Page 25 of The Vanishing Throne

Just as I call for her, the distant, heavy rumbles start to grow louder and closer with each second. The room begins to shake, the structure groaning.Boom. Boom. Boom boom boom.The old dresses shudder on their hooks. From the other side of the door, something falls to the ground and shatters.

Aithinne bursts in, nearly ripping the door from its hinges. Her eyes glow bright as she ushers me through. ‘They’re here. We have to gonow.’

BOOM. BOOM.The entire house is quaking now. Dust falls all around us from the weakened rafters. At the back of the room, a piece of the wall falls to the floor and breaks apart.

‘Whatisthat?’ I ask as I follow her from the room. The explosions are so loud that I can barely hear myself speak. I grab the balustrade for balance and it wobbles beneath my hand as we descend the stairs.

An awful crashing drowns out Aithinne’s response. Rock and wood splinter above us, and then the roof caves in.

Chapter 10

Aithinne’s body crashes hard into mine. She rolls us to the ground, fallen detritus digging into my back. Debris drops all around us. A stone slabsmashes into Aithinne so hard that the bones in her body would have shattered had she been human.

We’re pressed against the building, buried under rubble. A curved slab of the collapsed staircase blocked the fallen ceiling from crushing my limbs. I see nothing but a few spots of daylight between the remains.

There’s a moment’s silence, stark and heavy. No more distant rumbles, no falling rock.

‘Aithinne,’ I whisper. ‘Are you—’

Then I hear it – what sounds like a mechanical whirring –and something crashes through the rubble to pick Aithinne right from off top of me.

‘Run!’ she screams.

I look up, my muscles braced for a fight – and freeze.What in god’s name is that?

A mechanical creature, at least thirty feet tall, towers over the remains of Charlotte Square. It’s built like a redcap, with thick limbs and long, hanging arms, but it appears made from the dark metal I saw in theSìth-bhrùth, all smooth and semi-reflective with ebony liquid pushing through the veins of itsgiant hands.

It’s covered in black armour, the plates glistening as if created from polished obsidian. Between the links of armour at the creature’s core, a bright blue light pulses like a heartbeat. When it reaches its other hand toward me, I see a whirring mechanism in the centre of its palm, the pieces moving fast and glinting with blinding light.

With a sharp cry, Aithinne wrenches out of its grasp, rippingher coat right down the back. ‘Run!’ she screams at me again. ‘It’s activating its weapon!’

We shove our way out of the rubble, vaulting over a collapsed wall of the house and into the back garden. The whirring grows louder, a constant hum that rings in my ears.

The creature is right behind us, its massive treads shaking the ground beneath our feet. I look back in time to see it reach for us with its weaponless hand, and I yank Aithinne out of the way just in time, pulling her through the ruins of an empty house on the street.

The creature crashes through easily, sending brick and dust flying. Aithinne and Ipick up speed, flying across the cobbles.

Aithinne tries to shout something, but the humming is deafening. We scramble through the overgrown shrubs and vault over the garden wall.

The weapon must be almost ready now – just over the hum I can hear parts clicking and locking into place.

Aithinne shouts again, this time pulling me closer to put her lips at my ear. ‘We need to find shelter to block the blast.Now!’

Her power is rough in my mouth. It’s not like the usual flower petals and honey – now it’s thorns and smoke. Strong and overpowering. She’s readying something of her own.

At the top of the street, I spot a stone wall left standing.There!

I pull Aithinne with me, gesturing to the wall. The ground beneath me quakes and I’m nearly thrown off-balance. We throw ourselves behind the wall and I tuck my knees tight into my chest, keeping my head down.

Aithinne locks her arms around my shoulders. I’m startled by her eyes, the whirling silver glow of her irises that only grows brighter.

She mouths something and this time I don’t need to hear. ‘Hold on tight.’

Aithinne’s power scorches my tongue and paves a path of fire down my throat. I’ve never felt anything like it. It intensifies just as a near-deafening blast sends dust, dirt, and debris flying all around me. I hold my breath, cradlingmyself tighter. The wall behind me shudders and strains. My hearing is muffled, a ringing resounding inside my ears.

Then, silence. A heavy stillness. Aithinne’s power ebbs, leaving a dry coating inside my mouth. I raise my head. I’m completely covered in dirt and fine dust.

Crawling out, I peek around the wall and gasp. There’s nothing there.Nothing. Every building in the square was obliterated by the metal creature’s weapon. All that remainsare smoking piles of brick and a crater of blackened dirt where my home once stood.

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