City of Ruin - Mark Charan Newton [143]
‘I’m not sure I’ve a clue what you’re on about,’ Jeryd sighed.
‘The process was intended to separate people’s minds from their bodies, but it failed to produce any real results, so at the time led to the belief that mind and body were in fact one. Instead, it was the prisoners’ . . . essence, for want of a less technical word, that was ripped from them, and distilled neatly into portable devices. That stolen essence is what comprises the Phonoi, making each of them a spirit of murder. And, pardon my language, but they’re bloody nasty to deal with close up.’
And I used to think those nights in Villjamur were full of freak shows, Jeryd thought. This place is twice as bad.
‘So we shall deal with this from afar!’ Bellis immediately scurried back to her satchel, and began rummaging around inside. The figure was coming closer now, still hovering on that white wind. The Grey Hairs advised Jeryd to shuffle back towards the cage for his own safety. He was neither reluctant nor eager to do so, feeling so utterly out of place amid such weirdness. There were clearly things in this world of greater mystery than he knew how to deal with.
The old cultists took up position on the edge of the roof, each of them gripping an identical metal tube in one hand. Abaris seemed to pull a strip of material off his tube, amber dust from it caught up in the wind. They conferred. They clashed their relics like tankards in a bar. Suddenly something sparked up into the sky above, like a firework, carving the air with a scream, which faded as their missile penetrated the cloud base.
Thunder rolled in the sky, or something like it, and then came a glow that highlighted the dense layers of cumulus.
Well, I never . . . Jeryd thought, as if he could witness any more surprises tonight.
Swooping down from out of the clouds came a titanic skeletal form of a garuda, constructed entirely from a purple light. Only the edges of this being glowed; in the gaps where the meat should be, there was nothing.
It swooped down directly above their heads, then arced majestically towards the oncoming figure. Jeryd noticed how Abaris and Ramon were both grinding their relics this way and that, in the same manner, as if operating a kite.
As the electric garuda sailed down, forcing a current of wind, the figure spotted it and began heading away instantly, towards the east, no longer towards them, all the time chased by its relic-inspired pursuer. The hunt was fast and intense, their weird shapes skimming just above the tops of houses, ripping up roof tiles and stirring street detritus in their wake.
It was all over before the first minute was out.
The garuda opened a skeletal framework of jaws and consumed the figure whole, then turned slowly in a graceful arc back towards the rooftop where Abaris and Ramon were cheering loudly like a couple of kids playing games. They guided the apparition gently down towards the cage, murmuring brief orders and directions.
Jeryd edged backwards in alarm, wary of this construct. As it merged with the bars of light, the figure that had been pursuing them was deposited alongside the spider, his top hat falling to the floor beside him.
‘Oh, well done, boys!’ Bellis cried.
It was only then that the spider began to change shape, at first lurching and convulsing, then its limbs bending and contracting out of context.
You are absolutely bloody joking, Jeryd thought. That’s impossible . . .
It contorted into his Inquisition aide, Nanzi, who was now naked, and upon seeing this, the man with the top hat immediately produced a satchel with some clothing in it. She hastily covered herself up, and then huddled alongside him. He placed his arm around her protectively.
The cultists and Jeryd stood in awed silence observing their catch.
‘We’ve a fine brace tonight, then. Shame we couldn’t trap the Phonoi, still, it’s a fairly good haul even for us old things,’ Bellis declared.