Clockwork Twist : Waking (28 page)

“Not yet,” she said. “I want you to agree to it first.  As I said, you must trust me.”

A million possibilities flashed to Twist's mind in an instant.  She could ask him to give Myra up and never return.  She could tell him to return to this city with her and never see the living world again.  Or, she could simply want him to stay with Myra and protect her for the rest of his life—which, by contrast, would be the easiest.  There was no way of knowing what she would ask of him.  It might not even be something he could do.  He looked down to Myra's crystal, lying silently in her golden hands.  He knew, undeniably, that this was the best chance he would ever have of bringing her back to the living world.

“All right,” he said, surprised by the strength in his own voice. “I'll do whatever you ask.  I only want to see her alive again.”

Elizabeth watched him silently for a moment, before she gave a nod and rose to her feet. “Wait here,” she said. “Believe it or not, this won't take very long.”

With that, she left him alone in the glass-walled palace and took Myra's crystal away with her.  Twist felt as if the weight of the world were crashing down on his weak and fragile form in the cold absence of Myra's spirit echoing in the back of his mind.

After what felt like a lifetime, the same silver man appeared and asked Twist to follow him back to the city entrance.  When they reached it, Twist found Elizabeth waiting for them with a warm smile on her golden face.

“I assume I don't have to tell you to take good care of this,” she said, holding a new, ruby red crystal out to him.

Twist took it carefully, and instantly recognized Myra's sleeping spirit within the now perfect crystal.  He took the offered white cloth and wrapped it snugly inside.

“Now, for my payment,” Elizabeth said.

“Yes, whatever you like,” Twist said, steeling what little courage and determination he had left to offer.

“Never tell a living soul what you have seen here,” she said, to Twist's instant shock. “Not ever, not anyone.  Not even her,” she added, gesturing to Myra's sleeping spirit. “If she should ever wish to come to us, then she will find us on her own and we will welcome her.  But you are not to tell a soul about us or our city.  We prize our isolation.  We are down here because of it.”

“But this place is a marvel!  A miracle!” Twist said, unable to stop himself. “If anyone knew about it—” he began.

“You have already given me your word, Twist,” Elizabeth said gently. “You must keep it now.”

Twist stared back at her, as a sudden realization stung him.  He would never see this place again, either.  He would never again speak with Elizabeth, or even be able to speak of her to anyone else.  She and her people would become a secret that would die with him.  It seemed somehow unreasonably unjust.

“I will keep my promise to you,” he said, forcing the words out of his reluctant soul.

“I knew I could trust you,” she said, smiling to him one last time.

Twist etched the memory of her face into his mind before he turned to leave the city.  The silver man who had first found him, now led him along a different path that climbed steadily up into the slick, gray rock, out of the gently glowing crystal caverns.  They didn't meet any of the gruesome creatures on their way, even in the blackness of the tight rock tunnels.  It felt like miles before the metal man finally stopped and told Twist that the way was now clear of confusing turns or hidden creatures.  All Twist had to do was walk the rest of the way out.

Twist was grateful once again for his walking stick as his continued to climb through the darkness alone, along an inclined tunnel.  The blue, electric light soon began to glisten off the rocks as they appeared moist again, nearer the surface, and the cane itself was a help as his limbs continued to complain against the effort.  In the silence, he found himself reaching out for the warmth of Jonas's existence at the base of his neck.  It wasn't long before the warmth grew into a nervous, electric tension.

“Twist!” he heard a voice call out, echoing off the stones.

Twist hurried his pace despite his fatigue, now feeling Jonas moving steadily closer to him.  In a sudden burst of white, electric light, Twist turned one last corner to find himself faced with his companions once again.  Before he even had time to speak, Jonas launched himself at him, wrapping Twist in his arms and showering his mind in numb, warm, white, calm.             

“Shit, I thought you were dead!” Jonas gasped, pushing him back far enough to glare at. “Don't ever do that to me again!”

“I fell through a hole!” Twist snapped back in his own defense. “It was hardly on purpose, you know.”

