A Change In The Weather

Chapter 46: The guardian

3 March, 2008 – 2:39 pm

For half-an-hour they speculated and puzzled and chatted to each other about the origin of the bones. Nothing, it seemed, could distract them from their wild theories.

Scarlet had managed to convince herself (and Thomas too) that the bones were the hoard of a tribe of cannibalistic head-hunters – a theory that was fast gaining acceptance from Tobias, who hadn’t really wished to consider it before, but who was now terrified at the prospect of being eaten alive. He secretly regretted not bringing something a little more useful than a camera to defend himself with.

While Wendle rolled around on his back coating himself in dust, and chuckling at the course of the bickering and heated exchanges, an almost imperceptible drone had begun in the background, and he stop rolling about on the floor and scrambled to his feet, ever alert.

At first the sound resembled a quiet buzzing, like a swarm of lazy bees on a summer evening, but very soon Hillary became aware of it enough to break off his conversation with Tobias. Even Scarlet and Thomas, who were just about to come to blows, couldn’t help but notice how loud the approaching sound had become.

But before they had a chance to react, a thunder-like explosion forced everyone to cower as something massive impacted the ground behind them. The resultant quake shook everyone to the ground and the sun-baked earth floor was whipped up into a frenzied storm of dust.

As the cloud cleared, an eerie silence filled the area.

Hillary brushed himself down and turned around slowly, only to come face to face with something huge that towered over him, blotting out the sun like some mythical giant. It silently lifted its great mass up until it stood at its full height – at least three times that of Hillary.

And then came a numb droning sound followed by a series of deafening whirrs and clicks.

The hulking thing was vaguely anthropomorphic with a vestigial head that sat atop broad shoulders, but it looked strangely out of proportion to its vast girth and its powerful-looking ape-like limbs. Thick panels of rusted iron that adorned its chest looked to have been crudely pummeled into shape and were fixed in place with rivets. Gaps where panels had – no doubt - dropped off long ago revealed glimpses of inner-workings: multitudes of brass cogs, wheels, pulleys and toothed mechanisms, all sparking and spinning frantically like gyroscopes. A small slit where it’s mouth ought to have been, glowed incandescently. Although the two hollows where it’s eyes seemed to be, remained impassive and empty.

‘I’ve got a terrible feeling about this…’ muttered Hillary, through the corner of his mouth.

‘Really? What gives you that impression?’ replied Tobias weakly. ‘So much for cannibals then.’ he muttered, half to himself.

‘Indeed.’ muttered Hillary, and waved a hand urging everyone to stay well back.

The clockwork churned away inside the giant’s massive hulk and it lifted its head up as if to let out a scream. Instead, the red glow of its mouth blinked on and off in time with a scratchy staccato-like voice.

‘In-sect zzz?’

Hillary and Tobias frowned, and gave each other a puzzling glance.

The voice of the clockwork giant continued:

‘Lit-tle in-sect zzz! We have not seen for hun-dred zzz of long year zzz! So lone-ly have we be-come! So pit-i-a-ble their in-zzzig-nif-i-cant ex-izzz-ten zzz tru-ly izzz. So fu-tile.’

For a second, it gave the impression of blinking its eyes before bending a little closer to them, as if noticing something for the very first time.

‘Head-bone zzz?’

Hillary held up his hand like a little schoolboy trying to get the attention of a teacher.

The clockwork colossus continued:

‘In-sect zzz… dam-a-ging my love-ly head-bone zzz?’

‘Erm, we can explain,’ pointed out Tobias, with a voice like a mouse.

Instead, the clockwork giant ignored him.

‘Such sac-ri-ledge! How shall we pun-ish?’ it seemed to ask itself.

Ticking and clicking furiously - and without warning - it smashed one of its massive fists into the wall of the mountain, which brought down clouds of smoke and shattered rock. They cowered instantly, as a pungent smell of hot splintered stone filled the air.

‘We shall off-er them all a quick death…’

‘A quick death?’ murmered Tobias worriedly.

‘Yezzz… Death… We can off-er them noth-ing but pol-ished head bone zzz…’

The hulking giant lumbered towards them, reaching out to grab at them with its huge paw-like hands.

‘Heaven’s sake! A polished headbone?’ screamed Tobias in horror. ‘Nobody’s touching my headbone. No way!’

The clockwork giant reached down to pluck at their heads like escaped chickens.

‘What the hell is it?’ cried Tobias.

‘No time to talk now,’ shouted Hillary, walking backwards, ‘but I think I know what we need to do…’

‘What?’ shouted Tobias, trying to second-guess Hillary.

‘Run for your lives!’ spluttered Hillary, who turned and fled.

Almost immediately everyone followed and ran as fast as they could after Hillary.

As soon as the clockwork giant realised what was happening, the vast automaton began to lumber after them as they ran away, sparks jumping from gaps in its armour where hidden inner-workings mysteriously churned and spat.

‘No ezzz-cape!’ it spluttered, as it lifted its massive fists into the air. ‘Squash! Crush the tiny in-sect zzz!’

Up ahead, a large outcrop of basalt loomed, jutting from the ground. Hillary sped towards it, hoping that it would afford some shelter, that is – if they could reach it before the clockwork colossus was upon them.

‘Follow me!’ Hillary shouted, and squeezed into a narrow gap in the rocks, quickly followed by Wendle.

The clockwork giant was rapidly gaining ground behind them, and Hillary could only watch in horror, and urge Tobias and the children on from the cover of the cave mouth.

Scarlet and Thomas were the last to stumble in, falling into a heap on the ground as they dived over the threshold, just before the clockwork giant slammed itself headfirst into the stone above the entrance, causing it to splinter and collapse a few feet from them.

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