A Change In The Weather

Tobias looked confused.

‘And how, exactly, are we going to do that then Hillary?’ he hissed.

But before Hillary could answer, a terrible chittering sound came from the direction of the alcove, and the clockwork guardian who had been totally oblivious to them before, craned its head around and stared directly down at them.

‘Oh god,’ muttered Hillary. ‘That was quicker than I expected.’

With the clockwork guardian’s mechanism now fully rewound Hillary knew that no quarter would be given - that it would stop at nothing to catch them. Tiny sparks flew from the gaps in the giant’s armour, where gears and gyroscopic wheels could be seen to be frantically spinning up.

And then, like a voice full of angry wasps, the giant spoke once more.

‘Lit-tle in-sect zzz must all die…’

And with those words, the giant began to lumber out from the shadows of the alcove and towards them once more. This time though, the giant seemed quicker in its actions and somehow more alert.

‘I think it’s time we moved!’ shouted Hillary, urging the children to run with him.

As Scarlet ran, her face lit up with realisation.

‘That’s it!’ she said.

Hillary looked bewildered.

‘What?’ he said.

‘Physics,’ she said. ‘We have to try to use its own power against it – to turn it on itself.’

Tobias nodded, but he wasn’t entirely sure what Scarlet had in mind. At least it was a plan, he thought, which was more than could be said for his own state of mind – itself filled with images of clockwork giants doing terrible unmentionable things to his poor decapitated head; a scene that no matter how hard he tried, wouldn’t shift in his mind’s eye.

It sent a shiver down his spine.

‘Didn’t any of you study physics at school?’ she asked breathlessly, as she tried to keep up.

Hillary shrugged and carried on running. To him, physics was just as arcane a subject as magic seemed to be to Scarlet. Nevertheless, there was no time to lose as the clockwork giant strode after them.

‘Why do the lit-tle in-sect zzz run a-way? I off-er them im-mor-tal-ity and they run a-way?’

Everyone followed as Scarlet - pursued by the giant - ran in a wide arc in an effort to double-back on herself. Her real objective was the alcove that the giant had just used to recharge its clockwork and she hoped that the giant was less intelligent than she was giving it credit for. In any case, she didn’t feel comfortable trying to second-guess an animated lump of pig iron bent on their destruction.

‘When I give the signal, we run in opposite directions.’ shouted Hillary.

They all cowered next to the alcove as the giant lumbered on; now running with its head down in a charge.

‘Ok?’

He hoped that whatever Scarlet had in mind would save them from the certain doom that was nearly upon them.

The giant waved its fists around in the air as it came closer.

‘Un-grate-ful wret-ch zzz!’ spluttered the giant.

‘Ready…’

‘We will smash them and break them…’

‘Ready…’

Hillary felt a tiny bead of sweat trickle down his forehead. The giant seemed uncomfortably close now and his instinct was telling him that to leave it any longer would be to court disaster.

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

The giant seemed too close now, and its booming voice too loud – far too loud. For an instant he thought that he’d maybe left it too late, and his heart leapt in his chest.

‘Now!’ shouted Hillary, at the top of his voice.

He and Wendle ran away to the left, whilst Tobias ran to the right.

It was then - only after Tobias had started running - that he realized that the children weren’t actually with him.

Meanwhile, the clockwork giant flailed headlong into the mountain in a storm of splintered rock and debris. As the cloud of dust settled, an uncomfortable silence settled over the whole area.

Coughing and waving, Hillary walked slowly forward towards the alcove, before noticing something above him and he snapped his head up to look.

There, floating high in the air, were Scarlet and Thomas. The high-pitched hum of their rings could just faintly be heard as they hung there motionless in the air.

Under the influence of the levitonite, her hair had taken on a life of its own - following every movement of her head like the tail of a kite or a silk scarf in the breeze. To Hillary, below, she looked like she was being suspended under water and in the air - both at the same time.

Hillary squinted.

‘What are you doing up there?’ he said.

