Chapter 215
The fight of her life had… not gone to plan. But at her feet, fur swaying softly in a sudden lull of wind, lay the creature. It was a male, seemed to be in good shape, and was now satisfactorily dead.
She panted, her excitement and adrenaline warming her somewhat. Erskine and Dexter crunched up behind her. "That was dramatic."
"That was amazing," she panted.
"Your head was in its mouth," Erskine commented.
She pointed her sword at his throat. "And you won't tell a soul, Ravel, or I'll have you turned into a rug too. I killed it perfectly. One stab through the neck. It won't get in the way of the skinning at all and I can keep the head. Do you know how much a Yeti with the head is worth? This is hundreds of thousands in any currency. Maybe millions."
"Probably millions," Dexter nodded. "So what's your plan?"
"Hmm?"
"Your plan? To get it home?" He said sweetly.
She raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm going to carry it."
"Uh hu. You realise we may have miles to walk and that this is the same weight as a large meat bull? Can you bench, what, two thousand pounds of muscle? For however many miles it takes us to get to Lament? What if we need to take a helicopter home?"
"I will carry it even if it kills me," she sniffed, wiping the already frozen blood from her sword as best she could. "Lament will probably have a food cooler. The Yeti can stay in there. And I'll work out the rest as we go."
Dexter shrugged and Erskine took off his glove to stroke the fur of the Yeti only to grimace. Tanith had noticed, when her head was in the Yeti's mouth, that the fur before being processed was incredibly greasy. Probably to help with keeping the warmth in. That wouldn't matter once it was a rug though.
She sniffed, sheathed her sword and grabbed one of its arms and pulled. She rolled it and ducked under his body in a crouch and lifted like she was at the gym trying to impress someone. She impressed herself. She didn't think the Yeti was two thousand pounds like a large bull might be, but it was over a thousand for sure. When she pulled it up the men began laughing and her look of concentration turned to amusement when she realised the animals' body had done as many bodies did after death and… expelled its bowels. Thankfully not on her shoes, from what she could see. She knew Erskine was helping keep the weight up when she began walking, listening to them snicker at the trail the animal left. There was no way she could lift, let alone carry, the weight of the Yeti alone. When they stopped giggling and caught up, she at least knew it was over.
The weight of the animal kicked in quickly and barely as soon as she started, she knew she was exerting herself too much even with the help. She was thankful when Erskine flicked a hand and the weight lifted above her. She was still holding her prize but the weight was barely on her. She flashed him a grin as the winds came back.
Dexter didn't seem worried at all, putting his coordinates device away and leading them with a purpose towards a lump of rocks. She stood back and lowered the Yeti to the ground with Erskine so it was flat on its back in the snow. They waited for him, and he grinned and said the words "Found it," though his voice was carried away from them.
Tanith and Erskine jumped onto the rocks and went to him, trying not to slip into some crack and break a leg. Dexter was by the side of the mountain where a small cluster of rocks were. He crouched next to it and they copied.
Once, it may have been a tunnel, but now it was caved in. No way in. But where Dexter was pointing, there was a dark hole. Erskine clicked his fingers and sent a fireball through the holes and it lit up some dark place below.
"This is the coordinates, and this is a way into a place," Dexter reasoned over the wind. "Seems to me like I'm a successful detective."
"You're alright at this," Tanith complimented as Erskine moved a larger bolder from the hole entrance. It gave them twice the room and seemed like it would give them just enough space to get in.
"Do you think we'll fit?" Erskine asked.
"Tanith will. Probably you. I might struggle," Dexter shrugged. "We'll make it work. I'll go first and if it collapses, make sure Saracen never stops mourning me. Take my body to him. I want to be taxidermized and prayed to."
"Where should he keep you?" Erskine asked seriously.
"Either a public place for public viewing, or directly in bed, please," he said before shoving his head into the hole. His arms went next, then his shoulders, he wriggled to get his chest in, and then his waist slipped in. His hips struggled for a moment and then he got caught on his butt. There was a wiggle, a pull as he attempted to get in, but he didn't go anywhere.
"He's too juicy," Erskine said and then tried to maintain a straight face for the joke, only to break into laughter. Tanith laughed as Dexter kicked his feet and tried again to pull himself in, but he didn't manage it. His body seemed to be laughing too as he struggled. Finally, Erskine put his shoe on Dexter's back end, kicked him, and he slid in the final amount. Erskine went next and slid in much easier as he was slightly smaller than Dexter and not quite as muscular nor as large in the same places as Dexter. Tanith went next after glancing back at her prize out of view.
She worried she'd get stuck like Dexter did but was lucky that he was there to grab her hands and help her down. She fell in and flipped her body down at the last moment so she landed on her feet. Erskine already had a flame in hand, lighting up the pit. Behind him was a tunnel. "Awesome," she whispered, and they all heard her because there were no more winds. It was cold still, but much less so. "This has to be their base."
