We walk faster. I shouldn’t be out of breath, but I find myself struggling to suck in air, chest tight, lungs burning with effort. I know I should try to be subtle, but I can feel my body stiffen, hands at my sides as we stride along. I’m sure they can see my body language, but I try to resist the urge to glance back over my shoulder.  Footsteps scuffle on the cobblestones, they’re getting closer. Low, muffled laughter behind us makes the muscles in my back tense. Out of the corner of my eye I see Ellie grab Gus’ hand, and think to myself that she’d be better off hiding behind me. An unkind sentiment, but probably true.

                To my horror, the street opening up in front of us is almost devoid of people. There are a few carts rumbling past, and a lone figure or two shuffling bleakly towards some unknown destination. What did it matter though? I’d learned fast that even in the middle of a bustling street you could get stabbed, nobody would do anything to stop your attacker if you looked just as ragged and poor as they did. I’d seen it happen.

                There’s a burst of sudden movement behind us, and I whirl quickly on my boot heel, blood thundering in my ears.  They’re right behind us now, walking fast, eyes fixed on us. I count them again. Five, three bigger ones and two small ones, all wearing what amounts to rags, hungry looks on their faces. What the hell do they think we have? We look pretty much as ragged as they do.

                Beside me Ellie shifts and catches my eye. Perhaps that’s it. She has the remains of gentry, a tattered air of refinement that tells you she used to come from money. They’re probably going to target her, and she’s the smallest of us…

                Something in me stirs, a fierce animal savagery. Like a mother bear whose cub is being menaced. It was foolish to get myself attached to anyone, I know it, but it’s too late.  I’m in this up to my neck, and I’ll damn well go down swinging.

                Impulsively  I reach into my pocket, and my hand closes around the chain of the jewel. When I yank it out the black diamond swing heavily back and forth, daylight reflecting off the facets in the surface, glowing like black ink in the light. I call out in mocking tones, “Is this something you’d be interested in, ya bunch of bootlickers?”

                The group pauses for a moment, two of the smaller boys almost running into the bigger ones in front. The three bigger boys look at the swinging diamond with huge eyes, then glance at one another, greed twisting their features into nasty smiles. The boys spread out and walk closer, they’re only a few feet away now, hemming us in slowly so there is no chance of escape. You can tell they’re used to this, that they’ve done it before. How many people had they mugged? How many people had been left beaten in the gutter and relieved of whatever pitiful coin they may have been carrying.

                I let the diamond swing back and forth on the end of the chain, chanting as they walked closer, “Come on then, come and get it. You can have it. We just stole it off some ducky man anyway, so just take it and leave us be.”

                The biggest boy is within arm reach now. He’s  a head taller than I am, looming over me like a black shadow, his blue eyes gleam in his dirty face, “that’s a mighty big rock, girl. Is it real?”

                “Far as I know,” I grimace at him, “just take it and leave us as we are, it’s all we got.”

                His hand shoots out and snatches the diamond out of the air as it’s swinging. My gut seizes in a mixture of fear and triumph. Now I’ve done it, I’ve carried the plague over to London, one of the biggest cities in England. I’m supposed to be saving the world, but apparently I’m intent on destroying it first, or spreading as much as the plague as I can before I reach my goal. What if it’s too late, what if destroying the diamond won’t help now, and it’s my fault.

                What choice do I have? It’s this, or let them kill us and take the diamond anyways. It’ll happen either way, but I prefer that my friends and I come out alive.

                “You sure you aint’ got nothin’ else?” The boys eyes are large, drinking the three of us in.

                “Don’t get greedy,” I snap, “that jewel will feed you for days, maybe for the rest of your life if you get a fair price for it. Just leave us be now that you’ve taken it.”

                I have to keep him talking. What if he walks closer to Gus and Ellie and the diamond accidently touches one of them? The thought makes my stomach queasy, and I move forward a few steps, determined to put myself between them and the black rock. The plague should be attacking him by now, why isn’t his skin turning black? An alarming thought occurs to me. What if this guy is another anti-mage? The copper had talked about it like there were others out there like me, what if, by some crazy fluke, this boy is one as well. That means the diamond won’t affect him. That means we aren’t out of danger.

                He’s looking down at the diamond in his palm, and his friends are crowding around him, every eye fixed on the gleaming black surface. Gus, Ellie and me, we stand still and hope they forget about us.

                Why isn’t it happening? Why isn’t he turning into one of those….

