact the smoke had disappeared.
Max and Merelie were behind, apparently in chains, as was Imelda a step further back. Elijah brought up the rear, similarly attired to Borne.
They’d left Garrowain recuperating in the Main Hub.
‘I would slow you down given my condition,’ he’d rationalised. ‘Besides, somebody has to make sure the Library isn’t damaged further. I can do that, at least.’
The con they were employing probably wouldn’t stand up to much scrutiny, but it would get them far enough with any luck.
‘Where are my parents being held, Osgood?’ Merelie asked.
‘I’m not entirely sure… ‘
‘Head – arse – pull through,’ reminded Max.
‘They’re being held in your father’s study!’
‘Then that’s where we’re headed,’ Borne hissed, prodding Draveli with the bow gun he’d found hanging from the belt of a zombified Chapter Guard.
They encountered few people down in the bowels of the House, but as they ascended several flights of stairs, they started to see Dwellers lurking in the shadows. None of the creatures seemed interested in a confrontation, but Max still held his breath every time they went past.
The procession also came across more people unfortunate enough to have been fed on by the Dwellers. These victims wandered the hallways - mouths hung open, eyes unfocused. Merelie waved her hand in the face of one and got no reaction at all.
‘You and your master will pay for this,’ Borne whispered to Osgood, making the fat coward go even whiter.
The first people to actually stop them were three Wordsmiths standing in a sunny courtyard. Max recognised this as the place where he’d popped into existence the second time he’d come to the Chapter Lands.
All three Wordsmiths were of Morodai ilk and could barely contain their contempt when they saw Osgood Draveli. Contempt gave way to surprise as they realised he’d taken Merelie Carvallen prisoner.
‘You actually managed it then, Lord Draveli?’ one of them asked.
‘Yes,’ squeaked Osgood, aware of Max’s eyes boring into his back.
‘Lord Morodai will be pleased,’ the Wordsmith smirked and went up to Merelie, taking her chin in his hand.
‘Pretty little bitch, aren’t you?’
Max coughed politely. The Morodai looked at him.
‘What’s your problem boy?’
‘That would be you, pal. Say nighty night.’
‘What are you talk - ‘
The Wordsmith went sideways across the courtyard and through a window.
Borne and Elijah took care of the other two as they stood there in stunned horror.
‘If it all goes as easily as that, we’re laughing,’ Max said, poking Draveli in the back. ‘Keep walking, tubby.’
They continued along the same corridors Merelie had dragged Max through three weeks ago. He was dismayed to find that the pleasant vista he’d seen out of the tall windows had been replaced by a scene of utter destruction. The city surrounding the Chapter House was now a disaster zone.
Buildings burned and debris littered the streets. Max could see Dwellers teeming through the broad avenues, clambering onto overturned trams and sniffing their way through the rubble of broken buildings.
In the harbour to the south were several large vessels - long grey things that looked like ships from the Second World War - the gold symbol of the Morodai household on their prows. Golden airships were tethered to the highest Carvallen buildings and Max could see troops disembarking using long metal gantries.
I’m not even from this world and that makes me bloody angry.
Continuing their journey through the Chapter House, a few more Wordsmiths - all Draveli’s kin - came up to speak to him, and when they did, Max’s heart went into his mouth thinking the fat man would give them away.
He didn’t though, and after four of these tense exchanges they encountered no-one else, eventually reaching the door to the hallway where the enormous wooden staircase led to the upper chambers.
So far, the whole House had been relatively empty, but when Borne opened the door to the hall, they saw it was full of Dwellers.
‘Don’t try anything,’ Max warned Draveli. ‘Unless you want to bet these things can save you before I pull your head out through your backside.’ The idea was even beginning to turn Max’s stomach a bit, but it was a useful, effective threat.
‘I won’t try anything, just please don’t hurt me,’ Draveli moaned.
‘Clear us a path,’ Borne ordered.
Draveli nodded and addressed the Dwellers. ‘Remove yourselves from here. I command you!’ he shouted, voice cracking with fear.
The Dwellers didn’t budge.
‘I said I command you!’ Draveli shouted again.
‘Think of something, otherwise you know what’s going to happen,’ Max threatened.
‘I speak for Lord Morodai and he commands you to leave!’ Draveli tried.
This had the desired effect. Morodai’s name carried far more weight. One by one, the Dwellers sloped out of the room through several doors that led away from the hall.
As the last one left, Borne let out an explosive breath. ‘That was unpleasant.’