They were all cautious as they started, worrying over signals and secret traps. Some way in, perhaps a two minute walk, the tunnel began to get lighter, and Erskine let the flames die out. The ground turned into a metal grille. Thick support struts criss-crossed overhead and glowing orbs hung from them, as if someone had caught handfuls of daylight and brought them underground. They passed through corridors of rock walls. The air was a warm summer's day down in the mountain.
A bird flew past, disappearing around the corner.
"Well," Erskine said with a small smile, "that was unexpected. How can I prepare to think the worse of Lament when he has little birdies?"
They walked on until the corridor widened, and in this widening a man wandered by. Tanith recognised him from the file Dexter had shown her on his phone. Kalvin Accord. Adept, specialising in science-magic. He was in a bathrobe and sandals.
"Kalvin," Dexter said gently.
Kalvin whipped around to see them, eyes wide. He stared.
Dexter took a step forward, painting a smile on his mouth. "Sorry. We didn't mean to startle you. How are you?"
"Oh this isn't good," Kalvin muttered, wetting his lips. "This isn't good at all."
He turned and ran.
Tanith glanced at Erskine, and they both then looked at Dexter who looked back at them. They shared a shrug, took a moment to undo their coats and take their gloves off, and then started after him.
"Kalvin," Dexter called calmly. "Please stop, we're here to talk. We don't want to hurt anyone."
But Kalvin didn't stop running. It wasn't an impressive run, as he was in sandals and very obviously out of shape, but he didn't stop. They caught up to him immediately. He lost one of his sandals but didn't stop. Erskine picked it up for him.
Dexter was on one of Kalvin's sides, Tanith next to him. Erskine appeared on Kalvin's other side.
"I picked this up for you," Erskine said, offering him the sandal.
"Thank you," Kalvin said, taking it.
"Why are you running from us?" Erskine asked.
"I'm not sure," Kalvin panted. "But now that I'm doing it, I may as well keep going."
"I'm not sure that makes sense," Erskine said with a small laugh. He sounded sweet and kind and cute. Tanith was consistently astounded with how the Dead Men just did not care what people thought about them. Not in a bad way – in a perfectly good way. If Erskine wanted to flirt his way into Kalvin's good books, he just did it. No questions. It was fun. It was the type of person Tanith had always aspired to be. "You can stop if you like."
"I don't think I can," Kalvin said. "I want to stop. I should do it. But I haven't had to run, or stop running, in so long, I think I forgot how."
Erskine laughed, though this time it was a little more at poor Kalvin. Tanith grinned herself. "Just slow down. There you are."
Erskine talking him into slowing his pace until they were at a jog, where Kalvin collapsed onto his knees. He complained of a stitch and they politely waited for him to get over it. "Why… are you here?" He panted.
"We're here about Argeddion," Dexter said simply.
"You're going to need to talk to Tyren about that," Kalvin said, shaking his head. "He is not going to be happy you're here."
.*****.
Kalvin was right. Tyren was not happy to see them in the least. Tanith had been separated from her coat and sword and was now sitting between Erskine and Dexter as if she was some sort of ringleader than knew information of use. Tyren stood over them, his arms crossed, wearing sandals and white robe also. His belt was blue and white striped though. There was a lady, though Tanith had only glimpsed her on the way, in a baby pink robe. And a man. Though she hadn't seen his face.
"How did you find us?" Where his first words to them.
"It wasn't easy," Dexter said simply, his voice carefully calm.
"It was meant to be impossible. We were meant to disappear."
"I promise, we are only here because of Aregeddion. This isn't for fun," Dexter said, some annoyance creeping into his voice. "There's been problems in the real world. And Argeddion is supposedly the cause it. So here we are."
Tyren grunted noncommittedly. "And where's the detective? Don't tell me Skulduggery retired, because I won't believe you."
"Oh, of course not. He's on another mission," Dexter said more neutrally. "Tyren, Areggedion is giving regular mortals magic powers. He's giving them gifts of magic. And they're wreaking havoc."
He shook his head. "Impossible. Aregeddion isn't in a position to do anything. And no magic can be transferred, that's not how it works."
"It can be done," Dexter rebutted. "For one, the mortals in question may have dormant magic inside them that was simply activated, granted, but they weren't aware of it at all and suddenly they are able to do some incredible things. And as well, we have a literal device being used against us by a different enemy, which steals magic from one person and gives it to another. Your theory is outdated, my friend."
Tyren soured, obviously not too thrilled with Dexter lecturing him. "And what do you think Argeddion has done to them? Because I'm quite sure it wasn't him. He's been in a coma-state for over thirty years."
"Are you certain?" Dexter asked.
"Of course, there's always eyes on him, and cameras. He's fast asleep. We even have neuro-sensors to know if there's any brain activity. Whoever's doing this to mortals, it isn't him."
"If it's not," Dexter said, "it's someone connected to him. We would like to see him nonetheless."
"I'm sorry, but we can't do that."
"Why not?"
"Because I don't want you to," he said simply. "You've already breached our outer perimeter, I don't want you breaching the inner perimeter. I knew you thirty years ago, Dexter, but a man can change."
