A Clockwork Heart by Liesel Schwarz Page B

intellect and her abilities. She had studied science and medicine. She had read about the art of seduction and how one should manipulate. She had become the most powerful of her kind.
    She gave a satisfied smile. Physically these people were entirely under her control, yet it did not stop them from screaming as soon as they realized what was about to happen to them.
    She wished she could find a way to shut them up, for at times the sounds of their anguish haunted her in her dreams.
    She leaned over and pulled another lever and the giant piston in the middle of the machine started stamping up and down. Each time it came to rest on the chest of a person. In one swift move it extracted their still-beating heart and replaced it with a mechanical one. The hearts were deposited into glass jars filled with the liquid formula she had invented, then the machine sealed the jars and gently placed them on another conveyor belt that took the jars to her laboratory.
    There the hearts would be kept in rows on shelves, neatly catalogued. They were essential for her control over the project.
    On the other side of the machine, each soldier was fitted with a brass muzzle and chest plate riveted in place to cover the clockwork device that beat newly inside the bleeding chests. In the center of the chestplate was a keyhole. A universal key was inserted and wound the newly installed clockwork device before each soldier was deposited and left to wait in neat silent rows for her every command.
    The entire factory huffed and hissed through a series of tubes and vents that would put any cathedral organ to shame. Clothilde watched until the every last one of the new recruits were complete before she turned off the machine. The factory fell silent before her.
    â€œTake them to the holding stalls and see that they are fed,” she said to her strongmen. “Electromancers, you may commence the clean up. And make sure you polish every tiny bit. I don’t want to see streaks of blood on the machine. Do I make myself clear?”
    â€œWe live to serve,” they mumbled.
    â€œAs do I,” she said wearily.
    She wanted to retire to her rooms for a rest, but there was work to do. There was a new recruit awaiting her attention.

CHAPTER 9
    They come in the night when the fog is at its thickest. They shuffle along softly in broken shoes while the city sleeps. For the most part, they are silent. The only thing that can be heard as they pass is the ticking of their insides and, to those who know how to listen, the soft insistent hum that comes from the hunger that drives them.
    These creatures have a new type of hunger, unlike anything seen or created in the world of Shadow. The stench of the strange new power that oozes from them causes the very barrier between the two realms to shiver. For these are amalgamations of science and magic that should not be.
    And yet, the new creatures come, bringing death to those who encounter them on their way. They are abominations, who carry within them the very essence of greed and destruction that will ultimately bring the world, as we know it, to an end.
    And far in the distance, the Clockmaker sits back and watches with glee. He does not care for the horror and misery he has created. To him these creatures are his children. And as he gazed upon them, he saw that they were good.
    Elle snorted rather inelegantly and sat up in her seat. She rubbed her eyes and listened to the discordant thrum of the ship’s engines in the background. The left engine sounded dangerously out of tune, which was most worrying, given that they were high up in the sky and thousands of miles from anywhere.
    Around her, the Iron Phoenix creaked and groaned as if it was almost too much effort to stay afloat. She had once been magnificent, but years of neglect had turned her rickety. Not for the first time, Elle tutted at Captain Dashwood’s slovenly ways.
    â€œIt’s a good thing I rescued you from that oaf when I did. Just