There and then Steel vowed to help the old dragon find out what was wrong and, after a brief hug, they headed out into the complex to see if two minds truly were better than one.
25
Worldwide Countdown Conundrum
Behind a faded, red coloured brick in a seemingly innocuous wall, in a rarely visited sewer deep beneath Chicago, the numbers on the timer counted down, showing 14 00 00 00 right at this very moment. Fourteen days left. Fourteen days until oblivion.
In the small village of Wang Chan, Thailand, next to the newly opened Cropptech processing plant, an identical package counted down right at the bottom of a murky paddy field, the red light from the changing numbers flitting across the passing wildlife, turning their world into something of a disco. The tattered paper surrounding it having long since dissolved, the timer mimicked that of the others deposited across the world, as the tiny creatures continued their daily routines, oblivious to the danger hidden amongst them.
It was supposed to be dark... pitch black in fact. Not that anyone was there to see. But beneath an ordinary pier in Montreal, Canada, red lights flickered and changed against the wall opposite, tucked up amongst the tiniest of air pockets. Nothing, not even an infinitesimal speck of life was there to watch as fourteen days ticked past. And all the time, above, ordinary people carried on with their lives, unaware of the deadly packages hidden below them.
* * *
It had been a long time since he'd felt this... nervous or vulnerable. This wasn't part of the dragon London that he was familiar with; nevertheless he recognised a rough area when he saw one. As he lay flattened against the roof of a rather run down dragon bakery, he pushed the doubts in his mind to one side. Absolutely convinced something untoward was afoot, he was sure the conniving dragon he was tailing was up to his scales in it. Focusing on controlling his breathing, he waited until his target reached the next intersection and watched him turn right, before bounding to his feet. Taking a small run up, he reached the edge of the roof and pushed off for all he was worth, unable to look down at the eight yard drop below him. Flapping in the arid air behind him as he landed, the dark cloak encased him fully from prying eyes in more ways than one. Careful to remain in the shadows, he stalked as close to the edge of the building as he dared. Nagging doubts continued to assert themselves, try as he might to push them aside. Here he was, with no help at hand, which was something of a risk, of that there could be no doubt.
He hadn't told anyone where he was going, quite the opposite, having slipped out of his private residence via a secret entrance only known to him and one other, and that had only been a very recent addition. Knowing he could trust his new temporary tenant with his life, he'd felt it only fair that he clue him in on one of the building's greatest secrets. When he'd taken on the mantle of king, not only had he received the ring and the ostentatious living quarters, but also a sealed trunk containing information from the previous monarch, all for his eyes only. Linked by means of an ancient mantra to the ring, the trunk was programmed to only open once those items had bonded to him. From his very first day as king, he'd tried to open the chest, but to no avail. It wasn't until the twenty ninth day of his reign that the blessed thing had decided to reveal its secrets. Even then he was surprised. Just like every other time, he'd returned from trying to keep everything at the council from falling apart, and sat down and tried to open the trunk. To him, it was going through the motions. To his utter astonishment, on that Sunday evening a satisfying click greeted him when he touched the lock. He then spent the rest of the night devouring the information that had been left behind by his predecessor. To say it was fascinating and insightful was something of an understatement; some of it was simply unbelievable, and all of it was just for him, passed down by the line of kings before him, making him feel both honoured and burdened at the same time. Things had never been quite the same since that fateful day. It wasn't often that he'd used that secret entrance, mainly for fear it would be discovered. But tonight he had. And everyone assumed that he was tucked up in his private chambers. No one knew where he was. If anything happened... he was well and truly on his own.
* * *
Pretty sure he wasn't being followed, Councillor Rosebloom smiled at the very thought, knowing that he'd gone to great lengths to make it so, having doubled backed on himself numerous times, woven detection webs in his wake, and laid other more formidable traps along his route. None had been set off, so now he was sure he hadn't been followed, he moved with more haste and certainty.
'It won't be long now,' he thought, sick and tired of his daily life. It always seemed like such a chore, looking after the interests of other dragons, beings who frankly, he couldn't give a stuff about. 'But soon, when the changes come about, then I'll have real power, real responsibility, and a land of my own. Then the only interests I'll have to worry about will be... MINE!'
* * *
As the king landed softly on another rooftop, the ring on his finger tingled ever so slightly, just as it had done a dozen or so times already this evening. Standing stock still, ever alert, he controlled his breathing, just as he'd been taught. Now was not the time to fall victim to nerves. The slightest mistake could alert Rosebloom to his presence and then everything he'd gone through already tonight would have been for nothing. Not only that, but it might panic the councillor and make him more cautious, something he hoped to avoid. Carefully he held up the ring in front of him. Silently, a wide, purple beam of light that only he could see erupted out of it. Not worried about being spotted, he was concerned about getting past the intricate web that the ring revealed directly in front of him. Bright blue strands sparkled across rooftops, in alleyways and everywhere in between for as far as he could see. Up to now the tricks, traps and mantras had been relatively easy for him to circumnavigate, with the ring's help of course, but this latest one looked a whole lot tougher than any of those. Aware that with every second he wasted here, the more chance there was of Rosebloom slipping away, the pressure weighed heavy on him as time ticked on.
With only one option, he opened himself up fully to the ring on his finger. In the past the ring had helped him during crucial, almost pivotal moments and he hoped that this was one of those moments now, when the ring could find some way for him to get past the intricate mantra driven web that was like nothing he'd ever seen before.
Weird was the only way to describe it. He really should have been used to it by now, but he wasn't. It was like sharing your mind with another being, but one so different that it was almost alien. Numbers, letters and symbols he didn't recognise scrolled throughout his mind, all the time accompanied by a soft sound like the rush of the wind. Abruptly his hand moved involuntarily, the ring shining the purple beam on a section of the glistening blue web off to one side, on the rooftop he stood on. Watching in awe as the filaments of the web changed colour from blue to purple, it only took a few seconds before a section was big enough for his human shape to pass through. Whispering a silent thank you, his finger tingled vigorously. Needing no further encouragement, he stepped through the purple part of the web sideways and felt nothing, nothing at all. Sure he would have sensed something had he triggered the web itself, looking back over his shoulder, the purple strands faded back to the bright blue that had been there before, now waiting for some unsuspecting being to set it off. With no time to lose, he set off in the direction he'd last seen Rosebloom.