Monstrous Races Read online

  Rufus flinched and rubbed his eyes. 'I'll tell you, but don't even think it. Her name is Sarah and she's the Guardian of Brayston. A mean, petty, harsh mermaid,' he spat out. 'And don't think they're all beautiful and caring with lovely singing voices. As with most things, that's a bare-faced lie.'

  'A mermaid?' she asked incredulous. 'A mermaid, as in lives in the sea mermaid? How...'

  'Not sure, and I'm fairly certain that most people who live in Brayston have no idea that she's their Guardian. But she is, and she's as sharp as a tack. She's been here since way before I was born.'

  'So you've seen her?' she asked, shaking her head slightly. 'Did you have to go to the sea? How does she run things from there?'

  'She's right in the heart of Brayston. I saw her once when I was young, and believe me that was enough. Dad had to have an audience with her about something. She's mean and tricky, and a bit frightening. I think I cried all the way home,' he added sadly. 'Her husband was kind though. He gave me a biscuit.'

  'Husband?'

  'A merman, he was her secretary. I say was. She probably ate him.'

  Elli stood up and stretched her legs. 'I suppose you'd better go to Whaler's lodgings to see what you can find. I'm going to retire to my room and think.'

  'Right oh, boss,' Rufus said mischievously, saluting and running up the stairs two at a time. 'And it's George's lodgings,' he called down after her.

  Lady Lansdown giggled again as Gerald ran his hands through her hair, pulling it gently into shape. 'I took the liberty of making up the hair revitaliser myself, if that's to your liking my lady,' he said, his gummy mouth speaking quietly into her ear.

  'Of course,' she replied, her eyes closed as he gently teased the curls into shape. 'You do such a marvellous job. However did I manage without you?'

  The old man felt a hot blush rising up from his neck and breathed in the giddy scent of her perfume. He shuffled slowly in front of her, bringing a selection of hair-colours with him.

  'I was thinking vibrant red, almost copper, with blonde touches here and there and an extra lustrous shining rinse. If that's to your liking?' He watched her girlish joy as she looked at herself in the large mirror.

  'Very good, it's never looked so wonderful. Would you like a mint?' she asked, fishing a small bag out of her cleavage. She took his throaty sigh as a yes, and smiled as she looked into his watery eyes.

  Lord Lansdown appeared at the door, throwing it open as he no longer knocked. 'We're moving out at mid-day, better be packed and ready to go,' he barked at them, turning on his heel and walking down the corridor. He heard their quiet giggles as he walked but chose not to acknowledge them; life was so much easier now that she had the old man to tend to her.

  He paused before a large grandiose mirror and admired himself, watching the stone with fascination, its swirling lights shimmying upon his chest. Four days, and I'll be invincible. Let the Queen send her army, I'll set an example of them. Oh Elli, I am so looking forward to meeting you. He stared intently, his haughty posture and pale skin already adding a regality to his bearing. He stopped, sure that he could see some slight movement in the corner, a figure standing beneath the window behind him. He looked more closely, recognising the laughing green eyes and deep brown skin. 'No,' he murmured under his breath, as the man waved at him and smiled. He span around with his hand clasping the stone; there was nothing there, just a cool breeze from the open window.

  He walked over to the spot and licked his lips, breathing in the fresh air and hearing the drone of barked orders and synchronised movements far below. He kicked something and looked down to see a playing card, the Ace of Hearts looking up from the floor. Shuddering he picked it up and ripped it again and again until he could tear it no more. Then he scattered it from the open window and into the wind.

  Lord Lansdown continued walking, through the shadowy corridor and down the steep steps, around and around the stairwell until he reached the open courtyard. He saw men, dog-heads and ogres, all united by the hard and bitter looks in their eyes. There could be no mistaking it, they were all mercenaries who were with him for the right price; bandits, thieves and lovers of violence all working together for one common goal, what was in it for them.

  A group of large dog-heads and humans sat together nearest to him making little conversation. One sharpened his knife slowly on a leather strap, his eyes never leaving Lord Lansdown, who puffed out his chest and walked past with all the authority he could muster. In amongst the dregs there's the beginnings of some real talent, some muscle with a willingness to obey authority.

