CHAPTER 1: LETTER FROM THE SENATOR

76 YOREV STREET

LONDON, ENGLAND

MARCH 1980

It was raining heavily when Aderyn stepped out of the car, and he made sure to

unfold the umbrella before grabbing his briefcase and tipping the driver. The taxi sped

down the road while Aderyn made his way up the steps to the small flat. Fumbling with

the key in his pocket, he managed to fish it out from under the crumpled receipt he kept

from the chip shop, and unlocked the door. He stepped inside, closing his umbrella and

leaving it outside before closing the door behind him. The hustle and bustle of the world

outside grew quieter, and Aderyn breathed a sigh as he took off his raincoat. A cup of

hot tea sounds nice, He thought. Making his way over to the stove in his small kitchen,

Aderyn filled the kettle with water before placing it on the stove to bring it to a boil. He

saw the mailman had already passed through, and the mail was on the floor in the

doorway. A wet footprint showed where Aderyn had accidentally trodden on them. He

grimaced at the thought of the water seeping onto the pages and smudging the neat

print, so he hurriedly made his way over to the pile, and bent to pick them up. One letter

slipped out from the middle of the pile and back on to the floor. Placing the others

1
aside, he picked it up and studied it, and his stomach lurched when he saw who it was

from. He had hoped never to cross paths with this man again, a man who had brought

so much turmoil and disaster to his life the first time they had met. He broke the seal

and opened the letter.

A.C.:

I pray this letter finds you in good health, and you are faring better than the last

time I saw you. I shall not say much, in case this letter falls into the wrong hands. Something bad

has happened, and it seems our world is not as stable as it once was. You must return immediately,

as I fear your help is drastically needed.

S.A.F

A knock sounded at the door, and Aderyn hastily folded up the letter and shoved

it in a nearby drawer. He went to open the door. His neighbor stood on the doorstep, in

the process of folding up her umbrella.

“Ms. Archibald, how pleasant to see you. Do come in.”

Aderyn stepped aside and let the elderly woman in, who looked relieved to be out

of the rain.

“How was your trip? Would you care for some tea? The kettle is boiling just now.”

Aderyn hoped the water hadn’t boiled over; he had gotten distracted reading the letter.

Ms. Archibald nodded. “Tea would be perfection, thank you dear.”

2
 Aderyn went to the kitchen and prepared the tea before bringing out two hot cups

and placing them on the kitchen table. He slid one towards her. She thanked him and

took a sip.

“I got back from Devonshire two nights ago. You were away then, on one of your

many business trips, since I tried to visit the other day, but no one answered. I meant to

tell you earlier, but I couldn’t for obvious reasons, so I might as well tell you now. Lucy

had her baby, so I’m a grandmother, officially.”

“Congratulations Edna. That’s splendid news.”

Ms. Archibald smiled. “Thank you dear. Lucy was very sad Gregory couldn’t be

here for it. But little Noah looks just like his grandfather, it was a delight. I stayed a day

or two after he was born. I convinced Lucy and Matthew to take a quick holiday to the

seaside while I took care of the baby. Only for a few hours. I’ll daresay they needed it.”

She chuckled to herself.

“Yes, that makes sense. That was quite nice of you to do.” Aderyn said

distractedly. His mind kept wandering back to the letter he had received, and the

thought of it hung heavy in his head.

“Are you quite alright dear? You look pale, and you’ve barely sipped at your tea.

Are you ill?”

Aderyn smiled weakly at Ms. Archibald. “I’m terribly sorry Edna, but I’m afraid I’m

not feeling too good at the moment. If you’ll excuse me-”

“You’re quite alright dear, no need for an apology. I’ll leave you and you have to

let me know how you’re doing tomorrow. I’ll bring some soup for you Thursday evening.”

Aderyn promised he would, and opening the door, saw Edna out of the flat.

3
 ********

The next two days passed with little incident, save for an attempted robbery on

Downing Street near the Ardhoff Motel. The young woman was shaken, but unharmed,

and nothing had been taken from her. Aderyn and his colleagues returned to the office

with a smaller report than normal, and it only took a few minutes to file all the necessary

paperwork.

The following day dawned with a storm on the forecast, and when Aderyn left his

little flat, with his umbrella on his arm, the threatening clouds were already gathering in

the sky. Aderyn was glad he had grabbed his raincoat. He hailed a taxi with little effort,

and in minutes he was speeding through London Traffic towards Bishopsgate.

4
 Chapter 2: Death on the Door

City of London Police, Bishopsgate

182 Bishopsgate

London, England

MARCH 1980

The morning had passed with little to report, save for Officer Grant mentioning

something about a carjack on Fifth Street. The incident had been quickly resolved when

the young man who had carjacked it accidentally stalled the engine at the streetlight a

quarter of a mile up the road. By half past two, it began raining heavily outside, and

people outside, both tourist and local, quickened their pace to get home and out of the

rain. Aderyn had just sat down at his desk with his afternoon tea when a paperboy came

running into the station, a look of hysteria on his face.

“Something’s happenin’, Officer Corros!” He cried. “I was standin’ on the corner

per usual, handin’ out my papers, and I thought I saw a strange light, and some woman

screamed! Seemed to be coming from Yorev street. I don’t know for sure, but I thought

it best to come to you straight away-” the police station was now buzzing with activity,

and the paperboy fell silent, watching the commotion as they sprang into action.

Officer Grant nodded at the paperboy’s words as he grabbed his coat from the

peg. “You did the right thing Alexander. Now stay here and don’t follow us, it’s not a

pleasant sight for a young lad such as you.”

The paper boy nodded wearily and sat in a chair, one of the junior officers

bringing him a cup of tea.

5
 Aderyn switched his own tea for his helmet and baton, and rushed with Officer

Grant and three other policemen towards the waiting police cars outside.

********

Aderyn’s heart dropped when the car stopped across the street from his flat. The

Metropolitan Police were also there, from Victoria Embankment, and Aderyn walked

over to one of them.

“Officer Corros, Bishopsgate Station.”

The man looked up and shook his hand. “Officer Saxbury, Victoria Station. We

were called here about five minutes ago, and we’ve had a chance to block off the area

and inspect the victim. According to her driving licence she is sixty-three, and her name

is Edna Archibald. She seems to be the only person living in the flat-”

“Pardon for the interruption officer, but I know her. She’s my next door neighbor. I

live in Flat 23E.” He pointed to the flat on the right of Edna’s.

