A rough track led them out of the small forest and onto a larger road. Tung hummed a happy tune, it was good to be travelling again.
"I wish we knew where we were going," said Madrick.
"Come on, look on the bright side. If you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there."
"I think you'll find that that's a bad thing, my friend. We need to get ourselves a purpose; a direction."
"Head north, you said. We'll end up in Thamesius, you said. We'll get lost among the throngs in the big city."
"Well yes, that's if Thamesius is still there. Remember, it's been a thousand years since we left it."
VROOOOOOOM.
"Bloody hell," screamed Madrick as both men dived to the side of the road.
"What sort of monstrous beast from hell was that?" shouted Tung as he rolled onto his stomach and watched the 'thing' disappear into the distance.
"I don't know but it scared the bejabers out of me." He held up his hand to indicate that there was to be no more talk until his breathing and heartrate got back to near normal.
"Is it more of Mifal's magic?" said Tung. "I thought we'd left him far behind us." Tears of fear formed in his eyes.
VROOOOOOOM. VROOOOOOOM.
Two more cars raced past. Madrick clamped his hands hard over his ears and squeezed his eyes tight shut. Heavy breathing and pig-like grunts filled the next few moments as he tried to understand the procession of monsters which roared past. Then the eureka moment hit him.
"Hold on a minute, this isn't magic, these beasts are m-o-t-o-r c-a-r-s. We saw them through the magic window."
He'd seen the machines on the television but nothing could have prepared him for the overwhelming speed, the acrid smell and the deafening noise.
"My wildest nightmare couldn't dream up anything as hellish. Nothing could be more frightening," said Tung just before a massive articulated lorry whizzed past to prove him wrong. The violent windstorm which followed it nearly sucked him onto the road. "WHOA! Please God, take me back to Mifal's dungeon, I'll be his torturers' plaything rather than face these monsters."
"Come on, lad, be strong. If we don't get in their way, I don't think these things will hurt us."
"Yeah right, well you go and fight one, I'm staying right here. In fact, I'm going back to the little house, we were safe there."
"No, we weren't safe there, Barry-man proved that. We need to keep moving."
"But if one of those things hits us we'll be squished and splattered all over the ground."
"I told you, all we need to do is stay out of their way. I've been watching their behaviour and I think they go on the black bit of the track so if we stay at the edge of this dark torrent of roaring madness, we'll be safe."
After a bit more reassurance and persuasion, Madrick got Tung to move. They were on the road again or to be more precise, off the road, because they made sure they didn't stray onto the smooth black surface. Tung tucked himself in behind Madrick.
"What are you doing behind me?"
"If the monsters want to take one of us, they can take you, old man."
There were a few more close encounters of the very near kind but Madrick's strategy was working until one of the beasts drew up alongside them and a human head appeared at an opening in the side.
"Hey mate, does this road take us to Tunbridge Wells?"
"Sorry, I'm a stranger here myself," said Madrick. It seemed this modern world was no different to his own because 'direction requests' still came when you hadn't a clue where you were. As usual, the asker was already tense and exasperated so the conversation was short and not so sweet. To make matters worse, Madrick was running his hands over the side of the beast to see what it felt like. It was cool and smooth, like a snake.
"Get your hands off the car, weirdo." A torrent of abuse followed before the car sped off. It was nice to hear that some of the most offensive swear words from his time had survived and were alive and doing very well.
"Tunbridge Wells?" Madrick said to Tung. "Could it possibly be named after your bridge?"
"Yeah. My work has lasted a thousand years, that's how good I am."
A few miles on, a small town came into view.
"Look," said Madrick, as they entered the outskirts, "it looks like an enormous, indoor street market."
"What does the sign say?"
"SUPERMARKET."
"Great, I'm starving."
"Let me do the talking," said Madrick. "I'll pretend we're from a land far away and say we're unfamiliar with the customs here. You say nothing."
"We need one of those," said Tung pointing at the large baskets on wheels which everyone was pushing around.
"Yes, we should imitate and blend." Rattle-Rattle-Rattle. "How the hell do you get it off? It's chained to all the others."
