Read Online Incarceron (Incarceron, Book 1) by Catherine Fisher - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Catherine Fisher
Tags: Fiction, Children's Books, Fantasy, Juvenile Fiction, Fantasy & Magic, Children's Books - Young Adult Fiction, Ages 9-12 Fiction, Science Fiction; Fantasy; & Magic, Children: Young Adult (Gr. 10-12), Prisoners, Prisons
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her chest, and in that instant the disc jabbed a pepperpoint of red pain urgently into her thumb.
She glanced down at it. Jared's message was breathless with terror.
He's coming back! Get out, Claudia! Get out!
79
7
***
Once Sapphique came to the end of a tunnel and looked down on a vast hall. Its floor was a poisoned pool of venom. Corrosive steams rose from it. Across the darkness stretched a taut
wire, and on the far side a doorway was visible, with light beyond it.
The inmates of the Wing tried to dissuade him. "Many have fallen," they said.
"Their bones rot in the black lake. Why should you be any different?"
He answered, "Because I have dreams and in those dreams I see the stars." Then he swung
himself up onto the wire and began to cross. Many times he rested, or hung in pain. Many
times they called on him to return. Finally, after hours, he reached the other side, and they
saw him stagger, and vanish through the door.
He was dark, this Sapphique, and slender. His hair was straight and long. His real name is only to be guessed at.
--Wanderings of Sapphique
***
Gildas said testily, "I've told you many times. Outside exists. Sapphique found a way there. But no one comes. Not even you."
80
"You don't know that."
The old man laughed, making the floor sway. The metal cage hung high over the chamber and was barely big enough for both of them to squat in. Books on chains dangled from it, surgical instruments, a swinging cascade of tin boxes stuffed with festering specimens. It was padded with old mattresses from which wisps of straw fell like an irritating snow onto the cooking fires and stewpots far below. A woman looked up to yell in annoyance. Then she saw Finn and was silent.
"I know it, fool boy, because the Sapienti have written it." Gildas pulled a boot on. "The Prison was made to hold the Scum of humanity; to seal them away, to exile them from the earth. That was centuries ago, in the time of Martor, in the days the Prison spoke to men. Seventy Sapienti volunteered to enter the Prison to minister to its inmates, and after them the entrance was sealed forever. They taught their wisdom to their successors. Even children know this."
Finn rubbed the hilt of his sword. He felt tired and resentful.
"No one has entered since. We know about the Wombs too, though not where they are. Incarceron is efficient; it was designed to be. It doesn't waste dead matter, but recycles everything. In those cells it grows new inmates. Perhaps animals too.
"But I remember things ... bits of things." Finn gripped the
81
cage bars as if to hold on to his belief, watching Keiro cross the floor of the hall far below, arms around two giggling girls.
Gildas's gaze followed his. "You don't. You dream Incarceron's mysteries. Your visions will show us how to Escape."
"No. I remember."
The old man looked exasperated. "Remember what?"
He felt foolish. "Well... a cake. With silver balls and seven candles. There were people. And music ... lots of music ... He hadn't realized that until now. He was oddly pleased, until he caught the old man's eye.
"A cake. I suppose it may be a symbol. The number seven is important. The Sapienti know it as the sigil of Sapphique, because of the time when he met the renegade Beetle."
"I was there!"
"Everyone has memories, Finn. Your prophecies are what matter. The visions that descend on you are the great gift and strangeness of the Starseer. They're unique. The people know that, the slaves and the warband, even Jormanric. It's in the way they look at you. Sometimes they fear you."
Finn was silent. He hated the fits. They came suddenly, dizzy sickness and blackouts that terrified him, and Gildas's relentless interrogation after each one left him shivering and sick.
"One day I'll die from one," he said quietly.
"It is true few cell-born live to be old." Gildas's voice was harsh, but he looked away. Buckling the ornate collar over his green robe he muttered, "The past is gone; whatever it
She glanced down at it. Jared's message was breathless with terror.
He's coming back! Get out, Claudia! Get out!
79
7
***
Once Sapphique came to the end of a tunnel and looked down on a vast hall. Its floor was a poisoned pool of venom. Corrosive steams rose from it. Across the darkness stretched a taut
wire, and on the far side a doorway was visible, with light beyond it.
The inmates of the Wing tried to dissuade him. "Many have fallen," they said.
"Their bones rot in the black lake. Why should you be any different?"
He answered, "Because I have dreams and in those dreams I see the stars." Then he swung
himself up onto the wire and began to cross. Many times he rested, or hung in pain. Many
times they called on him to return. Finally, after hours, he reached the other side, and they
saw him stagger, and vanish through the door.
He was dark, this Sapphique, and slender. His hair was straight and long. His real name is only to be guessed at.
--Wanderings of Sapphique
***
Gildas said testily, "I've told you many times. Outside exists. Sapphique found a way there. But no one comes. Not even you."
80
"You don't know that."
The old man laughed, making the floor sway. The metal cage hung high over the chamber and was barely big enough for both of them to squat in. Books on chains dangled from it, surgical instruments, a swinging cascade of tin boxes stuffed with festering specimens. It was padded with old mattresses from which wisps of straw fell like an irritating snow onto the cooking fires and stewpots far below. A woman looked up to yell in annoyance. Then she saw Finn and was silent.
"I know it, fool boy, because the Sapienti have written it." Gildas pulled a boot on. "The Prison was made to hold the Scum of humanity; to seal them away, to exile them from the earth. That was centuries ago, in the time of Martor, in the days the Prison spoke to men. Seventy Sapienti volunteered to enter the Prison to minister to its inmates, and after them the entrance was sealed forever. They taught their wisdom to their successors. Even children know this."
Finn rubbed the hilt of his sword. He felt tired and resentful.
"No one has entered since. We know about the Wombs too, though not where they are. Incarceron is efficient; it was designed to be. It doesn't waste dead matter, but recycles everything. In those cells it grows new inmates. Perhaps animals too.
"But I remember things ... bits of things." Finn gripped the
81
cage bars as if to hold on to his belief, watching Keiro cross the floor of the hall far below, arms around two giggling girls.
Gildas's gaze followed his. "You don't. You dream Incarceron's mysteries. Your visions will show us how to Escape."
"No. I remember."
The old man looked exasperated. "Remember what?"
He felt foolish. "Well... a cake. With silver balls and seven candles. There were people. And music ... lots of music ... He hadn't realized that until now. He was oddly pleased, until he caught the old man's eye.
"A cake. I suppose it may be a symbol. The number seven is important. The Sapienti know it as the sigil of Sapphique, because of the time when he met the renegade Beetle."
"I was there!"
"Everyone has memories, Finn. Your prophecies are what matter. The visions that descend on you are the great gift and strangeness of the Starseer. They're unique. The people know that, the slaves and the warband, even Jormanric. It's in the way they look at you. Sometimes they fear you."
Finn was silent. He hated the fits. They came suddenly, dizzy sickness and blackouts that terrified him, and Gildas's relentless interrogation after each one left him shivering and sick.
"One day I'll die from one," he said quietly.
"It is true few cell-born live to be old." Gildas's voice was harsh, but he looked away. Buckling the ornate collar over his green robe he muttered, "The past is gone; whatever it
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