                Wait. Something is happening. There, on the palm of his hand where the diamond is nestled, a pool of inky darkness is collecting. The boy doesn’t notice at first, he’s too mesmerized by the shimmering surface, he doesn’t notice until the darkness begins climbing slowly from his palm, up his wrist, spreading upwards in a thick, ropey tendril.

                “Bollocks!” He shakes his hand suddenly, eyes growing wide. The diamond falls into the dirt at his feet as he clutches his arm in terror, “What’s that? What is that?”

                The other boys back away from him in terror as the black ropes continue to crawl up his arm, splitting off into smaller tendrils that worm their way up underneath his skin. Up and up, disappearing behind the sleeve of his shirt, reappearing above his collar, climbing his neck, spreading like midnight spider webs.

                At first there ‘s utter silence, save for the scuffling of boots as his companions move away. Then the boy begins screaming. It’s terrifying to hear, it makes my gut churn, and I have to clamp my hands over my ears in fear I’ll be sick. His screams are ragged, terrified and full of pain. The black snakes of the plague have almost fully consumed him now, the pale skin of his arms and legs are almost completely covered, and his face is slowly disappearing, twisting and morphing into a hideous mask. His companions are gone now, the only thing left of them is the echo of their boots on the cobblestone roads. They want nothing to do with his sudden transformation.

                I’m pushing Gus and Ellie back without even thinking about it, “Go, get away from him. Don’t let him touch you.”

                “Molly…” Gus tries to grab my arm but I brush him off and give him another shove.

                “No, I have to get the diamond, I’ll be fine. Just get away from him.”

                There’s one last, high pitched wail and then a thud, and I turn around to see the boy  writhing on the ground, arms and legs twisting and jerking unnaturally. His face is unrecognizable now, skin peeled back to reveal the red muscle beneath, features twisted into something monstrous. Finally, after what seems like forever he goes limp, arms and legs star-fished on the dirty street, eyes rolled up so I can see the whites. I creep closer, fighting down dread and the sudden urge to be violently sick. When I get close enough I snatch the jewel up from the road where it landed and dart backwards, jamming the hellish thing into my pocket. I don’t like what it did to that boy, even if he was a bastard, I don’t like seeing that happen in front of my eyes. Twice has been more than enough. My brain is screaming at me to run, but my eyes are glued to the black mess on the road that had once been human. I have to go though, I have to run. He’s going to come back, soon he’ll peel himself off the road and start after me, lurching forward in some bizarre parody of life, determined to rend and tear, to hunt down and kill everything he can get his hands on.

                Gasping, I turn and run back down the street, falling into stride with Gus and Ellie. We run together, silent exept for our shoes beating the pavement and our ragged breath. There seems to be an unspoken signal, because when we get around the corner, away from the terrible sight of the boy, we stop, and I take a minute to bend forward, hands on my knees. Catching my breath, gasping in air and blinking tears away from my eyes.

                “What now?” Ellie gasps, “What do we do now?”

                I straighten up and force myself into calmness, making my voice firm, “now we find passage to Bristol and get the hell out of here. Still got that pretty trinket, Ellie?”

                She touches the top of her hand and nods, eyes worried, “We trade it for passage?”

                “Aye,” Gus wheezes, straightening up, “let’s do that now. I’d rather not stick around and see how fast this plague spreads.”

                “The problem is we have to find an airship to take us there, one with a captain that’s at least half trustworthy.” I say.

                “Someone who won’t just stab us and take the ring, you mean,” Ellie tugs at the glove covering her ring, as if she’s afraid it might be showing.

                “Exactly.”

                Gus shifts from one foot to another, he looks down at the street and then back up, finally he says with a sigh, “I might know someone.”

                “Someone with a ship?” I try not to let myself feel relief. If it was as simple as that Gus wouldn’t look so hesitant about it, “what’s wrong with it? Why’d you look like that?”

                “It’s piloted by my cousin,” Gus mumbles, “I haven’t seen him in years, I’m not sure if he’s any more trustworthy than anyone else, but he may feel obligated because of family.”

                “Well, it’s as good a start as any,” I say firmly, “let’s try it, shall we? Where is this cousin?”

                “Not too far,” Gus waves us forward reluctantly, “just a few blocks down from here, he and his wife run a junk shop when they’re not flying that heap he’s got. I warn you, you won’t find him a charming companion.”

                “If he’ll fly us to Bristol without killing any of us, I don’t care if he’s half ridgeback.”