Page 3

"Well," he said, "I intend to leave if I can."

She smiled slightly. "That’s what we all said when we came here. But we never left, any of us."

"So," he said, going to the door and looking out, at the unchanging street, "it’s always been like this ever since you first came?"

"Ever since I first came?" She considered the question, her head tilted to one side. "You know, I’m not sure if I even know how long it’s been since I came here. Sometimes it seems as though I’ve been here forever. Why don’t you sit down?"

He sat on one of the stools in the room, and she took her place before the loom. Her fingers began to flicker.

"What is this place, Fallen Angel?" he asked her. "It seems to me that I’ve heard something of it, in whispers and rumour, but I cannot bring it to mind."

"It’s a long story. But it used to be a good town once." She paused a moment, adjusting her loom. "Back then, there were many people here, and no surprise, because it was on the main route through the desert.

"Back then, the town was at peace. Perhaps it was at too much peace. Because when the bad things began to happen, people did not know what to do."

"What bad things happened?"

"It started with the coming of the criminal gangs. Now, a town of this size, it always has some crime. I suppose you would know that. There are gamblers and prostitutes, thieves and cheats, and the kind of person who can supply things that you wouldn’t be able to get otherwise. Every town has them. But these were different.

"They were the worst of the lot, the dredging of the big towns on the edge of the desert, the scum who could find no other refuge. They came in dribs and drabs, and when they found this town, like starving wolves they threw themselves on it, eager to devour.

"There was little the people could do. They were not used to violence, did not know how to fight, and the gangs were utterly ruthless. Soon they had carved up the town among themselves, and it became impossible to go from one street to another without paying a toll to all sides. And none of the gangs would let anybody leave; it would mean the end of their earnings, because nobody would stay.

"Then the gangs began to fight each other for supremacy. It was inevitable, of course, and the only surprising thing was that it took so long to begin. But when it did, the fighting was savage, and might have continued until the gangs had destroyed each other completely."

"But it didn’t happen?" the knight asked, watching the woman’s hands fly over the loom.

"No. For among the criminals was a couple, a man and a woman, who went by the names of Stoneface and Firelight. These two were as fierce and cruel as they had vision and ambition, and those they had in plenty. They were the leaders of two rival, but small, gangs, both far too small to be able to stand against the rest. But Stoneface and Firelight decided that if they got together they could defeat all the rest, and take the city for their own.

"It must have been a strange sight when they met for the first time, in an alley between the two gangs’ territories. Stoneface was short and very muscular, and had a face that matched his name, while Firelight was tall and beautiful, and so they seemed as mismatched physically as they were rivals in crime. But there was a spark between them, which both recognised, and they sealed their deal that night.

"The gang wars that followed were still long and hard, but the two together proved more than a match for the others, who were stronger but had neither their planning nor their ruthlessness. Also, Stoneface and Firelight offered the other gangs good terms to change sides after killing their leaders. In only a few weeks, the last of the other gangs was defeated and assimilated, and the two of them ruled over Fallen Angel together, like king and queen.

"And then the real trials of the town began. If things had been bad before, they became infinitely worse. With nobody to check their cruelty, no other gangs to fear, the two visited the full force of their depravity on the people."

[ Continue to page 4 ]