"Allow me," said Tung, pulling out the short metal bar he'd used to jemmy the locks of the little huts they'd raided. A flick of the wrist and the chain snapped off. "Never throw away a good tool."
The hut-raiding had been a journey of wondrous discovery however this place was a million times more exciting. Every shelf was stacked with foodstuffs beyond their wildest dreams and Tung was sampling as many as he could.
"Stop it," said Madrick. "We need to blend, remember? Put what you want in the basket, no one else is tasting as they go."
"Wow, wow, wow" said Tung as they passed the fruits, and the vegetables, and the cheeses, and the meat, and the fish. And when they got to the cakes, he couldn't stop himself sampling again.
They gathered food provisions and a trolley full of useful items such as backpacks, warm coats, a torch and a couple of sharp knives to replace the ones they'd left behind when they fled the huts. And, despite Madrick's protests, Tung had insisted on adding a couple of bottles of wine to the load.
"I love, love, love this place. Can we stay nearby and keep coming back?"
"No. Thamesius is our destination. I'm sure there'll be more places like this on the way."
They queued behind other shoppers who seemed to be waiting to pay for their goods. When their turn came, everything was passed over a glass window which beeped as each item flashed by.
"Eighty-two pounds fifty, please," said the 'shopkeeper'.
"Take what you need," said Madrick, handing over all their modern coins.
"Eighty-two pounds, not eighty-two pence."
"That's all we have."
The 'shopkeeper' wasn't smiling anymore as he hit a big red button.
BRINGGG-BRINGGG. BRINGGG-BRINGGG.
Before they had a chance to run for it, two uniformed men had hauled them off to the manager's office.
"We are not from these parts. We don't understand your money."
The manager looked them up and down before counting out the coins they had. Nine pounds and seventy-five pence.
"I'm in no mood to deal with you tramps. I'm calling the police." He lifted a strange, bone shaped object from his desk and started to punch buttons.
"Wait," said Madrick who was terrified of the prospect of a brush with the authorities. Mifal may be long dead but there was undoubtedly some other equally cruel, modern dictator to contend with. "I may have something which will help us sort out this misunderstanding."
The man thumbed the beautiful coin which Madrick had handed him and, within an instant, his attitude had changed dramatically. Not one to miss an opportunity, he offered them a hundred pounds for the coin. He could spot value when he saw it. Once the deal was done, he led them out of his office and helped them through the checkout process.
They left with their purchases and some modern paper money. Madrick was pleased with himself but he knew he'd have to come to terms with modern money and modern ways of shopping, sooner rather than later.
Small houses lined the road and every so often they'd pass a small cluster of shops. One displayed a glistening array of jewellery in its window and had a little 'We Buy Gold' notice stuck to the glass.
"I'm going to try and sell another coin. I want to know if others will give us one hundred of their pounds again. Maybe the man at the market was a fool to pay so much. You wait here. Don't talk to anyone."
Madrick went in alone and showed the man one of the gold coins from the 'never empty' pouch.
"Where did you get it?"
"Can't say," said Madrick wishing he'd anticipated the question and planned an answer.
"Not a problem." The man examined it some more though his strange eye glass. "I'll give you five hundred pounds."
"Done," said Madrick a little too quickly. Although why negotiate when the offer was five times what he'd got in the supermarket?
"Well?" said Tung.
"I negotiated hard..."
"And?"
"I got much more than last time. Now we have plenty of money so fitting in will be much easier. Let's go, my friend, Thamesius here we come."
As his confidence grew, Madrick began to ask passers-by for directions. No one had heard of Thamesius but people said London was the biggest city, so that's where they headed for. He followed the directions and his instincts, and when he wasn't sure, he'd ask someone else.
"London?"
"No problem," said the stranger. He opened the door of the car he'd been leaning on and ushered them in.
"I'm not going in there," said Tung.
"Get in. Think of it as a horseless carriage."
"I've never been in a carriage, never mind a horseless one."
"Are we going or not?" said the stranger.
"Going," said Madrick as he grabbed Tung's arm and hauled him into the back seat.