  He looked across at the expansive courtyard, wondering for a brief moment where the previous owners of the property had managed to flee to. So much neater when they relinquish all of this before I have to force them. He smiled and watched his army marching and lunging and hacking with swords, knives and axes, trampling delicate flowers underfoot and churning up grass. Soon now. Patience he thought.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Falling coins and no more sushi

  The walk to the Blemmyae Council House had been sour and steep, and Elli clutched Rufus' hand and pulled at the heavy bag to her side. She turned quickly at a sudden noise behind her and saw a small dark head bobbing up to glance at her from behind strangers' shoulders.

  She swallowed, clinging tightly to the bag and feeling the reassuring presence of the stone against her chest. 'I'm really not sure about this,' shouted Rufus, his voice barely audible over the noise of footsteps, calls and chatter. She squeezed his hand, ready to jump into the sea of bristling movement and held on tight. 'Now,' he called, and they both stepped together into the living vortex. Bodies jostled and barged from all sides; Elli kept holding on, through ogres and humans, between gorgadons and nulis. At times her feet barely touched the floor pulled as she was by the tide, but Rufus had hold of her and marched quickly around and around.

  She felt her arm being tugged away from the inexorable flow and was hoisted out, strangely calm as she was pulled and pushed towards the outer rings of the individual orbits. They fell through the door together onto a thick woollen matt and sat there for a moment checking their limbs and belongings.

  'What was that?' she asked, dusting herself down and slowly standing up. Rufus remained ensconced on the floor with his eyes closed, his satchel at his side and a sandwich poking through the top.

  'I can't believe we did that. I'm going to be in so much trouble, you really have no idea. That was the Council House after an influx of very nervous people who are all fleeing Lord Lansdown; I haven't seen it this busy since Eric the Crusader mounted his attack and sent over his troops. It was heaving then as well. I don't think a hastily-constructed false wall with a lot of quiet soldiers hiding behind it will work again though,' he added pulling himself to his feet. 'Shame really, that was brilliant. You should've seen his face. Right, I suppose we have to go on now,' he shrugged, munching on his sandwich as they strolled through the dark corridor.

  Elli tried to ignore the feeling of trepidation that was sitting in her stomach and attempted to concentrate on something else, something other than Rufus chewing and slurping noisily. She thought of the stone and imagined she could feel herself anchored to it by soft, glowing tendrils weaving their way slowly around her. They walked quickly along the corridor, the faces of paintings peering at them as they passed.

  'Rufus,' she said, looking at a drawing of a Blemmyae astride a large dragon. 'I don't remember this from last time, are you sure we're in the right place?' He nodded, flinging a sandwich-half into the air and catching it in his open jaws in one deft movement.

  'Right corridor but different to last time. They rearrange them every couple of days. Another blemmyae code; don't get complacent. I see they haven't included anything about abysmal blemmyae art in their codes though, look at this,' he added, peering closer at the picture. 'Now that's a blemmyae with inferiority issues, look at the size of that dragon.' They walked along the corridor in silence apart from their echoing footsteps.r />
  'We can forget all about this if you want to, no harm done,' he said after they'd gone through the entire contents of his bag in the flickering candle-light including the sardine surprise. She shook her head and walked towards the large wooden door in front of them, hearing it groan as she pushed it open.

  'Enter,' called an authoritative voice. 'Oh, I see you already have.' The blemmyae sat at his desk, his index fingers pointing towards his chin and his hands clasped in front of him. His dark hair was flecked with grey and he had a short dark beard, with brown eyes that were alert and watchful. He sat back in his chair and appraised them both before picking up a pen and writing some notes that neither Rufus or Elli could see. 'Names,' he commanded, his eyes fixed on the paper in front of him.

  'We're here to see Sarah,' blurted out Elli, as Rufus groaned and rolled his eyes.

  'And who might that be?' asked the blemmyae behind the desk, his voice smooth and even.

