It was a small submarine, one turned at a ninety degree angle. This must have gotten the golems close to the Isle of Man.
I flew to the end of it, tore a cheap board apart with my beak, and entered some sort of control room. Once there, I discovered an astonishingly small man. He couldn’t have been more than 140 centimeters tall. His age appeared advanced, but he had a youthful gleam in his eyes. The intensity with which he glared back at me was shocking.
But I couldn’t let him intimidate me. I chided him for forcing me to act like a woodpecker, then said, “You mad alchemist! You will pay for your sins! Come!”
I hooked my claws into his shoulders and dragged his body into the air. He weighed less than your average child, proving no impediment to my flight. Whether frightened or unable to bear the pain, he didn’t struggle.
I hauled him out of the tube and over to the Princess of Wales, a distance of some fifty meters. Below me, I could see the protected cruiser was on fire. The bridge had exploded, and flames danced across the center of the ship. But, more than that, the magic circle on the front deck drew my eye. The circle glowed an uncanny blue, reminding me of the lights that guide planes in for landing. I saw Lt. Gandly standing inside the circle. I flew down just in front of it, dropping the little man onto the deck. Female sailors with small guns surrounded him, but the landing must have hurt his back. He didn’t even try scrambling to his feet.
I landed on the anti-aircraft gun, watching Lt. Gandly carefully. She gave me a nod of approval, advanced to the edge of the circle, and spoke to him quietly.
“’enrich ’örbiger, why would you do something this stupid?”
The weight of their history obvious, he replied, “My name is Henrich Hörbiger! You never once pronounced it right. Why did I come here? To make a stupid, selfish woman feel regret. Sadly, it appears that feeling will be short-lived. You saw the children on which I worked so hard, no?”
“When we lived together, you were a man of reason and good sense. No such man would call those monsters his children. Whose power did you borrow? No matter how much work you put in, you would never be able to make golems that move so well.”
“I worked with a man whose power rivaled that of any alchemist I have ever known. He called himself the Wandering Jew.”
I didn’t miss the lieutenant’s scowl.
“He helped in exchange for access to every painkiller that German medicine has ever developed. Apparently, he fears physical suffering. He vanished before the golem squad was complete. Has he shown up here?”
There was a long silence, then the lieutenant shook her head.
“If a being like Cartaphilus arrived in England, the witches and mages on this island wouldn’t stand for it. You were ready to die with these ‘children’ of yours, weren’t you? You’ve become a pathetic little fiend.”
“So be it! I’ve learned that ‘gomli,’ meaning seed, is one of the root words of ‘golem.’ These earthen dolls were the perfect creatures to send after the woman who refused to bear my child.”
“That was your fault for falling for an old woman.”
“That’s what you said fifty years ago! I should have realized it then. You only wanted me as an alchemist. You never wanted my love! A child would give that love form, so of course you never wanted one. Think about it! A child born to alchemists as skilled as we may well have turned out to be a sleigh beggy!”
“It couldn’t. Not ever. Sleigh beggy are but a twist of fate. Love and alchemy combined wouldn’t create such a being, and golems could never replace a sleigh beggy. That’s why I killed them, blew up both them and the bridge.”
“You can’t kill a golem because they were never born.”
An instant later, several gunshots echoed, followed by a series of ear-splitting screams. Behind us, something heavy began lumbering across the deck.
I could see it, that earthen figure with its terrifying visage. Its body was a boiled, reddish-bronze, but its expression remained as blank as ever. Its hair was stained red with the blood of its victims.
The sole remaining golem approached the magic circle and swung its blade-like arm toward the lieutenant, but a defensive wall of blue-white energy blocked its attack.
“What use is there in further destruction and death?” Gandly said.
Hörbiger gave her a sinister smile. “None,” he said. “All that remains is to finish things. You there, owl! Will you serve as second to my final act?”
Well, that was unexpected. “You intend to end your life? I am unable to wield the katana required, nor do I own one,” I said.
“You won’t need it. Just remove the e. Turn emeth to meth. That will suffice.”
Dragging himself across the ground to the golem’s feet, Hörbiger spoke a spell. The word “emeth” appeared on the golem’s head.
Realizing what he was about to do, Lt. Gandly shouted, “Don’t! Death is the coward’s way out!”