Madrick froze and Tung screamed when the car took off. The roar, the shuddering and the speed were unsettling to say the least.
"Remember, we've flown," said Madrick settling in. "This is different, but it's not as amazing as you and your wings."
"Are you people on drugs?" said the driver through the glass window which separated front from back. "You're getting out if you're on drugs."
"Sorry, my friend's a nervous traveller."
"Hmmmph." The glass window slid shut with a bang.
They rode in the back of the car, wide-eyed and silent. Farms, fields, hedges, towns big and small, flew past. What a way to travel; the speed and the comfort were amazing. Madrick gazed out the window in awe while Tung raided the backpacks for snacks. All too soon, they stopped and the driver opened the door for them.
"Eighty-seven pounds, please."
Madrick had spent part of the journey familiarising himself with the money he'd got for the gold coin. He handed the driver five twenty-pound notes.
"Thank you very much," the man said as he jumped back in his car and drove off. There was to be no change for the strange folk.
Madrick's heart was beating double-time and his ears pounded as he tried to make sense of the sprawling metropolis which towered around him.
"So this is London, Madrick. Why did you bring us here? Look at the size of the buildings. Look at all the people, the cars. I'm frightened."
"Don't worry, all we need to do is find a quiet tavern. Once we get a room of our own we'll be fine. Come on, follow me."
They slung their backpacks over their shoulders and set off in search of a tavern. After wandering the crowded streets for an hour or so, and asking numerous passers-by, they saw it; The Ritz Hotel. They'd been told a hotel was like a big tavern so this looked like the perfect place for them to hole up.
It took a while, and a few 'we are strangers in this land', to get the checking-in process started. Having no credit card was the first problem but like many problems, it was solved with a big bundle of cash; not even Ritz employees were immune to a big bundle of cash. Names were the next hurdle. Madrick was reluctant to give his real name but he'd blurted it out before he could summon up an alternative.
"Mr Madrick, welcome to the Ritz."
"No. Madrick is my first name."
"My apologies, sir, so what is your surname?"
"Tide, my surname is Tide."
After a few more 'we are strangers' excuses, they were registered as Tung and Madrick Tide; father and son.
"Good choice of names," said Tung.
"Yes, it sort of feels right, doesn't it?"
A lad in uniform, who looked younger than Tung, accompanied them to a small box room with no windows. There was no bed and it was distinctly claustrophobic when the metal doors slid shut. The hotel lad who was carrying their backpacks pressed one of an array of buttons and without warning their whole room began to judder.
"WHOAAA," screamed Tung. "Get me out of here."
"Calm down, Tung." He tried to reassure him but he was spooked himself, this was horrendous. Definitely not what he was expecting from a hotel; a tiny room which shuddered, had no windows and, worst of all, they had to share it with a stranger.
"Get me out of here," screamed Tung, louder this time.
The hotel lad ignored the protests. It was as if he'd seen it all before. Maybe all their guests reacted like this.
The judders and shudders stopped as suddenly as they'd started. The doors slid open to reveal a carpeted floor they'd never seen before. They were not where they'd been when they entered this weird room. It was like the Transportation Spell in a box.
"Follow me please," said the boy with the bags.
A long corridor, and the boy, led them to a beautifully painted door which opened to reveal a luxurious suite. This was more like it. Enormous windows displayed a stunning view of the city which sprawled out as far as the eye could see. Massive buildings with vast facades of shiny glass, mazes of streets thronging with cars and crowds of people rushing to who knows where.
"Wow," said Tung.
"Wow, said Madrick.
"Huh-hmmm," said the lad who was standing by the door.
"Sorry?"
"Huh-hmmm."
"Oh right," said Madrick handing the boy a twenty pound note.
"Thank you so much, sir. If you need anything, and I mean anything, just ask for Thomas."
Within a few days they were completely settled in and feeling right at home, although neither of them had ever known a home like it. This place was fabulous with its large living area, separate bedroom and a bathroom which actually had a toilet in it. The rooms were warm, the beds incredibly soft and the television enormous. There was a cold cupboard which held little bottles of drink and there was a mysterious speaking device which allowed you to name any food you wanted and within twenty minutes a man would come to the door bearing that very food. It was magic.