Officer Saxbury glanced at him. “Go on.”

“Edna is widowed; her husband, Gregory died three years ago. She lives by

herself, but her daughter lives in Devonshire with her husband. Edna just became a

grandmother. She came by my house two days ago to tell me of the news.”

“Have you met any of her family?” Officer Saxbury asked, pulling a pen from his

pocket and hastily scribbling down what Aderyn was telling him.

“I have not; I have lived in London for the past sixteen years, but I just recently

moved two and a half years ago.”

“To your current residency?”

“That is correct.” Aderyn nodded.

6
 “We’ll have to contact the family, in any case, to let them know of the death.”

“I can do that.” Aderyn offered. “I have not met any of her family personally, they

know about me through Edna. She and I were good friends. She said she talked about

me quite a lot when she was with them.”

“Right you are.” Officer Saxbury nodded. He looked up at the sound of an

approaching engine. “Damn. They’ve sent for the Mortician already.” He excused

himself and walked towards them.

“Oi!” He hollered at the junior officers that were with him. “Which one of you

rapscallions called the Mortician?”

One of the Junior officers turned red. He stepped forwards. “That's my fault sir. I

thought we were done investigating the body-”

“Blast it Siorus! We’re not done until I say so. Did anything the senior officer say

to you during training even get through your thick skull?”

Siorus looked mortified, and began rapidly apologizing. Officer Saxbury cut him

off. “That’s enough George. Officer Corros has brought backup from Bishopsgate, so

get back to your stations, all of you. I’m sure Officer Hayes has stuff for you to do. The

other officers and I will finish with this, before the detectives arrive.”

Siorus nodded, and he glanced quickly at Aderyn and the officers from

Bishopsgate, clearly irked, and obviously embarrassed to be disciplined in front of so

many other officers. The junior officers nodded and muttered amongst themselves as

they made their way to their police car. They piled in and drove off, back towards

Victoria Embankment, leaving Saxbury and the rest of the Officers from the station

crowded around the flat.

7
 Aderyn and Officer Saxbury walked towards the flat, to investigate inside the

property.

Saxbury filled him in. “We believe she’s been strangled, but we can’t know for

sure until the autopsy is done. But we’ve no idea why someone would be motivated to

kill her. She lives here, by herself, and as you said, it seems there was not animosity

between her and her daughter. Her husband’s been dead three years, don’t need to

worry about him.”

They had reached the door, and the lock clicked when they went inside.

“Strangest thing, that door.” Saxbury said. “It was locked when we arrived. From the

inside. I had to open it myself with a hairpin. No appearance of forced entry or anything.

I’m stumped.”

“Not much of a lead.” Aderyn agreed.

They found Edna’s body on the floor in the entryway, red marks around her neck.

“Did the killer burn her?” Aderyn asked, pointing to the marks.

“Strangulation is more where I would have gone with it.” Saxbury said from the

kitchen. “We’ll know more when we receive the autopsy. If she died from lack of oxygen,

then yes, strangulation.”

“I know.” Aderyn said. “But have you looked closely at her neck?”

“Not closely.” Saxbury said. “We decided it best to leave that for the detectives.

Why do you ask? Found something?”

“Maybe.”

Saxbury almost tripped over a smashed cereal bowl on the ground and bent

down to examine Edna’s throat. The hand mark around it was bigger than his or Officer

8
Saxbury’s and they both concluded the killer might have been male. The handmark was

a deep reddish-brown; unusual for a strangulation mark, and in normal circumstances,

the handprint would be gone by now. But Aderyn was beginning to get the feeling that

this was an unordinary case. He felt Edna’s throat, and to his great surprise, found it

was hot to the touch.

“Saxbury-”

Officer Saxburry hurried across the hallway from his investigation of the living

room, this time with tripping over things and without asking stupid questions. “What is

it?”

“Her throat is still hot, you can barely touch it for more than fifteen seconds

before the heat gets too much.”

He could tell Saxbury didn’t believe him right away, but the man reached down to

touch it anyway. He could only hold it there a short while before he too was forced to

pull his hand away. Saxbury scratched his head. “But she was killed at least twenty

minutes ago. Her body heat should be lower than this. And it should definitely not be

getting warmer.” He looked very perplexed. “This is by far the most complicated case

I’ve ever seen. Should I call the detectives over now, so they can look at this? I would

say we can handle this ourselves, but...”

Aderyn hesitated and nodded. “I think they will have a better handle on this than

we, given the complexity of the situation.”

Saxbury nodded and stood up. “I’ll go take care of that; see what else you can

find. Clean up the spilled milk, but leave the cereal bowl, for the detectives to examine.”

9
Officer Saxbury ordered him, and donning his hat, exited the scene to fetch the more

specialized detectives.

Aderyn left Edna’s body and began searching around the house, but suspected

he wouldn’t find anything useful, as Saxbury hadn’t mentioned anything in particular

when searching the kitchen.

The living room provided nothing that would be useful in the investigation. Aderyn

had been to Edna’s flat only once before, but had barely gotten past the door when

Edna mentioned she owned five cats. Aderyn decided to leave at once, as any contact

with cats caused him to break out into hives across his face, and he hadn’t been back

since. The sight and smell of cats were long gone, and Aderyn perused freely around

the living room and bedroom of the house, but his search yielded nothing.

When he got to the kitchen, the smashed cereal bowl was in pieces on the floor,

its contents puddling along the tile. Aderyn fetched a rag from a drawer to clean up the

milk and now-soggy bran flakes, but when he tried to wet the rag, the water wouldn’t

turn on. That’s strange. He thought. A stack of clean dishes sat in the corner of the

kitchen counter. Edna must have washed them yesterday, and let them air-dry

overnight. He and Edna had talked a lot about their similar household habits, from how

they cleaned the kitchen to where they kept their dishes to where they shopped for toilet

paper on Saturdays. She had mentioned several times how she did not like using the

dishwasher, instead preferring to air-dry them on the counter. Aderyn walked around the

house, testing the bathroom faucet, but that too was dry. He knew this was not Edna’s

doing, it had to have been the man who killed her. Aderyn did his best to mop up Edna’s

breakfast with the dry rag he had found, and he wrung it out over the sink. The light was

10
streaming in through the window above the sink, and a glint of white caught his eye in

the disposal drain. He tried to turn on the light above the sink in an attempt to see it

better, but the bulb must have been dead, because when he flipped the switch, nothing

happened. This can’t be coincidental. When he checked, the other lights were dead too,

and venturing outside, he saw the electrical cords had been severed, and the water

valve shut off.