“Rose, as my final request, do not make me feel more pathetic than I already am.”
He glanced at me and nodded. His were the eyes of a man who’d lost his child; I was sure mine must have looked the same when I first met Commander G.
I flew to the golem’s head and scratched out the e with my talons, thus changing the word on its head from emeth to meth.
This was a spell for death. The golem ceased all movement, returning to the clay and water from which it was formed. An avalanche of mud rained down upon Hörbiger’s head.
I looked away as his small frame was crushed. The golem’s remains covered him completely. The whole lump then rolled across the deck and fell into the waters below.
Had this been victory or defeat? Even Lt. Gandly seemed unsure. Illuminated by the bridge fire, her profile suggested a woman who’d lost her family, most likely a son.
As someone who’d lost his wife and child, I felt a sense of connection, but the situation didn’t allow me to consider it further.
“Fish!” someone screamed. Oh. A torpedo…
An instant later, the stern erupted in a pillar of fire. This final explosion finished off the aging Princess of Wales.
8
“Seems like the U-47 fired that torpedo.”
Three days later, Commander G at last showed himself. He appeared seemingly indifferent to the whole proceedings.
“The German papers proclaim the hero of Scapa Flow sank another English battleship. It was a Special Alchemy Craft, not a battleship!”
Commander G and I were looking down at the Princess of Wales’s remains, which had been towed to a pier in Castletown Harbor.
“If they knew only women died, would that cause a loss of morale?” I asked.
“Thirty-nine dead, sixty-one injured. Hard to say if that’s a lot or surprisingly few, but it’s unlikely Berlin will learn the truth until the war is over. Either way, well done.
You have expertly performed your duty as my familiar, Sergeant. Lt. Gandly sends her regards. Said she’d never seen an owl as gallant as you.”
“That she survived the explosion without a scratch on her shows how powerful her magic circle was. Incidentally, I received a promise from her. In return for my assistance, I can give her a single order.”
“Oh, I already gave that order,” the commander said.
Never had I wanted to kill him more. “May disaster befall those who usurp their servant’s privileges. What did you ask for? She’s England’s premiere alchemist. She must know secrets of which you can only dream. Did you ask for those?”
“No. I told her to defect to Japan.”
I must have looked astonished.
“I verified this in London, but the British Government intends to eliminate all trace of alchemy from the Isle of Man.”
The dots connected for me. “So they’re striking all alchemists and magus craft artificers from their ranks?”
“Yes. Apparently they had no further use for them, what with the German alchemist dead. In times of war, you must eliminate any uncertain elements, anything you cannot place as friend or foe. The Isle of Man will be an island of mages once more. We are on the verge of extinction, and, like us, the poor alchemists have already lost many of their own to the war. Now they’ll lose their jobs as well. They will be driven to death, and much knowledge and experience shall be lost with them.”
“I see. Before the hands and feet are cut off, you’ll pluck the head and take it home,” I muttered.
“Sergeant! Your mind is like lightning this morning!”
“Owls are famous for their quick minds, especially when considering what one as resourceful as you might do. I figured you’d find some way to turn this to your advantage.”
“Naturally. I must learn everything Lt. Gandly knows about golems. Perhaps we can even make some of our own back in Tokyo!” he said.
“Do you have the right?”
“I do. My initial is G, is it not? What better man to become Japan’s golem master!”
“Will Lt. Gandly really help?”
“I am ready to persuade her. That’s where the fun lies! At any rate, she said she’s looking forward to her visit. Said any country that gives rise to familiars like you may one day give rise to a very special sleigh beggy.”
Alchemists were hardly prophets, I knew that much. But Rose D. Gandly’s words to Commander G rang true to me.
“What will happen to England? To the British Empire?”
“I wouldn’t want a country with so many witches and mages and alchemists to fall. I’m sure it will be fine. The country that came to power through piracy, the industrial revolution, and cunning diplomacy will hardly fall to some upstart dictator. However, difficult times remain before them. But that is not a bad thing. To see the beauty of the world, one must step off the beaten path.”
I saw a trace of melancholy on Commander G’s face, and, once again, felt like I should follow him a little further.
Perhaps that was the fastest way to see the beauty of the world.
The End