Mark Newton - The Book of Transformations

The lad nodded back, opened the paper and, as a few of the Cavesiders came to see what was happening, he cleared his throat and read out:

‘Caley, do you want to help us kill the Emperor?’

*

Eventually, as the flames began to eat into the roof to a now-dangerous level, Tane and Vuldon arrived, sprinting up the stairwell. They both stared at Fulcrom, who was sitting with his arms folded.

‘What took you so long?’ he asked.

‘There’s a war on, or hadn’t you seen?’ Vuldon replied.

‘So I heard,’ Fulcrom said. ‘Is it bad?’

‘Yeah, ridiculously so. Fuck’re you doing up here anyway?’ Vuldon demanded.

‘The old methods of communication are not what they once were,’ Fulcrom replied coolly. ‘I needed to talk to you.’

‘I don’t get it,’ Tane said. ‘Why cause a fire? Has all the stress finally turned you insane? Why not just come back to our quarters like you usually do?’

Fulcrom informed them of everything that had happened since he’d last seen them. He told them about his meeting with the Emperor, and then with Warkur. He told them he’d quit the Inquisition. He told them of what was going to happen with the Knights.

‘No more Lan?’ Tane asked. ‘Seriously?’

Fulcrom shook his head, stood up and leant on the edge of the building to observe Villjamur.

‘But you and her… you were close, right?’ Tane asked. ‘That must have made matters rather difficult.’

‘Right,’ he replied.

‘No wonder you quit.’

Vuldon grunted. ‘That’s this fucking city for you,’ he said. ‘Asks you to give your heart and soul for it, and once you’re no longer able to be exploited, it spits you out again.’

‘The Emperor will keep you in employment,’ Fulcrom continued, ‘but since I’ve walked out of the Inquisition, I’ve no longer the same level of access to you. Hence the fire. You’re on your own now, but it’s likely they’ll want you to consider hunting down me and Lan.’

‘That’s all right,’ Tane replied, ‘we can feign ignorance.’

‘Shouldn’t be too hard in your case,’ Vuldon muttered. ‘Don’t worry, we’ll not come after you.’ Vuldon, in a gesture that was almost a show of emotion, placed his enormous hand on Fulcrom’s shoulder. ‘I’m not a fan of investigators, but you were all right. The rest of them can fuck themselves.’

‘Thanks, I think,’ Fulcrom said. ‘Look, you’ll still be required to work for the city, else they’ll decommission you, too.’

‘I’d like to see them try,’ Vuldon replied.

‘You can still do some good,’ Fulcrom said. ‘People still need you. The city’s teetering on the brink of collapse.’

‘Nah, it’s just a skirmish, I imagine,’ Vuldon muttered. ‘The military will sort it out, then we’ll be back to normal.’

‘The military is heavily outnumbered, and… there’s something else heading to the city that the Emperor seems very worried about, and it’s not just his paranoia.’ He repeated his conversation with Urtica.

‘We’ll deal with that if it comes to it,’ Tane said. He suddenly turned away and began smelling the air. ‘Trouble isn’t far off,’ he announced.

Fulcrom said, ‘Look, I should get back.’

‘Where to?’ Vuldon asked.

‘Good point,’ Fulcrom replied. ‘Somewhere, anywhere. Away from the law, and the Imperial hands — that ought to be enough.’ It felt strange to say that: to run from the very thing he had represented all his life.

‘Will you be taking Lan with you?’ Vuldon demanded.

Fulcrom put his hands in his pockets. ‘Yeah.’ He glanced to one side, contemplating the flames and heat which were now dying down. ‘We’ve a little extra business to sort out with Ulryk, but once we’ve helped him, that’s it.’

‘Look after her,’ Tane said.

‘She’ll be looking after him if she’s still got her powers,’ Vuldon declared.

Fulcrom smiled at that. ‘You might be right.’

An arrow narrowly clipped the rooftop, drawing their attention towards the city. Someone screamed. Fulcrom crouched and shifted near the edge of the building, Tane and Vuldon behind, ready for conflict.

There were calls from below, where a scene was developing.

‘This battle,’ Fulcrom said along the wall, ‘just how big has it become?’

At least a dozen youths with black scarves covering their faces were strutting with intent down the street, kicking up puffs of snow. There was a guard unit of no more than two or three in front of them, armed only with swords, and another guard lay dead in the street with arrows in his body. Two of the youths were now firing crossbows, forcing the soldiers to cluster against the wall. Another few were busy drawing the strings back on their crossbows or loading bolts.

‘Those soldiers are surely dead,’ Fulcrom breathed.

The black-scarved youths surrounded the guards, with their crossbows raised to shoulder height, and the soldiers began to lash out with their swords: arrows and bolts thudded into their arms and legs, and they toppled to the cobbles, screaming, backing up against the wall. This was drawn out for enjoyment, not a swift kill.

Vuldon and Tane stood up on the edge of the wall but Fulcrom called, ‘Wait!’

He indicated down to the left, by an intersection of three streets, where almost a hundred civilians — no, armoured civilians — were massing, carrying crude weapons.

Back to the soldiers now, and all Vuldon, Tane and Fulcrom could do was watch. The youths hollered and whooped like feral beasts as they executed the soldiers against the wall. A surge of civilians came round the corner and something more wilder than a celebration ensued.

‘What were your orders?’ Fulcrom asked.

Vuldon climbed down form the wall, Tane skipping back behind. ‘We didn’t really have any.’

‘You probably won’t get any either,’ Fulcrom declared.

‘What do you suggest?’ Vuldon asked. ‘We still want to help people. I don’t care about what we were before — even if we were the Emperor’s puppets, we still kept people safe.’

‘Exactly,’ Tane said. ‘No matter what you do in this city, it seems someone’s getting a rum deal. We might as well carry on trying so tell us, Fulcrom — tell us what we can do to help.’

‘I’m not in charge of the operation now,’ Fulcrom said.

‘What do you suggest?’ Vuldon demanded. ‘I’m asking you as someone who knows what the fuck he’s talking about, not as someone giving orders. What is our purpose?’

‘Don’t spend your time looking for a damn purpose.’ Fulcrom gave an awkward laugh, and shook his head. ‘All you’ve ever been required to do is make the innocent feel safe — and to protect the Emperor, of course.’

‘Who knows where he is,’ Tane cooed.

‘Indeed,’ Fulcrom said, contemplating the man’s state earlier. ‘You’re still employed by the Emperor to protect people, and once this has calmed down you’ll be required to do exactly the same. So all you can do now is protect the innocent. I’d advise you making your way towards Balmacara to offer your services — but on the way there, make sure any civilians you meet are not in danger.’

‘Civilians hate us now,’ Tane said.

‘Don’t pick sides,’ Fulcrom warned, ‘don’t support the armed forces or the anarchists. You are not the military — this war is theirs. There will undoubtedly be civilian casualties, people who have no interest in fighting, and you need to prevent as many deaths as possible. You’ll probably find that civilians will hate you less when they realize their lives are in danger.’

Vuldon offered his hand, and Fulcrom shook it. ‘You speak more sense than seems possible. We’ll take these as our last orders. You know, I hoped we could be better than this — be something more.’