Dexter tilted his head disbelievingly. "You don't trust me."
"I don't. And I don't even know your lady friend."
"That's just Erskine."
"And your partner?" Tyren rolled his eyes.
"Tanith Low," she introduced. "I'm a friend."
"A family friend," Dexter reiterated. "She's not a Dead Man but she's our sister."
"Well that's just lovely but I'm not letting you in the facility."
Dexter sighed and looked at the table for a moment before continuing. "Can we at least talk about the facility?"
Tyren sat opposite them. "Of course."
"How did you catch Aregeddion?"
"That's not about the facility," Tyren said slowly, "but I'll answer it. When Walden was a child, as was his name before he became Aregeddion, his mother was murdered. This happened in front of him. After, the killer turned to him and said three words and ran. We found out those words, and when we felt he was starting to lose his humanity, starting to value magic above people, we said them to him. He froze and we caught him in a trap and sent him to sleep. We didn't use violence or hurt him. He hadn't used violence on anyone. It was only fair."
"How did you send him to sleep?" Dexter asked.
"We targeted his brainwaves. Took them over, regulated them… he was asleep within moments."
"And if he needs that to be constantly monitored, you can never leave," Tanith continued.
"Exactly. We cannot allow him to wake up, ever. He would never allow us to put him back under. This is the safest thing for us all."
"Makes sense," she muttered, leaning back in her chair.
A girl rushed in. Petit frame, ashy blonde hair that was straight up until a slight kink at the tips, looking like someone in her twenties and her eyes were incredible. Large, huge even, and bright blue. She had light freckles all her nose, her skin was pale and smooth. She was wearing the baby pink robe Tanith had caught a glimpse of earlier. "People," she gasped. "But…"
Lament smiled. "It's okay. They're not our enemies. Lenka Bazaar, this is Dexter Vex, Erskine Ravel and Tanith Low."
Tanith stood quickly to shake her hand and Lenka jumped on her, wrapping her in the biggest bear hug despite not being able to wrap her tiny arms all the way around Tanith. She was short, barely five two if Tanith had to guess. "People!" She screamed. "There are people here! New people!"
Tanith laughed, and finally Lenka released her.
"Hi. I'm Lenka. Will you be my friend?"
Tanith grinned and noticed the little tooth gap in Lenka's large teeth. She'd always had a soft spot for girls shorter than her, less muscular than her, cute features. Lenka was a type in a way other girls, even someone like Clara, just didn't fit. "Of course!"
"Tyren," Lenka said immediately, "I only have room for a certain number of friends in my life, so you're not my friend anymore. I'm really sorry."
"I'm sure I'll survive."
Lenka turned back to Tanith giddily. "I don't want to alarm you," she said, "but there's someone looking over your shoulder."
"Very pleased to meet you," Dexter said, shaking her hand. He had his prettiest smile on.
"And myself, it's a pleasure," Erskine cut in, shaking her hand just as vigorously as Lenka shook his. She laughed.
"Lenka is the youngest of us," said Lament, "a Sensitive and a gifted engineer in her own right."
"I never thought I'd meet someone new," she said, her eyes still wide. "I thought that the three people I'm down here with were the only people I'd ever know for the rest of my life. And new people. Three new people! And one of them's the coolest person I've ever seen!"
"Thank you," Dexter smirked.
"I was talking about her," Lenka said, sliding close to Tanith and putting her hands on her shoulders. Tanith smirked at him, but then looked down at Lenka when she looked up at her and felt herself get incredibly aroused at the massive blue eyes looking up at her. Neither woman looked away from the other. "Have you seen the Arboretum?" She said, her voice lower but still as excited. "Tyren, have you shown them the Arboretum?"
"They've only just arrived–"
"Then it's high time they saw the Arboretum!" She grinned, grabbing for Tanith's hand and already dragging her from the room. "Come! The tour!"
On their way, they met the last person down there other than Argeddion, Vernon Plight. He was narrow, dark skinned and had a warm smile. She'd heard of him, as he was known as a fierce soldier. Dexter, Erskine and Lemant stopped so they could talk but Lenka had no interest in waiting. She was dragged quite happily to the Arboretum, Lenka looking back to flash Tanith flirty smiles every so often.
They stepped in without introduction, leaving the men far behind, into a vast cavern, and in this cavern sat a rainforest. The heat, the humidity, the sounds of the streams and waterfalls and birds and insects met them and enveloped them.
"Oh my God," Tanith whispered.
"This is our very own biosphere," Lenka grinned. "I help look after it with Kalvin. It took a lot of work, but don't you love it?"
"I do! It's amazing! I mean, I can't imagine how it must feel to be cut off from the world, but having your very own rainforest, that's just incredible!" Tanith said and laughed as a butterfly approached. She held out a hand and after a moment of thought, the insect landed on her hand. Lenka hopped back over to Tanith's side and pressed herself against Tanith to look at the butterfly. "Beautiful."
Lenka looked at her. "I agree."
What a flirt!
Remus Crux: don't worry, we'll address it... soon ;)