Grabbing a flashlight from his waistband pocket, Aderyn went back to the sink

and used it to inspect whatever was in the drain. Reaching his hand in, he carefully

extracted what appeared to be soggy bits of paper, and setting down the bit he had

grabbed the first time, examined it. The paper appeared to have previously been ripped

before being put down the disposal, but the disposal had not been run, and because of

that, the paper was still readable. There was more paper in the disposer, and Aderyn

set his flashlight down and using both hands, scooped up as much as he could. He laid

it out before him, and realized that the typeface was that of a typed letter. He was

careful to separate each piece, and laid each down on the counter, careful to keep all of

the little pieces from touching. The writing was smudged only slightly, meaning that

either the water had been shut off for a few days (longer than he had previously

thought), or that the paper had only been in the sink for a few hours.

Studying each scrap, Aderyn did his best to reorganize it in what he thought was

the structure of the letter before it had been torn up.

Aderyn struggled to make sense of the letter, at first thinking it to be in a different

language, but too many vowels were missing for it to have been written in another

language. It must be code. It has to be. Pulling out a small notebook from his breast

11
pocket, Aderyn hurriedly jotted down the letterS as best he could. The smudged letters

he didn’t bother with, simply putting a dash where the indiscernible letters were.

********

A junior detective came in, and Aderyn paused in his writing and looked up. The

young man introduced himself briefly to Aderyn before turning his attention to Edna’s

body. He studied her and made notes for awhile as Aderyn studied the sodden letter he

had fished from the sink. The integrity of the ink must have been strong, as the majority

of the letters were easy enough to make out; only a few here and there were smudged.

“You think her tattoo might have something to do with the case?” the Junior

officer called over to him.

“Tattoo?” Aderyn looked up from the kitchen counter. Edna hadn’t ever

mentioned any sort of tattoo. “What tattoo?” He pocketed his notebook and went to

where the younger man was knelt next to the body.

“On her arm. Some sort of tree or something like that.”

The Junior Detective stepped back from the body to allow Aderyn a closer look at

Edna’s tattoo.

Aderyn peered at her arm, and found a small tattoo, inked in black, along her

upper left arm. It was not a big tattoo, barely larger than a two pound coin, but the

design and the colors were clear. It was a small tree, white bark and dark leaves, with a

bear claw next to it. The design was simple, but not meant to be pretty. The longer he

looked at it, the darker the tree became.

And all of a sudden the flashbacks came rushing back to him, returning him to a

place he had hoped to be free of for the rest of his life. He saw himself sneaking into the

12
Underworld with his men under Senator Fitzroy’s orders, the evil laughs of the

Guardians and the dying screams of his men as as they all were slaughtered before his

very eyes. The heat of the flames as he was tortured, and the leaves of the Central Tree

falling with each Undead soul shattered into oblivion as his sword sliced through them.

The anger in Tethys’ voice calling after him as he threatened his family’s life, and his

own escape back to Jaarel through the Acheron River.

“Sir? Officer Corros?” Aderyn blinked and turned to see the junior officer staring

at him. “Is everything okay? You seemed to zone out for a minute-”

“Yes I’m fine, thank you. Just tired I suppose.”

The junior officer nodded, and Aderyn returned his focus to the tattoo on Edna’s

arm. More of a brand, he supposed. Aderyn knew how the Guardians functioned; they

operated by force, not by choice.

Aderyn recognized the tree; it was the Arbor Mortis, the tree of Death in the

center of the Underworld. A feeling of dread came over him, and he suddenly felt sick.

Edna had been working for Tethys, or had been affiliated somehow, with the Lord of the

Underworld. The letter must have something to do with all this. Aderyn sighed. The door

opened behind him, and Saxbury walked inside.

“Did you find anything Officer Corros- oh, good evening Horatius.”

“Good evening officer,” the young detective, who must have been Horatius -

Aderyn hadn’t been paying attention when the young man introduced himself the first

time he came in- stood to greet Saxbury. Aderyn did too.

“Yessir, we’ve found something.” Horatius said. Aderyn stepped aside to allow

Saxbury room to see it.

13
 “Hmmm. Never seen a marking like this before. It’s a tattoo I reckon?”

“Yes, that’s what we’ve decided.” Aderyn answered, glancing at Horatius, who

nodded.

“Very well. I’ll have the detectives take a closer look at this. Excellent work you

two. The detectives have arrived, so you are both free to take your leave. Aderyn, leave

any notes you recorded with them.”

Aderyn nodded and he exited the building. Horatius followed behind him.

Aderyn gave his notes to the detectives on the way out, but kept the copied letter

in his pocket. He knew now that it had to be of some significance, and somehow related

to the tattoo Edna had on her arm. He wasn’t sure what to think. Edna had always been

a very kind lady, and had always been so nice to him. Now he wasn’t so sure, feeling he

had been played on both sides.

“Are you riding back Corros?” One of his fellow officers asked him as he neared

the police car.

“I want to walk. Thank you though Slader. I need to collect my thoughts, and I

must post a letter to Edna’s family.”

“Understood. See you back at the station then, Officer.”

“See you boys later.”

The men tipped their hats and piled in the car, driving back to Bishopsgate

Station.

14
 Chapter 3: Devonshire

London, England

MARCH 1980

Aderyn meandered along the sidewalk, utterly perplexed by the information he

had just uncovered. How long she had been working for the Guardians, he had no idea,

but he knew she had to have been working with them for at least a year and a half,

loyally, in order to get the Arbor Mortis on her arm. Run-ins last year with Tethys’

scoundrels had taught him a lot about their system of ranking and hierarchy. Erdani

humans, like Edna, could switch between both their world and Nanuuk, and with special

permission, could also access the Underworld through the Lethe River. Those who

worked as Aramej could come and go anytime between Erda and the Underworld, but

had limited contact with Nanuuk. The Acheron river acted as a seam connecting the

Land of the Dead to the Nanuukijan Underworld, and was populated by the Eastern

Guards; the most vicious and merciless of all the Lethean Guards.