‘Could have been a lot worse,’ Elijah noted.
‘Let’s keep going,’ said Imelda, starting to climb the staircase.
Max followed, once again noting the massive portraits of Carvallens past hanging on the walls, and the gigantic tapestry of the world that hung above the staircase…
What the hell?
He stopped. Merelie bumped into him.
It’s the world.
‘What’s the hold up boy?’ Imelda said.
It’s the bloody world.
Max pointed at the tapestry.
The first time he’d seen it, Merelie had rushed him past so quickly it hadn’t registered. All he’d noticed was a large tapestry depicting the Earth, with the continents picked out in heavy stitching. Nothing odd about that, at all.
Unless you were on a totally different planet, that is.
‘The tapestry…’ he said in a quiet voice.
Imelda looked at it, frowning.
‘What about it?’
‘It’s the world.’
‘Yes. It’s a tapestry of the Chapter Lands, so what?’
‘No… it’s Earth.’
And it was.
It was a map of Earth, just like you’d find in any atlas.
‘It’s the Chapter Lands, Max,’ Merelie said, pointing at one part in the middle that was quite blatantly England. ‘Look, that’s where we are, in the Carvallen lands.’
Sure enough, right on the spot where the cities of southern England should be was a picture of a tall building with ‘Chapter House of Carvallen’ written under it in flowery script.
The other four Houses were also on the map:
Morodai’s was where Moscow should exist; Draveli’s was just about where Delhi in India was. The Falion Chapter House stood where New York ought to be, and Wellhome’s looked like it was slap bang in the middle of the Brazilian rainforest.
Names of a thousand other towns and cities were dotted across the tapestry, some similar to their counterparts in our world and some wildly different.
Several things clanged into place in Max’s head.
‘This is Earth,’ he said. ‘Well… it’s not, but it is.’
‘Hadn’t you figured that out?’ said Elijah. ‘Your world is a parallel version of ours, like every other one discovered by the Chapter Houses.’
‘Oh my! That is rich,’ Draveli cackled, forgetting for a second how precarious his situation was. ‘The monkey with the Wordcraft didn’t even know that?’
Borne clipped the fat man round the ear like an errant schoolchild. ‘Shut up or I’ll knock your teeth out,’ he warned.
Merelie took Max’s hand. ‘I can’t believe no one explained it to you Max. I can’t believe I didn’t… We both live on the same planet, just different versions of it. Yours is called Earth, ours is the Chapter Lands.’
‘And all the others are Earth too?’
‘Yes, of course. Same planet, different universe.’
Max looked back up at where the Carvallen Chapter House was positioned. ‘That explains why The Cornerstone was in my town. It’s the same place, isn’t it?’
‘Geographically, yes. The Carvallen lands incorporate the country you call England and a majority of the land mass known as Europe.’
Max let this sink in.
I’m still in Farefield. At least where Farefield would be back home.
‘Fascinating as this revelation is,’ Imelda spoke up, ‘we still have the small matter of defeating a power-mad Chapter Lord and his demonic underlings… in case anyone had forgotten.’
‘No need to be sarcastic,’ said Max, who knew the tone when he heard it.
‘We’ll have plenty of time for geography lessons if we survive this,’ Borne said, ‘but right now, I feel decidedly exposed and in need of stout walls between me and any Dwellers that might be lurking hereabouts.’
He poked Draveli into movement and they trooped up the stairs.
Max was lost in thought as they hurried along the long galleries and staircases that would eventually bring them to the door of Jacob Carvallen’s study, in the uppermost floor of the Chapter House.
It all made sense, he had to confess:
A series of Earths in parallel universes.
The same world, but different.
He could imagine a stone-age civilisation being overrun by Morodai’s bunch of maniacs thousands of years ago, or Falion’s people coming across a more advanced society in the Middle Ages.
He guessed that by the time Symon Carvallen had made contact with our version of Earth, we were far too set in our ways to believe in stuff like magic, or books that could open doorways to other worlds.
The revelation threw the Chapter Lands in sharper focus as well.
He could now get a grip on how large they were and how much power each Chapter House wielded.
Garrowain had said there were several hundred million people in the Chapter Lands – most of who could not read or write – and Max thought this was just as well. Millions of people with the ability to Wordcraft sat on Earth’s proverbrial doorstep would be dangerous.
And never mind all that… what if the nations of his planet - stocked to the eyeballs with all manner of horrifying weaponry - discovered these parallel worlds and had designs on them?