Jonas's hands gripped his arms firmly, while Twist recognized an odd mix of fear, pain, and relief on the other man's face. “I mean it.  No more holes for you, got it?” Jonas said, his voice forced and not nearly as clear as it should have been.

“Fine,” Twist said, unable to keep the light smile from his face. “I'll do my best not to almost die again, just for you.  All right?”

“Good,” Jonas said, taking a breath and wrapping one arm around Twist's neck as he turned back to the others. “Can we leave now?” he asked them.

“He's fine,” Quay said, gesturing to Twist. “And we haven't found a single crystal yet.”

“Twist and I are leaving right now,” Jonas snapped savagely.

“Jonas—“ Quay began, anger glimmering at the edge of his composure.

“Wait, wait, it's all right,” Twist said, throwing up his hands to draw some attention to himself. “I have it.  Look,” he said, pulling the tied cloth off of his hip to hold up the wrapped crystal.  He then quickly opened the cloth to reveal it to stunned expressions from everyone.

“How on Earth did you do that?” Idris asked, staring at the perfectly formed, round crystal.  “Did you carve it with your fingernails?”

“It doesn't matter how I got it,” Twist said, holding it up for Jonas to see. “Look at it, tell them the princess's spirit is inside it.”

“It is,” Jonas breathed, staring at it in astonishment. “But how—?”

“I've had a very trying day,” Twist said, cutting off the question. “I've walked through a whole bloody jungle, I fell down a dark hole, I was attacked by monsters—“ Twist felt a ripple of fear shoot through Jonas. “I'm all right, though,” he added quickly. “But I'm now in desperate need of a cup of tea and a lie down.  Can we leave this wretched cave, please?”

The others found no other response between them than to begin the journey back.  It felt like a very long time before they finally returned to the falls at the mouth of the cave.  Outside, Twist was too tired to even worry about the cliff anymore, so he let Jonas lead him back along it once again.  The sunlight that broke through the ravine felt like the most wondrous thing in the world as it fell onto his bruised and battered skin.  They took a few small breaks on the way back through the jungle.  Each time Twist stumbled, it took longer to get back to his feet.  Each step felt more and more difficult to him, despite the small rests.

It was edging into the afternoon by the time the group of pirates reemerged from the jungle, onto the white sand beach, and began the walk back to the docks.  Twist had no longer any choice but to lean heavily on Jonas for support by the time the docks came into view around a bend in the palm strewn beach.  Distracted as he was with simply continuing to move, he was the last to notice the now crowded airship docks, or the sea of men who stood on the beach.  The pirates ducked into the trees, looking out at the crowds with great alarm.

“Jonas?” Quay said to him, looking over the figures and the ships that hung in the air, so numerous that they covered the beach in cool shadows.  Jonas looked over the crowd with uncovered eyes.

“That's the British Royal Air Force,” he said, as if he didn't believe his own words.

“This isn't a British colony,” Vane protested. “What are they doing here?”

“I specifically told the port authority in Hong Kong that we were headed to Russia,” Quay said in totally disbelief. “And no one was following us.  No one knew we were here!”

“Is that the
Vimana
?” Twist asked, staring up at a familiar shape in the dense cloud of otherwise military looking airships.

“And that's my sister, jumping up and down and waving at us in the middle of that crowd of soldiers,” Jonas said, pointing again.

When Twist followed his indication, he saw a single form jumping happily on the sand, leading a wave of armed men in their exact direction.  It was only moments before the British forces—dressed in red and white, and each man carrying a rifle—were well within sight.

“Captain Adair Quay!” called a voice through a megaphone, the owner of which Twist found easily at the front of the crowd. “You are under arrest for piracy, theft, and assault against Great Britain and many of the Queen's loyal colonies.  Surrender now or you will be fired upon.”  Perfectly in time, the armed men on the beach took aim at the trees.

“Jon!  Twist!” Arabel called happily into the jungle, almost looking at them directly through the dense cover of the trees. “I found you!”

