The Elementals : The Dawn of Darkness

Chapter 31 - How to Out-Voodoo the Voodoo Man

I can only guess that this was what was happening as Sheira and I were wedged into a very tight and very dark space that really wasn't meant for two people. As soon as the lock began to open the Beasts vanished with a puff of smoke and snowflakes and I dragged Sheira over to one of the comically oversized silver vats and stuffed the two of inside.

And not a moment too soon either as the moment the door swung shut behind us the door clanged open and the sounds of an argument just about punched through the steel walls of the tube. It was a very one-sided discussion with one party shouting his lungs out at another individual who couldn't give less of a crap.

"The numbers don't lie, your little experiment isn't providing the results the boss is after," the louder voice snapped. "You've had six months to prepare! There are seven thousand elementals living on this stupid hunk of rock and you've barely managed to get five hundred. We should have them all by now!"

"Patience is not one of your finer virtues, is it?"

I'd heard that voice before. It might have been only once but I recognised the high pitch of youth mixed with the harsh coldness of a murderer.

The other man scoffed. "It ain't me who's getting impatient. Molly wants results and she's not getting them and you know how she is right now."

"The train was not my fault."

"It wasn't mine either, but that doesn't mean I'm exempt from the chopping block. None of us are."

"She trusts me," Marx said cooly.

The other man actually laughed this time. "You may be a genius but you're still an idiot. You might be her general, you might be in the inner circle but am I wrong when I say you're just one wrong move from turning into one of those."

There was a pause as I could only guess that the older man was pointing to either the cage or the mutilated figure on the table. Marx didn't respond.

"If you really mean that you can boost those figures by attacking Truespear Hollow then go ahead, try it. Because if you fail that means they'll be a new position on the inner council and there's always someone climbing the ladder behind you. Just remember that."

I didn't dare breathe as footsteps walked away and the heavy metal door clanged shut behind him. The silence was unnerving after the raucous argument but neither of us moved. Because, as Sheira had frantically whispered after I made to open to door, Marx was still there.

Thirty seconds went by. Thirty seconds of holding my breath before the little psychopath finally moved. Muttering and grumbling light footsteps stalked over to the cage. "I'll prove them wrong. It's almost complete. Just a little longer. Wait until tonight, then they'll see what I can do. Don't look so scared, you're going to become part of something bigger than any of your pitiful little lives could have ever been intended for."

The two of us could only listen helplessly as the scraping metal indicated that the metal gate was now open and then the people in the cage started screaming. There were sounds of desperate begging, running and eventually the sickening sound of a dull thud, more screams and something getting dragged away. Someone destined to become one of those things.

Even in the pitch-black darkness, the wide, bright eyes of Sheira were all that I could see as the sound became fainter and fainter until they fell silent. I waited for a moment and then slowly pushed against the edge of the door. The only problem was that Marx's freaky, build-your-own beastie just happened to be right outside it.

I pulled it quickly, but sadly not so quietly, shut behind me and pulled Sheira back as far as we could into the corner.

"Did he...?" Sheira asked.