Max decided that if he did wade his way successfully through this mess, he’d have a lengthy conversation with Merelie and Garrowain – and try to persuade them that the link to his world should be closed forever. He didn’t want to be the cause of inter-dimensional warfare, and convincing them that The Cornerstone should be closed once and for all was the best way to prevent it.
Borne broke his train of thought as he ordered them to stop. They’d reached the lobby leading to Jacob’s study.
‘We’re nearly there and I don’t trust this fat fool to get us in without giving us away. So do we plan what we intend to do, or just jump in and take our chances?’
Max would have leapt at the second option, but fortunately wiser heads prevailed.
- 11 -
When given the onerous task of guarding a door, there are several survival mechanisms that can be employed to ensure boredom doesn’t turn your brain to soup.
Daydreaming is a favourite - if you’re unlucky enough to be on your own.
Subjects of the daydream should be as distracting as possible. If you’re a man, boobs are always a popular choice, and if you’re a woman, shoes usually have much the same effect.
You might even enjoy boobs and shoes at the same time, if you’ve adopted an alternative lifestyle.
If you’re lucky enough to have a companion, you have a whole plethora of entertaining options to choose from when whiling away the hours between shift changes.
You might share a witty and somewhat exaggerated anecdote about your last romantic conquest or shoe shopping trip.
You might discuss important philosophical topics, such as the nature of existence - or what a bunch of lying toe rags politicians are.
If you’re a bit hard up for good anecdotes, or lacking somewhat in the intellect department, a good game of I-Spy is recommended by bored guards across the multi-verse.
The two unfortunates outside the door to Jacob Carvallen’s study are engaged in a game right now.
It’s a tense one.
Mumford - on the left - is leading four rounds to Terski’s three.
Both are part of Lucas Morodai’s personal bodyguard and could probably kill you just by looking at you, if they so desired. Neither has had an original thought in their lives and couldn’t comment on the nature of existence if you dangled them over a pit of exploding scorpions and threatened to cut the rope.
They do play a mean game of I-Spy though.
It’s Terski’s turn and he’s determined to pick something hard to fox his colleague and draw the game level.
‘C’ for ceiling is too easy, as is ‘S’ for sandwich - Mumford’s, a half eaten ham and lettuce one.
Then there was ‘H’ for helmet, which was quite cunning, Terski thought.
Another option then presented itself for consideration:
‘F’ for fat man flying down the corridor, screaming his head off.
Borne and Elijah were up and running the minute Max sent Draveli cannon-balling into the two guards.
The luckless Mumford and Terski were suitably stunned by the ballistic Chapter Lord and made short work of by the two Armas, who could kill you without even bothering to look.
By the time the rest made it to the study door, it was being unlocked by someone inside, no doubt wanting to know what all the fuss was about.
This wasn’t the wisest move as the fuss was two angry soldiers, backed up by an over-enthusiastic teenager with newly discovered magic powers.
Two more Chapter Guards were helped into unconsciousness by Borne and Elijah, while Max took care of a single Morodai Wordsmith - introducing him to a nearby wall at some speed, in what was fast becoming his favourite manoeuvre.
‘That was easy,’ said Borne.
‘Obviously not expecting much opposition,’ Elijah rumbled. ‘Morodai is over confident and that could be to our advantage.’
Merelie let out a cry of joy and ran over to where her mother and father were tied to their chairs, still very much alive.
‘Merelie!’ her father said, with relief.
Jacob Carvallen looked drawn and pale, but happy to see his daughter. Halia looked as tired as her husband, but she too smiled as Merelie threw her arms around her.
Elijah and Borne cut their bonds, while Max and Imelda tidied up the fresh selection of limp bodies, piling them safely in one corner.
Osgood Draveli also lay dribbling by the door, out for the count again. If he survived this, he’d be so covered in bruises he’d resemble a ripe plum if stripped naked.
Max tried his level best to remove that particular image from his head as he kicked a guard’s helmet under a chair. He turned round to see Imelda frowning at Jacob Carvallen. He remembered the nature of their relationship and decided this could be an interesting conversation.
‘Emerelda,’ Jacob said with no trace of emotion.
‘Jacob,’ she replied at sub-zero temperature.
Silence followed.
…and followed a bit more.
‘There’s nothing like a warm family reunion is there?’ Max noted.
‘The last time I saw you,’ Jacob said to him, ‘you were slung over Borne’s shoulder and being sent back to Earth.’ He looked at his daughter. ‘I assume this didn’t occur?’