A tap on the shoulder snapped Aderyn back to the real world. He turned to see

Horatius standing behind him.

“Good evening Horatius.”

“Good evening Officer. May I speak to you?”

“Of course. Does it have to do with Edna’s death?”

“Yes. the tattoo-”

Aderyn’s heart sank. “Yes, go on.”

15
 “Pardon me for sounding intrusive, but you know what that is. I saw it on your

face when you first looked at it. Your face grew blank for a moment. You know what it

means-”

Aderyn hesitated. It was painful to talk about. “I do Horatius, but right now is not a

good time to talk about it-”

“But what I’m trying to say is that I know about it too.”

Aderyn was so stunned, he momentarily stopped walking. “What?” He picked up

his pace again, and Horatius fell in step beside him.

“I know what the tattoo means.” Horatius repeated. “Arbor Mortis. The Central

Tree.”

Aderyn could barely hide his surprise. “Fitzroy told me there wouldn’t be other

Nanuukijans in the area. He said the majority were in the East-”

“Yeah, well, he told me the same thing too.” Horatius sounded dismissive. “But

anyways, did you get a letter?”

“You mean Thursday evening? Yes. I was reading it when Edna came over.”

“To your flat?”

“Yes, she lives next-door to me.”

“Really? I’d no idea. Did she act strangely or anything to you the last time she

came over?”

“No, not at all.”

Horatius thought for a moment. “Hmm. that’s understandable though, she

needed to keep her identity a secret from the Erdani.”

“But if she worked for Tethys, she had to know I was working under Fitzroy.”

16
 “How?”

“She knows Fitzroy’s chapter operates in London in the Erdani World. She’s a

smart woman, with a sharp mind and a keen eye for detail. She had to have put two and

two together. Besides, when I was inspecting the house, I found a letter.”

“Really? Where?”

“The disposal drain.”

“Did you fish it out?”

“Of course i did. I copied it on my notebook. It’s in my pocket.”

“Where’s the actual letter?”

“I left it in the kitchen. The detectives will see it but even though it’s coded, they

won’t make sense out of it. Unless they too are Nanuukijan, but I doubt that.”

“Hmm. Can I see it?” Horatius asked.

“Not now.” Horatius’ face fell, but Aderyn could tell he’d been expecting this

answer. “I’m on my way to the Postal station to mail a letter to Edna’s Family. I have to

tell them what happened.”

“I’ll leave you to it,” Horatius said. “I have to get back to the station anyhow-

Officer Erit won’t like me coming back this late- it’s almost five o’clock.”

“See you later then.” Aderyn said

Horatius waved and crossed the street. “I’ll see you on the train tomorrow.” He

called cheerfully. Horatius turned a corner and was swallowed up by the crowds on the

London sidewalk.

Aderyn swore under his breath. He had forgotten about the train, and his mind

wandered back to his own letter he had received. Did Edna receive hers the same day

17
as mine came? It wasn’t impossible. Aderyn was still slightly overwhelmed by what had

just happened, between Edna’s death, the coded letter in the disposal, and Horatius’

sudden friendliness and the information he had just told him. Aderyn had become a very

guarded person in the last year and a half, and rarely did he become so close with

someone so fast. But if Horatius was serious, and he was in fact also working for the

Senator like he said, he would be a good confidant to have.

He smiled, shaking his head, and ducked into the postal shop.

********

“I’d like to mail this letter to Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Gardner, right away. They live

in Devon. Something’s gone terribly wrong with Lucy Gardner’s mother.”

“I would expect that. Not everyday a police officer comes to my station wanting to

post a letter.”

Aderyn stopped himself from rolling his eyes; he had no time for such humor. He

gave a terse smile, and handed the letter he had written to the postman.

The postman took the letter from Aderyn’s hand. He checked to make sure the

stamps were placed correctly before thumbing through the index book for an address

match, but he paused and frowned, looking extremely perplexed. He waved over a

superintendent, and pointed to the letter.

“I’m sorry sir, we cannot mail this.” the superintendent said, reading over the

index book first before checking the letter.

“Why not? This is an important letter and it must be sent at once.”

“I understand that sir, but we’ve no records of a Mr. and Mrs. Gardner in Devon.”

18
 “What?” Aderyn was flummoxed. “Perhaps I’ve written the address wrong. Let

me see that-” Aderyn snatched the letter back and double-checked it.

“We’ve no records of a Lucy or Matthew Gardner anywhere in Devon.” the

superintendent repeated. “I’m afraid we cannot post this.”

“But that’s quite simply impossible. They couldn’t have just vanished out of thin

air.”

“Are you sure you’ve gotten the names right?” the Superintendent asked. “We’ve

got a Rachel and Samuel Gardenaar in Devon, twelve blocks from where you’ve got the

original address.” the Postman said, pointing to the index book.

“No, no that can’t be right. Edna Archibald came by my flat for tea two days ago.

She mentioned she had just returned from Devon, after the birth of her grandson, Noah.

She specifically said she let Lucy and Matthew travel to the seaside for a few hours

while she looked after the baby.”

The Superintendent shrugged, unable to come up with any ideas. “I’ve no idea

Mr. Corros. Perhaps check with the Certificate Agency. They’re better for this than we

are. Take your letter with you.” He said, handing the letter back to Aderyn. “Tell them

Michael Farthing sent you.”

********

Atticus Harsley, the man at the front desk of the Certificate Agency, was as

confused as Michael Farthing had been.

The Certificate Agency had books crammed along the walls, and several ladders

on each wall were high enough to reach the ceiling, where the top shelf was nestled.

The man climbed the rickety ladder halfway up, sliding the ladder along the shelf and

19
perusing the vast selection of books until he found the one he was looking for. He

grabbed it and climbed down the ladder one handed, carrying the book in the other.

He set the book on the counter in front of them, the book landing on the counter

with a loud thump. The words DEVONSHIRE IV were scrawled on the front in black ink.

“In this shop, as well as the others we work with, we’ve records of all people born

in England, in all cities below the 51st Parallel. Each book is divided into counties, with

each county divided into as many books needed.” The man explained as he flipped

through the pages. He ran his finger down the names, muttering to himself.

