secret in Hell. You certainly took your time about it.'
Carefully, I offered him my short sword as a show of co-operation, but he refused the gesture with a pithy wave. 'Please. I have no use for your little weapons, nor do I need to confiscate them. Unless…you give me reason to?'
'No reason.' I said, putting my sword away. 'None at all.'
I was relieved not to have give up my dagger again; Kat was also content to have his katana with him at all times.
Eddinray was the only one who did not lower his sword. He was too distracted by Harmony, and the pear- shaped tear shimmering down her face. 'My dear?' he stuttered. 'Do not be afraid of this man!'
The angel spilled more tears without explanation, then masked her face with her hands.
'It's been a long time Harmony.' the warden said. 'A very…long time.'
37. The Little Emperor
Arms strung around her stomach, Harmony remained tight lipped as we trailed the warden into his Fortress. 'Put your friends out of their misery.' the warden insisted, his palm grazing a scantly lit wall. 'Put their minds at ease Harmony.'
She said nothing, and neither did the rest of us as we ascended a gloomy staircase. I sympathized with Kat, who scraped his fingers off stone like an agitated gorilla. In a matter of minutes we had lost all control. An unknown factor called fate was in charge now, and our friend Harmony Valour, played some part in its plan.
After twenty or so steps, we reached the damp first floor of the 9th Fortress. I was pleased with the lack of light, it prevented me from seeing the bodies of those I heard scurry about, not far from us.
'Do not be alarmed.' said the short warden. 'The night creatures feast only on prisoners of my choosing.'
I shuddered at the thought as we arrived at an open elevator of some kind. One sabre-wielding hood stood on guard beside it — his body perfectly rigid, but his breathing sounding heavy under the mask.
A bleak corridor curved away from the elevator, and spread along that wall was steel door after steel door — all of them closed, but none were fitted with handles or even locks. I moved with the warden into the cold elevator, so was first to be held back by his hand. 'Do not open any door without authorization.' he said, seriously. 'I sense curiosity here. Never satisfy it. The cost will be your own sanity.'
Malevolence was an easy to thing to spot after spending time with likes of Kat, and it was written all over the wardens' podgy face now. I gave an understanding nod, and then I entered the elevator with him. Kat pressed himself in beside me, with hawkish eyes searching for exits, or the possibility of making his own.
Once we where all inside, the doors slammed shut, then a dazzling weld instantly melted a seal down the centre of the doors. 'Is that natural?' I asked the warden, averting my face from the uncomfortable light.
'Take the stairs if you wish?' he returned, amused.
'Where are we going?' asked Kat.
'Express.' he answered, ogling Harmony's neckline. 'To the very top.'
Then, without pressing a button, the sturdy elevator began to vibrate, causing a tickling sensation to run up the legs. Energy was gathering underneath us, and before I could ask, the elevator exploded off the ground floor, like a shuttle leaving the launch pad.
Speed was not as fast as the locomotive, but there was an uncomplicated rawness to this machine. Every floor we raced past, we heard the smashing of metal. I counted thirty-three strikes before losing count, until it was simply a battering ram of sound beyond the centre weld.
The warden appeared calm throughout, bored even and hardly flinched when gas shot out from vents in the corners. I was reminded of one of those rickety old horror houses, with recorded screams playing loops in the background. It was all too strange to understand, and all too real to be fun.
A sudden jolt bounced us two inches from the floor and our stomachs even higher. The ride was over, but before butterflies had a chance to settle, the doors sprang open, and the smell of burning firewood replaced that of burning brakes.
'My quarters.' said the warden, stepping into his room and flapping away all the accumulated gas.
Carefully, I wandered in. This was the top of the world — an elaborate office with a Gothic interior, slick black floors and a polished oak desk as its centrepiece. The burning smell came from the homely looking fireplace, cut into one entire wall, its crackling fire blades taller than anyone here. Near this hung a framed map of old earth, with France painted over in rich gold leaf. A window dominated most of the penthouse, providing a gob-smacking view of a realm so skewed, and so beyond comprehension. The late dusk sky was severely toasted, and I saw no birds flutter there tonight, only the black angels delivering their payloads. My attention was brought back to the penthouse by the jangling beads of a crystal chandelier above the desk. Lastly, opposite the window, was a hefty dinner table displaying platters of colurful food fit for any appetite. 'Help yourself.' the warden said, throwing his heavy looking overcoat over a velvet sofa. 'Come in. Come! Come!'
I got a good look at his uniform now and snickered. I still wasn't used to seeing someone looking so old fashioned; like Sir Isaac Newton, the warden appeared quite comfortable in black boots to the knees, figure hugging white cotton pants and a waistcoat holding in his barrel of a belly.
All free from the steaming elevator, its doors shut, and we heard it clatter back down the shaft. I recoiled upon noticing a guard beside the welded doors. Not another masked hood, but a man of bronze from top to bottom, his face polished on the outside and seemingly hollow on the inside; a fifteen foot titan endowed with brutal strength, boulder brown shoulders, bulging copper arms and a thick sword in his hard hands.
'Impressive statue.' said Kat.
'No statue.' tittered the warden, and sure enough, Kat recoiled the instant he felt the heat of that statues exhaling breath.
'For my protection.' the warden added, combing back his fringe. 'My position here requires the most effective security. Hardly the Grande Armee, but you will find none more persuasive than my man of bronze. Please, the food on the table is delicious and perfectly safe to eat.'
'How long have you been expecting us?' I asked him, on edge.
The warden pushed back the chair to sit at his desk. He then crossed his little legs and lit a smoke from a silver cigarette case. 'The very moment you descended into the depths.' he answered, lingering on the puff. 'Souls who enter Hell are thoroughly scanned and their presence made known to those who have an interest, be it past enemies or old acquaintances. Your intention was to come to my Fortress, I was therefore informed.'
Intrigued, Harmony selected an orange from the table, and then shyly observed the warden at his desk.
'You've lost weight.' she said. 'Some, I suppose.'
I shared disappointed glances with Kat. Had our whiter than white friend betrayed us? I couldn't believe it. With the cigarette stick hanging between his lips, the warden left the desk and approached Harmony — his small eyes squinting at her blotched right arm.
'Did I not send you the poet?' he hissed, standing from his seat to direct his anger at me. 'Well?'
Confused, I recalled the ghost above the labyrinth, the slight young-man who gave us a barrel of overflowing water for our thirst, advice to escape the maze, and the door to take at the end of it.
'You sent him for us?' I asked.
'Of course!' he exclaimed, furious. 'Virgil's role is to support the warden of the 9th Fortress, and that support was at your disposal!'
Presently, as if by some unheard command, the transparent blonde-haired poet joined us in the penthouse.
'How are you?' he asked me, sincerely.
I looked at him with an empty mind. It had been a very long time since the twists and turns of the labyrinth, with its treacherous Wisp and starving rats.
'Virgil's guidance was there whenever you required it.' the warden explained. 'If you had only called his name he would have come to your aid at any-time — at any time! There was no need to wander through fields, to meander with mutineers; and certainly no need for this angel's arm to be in such condition!'
