Spliced

Indi thought she managed to shield, but if she did, it was gone by the time they landed. She really needed to practice that more. The landing did feel softer, but as she looked around at where they had landed she realised it wasn’t due to her shield, at least not fully. They were lying on what appeared to be two mattresses stacked on top of one another. It was one of the softest mattresses Indi had ever been on and she was so distracted by both the softness and their surprise appearance that it took her a second to realise she was also lying half on top of Coal.

“Sorry,” she mumbled as she pulled herself upright and off him. A quick glance up confirmed that the crazy goat thing had decided not to follow them.

“You shielded that time,” Coal remarked, seemingly unfazed.

Indi nodded. “Yeah, for a bit.”

“It seemed to soften the blow.”

“Not as much as these.” She nodded at the mattresses. “That was you I take?”

Coal gave a nod as he pulled himself into a sitting position. “I keep a few things in storage that might be useful for summoning should the need arise.”

“Clever.” Indi gave a slow nod as she imagined a large warehouse full of bits and pieces. It was probably oversized in her mind. For summoning to work well the summoner generally had to know what something looked like and where it was located. Of course the closer and more fixed the object to the summoner the better too. Remembering the layout and contents of an entire warehouse might not have been difficult for someone with an eidetic memory like Indi but she was well aware normal people were a bit more limited. What Coal had was probably more like a small storage unit, although it did have her wondering about the intended purpose of the mattresses. Perhaps it was intended for falling off things or maybe it was just in case he ever needed somewhere soft to sleep. “But don’t you think a bouncy castle would work better?” Indi asked before she could stop herself.

Coal seemed intrigued at the suggestion. He rubbed his chin. “Hmm, that’s a good point, I’ll have to consider that.”

As he spoke the expression on his face changed and he seemed to focus on something behind Indi with new worry clouding his icy blue eyes.

Indi looked just in time to see several stone heads slowly turning their way. “Uh oh,” was all she could manage in a quiet breathless voice. She went to take another breath and suddenly found she couldn’t. She tried not to panic as her mind was filled with images of the asthma inhaler she’d left in her bag which conveniently lay on the front seat of Cat’s car.

“We better move. Can you shield?” Coal said in a low, firm voice as he slid off the mattresses and held up his sword, eyes not moving from the statues that were starting to move towards them. At least they moved as if they were made of stone.

It wasn’t that Indi couldn’t speak, it was just at that moment, in it’s panic, her mind decided that squeaking and gesturing at her throat was the better form of communication.

It got Coal’s attention at least. He gave a frown of confusion for half a second before understanding registered on his face and a moment later he held out a hand.

Indi glanced down to see him holding an inhaler, much like, but definitely not the same as the one she’d left in the car.

She hesitated only a second, feeling something like the raw magic that a child feels upon being presented with an unexpected handful of candy. Then she grabbed it greedily and sucked in the helpful medicine.

Before she was even finished her second puff Coal had swooped an arm behind her and pulled her up from the mattress and to her feet.

“If you’re going to pass out, now is not a good time,” he told her a little too harshly.

Luckily the medicine helped and Indi found her airways clear again. She did feel a bit slow physically, but her mind was sharp.

With a glance first to check she was still with him, Coal, with his sword in his other hand, grabbed Indi around the waist and pulled her with him to the edge of the courtyard. He released his grasp once they reached the wall. Then with another quick look at the now slightly faster approaching statues he pulled something from his jacket pocket.

Indi had just enough time to wonder as to when and how he’d managed to re-don his suit jacket before he was turned and tapping the wall with the point of some small rock. When nothing happened he grabbed her and pulled her along with him to another spot further along the wall. He repeated the process a few more times, occasionally with a pause to check how close the statues were.

There came a sharp instruction to “Follow,” and a quick glance from Coal to check she was still capable of moving. After that Indi kept pace with him, although she used the wall for balance any time they stopped. She kept her gaze jumping between Coal, who was continuing with the strange tapping on the wall, and the slowly closing in statues.

They were uncomfortably close by now. Enough that Indi tried shielding. It held for awhile and the statues gathered around the edges unable to get in. Then it faded and the statues crept closer in an uncanny jerking motion.

Coal stopped his tapping and eyed them. Then he eyed a spot further along the wall. One that was blocked by a few statues.

“Can you shield again?” he asked briskly.

Indi hesitated, worried it would fail again.

“If you can now would be a good time,” Coal instructed as he stepped toward them sword in left hand.

Indi raised her hands and imagined a force pushing their enemies away. She closed her eyes as she did. But then unable to hear or see what was happening she opened them soon after. The shield had worked. A glimmer hung in the air between them and the statues. Relief flooded through Indi, and as it did, the glimmer began to fade as if held there by her fear itself.

“Don’t drop it!” Coal barked. “Keep it steady until I say.”

The harshness of his voice made her heart beat faster. The glimmering wall strengthened. With her back against the wall she focused on keeping it up.

Coal walked to an edge of the semi-circle. Right in front of one of the statues. A few of the others started to walk towards that edge as well, trying to get as close as they could. Some tried to push forward but the shield held steady.

Indi’s heart beat faster still and she wanted to yell at him to get away from the edge least the shield collapse, but the words got lost in her throat.

Coal walked around the edge of the shield slowly, tall and confident, drawing the statues around with him so they congregated on one side.