“You said Gardner right?”

“Yes sir. Husband and wife, Matthew and Lucy. They just had a baby boy, Noah,

about a week ago.”

The man nodded and flipped towards the end of the book, frowning. “Hmmmm.

Congratulations to them, but I’m not seeing any names like that on here.” Atticus looked

up. “You sure you got the name right? Not a Samuel, or a Rachel? Though their names

are spelled with a double ‘a’, but still.” He glanced up at Aderyn, who shook his head.

“Nope. It’s Gardener, with an ‘e’. I’m sure of it.”

“An ‘e’ you say? This might be why we’re not finding them.” Atticus smiled to

himself as he flipped the page. He scanned it quickly, but he paused, his frown

deepening. He gave a hmph of confusion.

“What is it? Have you found them?”

“I have sir, but unfortunately, they’re deceased?”

“What?” a shiver went down Aderyn’s spine. “You’re joking- Edna visited them

just last week. There must be some kind of mistake-”

20
 “I’m afraid there isn’t. Take a look for yourself, sir.”

Atticus turned the book around and let Aderyn read it. He read the certificate

entry of the Gardener family.

21
LONDON CERTIFICATE REGISTRY ASSOCIATION PG 23

DEVONSHIRE IV

< GARDENBOUGH GARDENER GARREN >

ADULTS: 2 CHILDREN: 1

STATUS: ALIVE 0 DECEASED 3

MATTHEW AURELIUS GARDENER

BORN: 02 JANUARY 1945, DEVONSHIRE, ENGLAND

DEATH: 14 APRIL 1976 DEVONSHIRE, ENGLAND

LUCILLE HARRIET ARCHIBALD GARDENER

BORN: 27 SEPTEMBER 1947 LONDON, ENGLAND

DIED: 14 APRIL 1976 DEVONSHIRE, ENGLAND

NOAH EDWIN GARDENER

BORN: 19 JUNE 1975 DEVONSHIRE, ENGLAND

DIED: 14 APRIL 1976 DEVONSHIRE ENGLAND

22
 Aderyn read the entry, horror and sadness filling him at the same time. Three

young lives cut tragically short. He re-read the death date, still finding himself unable to

believe this. He stopped reading, peering closely at the numbers, certain his brain had

duped him for a moment. But the numbers didn’t budge. He glanced at Atticus.

“1976? That was four years ago.”

“I know. This is a strange situation you’ve got yourself in, I’ll tell you that. Now,

the woman who died, Lucy’s mother, are” - he hesitated, lowering his voice to a

whisper- “are you sure she wasn’t crazy?”

“Not a bit, she was clear as day. Extremely observant that one. Smart mind.”

“Well, I’m dumbfounded. I’ve got no suggestions to offer you, but now we know

why you’re unable to post that letter.” he said grimly, gesturing to the letter now slightly

crumpled in Aderyn’s hand. Aderyn forgot he had even had it, and loosened his grip,

flattening it along the counter before pocketing it.

Atticus closed the large book and climbing the ladder, replaced it along the shelf

with the other DEVONSHIRE books. He climbed down the ladder and approached

Aderyn. “Glad I could be of help to you today officer. Come to me if you need anything

else, I’m happy to help. Good luck with this.” he shook Aderyn’s hand.

“Thank you sir, you’ve been most helpful today, much appreciated.” Aderyn

tipped his hat to the older gentlemen and exited the shop, the small bell over the door

announcing his departure.

23
 CHAPTER 4:

76 YOREV STREET

LONDON, ENGLAND

MARCH 1980

In the end, Aderyn had not handled the news of Edna’s death very well. The sight

of the police tape surrounding her house reminded him that she would never be over at

his house anymore, complaining about the dishwasher or the grocery lines on Saturday.

Despite all the new misgivings he had about her character, Aderyn admitted he would

still would miss the old Edna he had known before this; the facade she had put on for so

many years had clearly worked on him. After some effort, Aderyn asked the taxi to let

him off at the corner, and he walked from there to his house. The moment Aderyn

closed the door to his little flat, he slid to the floor, utterly exhausted from today’s

events. The sadness from Edna’s death, as well as the surprising news of her family’s

death was suddenly overwhelming, and a tear slipped down his cheek. Aderyn wiped it

away furiously. He never cried. He refused to let himself crack, whether it be from

stress, pressure, or emotion, he refused to let himself be seen as weak. Not since....

A high pitched whine met his ears, and it took Aderyn a minute to realize that it

was himself making that sound. His stomach was heaving with emotion, the tears

suddenly spilled from his eyes before he could stop himself. He wiped his cheeks

quickly, but the tears kept coming, before he knew it, Aderyn was blubbering on the

floor. His breath came in ragged gasps, and Aderyn fought to rein his emotions in and

24
get a better hold on himself. The tears subsided, but the heavy weight on his chest was

still there, and Aderyn almost broke down again.

Aderyn stood up, frustrated for letting himself get so caught up emotionally in all

this. A thirty-five year old man, sitting on the floor, blubbering his eyes out. Get a grip,

Aderyn. If Freya were still here, she’d be laughing at you. Freya. His beautiful wife. He’d

give anything to have her with him, to open the door to his flat and not be greeted with

immeasurable silence. He would have shaken his fist up to God, asking him why he had

taken away everyone he cared about. But he no longer believed in a supreme deity, not

since he had been so horribly backstabbed four years ago. Not when he had been

utterly betrayed by his comrades and given to the devil, and endured months of torture

while unbeknownst to him, his family was being hunted down and killed, because of

something he had done. Aderyn allowed the painful memories to resurface, ones that

he had been hiding for so long. The sight would never truly leave him; coming home to

see the blue lights of the police cars surrounding his house, and his neighbors crowded

around; some sobbing with others standing in shock. At first, Micah Lattimer and Norah

Georu wouldn’t let him through, but their insistence made him want to look even more.

He pushed his way through the crowd, only to see the bodies of his wife and children

covered with sheets and lined on the sidewalk. The policemen had had to restrain him

after that, but his legs wouldn’t support him anymore, and his screams had left his voice

hoarse.