  'Sorry about her,' muttered Rufus, taking a seat 'She's new here and doesn't know the right way to ask. But we do need to see Sarah about a matter urgently. About Lord Lansdown in fact, who is I believe within three days of the city walls with a considerable army. As much as I'd like to bandy words with you and play the game, there really isn't the time. We have information for Sarah, and please don't insult either of us by pretending she doesn't exist, there's a good chap.'

  The blemmyae looked from Rufus to Elli slowly, his head just above the table top and his shoulders sagging above him. 'Very well,' he said finally, 'please excuse me a moment.' He sat upright and placed his hands in his lap, his eyelids flickering rapidly. Occasionally a facial muscle would twitch or he'd nod slightly, and Elli saw Rufus look down towards the contents of his desk. His eyes opened again with a start and he smiled non-committally. 'You are to follow me Rufus and Elspeth, or Elli as I believe you're known. This way please.'

  He swept out of a door at the back of the room and they scurried after him, rushing past ordered old books and well-used filing cabinets. They followed him through doorways and chambers, up dimly-lit stairwells and across an enclosed old courtyard littered with moss and ivy. Elli's sense of direction eventually told her that they were moving down through the earth, like rabbits in a complex and disorientating warren, with the smell of age and withered things permeating the air. 'Here is where I leave you,' he said finally, as Rufus leant against a wall and pulled a flask from his bag.

  They stood in front of a huge bronze door, its front reflecting and gleaming, distorting their reflections. The walls were slimy, dark and mossy, and they were in a huge tunnel, the trickling of water surrounding them from every crevice in the stone.

  'Can't move,' managed Rufus, absent-mindedly crunching at a warm toffee. 'He goes like the clappers, I thought I was fit but he's ridiculous.' Elli gave him a sidelong glance and put her hand to her chest, feeling the steady, slow pulse of the stone beneath her clothes. 'But not really one for conversation,' continued Rufus. 'Remind me not to tell the joke about the nun and the whipped cream again, at least not in front of somebody with no sense of humour.'

  She looked back along the way that had come, an endless tunnel flickering with ghostly green lights. 'We must have left the Blemmyae Council ages ago, so where are we?' she asked, her voice just above a whisper over the droplets falling all around them.

  Rufus shrugged his shoulders and rubbed his eyes. 'Somewhere under the city, it's pretty damp in here so I'd guess a river or canal is above us. Or we made it to Floodside, who knows? We walked for long enough. So are you going to knock or what?'

  She nodded and walked forward, a small figure facing an expanse of polished brass. She raised her fist and went to knock when Rufus caught her arm. 'This might help,' he said, handing her a large ornate hammer. She nodded and raised it up with difficulty, smashing it into the door and watching her distorted reflection do the same. The noise reverberated around the tunnel, passing through them and making their ears ring. A small hatch opened towards the top of the door and two large dark eyes squinted and then peered down at them. A smaller hatch was pulled across and they saw a wide dark grin with two rows of disjointed teeth.

  ''Alright Rufus?' asked an old, heavy voice, the noise reverberating around the tunnel.

  'Alfonse?' squeaked Rufus, his eyes darting up at the two hatches. 'When did you get out? I thought you had at least another five years....'

  'Let's just say a new opera-tunity came up,' replied the mouth. 'Which I was unable to turn down, on condition of it being no choice involved. 'ow's your Dad?'

  'Fine thanks,' said Rufus, walking towards the door and pushing his head back further to look up at the eyes. 'He'll be pleased to know you're working down here now.' There was a quiet sniff from beyond the door.

  'Oh, please don't tell 'im Rufus,' came the reply finally. 'It's best that as few people know as is possible. 'e still sends me a Christmas card you know, I get it re-directed. You're 'ere to see Sarah I take it?' The voice was slow and mournful, like a gravestone on a wet day. ''fraid I gotta search you then. You first Miss, there's a female lady here who will check you over. Rufus, you're with me.'

