Free The Circle Line by Ben Yallop Page A

kobold.’ repeated Weewalk. ‘A mine kobold to be exact. My people used to work in the depths of the ground in Mu harvesting valuable minerals. Some of us have travelled to your world before, in the past. There are entrances to our world to be found deep underground and sometimes your people would hear us mining and knocking at the rock. I think we gave rise to your myths about goblins, dwarves and something called tommyknockers. As well as mine kobold there are house and water kobold. Each tribe prefers to live in different places. I'm more of an underground kind of person.’
    They continued in silence for a long time as Sam tried to decide the best question to ask next. More than once he considered running back. What on earth was he doing here? Eventually the tunnel no longer sloped down but continued straight ahead.
    'Nearly there.’ said Weewalk, making Sam jump at the sudden sound. Weewalk pulled out what looked like an old compass and studied it. Peering over his shoulder Sam could see that the needle was swinging wildly. They turned a corner and entered a room. A large metal door stood in front of them, slate grey paint peeling away from deep red rust. In the centre was a large lever. Reaching above him Weewalk pulled the lever sideways. The squeak of metal friction filled the air and echoed back up the tunnel making them both wince. Weewalk tugged and the door swung towards them with another squeal. They stepped through into another room. There was more machinery here. It looked to Sam like the equipment that appeared in submarines in the old war films his grandfather had sometimes watched. Weewalk moved on into a side room. The hum was more distinct here, not louder necessarily, but more noticeable. It still remained maddeningly elusive and made Sam want to rub his ears like a dog bothered by a high pitched sound. At the same time Sam felt cold breath flow onto him and the hairs on the back of his neck rose.
    ‘Here we are.’ said Weewalk studying the compass again and with a swing of his arm he indicated a patch of shadow in a corner that was perhaps even darker than the rest of the room. Sam held up the candle but no light entered that area. Indeed, it seemed to suck at the candlelight, drawing it in hungrily.
    ‘This is a door?’ asked Sam
    ‘Precisely,’ said Weewalk ‘Unfocus your eyes, what do you see?’
    Sam allowed his vision to blur, and jumped as something pale floated past his nose. He looked around him, but there was nothing there. Blurring his eyes again Sam realised he could see several small orbs floating around the space where Weewalk had indicated, like dust motes catching the light. They seemed to be drawn to a particular patch of wall, and floated in and through it.
    ‘Now,’ said Weewalk ‘you see it, right?’
    ‘Yes, I think so.’ said Sam.
    Weewalk began to move his hands. ‘Then step back a moment.’ he said turning to the area with the orbs.
    Sam took several cautious steps backwards to lean against a dusty wall, and then he thought of spiders and stepped forwards again, his hand anxiously brushing his hair, trying to look relaxed.
    Weewalk tensed. His arms ahead of him, palms outstretched. He looked as though he were lifting a great weight. His arms began to shake with the effort and his shoulders hunched though Sam could see no visible sign that he was holding anything. A sudden breeze entered the room buffeting Sam's face. He felt the hair stand up on the back of his neck again. The candle guttered and died, plunging the room into darkness. Sam immediately had the impression that someone or something else was with them and he struggled to hold his nerve. He might have run if he could have been able to see anything but the darkness was absolute. Then there was a tiny blue flash and Sam had a sudden strobe-light split-second vision of the room. Weewalk stood before a round and black hole in the wall. The lightning had seemed to flash on his fingers. He was still hunched