Victorian Days & Nights by: Elsbeth Magic & Mayhem in Victorian England

Chapter 8

After the first half a dozen mummified bodies, Lord Kinsley turned around. “Please stay closer to me.”

The twins, however, had dropped their hands and were moving off in front of the group. Brigit and Luna reached Michael’s side as he crossed the threshold into one of the larger buildings.

There was a strange taste to the air that Luna found familiar. “I think I felt something like this before.”

“Do you remember where?”

The Vampire shook her head.

“Let us proceed.”

The group had entered a small workshop, passing several more bodies. All of them, like the others seemed as if they were working then simply dropped to the ground and died.

“Reminds me of Pompeii.”

“I hope you’re talking about the bodies.” Michael said absent mindedly.

Luna looked surprised and then rolled her eyes. The Society had been brought in years before when a wall fresco which depicted Priapus, the ancient god of sex and fertility, was causing some interesting side effects in Naples. “Of course.”

Nodding, he reached down to check another body, which lay with face down. Studying it for a moment, Lord Kinsley touched the clothing which suddenly turned to dust. All around them, the tools, equipment and even the structure itself was also showing signs of advanced age.

Brigit was unsure how safe it was to proceed further. The building no longer appeared strictly sound. Suddenly a thought came to her like a bolt of lightning. “Black Jack” She called out.

Michael nodded; he knew she didn’t think the body was him but Jack’s unnatural aging was eerily similar. Very few knew exactly what happened to the young magician but this was certain, esoteric magics kept him functioning, but that too would come with a price.

“Yes.”

Brigit only nodded her eyes wide. Something seemed to pass between them, and then Michael reached for the Fae ambassador’s hand. Luna was about to object, until he took hers as well. “Come, don’t let go.”

Lord Kinsley had already noticed that the twins stood at the top of a long flight of stairs. The doorway seemed out of place, as if it had been added recently, even with its apparent age. “We will…take care of… the stairs.”

The twins moved first taking a few steps at a time. Luna could see the stairs, although metal would have crumbled at a mere touch without the assistance of the girls. However, neither Brigit nor Luna could tell exactly what they two girls were doing.

Standing at the bottom of the stairs, the group stood before a pair of massive bronze doors. They too seemed out of place, their very nature at odds with the warehouse. Even the doorframe was of an unfamiliar design. The doors opened at a mere touch, swinging inward revealing a huge auditorium like chamber. Inside the chamber were the dead. Not one, not two, but hundreds. Men, women, children filled the room.

All of the dead lay in crumbled heaps, lying around the room in decreasing circles. On the stone floor below them were ancient symbols, which Luna found difficult to look at. “I don’t understand.” Although she was a Vampire, the amount of dead bothered her. Her old self screamed, such magics were of course forbidden on such a large scale. Indeed it was like Pompey, some scholars believed that the Mt. Vesuvius eruption was not a natural disaster.

“Not enough to even release, so why?” Nemain turned to her sister. “A test perhaps?”

“Look sister, these runes. Those scrolls were thought destroyed.” Wandering over towards a pile of corpses, Macha with a wave of her hand moved them out of the way. “I wish this was not true.”

“What?” Luna turned towards Lord Kinsley who looked at the runes on the floor with anger in his eyes.

“They tried to release something thought to be forgotten, lost in time, that even the Fae don’t remember.”

Brigit looked up at Lord Kinsley with concern. His voice was different, what was going on?

Shaking his head, Michael turned to the others. “Not here, not in this place. Can you two take care of this, or do you need me?”

The twins looked at one another, then nodded.

“Please be careful and return home when you’re done.”

To Luna’s and Brigit’s complete surprise, the room disappeared from view.

Colonel Helmut Kuntz ignored the thick smell of oil and metal as the blue coated soldiers passed through the aerodrome. Passing underneath Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin’s creations, the Colonel stopped before a tall blonde man. Dressed in black pseudo military garb, the Colonel came to attention and saluted the man.

Returning the smart salute, the man smiled and shook the Colonel’s hand. “I see you have fared well, Helmut, since South Africa.”

“Ja, I was under the impression that farmers would not make very good soldiers. You proved me wrong. Still I am surprised to see you.”

“Although my employer is not a fellow countryman, he understands out plight and that of many others who have been in similar positions. Our ranks are full of those who desire freedom. He also believes that we should remember of our friends. So in South Africa you helped us, we are now returning the favor.”

The Colonel nodded. “So my friend, are you the voice of your new employer?”

“No, I am merely here for an update on Count Zeppelin’s wondrous creation.”

The Colonel smiled, it was highly unlikely that the man in front of him was just here because of wanted to check on investments. “Your machine is not quite finished. There were some interesting changes that your men suggested. It is taking time to complete them in the time you require. We are also having issues with these metal cylinders you have requested to be added to the airship.”

“I understand, I will tell my employer the information, however some delay is understandable. I do expect some issues with the new engines that will help with the weight, however the rest of the changes should be pretty straight forward.”

“If you say so.” The Colonel smiled. “I know very little of the workings of these machines, however with your help we should both have a fleet of them soon enough. The Deutsches Kaiserreich will rule the skies. “Looking at the nearest airship he frowned. “Wonderful machines, I hear that the French are also in the middle of similar plans.”

“And the British as well, however, trust me Helmut, your government is well ahead of anything that either of those countries can put in the air. Plus with your new weapons, you shouldn’t be too worried about other European powers.”

“I am sure that the Emperor will be very pleased to hear that.”

“As long as you can supply us with what we need Helmut, we shall continue to help you as well. As you know we have common enemies.”

The Prussian Colonel smiled. “Very true, come let me show you your ship, so you can tell your employer that we believe in taking good care of our friends as well.”

Authors Notes: A special thanks to djkauf for a little elvish editing. If you like the story please leave a Kudos, if you have the time I would love to hear from you. Thanks to all for reading! - Elsbeth