Relics_The Folded Land by Tim Lebbon

Author:Tim Lebbon [Lebbon, Tim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781785650345
Publisher: Titan Books
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

19

At last they are starting to arrive.

From her vantage up on the hillside she sees the first figure. She has been walking the Fold, probing its boundaries and ensuring that the magic she cast is firm and rich. There is no reason to doubt, but she is going to be here for a long, long time. It’s wise to make sure that this new world will function and persist.

Looking down the steep slope at the near end of her valley, she sees the remnants of the human road that once led into the place. It protrudes a little into the edge of the Fold, and already the majority of the artificial surface has been subsumed into the land, wiped away by her powerful magic and leaving behind untouched countryside, virgin soil on which she will make her own mark. The same has happened to the score of buildings that were contained within the boundary, so there are few traces of them left.

The fragment of road, the final remnant of humanity, has been left for the arrival of her Kin.

She’s too far away to see the newcomer clearly, so she hurries down the steep slope, bounding from rock to rock like a young child, and not the ancient thing she is. Freedom is giving her such energy. Already she feels more alive than she has in many, many years, and the prospect of sealing off the Fold and making it hers forever is almost too exciting to bear.

As she reaches the valley floor and approaches the short ribbon of paved surface, she sees that it looks like a man, accompanied by one of her wraith servants. That is no surprise. The deniers are all very humanlike—it was a necessity for their incorporation into a world that would never willingly welcome them. Once he understands what has happened, the knowledge will enable him to re-embrace his true self.

“Welcome,” she says.

“Mistress,” the shape with the man says. It shimmers in the air, and bows, a vague presence that seems to pulse and throb with reflected sunlight.

“You’ve done well, Gradaal,” she says.

“Thank you, Mistress!”

“My name’s Jeff. Who the fuck are you?” The old man is agitated, looking around as if seeking someone else. “Where’s Mary? I was told I was coming to meet Mary.”

“And did you really believe that?” she asks.

The man’s eyes flicker to the side, then back again.

“I don’t know what you are,” he says. “I don’t know what this thing is that brought me here, but I want none of it. I want my old life back.”

“And I’m giving it to you,” she says. “This is your old life, here with your Kin. Not out there with those… humans.” She almost spits out the word, it’s so distasteful.

“They’re not so bad,” the man mutters.

“Can I go?” the wraith called Gradaal asks.

“I’m giving you something they never can,” she says to the man.

“What if I refuse?” he asks.

“I’ve fulfilled my purpose,” Gradaal says. “As you requested, as you instructed, I did everything—”

“Go!” she shouts, surprising even herself.

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