  There were some noisy thumps from behind the door, a clanging and ringing that shook through their bodies and caused flecks of masonry to fall and flutter over them. 'Hope he doesn't still hold people upside-down to check them over,' whispered Rufus, standing a step closer to Elli. She nodded and looked up as the vast door shuddered and shook, finally creaking open slowly and momentously into the gloomy tunnel. Behind it stood a large hairy figure, his wide, meaty arms at his sides and a set of ancient metal keys hanging from his brick-like fist. He wore a pressed blue uniform that was struggling to stay on his body, and his sleeves were fully extended to just below his elbows.

  ''This way,' Alphonse gestured at Rufus, pointing to a smaller wooden door to the side of him. ''I keep askin' 'em to get a bigger door, I get terrible backache...' Rufus gave Elli a long look and was led away. As the expanse that was Alfonse rumbled on Elli made out a smaller figure in the gloomy light, and saw a wall and second large gate separating them from whatever was behind it.

  The figure hopped towards her and Elli saw her uniform was the same as his. Through the dark shadows she made out flowing blonde hair and an efficient smile, but she found it hard to focus with all the movement. As the figure bounced towards her Elli took in a great lungful of air, realising that she had one large leg instead of two with one huge foot at the end of it.

  'Just through here,' said the woman, her voice clear and precise in the murky light. Elli ran forward, standing to her side as she leapt up and bounced towards the top of the brass gate, her foot clanging loudly into the metal. Elli could just make out some sort of old, gnarled handrail in the corner, and the woman pushed off of the wall with her foot, grunting with the effort and somersaulting backwards to land neatly next to her. The door scraped backwards, and it finally came to rest closed with a reverberating gong.

  The woman leapt up again, this time to half-way up the door and some distance above Elli's head, where she grasped another hand-rail and slid an ancient-looking bolt across it, her foot resting on a small step. She then produced a set of gleaming keys from her pocket and slid them into three separate locks, one hand still holding on tightly. She leapt backwards off of the step and let go of the hand-hold, arcing gracefully over Elli's head and landing just behind her. 'Through here please Madam,' she said, her face composed and calm. Elli realised that her mouth was hanging open and she struggled to close it, feeling a giddy sense of excitement at the acrobatic display she'd just witnessed.

  She followed the woman to a door at the opposite side from Rufus and walked in, smiling as she heard what she suspected was loose change falling to the ground from a considerable height.

  Rufus appeared outside shortly afterwards running his hands through his fur and smoothing down his ears. Elli was waiting for him, her arms crossed and her stone throbbing gently against her chest.

  'As you 'ave both bee
n checked, then you are permitted an audience wiv Sarah, on condition that she agrees to see you. Wait 'ere please,' Alphonse boomed as he turned to a large knot in the deep dark wood of the second interior door. Two small eyes peered out at them and looked them over one at a time. 'They're clean. Are they granted an audience m'Lord?' The door creaked open quickly and smoothly to a large gap. 'Nice to see ya Rufus,' said Alphonse, his words ponderous and heavy in the damp air as they walked on through the door.

  The air seemed green in this room, and hot. A humid layer of effervescent green settled over tiles and old seats, over gaudy mirrors and chandeliers. The floor was slippery, with small patches of moss scrabbling for space amongst mosaic tiles.

  Sarah watched them from the middle of the vast pool, brightly-coloured fish swimming all around her as she serenely bobbed towards them. There was a glint of her enormous silver tail, the scales shining like diamonds in the warm wet air, and Elli made out large pipes gurgling and sucking water behind a bubbling waterfall. They watched as Sarah's tail skimmed the surface of the water and was suddenly in front of them; she flicked it up into the air again and pulled her head up out of the water, her gills rhythmically opening to reveal blood-red flesh underneath. She watched them for some time, her pale eyes fixed upon them and her greying hair hanging wet from her head.

  'Not what you were expecting then girl,' she said through a mouth that smiled but had no humour in it. Elli looked straight into her eyes, never flinching as Sarah moved her head slowly from side to side like a snake being charmed. Her skin was the palest yellow, almost white, and her lips were thin and hard. 'And I see you've brought him with you. My Rufus, how you've grown. I trust you're being a good boy nowadays.'

  'You're still as lovely as ever Sarah,' he said, standing rigidly to the side. She narrowed her eyes at him and hissed, pulling herself up out of the water a little further.