Potts Town

Billy counted in his head fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty. The carriage began to move, right on queue. They could have done better, he thought. Billy knew the routine well. It was his design. Nobody in, nobody out until the blue letter event terminated. He mulled over the potential for a conflict once inside. He knew that eradication of all non-loyal personnel was a statistical impossibility in such a large organization. He simply hoped that at least ninety-eight percent of the elite guard that surrounded the carriage was on his side.

As they approached the far end of the ravine a set of double doors opened into the hillside revealing an underground street that bustled with activity. Everything inside the doorway was carved out of stone by humans and non-humans. Over generations, they built an entire underground city that spanned miles underground and was home to tens of thousands of inhabitants. Fresh air fed through ventilation tunnels that were camouflaged on the outer sides of the hills, while water was provided by an underground river that ran naturally through one of the lower levels. Its citizens were the descendants of those who were unwilling to submit to annihilation by the dragons. Even hundreds of years after the threat disappeared, they remained underground due to a pervasive fear that someday the dragons would return.

Billy scanned the crowd as they passed, searching for a spotter or a lookout. Nearly every attack began with someone entranced or fixated on their target. Their eyes always betrayed them and gave them away. Too many years underground had given rise to multiple generations of fear-based paranoia. Anything or anyone new was bad. That’s why they are so easy to control, he thought. Two men began shoving each other next to the Opal and a fight broke out. A moment later a clay vase smashed against the carriage just behind Billy. Opal slapped the reigns and they raced down the street leaving their guard detail behind.

Just ahead, they approached a line of stone creatures guarding a recessed set of double doors with a jagged split in the middle. Next to the doors were twelve sets of dots engraved on a circle, each resembling a constellation. A small wagon shot out of a side street and rammed into their lead horses. The Carriage of Modified Perceptions jerked sideways. Billy and Opal were thrown forward while both Tramluddite brothers were smashed under the carriage as it flipped over on its side. Billy rolled across the ground then jumped to his feet and ran toward the stairs. Opal landed roughly and was immediately sized by two men that snatched him off the ground.

One of the men that held Opal grabbed his jaw. “Where is it,” he said.

Opal pointed at the carriage as blood ran down his forehead across the bridge of his nose and covered his lips. Splatters of blood shot forward as he spoke. “Under the seat.”

As Billy ran a group of men chased behind him while others began to pry at the seat of the carriage. When Billy reached the stone guards, the men behind him stopped short, just out of striking distance. Billy raised the blue letter to the guards, and they parted letting him walk between them. As he walked forward, he reached into an interior pocket of his jacket, glanced back at the carriage, and clicked a button on the small cylindrical device. Behind him, the carriage seat exploded into a fireball, launching people into the distance.

The stone guards began to close the gap to the doors when Billy stopped them. “Hold on a moment. They’re with me.”

Both Tramluddite brothers stood up through the burning wreckage of the carriage. They walked over to Opal, picked him up off the ground, and dragged him to Billy. Once stone guards closed together, a man appeared next to Billy. He was roughly Billy’s height, with a thin build and short-cropped shiny black hair. He did not speak, but merely nodded to Billy then pressed four of the constellation symbols on the wall in rapid succession. When the fourth symbol was pressed, the doors opened. The man held out his hand for them to enter a small square room. Billy took one step forward, paused, then turned to the Tramluddite brothers, Opal, and himself. His jacket was torn, his hair was matted with dirt and his orange shoes were covered in dust. Opal was equally as filthy, unconscious, and was still bleeding while the Tramluddite’s natural armor was still smoldering from the fire.

Billy shook his head at the three of them. “This won’t do,” he said as he jerked his left wrist down to expose his crystal bracelet. He extracted a single crystal from the bracelet and held it firmly. Billy’s hand glowed light blue, then the glow crept across him, engulfing his body. He grabbed onto one of the Tramluddite brothers, and the glow extended across him, down Opal’s body, and over to the other Tramluddite brother. Once they were all covered in the glow Billy closed his eyes. All four of them flashed a bright blue color for an instant. Opal put his feet down, stood up straight, and moved his long hair out of his eyes as the Tramluddite brother let go of him.