The picture frame was on the fireplace mantle, and Aderyn picked it up, studying

it. He had not looked at it for a while, instead figuring it best to block out the pain rather

than address it. He would give anything to have his family back. To see his daughter

25
finish primary school. To see his sons learn how to ride a bicycle, and be able to kick a

football around the yard. To kiss his children goodnight and walk them to school the

next morning. But all that was gone, and now he was alone.

Aderyn sat heavily on a chair, his head on his hands. He was shaking and he

couldn’t stop, and he hated being like this. Emotions were something he tried heavily to

avoid at all costs; life had taught him that being too invested in something could ruin

him. And in the past it had. But this time he promised not to go through it a second time.

26
 CHAPTER 5: TRAIN TO LIVERPOOL

KINGS CROSS STATION

LONDON, ENGLAND

MARCH 1980

King’s Cross Station was bustling with the usual pedestrian traffic. The noise was

overwhelming; the sound of the trains as they entered and left the station, the heckling

of the conductors as they made sure passengers were boarding the correct train, and

the various conversations of people buzzed around him as they made their way to their

designated platform.

“-Seamus and Matthew, do you have your ticket with you? I swear to God if

either of you you dropped it-”

“We’ve got them Mum, don’t worry. Look, they’re right here.”

A fretting mother stood with her two sons as she waited with her husband and

children to board a train to Southampton.

“-PLATFORM FIVE IS NOW BOARDING FOR LEEDS. TRAIN 4381 IS BOARDING

FOR LEEDS AT THIS TIME.” A conductor screeched through the PA system.

“-Hurry up George- our train’s leaving in ten minutes-”

“Give me a minute dear- my glasses are fogged up from the trains-”

An elderly couple passed him, and George’s wife huffed impatiently as she

stopped for her husband to clean his glasses. They began moving seconds later, and

were engulfed in the crowd.

27
“Come back here Daisy- I can’t have you running off- Michael- sit still. Can’t you see I’m

talking to your brother? Wait your turn and you may tell me in a moment-Harry, where’s

your suitcase?”

“Dad has it Mum, he asked me to give it to him. Dad went to the loo- he set it

down right here-” A woman seated nearby was frantically trying to keep track of both her

luggage and children.

“Ticket please. Thank you… how many children are travelling with you today?” a

weary sounding conductor was admitting passengers onto the 10:40 train for

Manchester.

“-Don’t dawdle Violet, I don’t want you lost in a busy place like this-” a mother

grabbed her young daughter’s hand and they hurried through the crowds.

“Aderyn!” Aderyn looked up to see the young detective, Horatius, making his way

towards him through the busy crowds with a suitcase in his left hand. “Excuse me-

sorry- thank you-” He sat down next to him, looking weary. He yawned as he removed

his hat. “You’re looking unusually glum this morning.” he remarked.

Aderyn sighed. “I had a bit of a rough night last night-”

“-you don’t have to go into detail-”

“-I wasn’t planning to.” Aderyn said shortly. He settled back in his seat, folding his

arms across his chest. He didn’t want to revisit last night; he hoped he never would

have to again. He’d gotten little sleep, between the blue lights from the sirens and the

hyperactivity of his brain, he wasn’t even able to get to bed until four in the morning.

“I copied down the code a second time. Here’s a copy for you.” Aderyn reached

into his pocket, extracted a folded piece of paper, and handed it to Horatius.

28
 “Oh thank you.” Horatius took it gratefully and pocketed it.

“PLATFORM 10 IS NOW BOARDING FOR LIVERPOOL. TRAIN 3972 IS NOW

BOARDING FOR LIVERPOOL.” the conductor screeched a second time through the PA

system.

“That’s us.” Horatius said, standing and grabbing his suitcase off the floor. He

and Aderyn joined the line of people waiting to board the train, handing their tickets to

the conductor.

“We’re travelling together,” Horatius said, pointing at Aderyn.

“Second class, compartment 7,” the conductor responded in a nasally voice.

********

Fifteen minutes later, all the passengers had boarded and the train was

underway, chugging its way out of the station and northwest towards Liverpool. Aderyn

settled in his seat and looked at Horatius, who was admiring the view outside the

window as the scenery flew by.

Aderyn pulled the coded letter out of his pocket, and standing up, pulled down

the screen to give themselves privacy in their compartment.

Horatius turned at the sound of the shutters being drawn. He saw the folded

parchment on the table. “Are you working on the code?”

Aderyn sat back down and nodded. Horatius pulled out his paper and unfolded it

on the table, smoothing it out. He scanned the page. “Well this is confusing. How’d you

guess it was code?”

“Look at the letters.” Aderyn said, pointing to it with his pen. “See how many few

vowels there are? That’s how you know it’s code, and not a different language.”

29
 “Oh. that’s smart of you to notice that,” Horatius said. He read through the letter

Aderyn had copied from the one in the sink. It was no more than a sentence long.

30
Kjtg Gxi ohgr :

Gy eua s e ckr qtu , z xua n V xxk O i uz, znk O lkx gxk larre Gcg tkj, gtj Ru j

Zk n y n y xk kyz j eua vxky t k gz znk Kg z xt M k.

Zn agx o y

“So where do we start?” Horatius asked Aderyn.

“Where do you think?” Aderyn replied.

Horatius glanced at the letter again. “What about the first line? That has to be the

address line.”

“Good.” Aderyn nodded, and he read the first line.

Kjtg Gxi ohgr :

“I’ll bet you two shillings that the first word is ‘Edna’.”

“The one with ‘Kjtg’? I agree with you there.” Aderyn said. He wrote the word

Edna above the coded writing.

Horatius said nothing, and Aderyn looked over to see him already engrossed in

his work.

“It’s a six letter shift. A to G,” Horatius announced. He sat back, pleased with

himself.

“Good job Horatius,” Aderyn said, and used the shift to decipher the first line. As

he suspected, it was Edna’s first and last name, with a few of the letters missing.

Edna Arc ibal :

31
 He looked over to see Horatius had already filled in the spaces, and had moved

onto the next line.

********

Half an hour later, and the gibberish had been converted to English, save for the

intermittent spaces here and there. Horatius slid his completed paper over to Aderyn.

“Done.” he said proudly.

Aderyn looked over it.

Edna Arc ibal :

As you m y wel kno , t rou h P rre I c ot, the I fer are fully Awa

ned and Lo d Te h s has re est d you pres n e at the Ea t rn G e.

