The Claws of Evil - By Andrew Beasley Page 0,13

the London streets. And behind those rats, moving softly and with purpose, came two young Legionnaires. They went by the names of Mickelwhite and Bedlam, and it would be hard to find a less likely couple. Mickelwhite was tall, lean, pale, aristocratic; Bedlam was short, squat, dark, as rough as a tosher’s dog. The only thing they shared was hate.

They had their various reasons, they had their own stories. But they had made the same choice: join the Legion.

They were two boys who had promised to give their all for the Council of Seven, two soldiers in a war where the prize was more than they could possibly comprehend; two Legionnaires obeying orders, scouting out the enemy. Most nights they did the same. Hunt for Watchers. Look for signs of light.

Snuff them out.

Not so far above Benjamin’s head, Lucy Lambert maintained her silent vigil. The wind tugged at her long coat, trying its best to catch her with her guard down and throw her off the roof to a death of cobblestones and shattered bones.

The Watcher did not flinch. She and her kind lived on the rooftops of London. The high places were their domain. Friends with gargoyles and pigeons, they spent their days amid the chimney pots, turrets and towers, only touching solid ground when their mission demanded it. What was a little wind and snow to her?

Lucy had often wondered what the Hand would be like when he was finally revealed. She found it hard to reconcile the image she had built in her mind with the swaggering boy that she was standing guard over. Ben Kingdom didn’t appear to be special or powerful. He didn’t even come across as especially bright.

Although he is sort of handsome, she supposed...but then she dismissed the idea, angry with herself for even having thought it.

Lucy clenched her quarterstaff more tightly, pumping some fresh blood into her fingers in case she needed to defend the stupid boy in a hurry. Time would tell if he was worth it.

One thing was for certain, a storm was coming. Day after day, the Legion were becoming more powerful, and soon they would make their move. There were even whispers that the last of the lost Coins had been found. Open war was on its way and the Watchers were prepared.

Lucy spun her staff from hand to hand, practising the lunge, slash and jab that would have any Legionnaire who faced her begging for mercy.

She was ready.

The lintel creaked and a fine shower of plaster rained down on Benjamin. No, not rats, he decided. These feet were far too heavy, too slow. But if not rats, then what?

Benjamin shot out of bed. There was someone on the roof. He dismissed the thought as impossible and yet, as he listened, there it was again: the definite sound of a human foot on the tiles.

Careful so as not to disturb his father, Ben made his way to the window which jutted out of the sloping roof of their attic room. He rubbed the glass but he couldn’t see anything through the spider’s web of ice and his lip curled back in frustration. Above him the roof groaned again as a body adjusted its balance, shifting weight from one foot to another. It couldn’t be a burglar, he reasoned; they had less than nothing and none of that was worth stealing. There was only one answer: the Weeping Man had found him already.

Ben’s first instinct was to run. To wake Pa and Nathaniel and then all of them could leg it. But then he remembered Molly Marbank and his sense of shame came back to haunt him. His hands began to rage within, throbbing with the same invisible power that had nearly shot Jago Moon out of his chair.

A sudden anger took hold of him, bigger than his fear, bigger than the danger. He had unfinished business with the Weeping Man. And if he couldn’t handle him on his own, then there were two more Kingdoms in the room – surely they could manage him together?

The sash window was frozen shut, and Ben began to hammer against it with his palms, desperately trying to force it upwards.

Come on then!

A terrible banging was coming from below Lucy’s feet. For some reason best known to himself, Ben Kingdom was trying to open a window that had been frozen shut. The noise echoed across the street and Lucy winced. She had been sent here to watch over him and make sure that