Billy straightened his clean, mended jacket and grinned at his bright orange shoes. “Much better.” He dropped the spent crystal and walked through the doorway into the small square room.

A moment after they entered the small room, the man with shiny black hair closed the doors. He immediately reopened the doors, revealing a small room with a plain metal door on the other side. Next to the door, a man sat at a simple wooden desk.

At the sight of Billy and his companions, the man glanced up from a book he was reading and placed a thumb on one of two mechanical buttons on the desktop. “Do you have an order?”

All four of them stepped out of the small square room. The man with the shiny black hair stayed behind and shut the doors. Billy approached the desk with slow steps and handed the man a long, thin slip of paper. The man at the desk moved his thumb to the other button and pressed it. They heard a low humming sound then a click. The door ahead of them swung open. On the other side of the doorway, glowing weapons moved along metal tracks toward a half-dozen copper Cachette’s. At the far end of the room, Mr. Potts walked next to two Actuaries. Both Actuaries were as expected. Tall, slender, boney-faced, and dressed in their customary red robes. When Billy entered the room, Mr. Potts turned his attention to Billy, his eyes shot open, and his brow raised in anticipation of his next prize.

Opal whispered to Billy. “What are we going to do? It was lost when the carriage exploded.”

Billy grinned and whispered back. “Don’t be silly Opal, that was just a diversion.”

Billy strode forward with long steps and met Mr. Potts near the Cachette’s. He glanced at a few of the weapons as they moved into the compartment of a Cachette. Each weapon instantly shrank then moved with precision into the open top of the Cachette as an Actuary recorded the transaction.

“I trust you have fulfilled the order without issue?” Mr, Potts said.

“The only issue was getting through the riffraff when we got here. They ruined another carriage- ” Billy raised an eyebrow “ -you really should do something about that.”

“We’ve discussed this before. If we don’t give them a sporting chance they’ll think there’s no hope, and you know what happens when people think there’s no hope.”

“Disorder, destruction, chaos.”

“Exactly.”

“Shall we get down to business?” Billy said as he reached into his front left jacket pocket and produced a gloss black Cachette.

One of the actuaries moved toward Mr. Potts and spoke softly. “Mr. Potts, would you like us to process this order?”

Mr. Potts reached out, grasping the Cachette with both hands. “No, I will process this one myself.”

Mr. Potts moved the Cachette to his left palm then reached into his shirt with his other hand, removing a small golden coin he wore as a necklace. He touched the coin to the Cachette and half of the top popped open. He then pulled an array of lenses from his vest pocket and held the largest one up to his eye and peered through the lens into the Cachette. Mr. Potts froze in place. He appeared to be transfixed on the interior of the Cachette for nearly a minute before he moved his head away from it.

Billy waited patiently for Mr. Potts to regain his faculties before he spoke. “Well, Mr. Potts, do we have an accord?”

“Yes- ” Mr. Potts cleared his throat “ -yes we do,” he said.

“Excellent, is there anything else you require at this time Mr. Potts?”

“No, Billy.”

Billy turned to his companions and motioned for them to follow. As he walked away Mr. Potts turned to him again.

“Oh, Billy, there is one more thing.” Mr. Potts said.

“Yes?”

“Well done.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Billy took Opal and the Tramluddite brothers to the transaction desk to close out their order. Once finished, he retreated to his private suite to rest. Now that he was alone, Billy retrieved another gloss black Cachette from his right front jacket pocket. He drew a symbol across the top using the tip of his finger and it popped open. He tilted the Cachette upside down and a single black stone fell out, returning to its natural size as it exited the device.

Billy caught the stone and held it near his face. His agreement with Potts included the retrieval of only two stones. However, he had managed to collect three. They were the power that the dragons kept hidden for hundreds of years. The lore of the dragon gems was fantastic, but his study of dozens of tattered manuscripts revealed the depth of their miraculous power.