Maxwell was asleep and dreaming. It was blissful. All the terrible events of the last day had disappeared, and he was back at home watching TV with his childhood dog Splotch. Splotch had been a rescue dog and Maxwell’s best friend until a car ran over him ten years ago. None of that mattered now though. He was back and much more talkative than Maxwell remembered. At some point after his death, he developed very strong opinions about the quality of acting in late 90s sitcoms. It was all very pleasant, but it was not to last. Splotch had just gone into a deep dive into the relative virtues of classical training and method acting when a noise from beyond shattered the dream.
“Wake up,” IT said.
Maxwell opened his eyes and looked down at the robot. He had the sticky, sluggish feeling of being woken before he had got enough sleep.
“Something is happening at the front. There’s shouting.”
Maxwell nodded. He could hear it too, a muffled commotion. He put on his boots and tiptoed to the door, opening it slowly. The screaming was no longer muffled, and he recognized the voice. He made his way down the corridor with IT following behind and peered out into the workshop.
A rocky grey creature was yelling at Thales. Though Maxwell had not seen her directly before, he knew that it must be Av’enna.
“I haven’t seen any humans, and I wouldn’t help you if I did,” Thales said.
“What happened to you, Thales?
He let out a booming laugh. “To me? To me? I didn’t become everything I used to hate. I didn’t become a petty thug in a uniform. Ask what happened to yourself.”
“I know what happened. I grew up. Unlike you and Marigold, I took responsibility for my future. I didn’t retreat, and I certainly didn’t have it handed to me.”
She was moving closer to Thales.
“It doesn’t have to be like this. We can talk things out,” he said.
"I’ve talked to you as much as I care to. Now tell me where she went.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“No? Well then, you’ll not mind if I search the premises, will you,” she said, moving toward the door Maxwell was hiding behind.
“That’s not going to happen,” Thales said, blocking the way.
Av’enna laughed. “Are you standing in the way of an investigation?”
“I’m not doing anything other than telling you that you’ve seen as much of my home as you’re going to.”
Av’enna answered this comment by reaching for the baton at her side. Thales grabbed a nearby hammer, but Av’enna was quicker, and her baton came down in an arc on Thales’s side. He let out a groan, and Av’enna swept out his leg, bringing him crashing down onto the floor.
Maxwell did not stick around long enough to see the result of the fight. He picked up IT and made his way back toward the storage room.
“I saw a back exit when I was cleaning,” IT whispered.
It didn’t take long to find it. The small trap door was behind one of the piles of scrap metal. Maxwell pulled at it hard, but nothing moved. A thick layer of rust caked the hinges. There was the sound of someone opening and slamming doors from down the hall. It was getting closer. Maxwell pulled again. He put his full body weight against the small handle and used more strength than he had ever used in his life. Something gave, and the trapdoor swung open.
"Can we get out?” IT said.
They could not. The door opened into a long-neglected waste disposal pit. He looked back at IT and shook his head. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Av’enna enter the room.
“So here you are,” she said. She moved closer, sizing him up. “So much running around, so much deception, all to protect a tiny, unspectacular human. I can’t say I see why, but I guess that doesn’t matter.”
IT zoomed toward Av’enna, vacuum at full blast. “You’ll never take us alive,” it shouted.
Unphased, Av’enna bent down and scooped up the robot. “Maybe tech can pull something useful off you.” She switched off the robot before IT could protest and tucked it under one arm.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
"What about you, human? Do I need to pick you up too?”
Maxwell had no reply. He stood up, utterly defeated.
“Grab your disguise, “Av’enna said. We don’t need to attract any more attention than necessary.”
Maxwell walked to the bed, fixed the hat and bandana over his face, and returned to Av’enna.
“Marigold is just trying to fix things,” Maxwell said. “Maybe if you talked to her—”
“Enough, human. Let’s go.”
Maxwell wondered if there was some way he could leave a message for Marigold and Walter, but he could think of nothing. He let Av’enna lead him out of the workshop. She was even larger and more intimidating than he had imagined in Marigold’s washroom.
Back in the smithy, they stepped over the unconscious body of Thales. He seemed badly hurt. Maxwell tried to stop and check on him, but Av’enna reached out and grabbed him by the arm.
“He’ll be fine,” she said.
They walked out into the Hollows, making their way through the winding streets and serpentine tunnels. He looked for any sign of Marigold or Walter, anybody that could help him, but it was hopeless. The monsters they encountered looked at Av’enna and her outfit with disgust and outrage, but none were brave enough to confront her directly.
“So, what do you think of it down here, human? Pretty disgusting, isn’t it? Did Marigold tell you we used to live here together?”
