Elizabeth awoke from a dream more real than any that she could remember. At first she had been lost in a deep and limitless void, an empty nothing that swallowed her whole and covered the world with darkness. Then came the scratches. Elizabeth was curled up in the middle of her bed where the walls of her room were melting, twisting, turning into rings of smoke. Black-scaled demonic creatures hissed and slashed the air. And then they had gone and she was falling, tumbling, down through a hole in the dark ruined centre of the universe.

　　The broken memories of a previous life fuzzed and crackled around her.

　　The clouds. The traffic lights. Dad`s voice . . .

　　She awoke with a jolt to a billow of steam and a long screech of metal that set all her teeth on edge.

　　"At last", whispered Barnaby, as the train stopped at the end of the station. "I was starting to think we might never get here". He rubbed his eyes, the paw print smudges making him look like an elderly panda.

　　A rusty moon watched silently as Izzario peered over the side of the truck.

　　"Luckily for us", he said, "they must be unloading things in the morning".

　　And something went: clunketta-clunketta-thrummm, clunketta-clunketta-thrummm . . .

　　Luella sighed: "Oh great - a Clanker".

　　Even though she said this in a dismissive, contemptuous way, Elizabeth decided that whatever it was did not sound good.

　　Luella was diving over the side of the cart. "Just give me one minute".

　　Four sets of snooping eyes followed her as she disappeared across a dark and misty platform.

　　Clunketta-clunketta-thrummm . . .

　　And from the chill of the night emerged the machine. Or rather, that`s what Elizabeth thought it was - although walking three legged scrapyard` would have been a better description and even that left out several of the important parts, like the box-shaped head with its goldfish bowl for an eye, or the stubby pipe below it that Elizabeth instinctively knew could only be some sort of gun.

　　Clunketta-clunketta-thrummm . . .

　　Shower hose legs and clompy feet marched along the platform.

　　Luella crouched behind a wagon on the other side.

　　"What`s she doing?" Elizabeth whispered.

　　"Not to worry", assured Barnaby, as though he was discussing nothing more bothersome than running out of biscuits to dunk in his tea. "We`ve done this lots of times. At one point during the war you could barely breathe for Clankers yomping all over the place".If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

　　Elizabeth felt twenty-five percent better. "They`re not dangerous then?"

　　"Oh they`re dangerous all right, but they`re also incredibly stupid". Barnaby casually reached out and grabbed a lump of coal. "Apart from the detection plates it`s primitive technology. All gyroscopes and gizzlemotors really".

　　Clunketta-clunketta-thrummm . . .

　　The Clanker reached the end of the platform, screwed its head around like a mechanical owl and pressed on with its patrol.

　　Barnaby prepared to lob his chunky nugget.

　　The Clanker stopped, its single orb-eye glowing a harsh and hostile red.

　　"Oh gobblechops", said Barnaby.

　　The machine fired.

　　The world rippled . . .

　　And Elizabeth squealed as a shimmering globe of aquamarine enveloped the truck with a dazzling watery light. The shot from the Clanker bounced off the whatever it was, and rather than blowing them into a million tiny pieces whirled high into the atmosphere where it harmlessly exploded in a spectacular, rainbow coloured fireball.

　　A low echo of thunder rolled out into the night.

　　Back down on the platform there were other noises too: the thwang of a crossbow, a hefty clunk, a lucid pop, and the sad wiiieeeeooooooo of something being turned off unexpectedly.

　　Elizabeth`s aquasphere faded as mysteriously as it had arrived.

　　"What did you do?" Izzario said, examining her in a very peculiar way.

　　"Me?"

　　Elizabeth goggled at the Clanker, which was drooping like a lily. A panel on its back had been yanked apart and a farrago of screws and cogs and rubber belts lay strewn all over the floor.

　　Luella suddenly reappeared: "Couldn`t you find a quieter way to distract it?"

　　"I don`t recall them being so quick", said Barnaby, timidly reopening his eyes.

　　Elizabeth thought that the Clanker might somehow still be alive before realising that the mellow warbling buzz she could hear was coming from the sky. Her curious eyes scrolled upwards to discover a searchlight strapped to a pumpkin-shaped balloon.

　　A finder beam zigzagged along the platform in search of unauthorised signs of life.

　　"Well you`ve woken someone up", flashed Luella, in an urgent voice. "Come on, we`d better move".

　　As swiftly as possible they climbed out of the truck and sneaked off along the darkest parts of the platform, every single one of them looking like coal-dunked, ghoulish shadows of the night. Aelgren helped Elizabeth negotiate the wall at the end with an overenthusiastic bunk that practically flung her over the top.

　　"Welcome to Caranthis", Luella said, as Elizabeth landed with an ungraceful thump on the other side. "One of the foulest, most unsavoury places in the whole of the Dominion".

　　"Smells just how I remember it", said Aelgren, nostalgically.

　　Luella unclipped her crossbow from its belt. "Just watch out for Blackcoats and try and keep your head down. We don`t want anybody trying to turn you in for the reward".

　　"Reward?" squeaked Elizabeth, becoming a startled mouse.

　　"That`s right. Izzario and Aelgren here are a pair of wanted men".

　　"What for?"

　　Aelgren pawed his beard sheepishly. "Ach, you know, the usual thing. Being a public nuisance, making noises after dark, refusing to consent to a lawful arrest and the unauthorised use of a pony".

　　Elizabeth discovered that she was not in the least bit surprised by any of this.

　　"But the most important part", Luella continued, "is that they escaped from the Darkstone Tower".

　　"Um . . . Sorry, what?" Elizabeth struggled to make any sense of what Luella had just said. "You`ve been to the Darkstone Tower before . . . and you escaped?!?"

　　"It was how we met", said Aelgren, grinning like a champion.

　　Barnaby groaned, as though he had just been informed that the mad professor look was never coming back into fashion. "Escaping from the Darkstone Tower is one thing, We need to find a way of getting in to the place".

　　But Izzario just replied with a knowing smile, his eyes like glimmering moons. "Oh, I wouldn`t worry about that", he said. "I have a very strong feeling that something is going to turn up".