The box had a rope handle on each end. She lifted one, and waited for someone to take the other. It was Crows.
‘Which way?’
The birds above them exploded outwards in a flurry of beating black wings, and after a moment, Crows nodded.
‘That way.’
They set off, as if they did this all the time: a man who could turn into a serpent, a girl who could turn into a hawk, and a boy who slew monsters.
‘This White City,’ asked Dalip. ‘Why do they call it that?’
‘It is made of white stone, cut and dressed by men. It is the only place I know of which is not a gift of Down. Eventually, everyone goes to the White City. They seek answers.’
‘Do they find them?’
‘Mostly no. And that is why they eventually leave again.’
Mary looked around at Crows. ‘So tell me why we’re going again?’
‘Because this time, we might be the ones with the answers.’
Crows was serious. At least, he was faking serious really well.
‘Portals do not close, Mary. If they do, then it is not this world which is ending. It is London and the world we left. What can we learn, and what can we do? Who knows?’ He shrugged. ‘We will find out when we reach the White City.’
Copyright
Copyright
A Gollancz eBook
Copyright © Simon Morden 2016
The right of Simon Morden to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published in Great Britain in 2016 by
Gollancz
The Orion Publishing Group Ltd
Carmelite House
50 Victoria Embankment
London, EC4Y 0DZ
An Hachette UK Company
This eBook first published in 2016 by Gollancz.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978 1 473 21145 2
All characters and events in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
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