She looked down at the alcove. From her vantage point she could see the key still turning and then her eye was drawn to a movement in the mound of rubble that half-covered it.

‘The giant isn’t finished,’ she said, pointing down to the cliff face. ‘I can still see something moving still - it’s not dead. You should go and hide while you still can.’

Hillary understood and signaled for Wendle and Tobias to follow him, before mouthing a silent thank you to Scarlet and Thomas.

‘Leave the giant to us.’ she said to herself with grim determination.

* * * *

Scarlet and Thomas had perched themselves on the cliff top directly above the alcove and were watching the giant as it began to stir from its premature grave.

And then the giant sat bold upright, launching rocks and stones and dirt across the plateau as it did so. It looked around, no doubt looking for the humans that had evaded it.

‘None … shall … es-cape us zzz!’

But the voice sounded different; slower somehow.

As the giant stood up, it seemed giddy - adjusting its balance - as if the impact with the rockface had affected it. And then it became apparent that it had, indeed, suffered some injury, because as it turned, Scarlet noticed that it had been dented quite severely – with almost half of its head pushed in on itself.

Scarlet floated down and landed in the centre of the dusty path, opposite the alcove.

The giant looked at her, as if it were weighing her up – trying to fathom her, and then started its lumbering gait towards her. She grinned. Good, she thought, that’s just what I want you to do.

As it neared her she quickly launched herself into the air once more, out of reach of the giant, who had tried desperately to turn round, but whose momentum kept it going in the same direction for several metres. As it finally swiveled around, it fixed its attention on Scarlet and started its charge again; this time back in the direction of the alcove once more.

‘You just don’t learn do you?’ she muttered, and landed right in front of the alcove. ‘Well then? What are you waiting for?’ she shouted, stamping her feet. ‘Come on!’

The giant started its run.

As it neared, though, it slowed and stopped.

* * * *

Hillary watched from an outcrop of granite, impressed by how quickly Scarlet had adapted to using the rings, and how much she was using her faculties to get her out of trouble. He was very proud of them both, but he stared now in curiosity at the giant as it slowed to a standstill.

‘What’s it doing?’ asked Tobias, peering out from the cover of a slab of rock nearby.

‘I have no idea.’

Tobias frowned. ‘It looks broken.’

Hillary snorted. ‘I doubt it,’ he said, brandishing his staff. ‘It’s designed to take far more abuse than that.’

Wendle peeped over to look.

‘You think it’s a ploy?’

* * * *

Scarlet took a few faltering steps toward the giant as it stood there motionless in the middle of the plateau. Maybe there was a stone fouling it up inside like before, she thought. But she was far too suspicious of it, and kept her distance as she circled around the giant.

Thomas touched down on the ground, not far away.

‘Don’t get too close to it.’ he warned.

‘Thanks. I’ll bear that in mind.’ she muttered, dusting herself down.

She looked up at the thing, and - for a moment - let herself marvel at its construction and about the people who’d built it. In short, she was entranced by it, and - as it towered above her, silent and still - she couldn’t quite believe what she was witnessing. Nobody at home would believe her if she told them - that much was certain, and indeed who would blame them? She of all people would normally be the first to shrug off any such ideas as flights of fancy.

But that was before, when she had been a doubter. The person she’d become had been transformed into a believer.

‘Hang on,’ said Thomas, ‘I want to see it too.’

She turned to warn him not to bother, and then - as quick as a snake - the giant struck, sweeping its vast arms down and scooping up Scarlet in one fleeting movement. It held her close to its rusty iron chest and started to lumber away.

‘Lit-tle in-sect-zzz … you will all foll-ow me … you must join the oth-er-zzz … or el-zzz your friend will die … slowly zzz’

Scarlet screamed.

‘Get off me! Leave me alone!’ she groaned, squirming and scratching at the giant’s fingers in a pitiful attempt to get loose.

But the grip of the giant was such that she could only manage a few words before she passed out from loss of breath…

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