Season 05 - Episode 04

‘further and further’

Ty is climbing stairs again.

The silence between his footsteps is so absolute that his time with La's family in their strange world seems like a dream now. It is only the bizarre yet comfortable clothes he wears that tells him it was real.

When La's father rescued him from execution, he seemed to think that Ty had a plan, that he knew what he was doing. Ty tried to convince the man and all the other giddy adults around them that he was just a lost kid trying to get home, that he didn't understand anything that was happening and didn't know where to go next.

They ignored him however and kept asking about his familiars and his magic and some prophecy, none of which made any sense to him at all. It was only when he broke down in tears, a gasping heap of big snotty sobs, that the man finally seemed to believe him.

La's father took him on one side then, shooing away all the others who wanted to look at Ty and ask him questions. He explained to Ty that everything in their world was changing, that things had been the same for a very long time but that now, suddenly, because of Ty, everything was going to be different.

Some of the old bits of their world, some of the people who had made it, they had to be got rid of now and it would be a bit messy for a while but eventually everything was going to be better and all because of him. They never knew there was anywhere else they could go but then Ty proved that there was and it was wonderful.

All Ty had to do now was continue on his upward journey, opening the way so that they could all follow. When Ty asked where he was going, La's father looked confused and even a little worried before eventually muttering something about a 'better place'.

They gave him a set of clothes which were strange in their colours and design but warm and comfortable, better than anything he'd ever worn before. Despite everything else, Ty is proud of the clothes and imagines his Mum's face if she could see him wearing them.

They gave him a little bag too with some food and a roll of bedding to sleep on. Then, La's father led him through corridor after corridor, occasionally shielding his eyes when they passed loud and scary sounding things. Adults were dashing about everywhere shouting “Down with the Governor!” or “The Bloodline is a lie!”, it was all very confusing.

Now he is alone again however, climbing stairs, crawling through vents and shafts, opening huge heavy doors and gates, on and on. His little friend with the glowing red eye is still with him at least and this makes it all a bit less scary.

His friend skitters away ahead of him, slipping along the floors, walls and ceilings, showing the way. Ty follows but he still doesn't understand why. All he wants is to see his Mum again, and Ky and his Dad. He knows they can't be up here, that every step he takes must be leading him further and further away from them but he doesn't know what else to do.

He is just thinking this as he follows his friend through a doorway and out onto a long narrow bridge that stretches over a vast open space, plunging down and down and down below. His friend dashes ahead but then pauses about halfway across, scrambling up onto the top of the low wall on either side.

Ty approaches wearily but as the little machine spins in circles, encouraging him to come and peek over the edge, Ty becomes aware of a sound, a strange, distant, rumbling sound. He looks up but finds nothing but empty space disappearing into darkness.

Then, after carefully placing his new bag on the floor, he stands up on the tips of his toes and cranes his neck to look over and down. Something is moving down there, far, far below, a huge, busy thing, long and broad, filling up a stairwell that looks like one of those he has climbed, though they all look so similar it's hard to tell.

After a while something clicks in his head and Ty understands what he is seeing, what he is hearing. It's people. Thousands and thousands of people, all talking and walking and climbing the stairs below him. For the first time, La's father's words become real.

He is leading them all, leading them up.

But leading them where?

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