Land of Hope and Glory (32 page)

The regiment had been on campaign in Denmark and about to march into Swedeland – this was shortly before Salter’s death. Jack had been meditating beside the campfire after the other men had gone to bed. Jhala had appeared and sat across from him. They spoke a little about yantras and siddhas, and Jack soon realised that Jhala had been drinking opium.

Finally, Jack said, ‘Sir, can I ask something?’

‘Of course.’ Jhala’s voice was slurred.

‘You’re a siddha but I’ve never seen you use a power.’

Jhala frowned, picked up a stick and used it to poke the embers of the fire. He was silent for a moment. ‘You’re right. My powers are limited. I only have a few and none of them are military. I used a power too soon, you see. That stopped me.’

‘Stopped you?’

‘It’s the law of karma. Every action creates a reaction.’ As if to demonstrate his point, he jabbed the stick into the fire and sparks flew up in response. ‘Using a power is a drastic action – it entangles spirit and matter – and that means there’s a drastic reaction. The reaction is that you cannot develop any further powers. You stop progressing. You can study yantras, memorise them, call them to mind, but you can never use the associated power. You’re blocked. Your learning is over.’

There was an edge of bitterness to Jhala’s voice. He snapped the stick and threw it into the flames.

‘Sorry to hear that, sir.’

Jhala looked up. ‘Oh, it doesn’t matter. Old news. I had to use a power to save my life. No way out of it.’ He smiled. ‘Obviously I wasn’t meant to be a great siddha – a mahasiddha. Of course, if I was a mahasiddha I wouldn’t be using any powers anyway.’

Jack was lost now. ‘Why, sir?’

‘The law of karma, as I said. A mahasiddha won’t use a power, because that would mean he couldn’t learn any more. He withholds his powers, you see, in the hope that he can develop as far as he can. If you see a siddha use a power, then you can be almost certain he’s not a mahasiddha.’

Now, Jack stared into the stinking darkness of the pit.

The law of karma. Once you use a power you can’t learn any other powers. You’re blocked. Couldn’t that be why the stolen yantra never worked?

When Jack had developed his sattva-tracking power, Jhala had told him to use it immediately. Jhala hadn’t said anything about the law of karma. Shouldn’t he have told Jack about it? Couldn’t Jack have learnt more if he’d been given the chance?

It was hard to believe, but could Jhala have held Jack back intentionally? Had Jhala made Jack into what he himself was – a blocked siddha with only limited powers?

Jack’s fingers found a piece of metal and gripped it tightly. Thunder clouds gathered in his chest.

Had Jhala tricked him?

Jack heard a sound. He’d been sitting in complete silence for a long time – hours. He shook Charles and Saleem awake and lit the lantern. They looked up to where the glow of the lamp trailed off into darkness.

Silence.

Just as Jack thought he’d made a mistake, the sound came again – a slow, steely ring, as though a knife were being sharpened. Up the slope they saw a flicker of movement. Then another. Legs became visible, then the distended thorax, then the head swarming with feelers.

The creature gurgled, as though water were bubbling in a well. The flotsam and jetsam attached to its body tinkled as it crept to the bottom of the pit. It stood facing them and swivelled its head from side to side. Charles had the steel pole now, while Saleem held a rusting spade.

Jack’s heart poked at his ribs and the pit began to circle slowly about him. He swallowed some jatamansi and sensed a tingling spread out from his breastbone. He bent down, stuck the fuse in the bottle and lit it. The flame leapt and crept slowly along the cloth. This was it – his last chance. If he couldn’t kill the avatar, then Elizabeth would die. He swallowed but his mouth remained painfully parched.

The creature took a step forward, a trace of coal smoke puffing from its side.

Jack took a deep breath and advanced, knees bent. He moved the flaming bottle about and saw the creature’s head follow the light.

‘Come on,’ he cried.

But the beast scuttled to the side, towards Charles.

‘Get back.’ Jack moved quickly to block the creature’s path, bottle raised.

Charles edged behind Jack.

The creature gave a metallic growl and steam escaped with a hiss. It sat back on its haunches, then, without warning, leapt through the air over their heads. It arced through the darkness, jangling and clanking, and landed, with a grating squeal, on the wall above Saleem. It scurried down. Saleem tried to run, but he was up to his knees in mud. The creature was almost upon him.

Charles shouted and charged. The pole slammed into the beast’s head and a stalk broke off. The creature clicked and gurgled and turned to face its assailant. Jack grasped Saleem and dragged him out of the mud. Saleem scrambled away and Jack almost fell over, but managed to hold on to the bottle.

The creature kicked the pole and sent it flying to the other side of the pit. It roared and jabbed at Charles with its mouth. Charles fell back, crying out.

‘Hey!’ Jack ran in front of the creature, waving the bottle.

The creature bellowed and opened its mouth wider. Jack was so close he could see the kaleidoscope of blades and mandibles, smell the blast of coal, sattva and rot.

Now. He should throw the bottle now. But he waited. That mouth was wide open, but it was too far away for him to be certain of getting the bottle down it.

Let the beast come closer . . .

His hand was slippery with sweat and his heart was bashing in his chest and he’d actually stopped breathing, not because of his illness, but because he was concentrating so hard on what he had to do.

The avatar leant forward and prepared to strike. The pointed proboscis extended from its mouth. Jack glanced at the bottle. The fuse had burnt down almost to the lip. He paused, then threw. The bottle glinted as it sailed through the air. It hit the side of the creature’s mouth, but bounced off and landed in the mud a few feet away. The fuse glimmered, then went out.