“Hard to imagine,” Maxwell said.
“Yeah, well, it was better back then, and I was worse.”
They walked the rest of the way in silence, finally reaching a sign that announced the exit to the Hollows.
“We’ll have to go through the checkpoint to get you back up to the Junction. Be good and stay quiet.”
Av’enna led him through a final stretch of interior corridor that gently widened until they reached an old iron gate. The torch-lit dimness of the Hollows terminated at the mouth of the cave that opened into the stark white exterior of the Backend. Beyond the gates was an old cobblestone road that led out, away from the Core. He remembered seeing this road from the train. It hovered in space like all things seemed to do here, and though it was narrow and slight near the gate, he remembered that it branched out into a complicated arrangement of roads the further it got from the Core. Av’enna, however, had no interest in the road, she was taking Maxwell to a makeshift train station a few meters from the gate. A single, nearly vertical set of tracks ran up from there to the Junction on top. Like the gate itself, the station was being guarded fiercely by a pair of grimacing fluff-balls.
Along one side of the cave opening were several wagons, laden with goods and waiting to be admitted to the Hollows by the legion of fluff-balls crawling over the vehicles and confirming their wares. A half-dozen other vehicles sat closer to Maxwell, waiting to be let out. Av’enna and he were the only creatures going through the checkpoint on foot.
“What’s this?” one fluff-ball said as it noticed them. It walked over slowly.
“We’re going to grab an emergency shuttle back up to the Junction,” Av’enna said.
“No, no, no,” said the fuzzball.
“Excuse me,” Av’enna replied.
“No coming and going. Not like this.”
“I’m with the Ægency. This is official business.”
“Unacceptable. You shouldn’t be here at all.”
“It’s important.”
“‘Unacceptable,’ I said.” The creature shook its spear at Marigold, though the effect was far from threatening. “Such things can’t be done.”
“What things?”
“The laws are different here.”
“They are.”
“You don’t do the law here.”
“No, you’re right.”
“You shouldn’t be here at all.”
“Right, well, I guess we got lost.”
“And a machine in your arms?”
“This? This is just junk.”
“Such things can’t be here, you can’t be here, not without a trading license.”
“Well, I must’ve forgotten mine.”
“That doesn’t seem right. And what of your companion?”
“He’s lost, too.”
“Is this correct?” the fluff-ball said to Maxwell.
Maxwell said nothing.
Very suspicious. I’ll have to talk to the others.”
“Best not to do that,” Av’enna said. She reached toward her side for the baton.
The creature was already heading over to one of its companions.
“Friend, friend, most unusual,” it said.
“Wait here,” Av’enna said. She began to follow the creature, her weapon already in hand.
As Maxwell watched Av’enna, his eyes fell on IT, still cradled in one arm. He thought about what the robot had told him about going against its programming. Every fiber in Maxwell’s being was telling him to stay put and avoid any potential pain that came with resisting Av’enna. However, staying put would mean certain death and the erasure of the universe, both of which were probably worse than a bump on the head. He knew he couldn’t outrun Av’enna, but hiding might be an option. Av’enna began a very one-sided battle with the clueless guards, while Maxwell searched his surroundings desperately. There was only one choice: the rows of wagons lined up for inspection. As the fluff-balls were knocked unconscious, Maxwell ran up to the furthest of the caravans and jumped over the side. He didn’t know what he was doing. He simply did. He ducked down below the back of the wagon and waited.
It took Av’enna only a few minutes to emerge victorious, and she had done it all with her one free hand. When she turned back to look for Maxwell and found him gone, she searched her surroundings. The options were limited, and almost immediately, she spotted his eyes staring out at her from the edge of the wagon.
“Come out of there, human. I can see you.”
Maxwell ducked down below the edge.
“This will be less painful for you if you come out on your own.”
He lowered himself to the floor and thought about what he could do. As usual, nothing came to mind. As he lay there, contemplating his imminent fate, he felt a gentle rocking motion and heard Av’enna’s voice, more distant than before. He peered his head up and saw that he was not facing the way he had been facing only a moment ago. The cart was moving at a quick pace through the open gate and down the road that led away from the Hollows. Av’enna was in hot pursuit, but even running at full pace, she could not keep up.
Maxwell sat down and sighed. It was a sigh of relief at having escaped his captor. It was a sigh of frustration that he had only been able to run and hide at yet another pivotal moment. Most of all, it was a sigh of exasperation, exasperation at being dragged away from his friends, away from the Core, and away from the World Cauldron he had been spending the better part of a day trying to reach.