Archibald Lox and the Rubicon Dictate by Darren Shan

Author:Darren Shan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: children's book, afterlife, adventure, epic journey, quest
Publisher: Home of the Damned Ltd
Published: 2021-09-01T00:00:00+00:00

FIVE — THE TOURISTS

16

We find ourselves on the outskirts of a village. The houses are small, darkly coloured and uniform, all pretty much the same shape and size. “This is the norm in Ruby,” Inez says as we stroll through the streets, looking for signs of life. “The SubMerged think imaginative architecture’s a waste of time and resources. Their buildings are functional rather than decorative.”

“This isn’t what I was expecting,” I note, looking at the houses and open spaces as we go by. “I thought there’d be heads pinned above the doors, bloodstains on the walls, executioner’s blocks in the squares.”

Inez snorts. “They’re not monsters, Archie.”

“Aren’t they?” I say softly.

“No,” she insists. “Most are good people. You have to be tough to thrive in Ruby, but they don’t go around killing freely or eating babies. Besides, you can’t pin a head above a door in the Merge — your head disintegrates if you’re decapitated.”

“Well, that’s a relief,” I say with a deadpan expression.

Inez spots someone moving inside a house and knocks on the door. A broad, sour-faced woman comes to a window – there’s no glass in any of them – and sticks her head out. “Who are you?” she grunts.

“Visitors to these parts,” Inez says.

“We don’t get many visitors,” the woman says. “Are you lost?”

“Yes,” Inez says.

“Looking for directions?”

“Yes,” Inez says again.

“Thought as much,” the woman clucks. “Nobody in their right mind would pick this place as a destination.”

“Where are we?” Inez asks.

The woman scratches her chin. “Do you know, I’m not certain. It’s been so long since I used the name...” She thinks for a moment, then nods. “Skeaton.”

“Has Skeaton been here long?” Inez asks.

“Yes,” the woman says. “I’ve been here a long time too. Used to be a buzzing little place. Never a lot of us, but most were interesting folk. Not many left now. Six at last count, though I haven’t seen the twins for a couple of decades, so I guess they might have departed one night when the rest of us were sleeping.”

“Where did the others go?” I ask.

“To join the army,” the woman says. “One of Old Man Reap’s recruitment teams came calling. A few of us didn’t agree with the war. The recruiters said that was our right, but told us we were never to leave this zone again.”

“But that was ages ago,” I tell her. “Old Man Reap lost.”

The woman sneers. “Don’t believe what they tell you, sonny. I met the mad old warmonger once. They say he fell in battle, but demons like him don’t fall, just rest up in the shadows, then come back stronger than ever. I’m staying put, and so are the rest of them if they have any sense.”

I glance at Inez, who doesn’t seem fazed. “Are there many boreholes out of here?” she asks.

“A fair selection,” the woman sniffs. “Haven’t tested them in a long time, so I can’t guarantee they’re still functional. Where are you looking to get to?”

“Gasterby,” Inez says.

The woman frowns. “Never heard of it.

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