Jack felt sick.

He ran towards the bottle, but one of the creature’s legs shot out and tripped him up so that he fell on his back. For a second he saw the proboscis fly towards him. He cried out and rolled to the side. The proboscis splashed into the mud and the creature gave a contorted howl.

His breath was like fire in his throat and blackness threatened from the corners of his vision. He tried to stand, slipped back to his knees, struggled up again and dived, getting his hand on the bottle. He looked up to see the creature raising its head again, mouth flickering.

He looked back at Charles, who stood grasping the pole once more, eyes wide.

‘Matches,’ Jack shouted.

Charles threw him the box, but it went wide and landed two feet away. The proboscis shot out again, like a jet of water – Jack ducked and felt the wind of its passing in his hair. The proboscis smashed into a pile of metal, scattering fragments.

Jack jumped to his left and grasped the matchbox. Hands shaking, he reversed the fuse and scraped a match against his boot. It didn’t light.

Something smacked him hard in the back and he fell forward, the breath knocked out of him and his chest screaming with pain. He flipped over and saw the creature towering over him. It slammed its leg into his breast and the rounded piece of metal at the end pinned him to the ground. He couldn’t breathe. He grasped the metal leg and tried to move it aside, but it was locked in place. He wriggled and kicked but couldn’t free himself. Coiling darkness crept across his vision and he shook his head to keep himself from slipping into unconsciousness.

Both Charles and Saleem shouted and rushed forward. Charles rammed the pole into the side of the beast, while Saleem smacked with the spade against the leg holding Jack.

Weak, Jack scraped a match against an iron sheet. The match snapped. Cursing, he got out another.

The beast knocked Charles against the far wall. It kicked the spade out of Saleem’s hands, then brushed the lad aside.

Jack frantically scraped the second match. It wouldn’t light. He was choking on the pain and was faintly aware that he must have bitten his lip as he could taste blood in his mouth.

The creature turned its head to him, roaring. The pointed proboscis edged out a short distance. This was it. He only had a few seconds left. If he couldn’t light the fuse now . . .

The match fizzed, then flickered. He looked at it as though he’d struck gold. He shoved it against the remnant of the fuse, which caught, the flame swelling against the bottle’s lip.

The creature opened its mouth wide and the stench of rotting flesh boiled out. Jack struggled to take a breath and rally the last of his strength. He lifted the bottle, tensed his arm, then threw. The bottle twisted and rolled in the air, the fuse glimmering. It hit one side of the creature’s mouth, bounced, hit the other side, rolled for a moment and then funnelled into the dark maw.

Nothing happened.

It hadn’t worked.

He was about to die.

There was a sudden boom and the creature jolted. Then another boom, inside the metal casing. One side of the beast’s thorax split open and shards of steel flew out. Steam screamed as it shot from several places.

The creature rolled on its side, squealing. Jack could see the cogs and brass pipes inside the wound, with the red fire in the centre. Steam and coal smoke filled the pit and made it difficult to see.

The leg that was pinioning him fell away and Jack was able to stand. He coughed and rasped down air. Charles cheered and slapped him on the back. Saleem also climbed to his feet, unharmed.

They watched as the creature writhed and shrieked, water bubbling fiercely inside it. The fire dimmed to faint embers and the steam cleared. But the avatar still moved, although slowly. It dragged itself over to the wall, only four of its legs still working. It began climbing the wall, pulling itself a few feet and then stopping, before pulling itself a few feet further.

Jack gulped down some jatamansi. ‘Follow me.’ He ran underneath the hanging monster and grasped the end of its thorax.

‘What?’ Charles said.

‘We’ll never get out of here otherwise,’ Jack said. ‘Hurry up . . . and bring that lantern.’

Charles and Saleem took hold of the metal ribbing. As the beast raised itself, they put their feet against the slope to support themselves. They sweated and strained, but managed to keep their grip. Despite the jatamansi, Jack’s chest ached and he had to fight to stop himself blacking out. Charles fixed the lantern to a gap between the ribs so that they had light the whole way up.

The creature groaned as it hauled itself over the edge of the pit. In the yellowish light, Jack could see they were in a round chamber dug out of the earth.

‘Quick.’ He let go and pain shot through his body as his feet hit the ground. The creature looked severely damaged, but he was worried it might be able to repair itself.

Raising the lantern, he looked about the chamber and spotted a tunnel leading away to one side. They ran down this, tripping at times in the soft earth.

Jack listened for any sign that the creature was following them, but he heard nothing. For a moment he wondered whether there were more of the beasts, but he tried to put the thought out of his mind.

They came to an intersection, and kept going straight on until they found another intersection. Jack had no idea which direction to go in, but decided to keep straight ahead so that at least they wouldn’t lose their way.

After fifteen minutes, cool air from a side tunnel touched his cheek. He looked up the passage and saw faint grey light in the distance. ‘This way.’

They went on for another ten minutes, the air becoming clearer and the light growing. The tunnel sloped gradually uphill.

Finally, they came out at the bottom of a shallow crater. Dawn had cast the cloudy sky silver.

They scrambled out of the crater and stood for a moment looking back at the dark hole.

Charles made the sign of the cross.

‘Praise to Allah,’ Saleem whispered.

Jack felt something running on to his chin. When he dabbed it with his sleeve, he saw it was blood. He touched his lip – it was swollen and painful where it had been split.

He looked around. They were back on the plain they’d left hours earlier, the open ground grey and dreamlike in the growing light. More than a mile away he could see the dark form of the mill town, with the two red eyes of fire floating above.

‘Let’s get out of here.’

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