The Infernal Aether (First Draft)

Chapter 37 - The Race for Home

What had started as a trickle of refugees grew into a torrent as we drew nearer to London. Soon the mass of people was such that our pace was forced into little more than a crawl. I looked down at the faces of those we passed, each one glazed in dulled desperation. Mothers held sobbing children close while fathers stared ahead grimly.

"Turn away," said a voice from the roadside, a woman with a child in her arms. "You're goin' the wrong way."

I pulled my horse over to where she was seated. "How is London?"

"Gettin' emptier by the day," she said. "You can tell it's bad when us common folk jump ship."

"The Government have left already then, I take it?"

She laughed. "'Course. Them were the first to head off to the country. Them and the Queen." She spat on the floor. "First we see of her in years is when she hightails it, leaving us all to rot."

N'yotsu stared into the distance. "So the city is empty?"

"Empty of people, at least," she said. "Plenty of other creatures in there though."

"What kind of creatures?" asked Kate.

"You don't want to know. Just mark my words and turn around."

"We cannot," said N'yotsu.

"Then I will pray for your souls," said the woman.

"Save your prayers," said N'yotsu, spurring his horse onwards.

"Speak for yourself," I muttered, smiling apologetically at the woman before following my friends down the road and towards the emptying city.

* * *

Our horses' hooves echoed loudly as we made our way through the streets. Everywhere seemed much, much bigger without the clutter of people and traffic. The city in which I had grown up was now unrecognisable, a place of empty squares and streets that seemed to stretch for miles and miles.

Not everyone had fled London, for here and there we saw glimpses of people at windows and round corners. But no one approached us; as soon as we noticed them or got close enough they darted away.

I found myself jumping at the slightest shadow or movement, the woman's warnings still ringing in my ears. We had seen and heard of all manner of creatures on our travels to and from Scotland. However, we were now much closer to the source of the portal than we had been before and I feared for what would become of the city after nightfall.

I looked to the sky in an attempt to gauge how long we had before dusk. Tendrils of deep black stretched across the sky and for a second my heart quickened, thinking that we were already too late. Then I realised that in fact what I was seeing was the Aether's sickly fingers reaching out and strangling the sweet light of day. My stomach turned as I realised that the stones beneath us were covered by a faint covering of mist. I kicked my horse into a trot and the others followed my lead. I knew we still had plenty of daylight left but I no longer trusted the world to follow the same rules.

My caution was rewarded just a few minutes later. "What was that?" hissed Kate, pointing down the street.

"What?" I asked, peering into the distance.

"It looked...Nothing. I think I'm seeing things."

"I do not think you are," said N'yotsu. We turned to look where he was indicating. A strange, squat creature stood in the street behind us, its body covered in slick black scales, lank hair trailing around it. It snarled at us, revealing a mouth full of needle-like teeth.

"We should move," I said as the creature stepped forwards, glaring at us with a deep hunger. The shadows around it shifted to reveal another creature, as malicious as the first, then another and another. They crept toward us in a slow, determined tide.