“I hate your bloody sister,” Quay growled at Jonas. “Vane, change into a fox and sneak around behind them.  Jiran, Cybele, take up positions in those trees.  Idris, could you lend us a hand?” he said, quickly.

“In addition,” the officer with the megaphone called out. “Our warrant from the Queen states that we are to arrest Captain Quay and anyone on his crew.  If any of you should decide to defect now, then we are honor bound to let you leave peacefully.”

“What!?” Quay spat. “That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.”

“Are you telling me,” Vane called back to the men loudly, “that if we all decide to leave Adair, we'll all be free to go?”

“Yes, exactly,” the man with the megaphone said. “This is a special warrant for the captain alone.  Come out peacefully and you will not be arrested.”

“You can't trust them!” Quay bellowed to the pirates around him. “It's got to be a trick.”

“Sorry, mate,” Vane said with a meek smile. “No hard feelings.” With that, he got to his feet and walked out to the beach with his hands up. “I surrender, good British gentleman!” he said as he walked. “That bad pirate made me join him!  I'm a good boy, I promise.”

“Me too!” Cybele said, following after him with her gun hanging harmlessly in one hand. “I'm American, by the way, well outside your jurisdiction you know.”  Jiran gave Quay a sorrowful shrug before getting up to follow after them with her hands raised as well.  As each of them reached the British forces, they were met with reluctant but polite nods.

“You're bloody damned traitors, the lot of you!” Quay bellowed after them. “Idris, please,” he said imploringly to the djinn. “Haven't I always come up with the most entertaining wishes for you?”

“I'm already serving one debt to society by being here in your world at all,” Idris said with a sigh. “I'm sorry, but I have no intention of being arrested here on Earth, as well.”  He too got to his feet and then vanished into a cloud of purple smoke, leaving only Twist and Jonas still beside Quay.

Quay only stared at Jonas and Twist silently, with a bitter desperation in his eyes.

“Thanks for getting me away from my family for a while,” Jonas said, placing a hearty pat on the pirate's shoulder. “But this is where we part ways.”  With that, he helped Twist to his feet and led him out to the beach, where Arabel met them both with a wide smile.

“Oh, can you touch people now?” Arabel asked brightly.  Twist was still leaning on Jonas, with an arm over the stronger man's shoulders.

“No, just me,” Jonas answered quickly. “It's a long story.”

“Damn,” Arabel spat. “Oh well,” she said with a sigh, reaching out to take Jonas's neck in one hand as she planted a kiss on his cheek, mere inches away from Twist. “I'm so glad to see you again!” she said, positively beaming at her brother. “And you,” she said, smiling widely at Twist. “Oh, I would kiss you too, if I could.”

“Thank you,” Twist managed to respond while his face suddenly became very warm.

Once everything was explained to him, Twist was finally able to understand what had happened on the beach.  After the attack by Quay in Nepal, the
Vimana
had been left crippled for a number of days.  Once Zayle and the others had managed to get it sky worthy once again, Capt. Davis had set a course for the nearest British port and hatched a plan to capture Quay, using the only tactic that the British Air Force had never tried before.  Even though he had been a wanted man for many years, no one had ever been able to catch Quay because of the powerful crew members that he always had at his disposal.  Only by offering them a pardon, at his expense, were they finally able to capture him.  It was also the air force's opinion that culling the leader would do wonders to calm his crew.

His ship and possessions were supposed to be confiscated as damages against the crown, but Cybele insisted that she had stolen the ship all on her own, in the Baku harbor.

“Who did you steal the ship from?” the British official asked at the final meeting on the beach, below the dense cloud of airships, as Quay was led away, fuming and cursing, in handcuffs.

“A silk trader from Turkey, on his way to Russia,” Cybele said.

“Well, Turkey isn't a British territory...” the official conceded.

“Now, just a minute,” Vane interjected, “We all helped to steal that ship!”

“Do you want a ride back to Hong Kong, or not?” Cybele snapped at him.

“Oh,
that
ship?” Vane asked, pointing. “I thought you meant another ship.  Yes, she stole it fair and square from the Turkish fellow,” he said earnestly to the British official.