Th uar i s
“This should be pretty easy to read; I don’t think we have to fill anything in

manually.”

“You read it aloud, I’ll write it down.” Aderyn suggested. He kept an eye on his

own letter.

“Okay.” Horatius agreed. He cleared his throat and began reading.

“‘Edna Archibald. As you may well know’.... This must be ‘through’...Someone whose

name might be Pierre? I can’t catch his last name. Anyways, ‘the eye-ferr’? Nevermind,

I’ll skip this one and we can come back to it later.”

Aderyn nodded, his pen poised for Horatius to continue reading. “Go on.”

32
 “‘...are fully...awakened, and...L...Lord Tethys -that has to be Tethys- has

requested your presence at the...something.”

“Skip that one too; we’ll come back to it later,” Aderyn interjected.

Horatius continued, “We will do our best to keep you fully...informed...as

evens...events progress. Please reply no later than June two...twentieth. The

guardians...oteg.” he turned to Aderyn. “I’ve no idea the last four letters.”

“In some abbreviations, ‘o’ and ‘t’ put together simply means ‘of the’, but normally

a slash would be put between the ‘o’ and the ‘t’.

“So it’s ‘Guardians of the something’.”

“Why would the Guardians send a letter?” Aderyn said, frowning as he read the

signature line. “This can’t be from the Guardians themselves. This has to be a ploy.”

Once again, he felt duped, pulled purposefully in the wrong direction, off course of

where he should be.

“Is there a typewriter in the Underworld?” Horatius asked.

Aderyn laughed out loud. “Horatius, do you hear yourself speaking? Of course

there isn't. Which means this must have been an inside job.”

“Inside job?”

“In Nanuuk. A Nanuukijan must have written this and sent it to her.”

“So whoever visited her house had to have been Nanuukijan.”

“What? No.. how did you come up with that?”

“They could have brought the letter with them, killed Edna, and then tore up the

letter, soaked it, and put it in the disposer. Then they cut the power and water lines and

left,” Horatius said.

33
 “You mean planted?”

“Yeah.”

Aderyn felt momentarily stupid. He hadn’t even thought about this; he had

assumed the torn up and soaked letter had been Edna’s doing in order to conceal the

letter.

“Wow, I’m impressed. I have to hand it to you Horatius, I hadn’t thought about

that. Well done.”

Horatius beamed. “That doesn’t get rid of the possibility of the sender being an

Acheron.”

“Yes, but it makes that possibility less likely.”

Horatius nodded. “True.”

They sat in silence for a little bit, each lost in their own thoughts, until Horatius

announced he was tired and was going to take a nap. “Wake me up when we’re five

minutes out.”

“I will,” Aderyn said, glancing at his watch. It was quarter past twelve right now,

and with any luck, they’d be in Liverpool by quarter till two.

In the meantime, he worked his way through the almost completed letter, which

had a few words still with blanks. He figured “Ea_t_rn G__e” had to be the Eastern

Gate, which was the most populated (and most heavily guarded) Gate in the

Underworld. He still had no idea who “Pierre” was, but he must be some sort of Spirit of

high importance. “I_fer_” was the Inferi, the re-animated corpses of those Tethys had

found in Nanuuk when he had access to Nanuuk for a short time. His “Awakening”, from

1066-1087 was one of the most terrifying parts of Nanuukijan history, but of course,

34
Aderyn hadn’t been around for it. No one alive today had been, but many people had

journals left from their ancestors about the horrible time, and the historians had detailed

the time period well. And now that the word had cropped in his head, “Awa_ned” must

have been “Awakened”, meaning they had been brought to “life” by the Arbor Mortis.

Not real life, of course, but a “half life”, as Fitzroy liked to call it.

He re-read the whole letter. The only part missing was Pierre’s surname, but he knew

that would be impossible to find just by guessing. And if “Pierre” was someone of high

standings, he was bound to meet them sooner or later. He must be linked with the Inferi

somehow, if he was the one letting Edna know of all this.

Edna Archibald:

As you may well know, through Pierre I_c___ot, the Inferi are fully Awakened, and Lord

Tethys has requested your presence at the Eastern Gate.

The Guardians [o/tEG]

The Train horn sounded as it neared the Liverpool Station, and Horatius woke up

with a start.

“We’re here,” Aderyn said unhelpfully, just as the train pulled into the station.

“I can see that,” Horatius said, his voice still slurred with sleep. He looked mildly

grouchy, and Aderyn could tell he did not appreciate being woken so suddenly.

********

“If the entrance to Nanuuk is Corrin’s Tower, where is the entrance to the

Underworld?” Horatius asked, doing his best to keep up with Aderyn’s brisk strides

35
through the crowded street. His sleepiness was long gone; he hadn’t stopped talking

since they disembarked the train. Aderyn was beginning to wonder how much people

actually talked to him. He figured it wasn’t much. He hadn’t been able to shut up in the

last twenty minutes.

“Manchester,” Aderyn said shortly.

“Really?”

“Yes,” Aderyn said. “The entrance for the England Chapter is at the Manchester

Central Library.”

“Why?”

“Well, the official entrance is the Pantheon, on the Acropolis in Rome. and that’s

hard to get to unless you actually live in Rome. The majority of Doric architecture built

around world serves as Acheron portals. The similar building styles all echo that of the

Pantheon.”

“What about the Nanuukijan portals? What do they look like?”

“There is no one official entrance to Nanuuk, which gives the Builders a bit more

leeway when it comes to setting up Portals; they don’t have to model it after one

particular place or a style. Gives them more obscurity. The Entrances are everywhere,

and there are at least two major entrances on every continent. The minor ones are all

randomly scattered, and rather difficult to find; the major ones are a bit more easy to

spot. Some are very hard to get to, such as Mount Everest in Asia and Deception Island

in Antarctica. The other major entrances are Corrin’s Tower in The Isle of Man - which

we’re headed to now- the Jostedal glacier in Norway, the Temple of the Grand Jaguar in

36
Tikal, Mt. Katahdin in Maine -in the United States- Hoan Kiem lake in Vietnam,

Kapaleeshwarar Temple in India, and the Colosseum in Rome.”

“Have you been to all those places?”

“I have, on assignment under Fitzroy.”