They ventured out a number of times and, as their confidence grew, each outing became a little longer and a little more adventurous than the previous one. They were adapting well although they were frequently flabbergasted by the miracles they saw around them.
Madrick was impressed with the way they'd coped so far. They seemed to be safe and secure in their new environment so maybe now was the time to use the spell which Tung had in him, the one he'd had in his head for quite some time. They'd kept it for protection, just in case threatened them.
"Let's use your spell, Tung. It'll be noisy but we can get rid of it safely if we're careful."
He's already explained that this spell was another either-or spell. He couldn't tell which one it was without the words. So the spell was either NOISE or Siren Shriek. They were similar and either would have helped them gain a tremendous element of surprise, enough surprise to allow them to escape had they been in danger.
"Remember, you won't hear the mind numbing noise whether it comes as a massive explosion of sound or whether it comes out of your mouth in an ear-piercing scream."
"I know, you told me before."
Tung went out onto the balcony while Madrick took shelter in the bedroom, wrapping thick blankets round his head and pressing pillows against his ears for extra protection.
Tung spoke the spell and crashed forwards into the rail. At least he bashed the front of his head this time; sweet relief. Even before he hit the ground, a sonic roar exploded in every direction.
BOOOM!
Madrick raced rather unsteadily out of the bedroom; he was shaken even though his preparation had shielded him from the worst effects.
"Noise Spell," he said, stating the obvious. "That was astounding."
Tung held his forehead. Blood oozed from where he'd hit the balcony rail.
"I've cut myself," said Tung stating the bleeding obvious. "But no real damage done... to me that is."
Madrick peered over the balcony and was astounded by the chaos. Hundreds of people stood rooted to the spot, many more had fallen over, cyclists had been floored and multiple, traffic pileups littered the roads.
"That spell would have worked fine if we'd been cornered."
Thousands of people within a quarter mile radius had been paralysed by the incredible sound. What had exploded? Where was the devastation? As people looked around, all they saw were other startled people looking back at them in bewilderment.
"Let's get a drink," said Tung. "I think we deserve a wee celebration."
When they went back inside, they heard the raucous sound of people panicking in the corridors and adjoining rooms. It was chaos out there. They smiled at each other because they were the opposite; they were calm and settling into the comfy chairs in preparation for another session of television. Madrick had been fairly sure it would be impossible to pinpoint the source of the almighty sound blast and it looked as though he was right.
Bang, bang, bang. A loud, insistent knocking on the door made them both jump. Madrick put his finger to his mouth. Tung understood and stayed silent but the banging became louder and more persistent.
"Get ready to run," said Tung as Madrick crossed the room and opened the door cautiously. A hotel porter was standing breathless in the corridor. He looked as if he'd been running for miles.
"Are you all right, sir?"
"We're a little shaken but we're fine," replied Madrick. "What on earth was that dreadful noise?"
"No one knows, sir, no one knows," replied the porter as he turned away and walked to the next room. "I'm just checking with all the guests to see if anyone needs help."
Madrick closed the door. He smiled and winked at Tung.
"Another win for the good guys. It's clear no one knows what happened... except us."
"And we're not going to be telling anyone," said Tung settling deeper into his chair.
***
In one of the grandest buildings in the business quarter, four men discussed the rumours about some ancient coins which had started to appear in various locations around the city. The stories told of a strange, old man who seemed happy to part with the coins at way below market value.
"Should we try and gather some of the coins so we can determine their origin?"
KABOOOM!
An ear-bursting wall of noise shook the building. Plaster rained on them like snowflakes. They were nearly half a mile from the Ritz yet the blast of sound made everyone freeze on the spot.
"What the hell?"
They all ran to the windows expecting to see evidence of a massive explosion; flames, smoke and collapsed buildings.
"What just happened? Can anybody see anything?"
"I can see nothing. I fear this may be another mystery for us to add to the questions about the coins."