Chapter Forty: Inharmonious Creatures

After crossing the Thames, Lily and her group didn’t linger; they hurried toward Holborn Underground Station. Only by reaching that station first could they access the underground railway tunnels.

Because of its long history, London was left with a great many theaters. They hadn’t walked far before they came upon another grand theater. Its sign was still clearly visible, reading “Aldwych Theatre.” The architecture chased after the style of a church, giving the orphans an uncanny sense of seeing their own orphanage. Still, compared to the orphanage, this theater’s scale was a little lacking.

“What should a play be like?” Camille, walking in the middle of the group, suddenly asked, only to be shushed by Ander beside her.

Lily smiled at this and said, “For now, it should be fine to talk a little. From what I’ve read, a play usually has professional actors performing on stage, and they sing too, using that kind of overly sentimental aria…” She paused, recalling what she’d read in books, then explained it to Camille.

“Acting and singing…” Camille thought this combination was truly odd.

“If we keep walking straight along this road, we’ll reach Holborn Station,” Dunn said, pointing down the wide, empty street ahead.

“Why is it so empty here?” Sondro felt uneasy. On their journey so far, they’d constantly come across all kinds of derelict car wrecks, but this street was different—there were hardly any vehicles, not even streetlights.

Lily signaled the group to wait a moment, then had Camille give her a boost so she could climb onto the roof of a nearby taxi stand, focusing her gaze deep into the street.

“There are traces of something being dragged along the ground… the bases of the streetlights remain, but the lamps themselves are gone, and the connections look as if they've been torn off…”

Lily observed as she summarized what she saw.

Aiden, watching her, seemed to sense something. He suddenly dropped down, pressing one ear to the ground and listening intently.

Abruptly, he and Lily spoke in unison: “Run!”

Lily immediately leapt down from the taxi stand and led the way eastward at a run. She had once again seen that familiar scene: the mist driven aside, the enormous, oval, shadowy figure, and atop it, a dozen or so conical appendages, each three or four meters long.

Wasn’t this the unknown creature they’d encountered last time?

Why was it here? Hadn’t it been further north near the art gallery? Was there more than one of these creatures in this part of the city?

These questions flashed through Lily’s mind, but she didn’t pause to ponder them. Relying on her memory of the map, she knew that not far to the east stood the entire Royal Courts of Justice. She intended to lead the group there to hide.

Given their previous two encounters, Lily judged that this enormous, oddly-headed monster must move as slowly as its bulk suggested. In other words, it was sluggish, so as long as they avoided a head-on confrontation, there was a chance to skirt around it and reach the subway lines.

She was also surprised that Aiden had sensed the danger almost as quickly as she had.

But now was no time to dwell on that. Lily ran, glancing back now and then at her companions, and at the mist behind them.

If the monster was pursuing them, the mist would surely show obvious signs of being pushed aside.

Lily soon brought the group to the gates of the Royal Courts of Justice. Without hesitation, she dashed inside, heading straight to the rear buildings.

It didn’t take her long to find her target: the dormitory building in the rear courtyard of the Royal Courts.

A sharp turn, and Lily burst through the dormitory entrance, quickly ascending to the top floor. The others lagged behind; after all, they’d run all the way here and now had to climb flights of stairs. Lily’s stamina was remarkable.

“Wait… wait, we don’t all need to follow Lily up there,” Dunn said, realizing what Lily intended. He called out to the others, “She… she probably just wants to get a better look at the situation. We only need to… make sure there’s nothing dangerous inside the building.” Dunn was panting heavily from the run.

At this, the others slowed down, splitting up to check the different floors.

Lily reached the top floor in a single breath. She deftly unlocked the old U-shaped lock leading to the roof, quietly pushed open the door, and peered outside. She remembered that a dragon-like creature had once taken flight, so if she wanted to observe from high up, she needed to be especially wary of such monsters.

Once she was certain there were no other creatures present, Lily stepped out onto the dormitory rooftop, and with an agile leap, she climbed up to the top of the rooftop stairwell, standing at the highest vantage point to gaze back at the path they’d run.

It wasn’t long before Lily saw the mist parting and the monster slowly emerging from the fog, revealing its full form.

The creature’s head was grotesquely large, bristling with bizarre structures of varying lengths jutting from the upper half. It seemed to have no neck—its massive, round body connected directly with the head. Its limbs were thick and stubby, its back sprouted spiky protrusions, but its tail was very short.

The whole beast radiated a deeply unsettling sense of disharmony. It moved slowly—Lily watched as it lumbered past the gates of the Royal Courts, then through the surrounding streets, deliberately pushing aside every streetlamp and vehicle wreck in its way, producing a series of grating metallic screeches as it scraped the debris along the road.

“So that’s why the street was so empty…” Lily realized she’d found the reason.

“But why is it clearing away the streetlamps and car wrecks?” Lily couldn’t fathom its motives. She felt a strong urge to follow and see for herself.

Since the creature wasn’t after them, it shouldn’t be too dangerous to tail it for a while.

But she couldn’t abandon her team. She was the one who could keep them safest, and if she wanted to go, she’d have to take the whole group—which would make them too conspicuous. Lily feared that might actually make it harder to escape if things went wrong.

After a brief consideration, Lily took a deep breath and decided not to risk it. The most important thing now was to scout the subway lines and search for traces of John’s group.

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Liu Shiqin stared at the enormous Ferris wheel jammed halfway into the railway bridge. The shattered structure where it had struck made her feel as if her hopes were dashed all over again.

Though she was one of the “Chosen Children,” her journey meant that her body was only slightly stronger than other kids her age—still quite ordinary. She had no confidence at all that she could cross such a wide chasm to reach the other side of the railway bridge.

With her chocolate gone and the Path of Hope blocked, Liu Shiqin began to seriously doubt her own life choices.