“The scenery must have been gorgeous. You know, I haven’t ever travelled much

in my life.” Horatius mused.

“You’re young Horatius, you’ll have time to travel the world. Those are the

entrances I’ve been to on Fitzroy’s orders. I’ll admit, I would have liked to have slowed

down and admire the scenery, if I wasn’t on such a timetable.”

“Do you think I’ll ever get sent on a timetable?”

“Under Fitzroy? I’m sure of it. He’s in need of more recruits.”

They passed the rest of their walk in silence, only speaking when they reached

the ferry landing that would take them to the Isle of Man.

“How many passengers?” the fat man at the ticket counter asked. He looked

quite bored, being confined to his little booth all day.

“Two please,” Aderyn said.

“Taking any luggage with you today?”

“Only our suitcases,” Horatius held up his for the man to see.

“Twenty-two pounds please,” the fat man said.

Aderyn passed the bills to him.

“You’re all set.” the man said. “Have a good day.”

Aderyn and Horatius bid him good-day and made their way to ferry dock.

********

37
 The sun was setting when the ferry reached Douglas, and grabbing their

suitcases, Aderyn and Horatius hailed a taxi to Corrin’s Tower.

“Unfortunately, the tower closes to public access around five, so you’ve only got

half an hour,” their taxi driver warned them when they got out.

“We’re aware of that, thank you sir. Have a good evening.” Aderyn tipped the

driver generously and the taxi sped off back towards Douglas. He knew they must look

odd, standing on the side of the road with their luggage still in hand, but Aderyn

honestly didn’t care. They were almost at the entrance to Nanuuk, and his nerves were

heightening, with both excitement and anxiety; he was getting closer to the friends he

had left behind when he left, but he was also getting closer to Fitzroy’s domain, and he

wasn’t quite sure what to think about that.

Chapter 6: THROUGH THE PORTAL

CORRIN’S TOWER

ISLE OF MAN

MARCH 1980

Aderyn approached the young woman at the membership desk.

“Hello sir, how may I help you?”

Aderyn didn’t answer her, instead, showing her something on his wrist that

Horatius couldn’t see, before holding his hand in front of him.

38
 The woman brought her hand to his momentarily, and then brought her hand

near his face. Aderyn felt the heat circle his head as she read his vitals and scanned his

eye.

“He’s with me.” Aderyn informed her, jerking his head in Horatius’ direction. She

nodded to Aderyn and Horatius. A green column of light covered Aderyn, and a

whooshing sound filled the room. When the light disappeared, Aderyn was gone. The

woman turned to Horatius, reading his vitals and scanning his eye. The green light

surrounded him as well, and his body suddenly felt compressed, and cold air rushed

past him as if he were in a wind tunnel. The air stopped, and Horatius opened his eyes

to find himself on a cobblestone street, the street lights flickering and dark storm clouds

rolling in.

“Looks like it’s going to rain soon.” A familiar voice remarked.

Horatius turned to see Aderyn approaching him. “You’re in Nanuuk now.” he

gestured to the streets in front of him. A man in a black jacket and jeans came up to

them. Aderyn smiled when saw him, but his smile quickly turned into a frown when the

man spoke to him.

“Aderyn,what a pleasant surprise; I wasn’t expecting you to be back so soon.

Listen, Dr. Raldwin heard about what happened in December. You’ve been demoted.”

Armettius Farroc said, glancing earnestly at Aderyn.

“Wait, what?”

“She heard about the security breach in Gaal, and how three Boreasi were let

loose on the Conference building. We still have no idea what happened, but Senator

39
Pyulik was killed, Aderyn, and she knew that you were in the audience. You could have

have been there to stop it.”

“I tried.” Aderyn said indignantly. “I was trying to get people out. I’ll go talk to her.

Hadiran was with me, I need to find him too. He can help explain this.”

“Hadiran’s been hospitalized. He met with some nasty Pursell the other day while

he was in Scotland, under Fitzroy’s orders. He was bit on the arm, so he can’t be much

help until we’re sure the poison’s out of him.”

Aderyn stood still for moment, trying and failing to collect his thoughts. “I’ll figure

something out.” He murmured. He bid good day to Farroc and continued his way up the

street, Horatius following close behind.

Aderyn and Horatius entered the office, and made their way to the secretary's desk,

where the man sitting there was deeply engrossed in the letter he was writing. The man

at the desk paused his writing and looked up, and Aderyn was surprised to see George

Siorus, one of the junior detectives from Saxbury’s department, sitting in the chair. So

he is a third Nanuukijan settled in London, no doubt under Fitzroy. By the look on

Horatius’ face, he was surprised too.

“Good Evening Siorus. I did not expect to find you here. I am here to meet with Senator

Fitzroy. I have found a letter that might be of importance and could possibly be linked to

Edna’s death.”

George took a look at it and scoffed. “Are you two as thick headed as I suspected?”

George snatched the letter from Aderyn’s hand and ripped it up. “This is useless to us.

We have no need for it- why would the Acherons communicate through typewriter?”

Now Aderyn felt really stupid. He glanced at Horatius, who pointedly ignored him.

40
Aderyn sighed. “I’m sorry Siorus; I thought the letter might have some connection to

Enda’s death and her affiliation with-”

Siorus sighed and interrupted rather rudely. “The most basic trick in detective work is

setting up a ploy- a distraction- to take the investigator off course and put them in the

wrong direction. You should know that, Corros.”

“Siorus! Silence, you fool. Gentlemen, do come in.” Aderyn looked up and a shiver went

down his spine. A man in his mid forties had come out of his office, and he stood there,

adjusting his glasses as they slipped down his nose. He seemed to notice Aderyn’s

reluctance to move.

Horatius stepped forward first, shaking the man’s hand.

“Ah, Senator. Lovely to meet you at last.”

Chapter 6

Sussex, London, England

85 Albert Embankment

MI6 British Intelligence Office

“Here’s a copy of the letter we found.” Aderyn said, sliding Horatius’ copy of the

letter towards Senator Fitzroy.

“A copy?” Fitzroy picked it up. “Did something happen to the first one?”

“Uh, yes. Your secretary tore it up.”

41
 “Really? It’s Siorus’ third day on the job. Perhaps he just doesn’t understand

protocol. I will have a word with him.”

Horatius and Aderyn exchanged glances.

42