Indi glanced the other way, realisation dawning on her as she suddenly understood what he was doing. On the other side was a gap, no statues, only her shield. The way they had been going before. But to where? Indi didn’t know what the rock Coal had did but she got the impression he was trying to find the door she’d come into this courtyard through.

“Ready?” Coal asked with a glance back at her.

She spun her eyes to meet his and found she still had no voice. But she understood what he was asking and so she gave a definitive nod.

“Now!” he barked as he ran at her. He scooped another arm under hers, and as Indi dropped her shield, Coal pulled her along with him.

She gave a small yelp and almost stumbled except Coal seemed to feel it and tightened his grip, yanking her up and forwards. Eventually she found her feet but Coal still tugged her along. He continued his tapping on the wall with the rock.

Indi didn’t look back. She didn’t want to know how close those things were.

Finally Coal’s rock met the wall with a loud pop, like a miniature thunder storm, and the wall swung inward, looking very much like the door Indi had come through.

Indi’s heart sang and then immediately sank as something stone grab her waist. She gave a shout.

Coal spun and swung his sword, bringing in from underneath and hitting the stone arm with a solid clang. It did very little damage, a small stone chip flew off. But it did distract the statue. It released it’s grip on Indi and went for Coal instead.

Indi fell to the rocky ground and quickly crawled out of the way of any immediate harm.

“Move! Through the door!” Coal instructed as he dodged another blow from the statue. Their arms were much faster than their legs but Coal was faster still, and he moved with the fluidity of a raging river.

Indi watched for a moment, mesmerized as he danced somehow so beautiful and graceful and strong all at once, beneath stone arms and reaching nails. He struck several skilled and forceful blows, chipping away at small bits of stone. However, any one watching knew that despite his obvious skill with the sword there was no winning for someone made of flesh.

Eventually Indi, who was still lying on the ground, came to her senses and picked the perfect moment to summon her shield once more.

Coal recognised the opportunity almost immediately. He lowered his sword and took a step back from the almost invisible wall. The statue, and several others who had joined it now clawed at it with their gnarled, inhuman fingers.

Coal stood a second, eyeing them up. Then he spun so fast and fearsome and full of something terrifying. Indi was almost afraid at the look in his eyes. She felt she should move. They needed to get out of here. Every bone in her body was telling her to do so but she barely had the energy to get up. Her legs felt like Jelly.

Coal didn’t hesitate. He pulled her up then swung an arm under her weak knees and carried her through the secret doorway.

As he put her down, Indi found her feet. “I’m okay, I’m just...” she trailed off with a sigh and leaned against the wooden walls of the dark corridor as Coal closed the door on the creatures.

She watched as he placed an ear to the wall, obviously checking to see if anything was following.

Indi shivered, wondering if they needed to keep moving. The air was cooler in here. It was also very quiet. Indi could hear her own heart beating a mile a minute.

Eventually Coal turned away from the wall. “I think they only activate when someone’s in there, or on the ground at least. He looked around the narrow passage and Indi could have sworn she saw an expression of more fear than she’d seen so far cross his face. It was dark though, the only light was that coming through the cracks in the wooden walls.

She took in a deep breath. That last use of magic had drained her and she suddenly realised she hadn’t actually eaten that much today. The plan had been to get dinner after exploring the house, but she hadn’t expected to be using quite so much magic.

“Here.” Coal, seeing how tired she looked had guessed at what she needed and had somehow summoned a bright red apple. Even in this low light it shone.

“You can summon food?” Indi asked. Organics were much harder than metals for summoners to call. “Doesn’t that take a lot of energy?”

“I’m efficient,” Coal replied, in a tone that reminded her of Amanda’s smooth confidence.

Indi took the apple gratefully and demolished it fast enough that Coal gave a small chuckle. He seemed pleased that she liked it even if he was still giving the rest of the corridor worried looks every now and again.

It wasn’t until after she’d eaten it that Indi asked, “Where’d you get it?”

“I know a place that sells the perfect apples. They always look exactly the same and they never notice a few missing. Now maybe if I took the whole bunch they would but the trick is not being too greedy.”

“Wow! It’s too bad you can’t summon candyfloss,” Indi remarked not at all expecting him to do so.

The next second Coal handed her a stick of the fluffiest candyfloss she’d ever seen with a magical gleam in his eye.

Indi’s own eyes widened and this time “Whoa,” was all she could say.

“We should keep moving,” Coal suggested.

Indi nodded as she picked at candyfloss. The sugar was definitely helping her energy levels. So was the cool air. But now she found she was also getting cold. She shivered. Noticing this, Coal removed and handed her his suit jacket. She eyed it in surprise. She’d heard some of the others talk about Coal before, mostly not very nice things but here he was being an almost perfect gentleman. He’d always seemed so nice on each short occasion she’d met him too. And he’d just saved her life. Evidently, she hesitated a little too long, so he took it and put it over her shoulders for her.

“Thank you,” Indi replied, pulling it gladly around herself, pleased with the extra warmth. “But won’t you be cold? You’ve just got that shirt and I’ve already got a jersey on.”

Coal shook his head. “I’ll be fine, I’m finding this place a bit stuffy as it is too be honest.” He gave a tug at his already loose collar and undid another button as if to back up his point. But he didn’t bother to check for Indi’s reaction. Instead he turned and started off down the corridor.

She cocked her head sideways at him before following along after. He was an intriguing man.