CHAPTER XIII

TO SAVE THE WORLD

That night Raphael lay in bed and thought for a long time. Mechanicos. The Sorcerer was building over ten thousand a day. Already he had built fifty million. More than Raphael could imagine. When he had many more, he would spread the poison gas and shoot the death-ray round the world. Raphael, Cassie, Aunt Mary, and all mankind would be killed. There would be no living thing upon the earth.

‘There are still a few imperfections in our mechanical men,’ the Sorcerer had said; ‘that is the reason I stole your sister--to study her. You had better join me and the mechanicos. Together we shall rule the world.’

Raphael was sick of mechanical life. He was afraid. He remembered the animals waiting patiently outside the city. They had trusted him and he had failed them.

‘Cassie,’ whispered the boy, ‘are you awake?’

‘Yes,’ whispered Cassandra.

Raphael got out of bed and went over and perched himself on Cassandra’s counterpane.

‘Cassie,’ said Raphael, very low, ‘do you want to go home?’

‘Yes,’ whispered Cassandra, sitting upright.

‘Well, I’m going back to join the animals. We shall destroy the Sorcerer and his city, and then you can go home with me.’

‘Oh, Raff,’ wailed Cassandra, ‘don’t leave me here. Take me with you.’

‘I’m afraid I can’t, Cassie. Gæa hasn’t given you any power at all, and I don’t see how I could get you out of the tower and over the wall.’

‘But, Raff,’ sniffled Cassandra, ‘if you destroy the city, you may kill me doing it.’

‘I’ve been thinking of that, Cassie. There is a cellar in the tower. When the attack comes, hide there. It’s the only chance.’

‘Oh, Raff, I shall be so scared.’

‘I know, Cassie, but if I don’t go, how can I save you? Besides, I promised the animals I would help them.’

‘But, Raff, why not let Gæa help them?’

‘She does, Cassie, through me. I don’t see how she can do any more unless she destroys the city herself. I am her messenger. I must not fail her. The animals alone can’t fight the Sorcerer. He would kill them with the death-ray or his poison gas.’

‘Raff, do you think there is such a person as Gæa?’

Raphael was startled. Sometimes he had wondered. The Mother of All Things. Well, he could fly--he had never been able to do that before. He remembered suddenly, with panic, that his feather suit had been taken away. Could he still fly? The Sorcerer evidently didn’t think so. He must take the chance. It was their only hope.

‘Yes,’ he answered Cassandra after a pause. ‘I believe in Gæa. I can fly and live underneath the sea. I could never do that before.’ Cassandra was half convinced.

‘Cassie,’ said Raphael, ‘I must go now.’

‘Oh,’ said Cassandra faintly. She looked pale and frightened with her dark hair falling down about her face. Raphael was frightened himself.

‘If you’ve got to go, Raff,’ said Cassandra bravely, trying to keep her mouth from trembling and the tears out of her eyes, ‘come back soon.’ And she threw her arms about his neck.

Raphael kissed his sister and then stole to the window. Could he fly in these white pajamas? They belonged to the Sorcerer. Was Gæa still looking after him or had he lost her friendship through his lack of faith?

‘My dear boy,’ said a voice in the doorway, ‘come away from that window and climb into bed. You’ll catch your death of cold.’ It was Mechanus himself.

Raphael gave a startled cry and dove head first through the window. He was very frightened and beat the air frantically with his hands. Slowly he checked his fall and righted himself. He could fly. Gæa still watched over him.

He heard laughter from the window and the voice of the Sorcerer. ‘Bravely done. When you get tired of your animals, come back. We shall expect you in a day.’

He had escaped. The Sorcerer had let him go. Raphael wondered why. He felt vaguely uncomfortable.

In his clumsy fashion Raphael flew across the city of Mechana to the fields nearest the hill on which he had left the animals. He lit heavily and walked on in the moonlight as rapidly as he could. The smell of green things and rich earth refreshed him. Suddenly a rabbit scurried across his path.

‘Hullo,’ said Raphael. But the rabbit did not stop. Raphael was more troubled when he saw a fox slink from behind a bush and drift into the woods.

The boy hurried on, anxious to reach the meeting hill. He was almost at the summit when he heard the snarl of wolves fighting. The path led through a spruce thicket and then out to the open crown of the hill. There the sight that met his eyes made him cry out.

Ten or twelve gray wolves stood crowding and jostling about something that lay still upon the ground.

‘Stop it! Stop it, I tell you!’ shouted Raphael as he ran forward. ‘You curs! You beastly curs!’

At the sound of his voice the wolves drew back eyeing him cunningly. They still panted from the chase, and saliva dripped from their red, jerking tongues. Only one glance was necessary to see that the deer they quarreled over was dead. It lay tongue out, staring up at Raphael out of unseeing eyes. Blood ran in thin streams down its neck, dropping slowly on the leaves below. The slim legs were bent and limp.

‘Oh, you fools! You fools!’ the boy almost cried. ‘How can you conquer the Sorcerer if you murder one another?’

‘We were hungry,’ said the leader of the pack. ‘We must eat.’

‘Where are the eagles?’ demanded Raphael.

‘They are asleep.’

‘Summon them,’ ordered Raphael contemptuously. ‘Summon all the animals.’

The wolves left gladly. They were ashamed at being caught and glad to get away.

Raphael sat down on a rock, chin in hand. The animals had failed him. They had not kept faith. But he had not kept faith either. Betrayer. Betrayed. The Sorcerer had known this. That was why he had allowed him to escape so easily.

Slowly the clearing filled. The animals approached furtively: the deer, the rabbits, the field mice, the porcupines, and the snakes. But the wolves did not appear, nor the mountain lions, nor the bears, nor the weasels. Suddenly the eagles landed, dropping down like shadows out of the moonlight.

‘Where are the others?’ Raphael asked Empyrean sternly.

‘They have gone, Raphael,’ said the eagle in a cracked voice.

The boy sat bowed with unhappiness. Then he said slowly, ‘There has been hunting. The truce has been broken.’

‘That is life,’ answered Empyrean. ‘They thought you were never coming back. They were hungry. They must live.’

‘Then whom can I trust?’ asked Raphael. ‘Whom can I trust, if we defeat this Sorcerer?’

Chief of All the Eagles in the Sky said nothing.

Raphael rose slowly. He would return to Cassandra and the Sorcerer and stay with them forever. Then he saw again the mechanicos marching to work. Right, left. Right, left. He heard the grinding of a million wheels. He saw a battery of buzz saws gnawing down the forest. He remembered the cold streets, the tall buildings. Bigger and better. The Go-Getter gets. Gets nothing. It would be better to be dead. He would save the world in spite of everything. He would save Cassie and himself.

‘Dismiss the council,’ he ordered Empyrean. ‘I shall destroy the city myself.’