"It’s Latin," said Molly, peering curiously over my shoulder. "Strange dialect. Something about a bargain."
"You read Latin?" I said, unable to keep the surprise out of my voice.
She glared at me. "I may not have had the benefits of your private education, but I know a thing or two. You can’t work any of the major magics without at least a working knowledge of Latin. Most of the old pacts and bindings are written in it. What we’re looking at here…is a spell. A spell to reveal hidden truths…about the beginnings of the Drood family! You were right, Eddie; it is the answer. So, do we use the spell? Right here and now?"
"Of course," I said. "We might not get another chance."
"Is this something you need to do alone?" said Molly. "I mean, I’d understand if you—"
"No," I said immediately. "We’ve come this far together; it’s only right we go the last mile together too."
So we both spoke the spell in unison, chanting the ancient Latin aloud, and the world we knew blew away on a wave of wild magic, as the spell gave us a vision of time past.
We were not there. We saw and heard everything, but we were not present. This was the past, and we had no place in it, except as observers.
Before us lay old Britain. The Romans called it the Tin Islands, because that was all we had that interested them. The land of the Britons: a savage place, back when we all lived in the forest, in the wild woods, in the dark places the Romans dared not follow us. The vision shifted and changed, showing us sights charged with meaning and significance. We watched, and learned.
In this time, Drood history began. Fierce men in ragged furs, with blue woad daubed on their snarling faces, ran howling through the trees. My ancestors, the Druids. So fierce, so savage, they shocked even the hardened Roman legionnaires. They fought; tribes against armies, bronze against steel. And yet at first the Druids won, forcing the invading Romans all the way back to their waiting ships, and then slaughtering them in the shallows until it seemed the whole ocean ran red with their blood. The survivors sailed away; but they came back. The Romans came again, and again, until finally they triumphed through steel and tactics and weight of numbers. Because they were an army, and we were just scattered tribes who often hated each other as much as we did the invaders.
The Romans feared the Druid priests most of all, and wiped them out, destroying their spoken knowledge and traditions along with their savage religion. And so it might have gone…until the Heart came, and everything changed.
It did not fall from the sky, as the official story says. It did not fall like an angel from heaven, or a meteor from outer space. It downloaded itself from another dimension, a different kind of reality. Imposing itself upon our world through an act of sheer will. The impact of its arrival killed every living thing in the vicinity and flattened all the trees for miles around. The ground shook for days, and strange bright lights and energies burned in the skies. But the Druids, though sensibly cautious, were scared of nothing and sent emissaries to the Heart.
Those Druids would become the very first Droods.
They walked among fallen trees for mile after mile, and though they saw wonders and horrors and living things twisted and mutated by the terrible energies released through the Heart’s arrival, they did not stop or turn aside. They were shamans whose job it was to defend and protect the tribe from outside threats. And finally they came to the great clearing of dead and blasted earth in which the Heart lay. A diamond as big as a hill, brilliant and beautiful; and alive. It spoke to the Druid shamans who came to it, and they worshipped it as a sign from the gods or perhaps even one of the gods themselves.
The Heart was quite content for them to do this. It was lost and far from home and weakened by its long journey. It had come to our world fleeing something else. Something the Heart was still very much afraid of. So it proposed a bargain to the Druid shamans. It would make them powerful, make them as gods among their own kind, and in return they would revere and protect the Heart against all enemies. In this world…and without.
The Heart gave the Druids their living armour, and they became more than men.
Originally, the shamans only used the armour to protect the tribes against the dark powers and forces of evil who walked more openly in the world in those days. But the armour made these Droods very powerful, and all power tends to corrupt…The greatest threat to the tribes were the invading Romans, but the shamans were wise enough to know that not even the golden armour could hold off the Roman armies forever. So they went to the Romans and made a deal. Rome would rule…through the Droods. And thus the tribes would be protected from the worst of Rome’s power. When, five centuries later, the Roman Empire finally declined and fell, and Roman authority left Britain, the Droods just kept going. Operating secretly, to protect the tribes from all threats, from without…and within.
But what was the armour, this glorious golden living metal? Where did it come from? And what price did the Heart demand to make those first few Droods so much more than human?
A Drood stood before the Heart, presenting a pair of twin babies to the massive diamond. One of the babies was snatched out of the Drood’s arms by an unseen force, and it hung on the air before the Heart, kicking and screaming. And then it was suddenly sucked into the Heart’s shining surface and disappeared inside. Its screams cut off abruptly. And around the neck of the baby still held by the Drood, a shining golden collar appeared. The vision showed other sacrifices, other sights, down many years, until the secret of the family’s armour was plain.
All the Druids exposed to the energies of the Heart underwent predetermined genetic changes, and from that point on all Drood children were born as identical twins. Soon after birth, one child was given to the Heart, which absorbed its body and its soul, so that the surviving twin might wear the golden armour and serve the family. When I wore the living metal, I was surrounding myself with all that was left of my sacrificed twin. The brother I never knew. Every time I armoured up, I was wearing my brother like a second skin.
How many twins, how many lives, had been sacrificed to the Heart, down the long centuries? How many innocent children denied their chance at life, so the Droods could be more than human?
The vision showed us more. It got worse.
As more and more babies were given to the Heart, the other-dimensional being grew brighter, stronger. The souls of the sacrificed children were held and sealed within the Heart, trapped there to generate the power that created our armour, that powered our magics and our sciences, that made our family strong.
I felt sick. Soiled. I had been brought up to revere and protect the Heart in its Sanctity, without ever knowing what it really was. An eater of souls. Just like those disgusting entities the Loathly Ones, but on a far greater scale. All those babies…all those generations of trapped souls, denied an afterlife, condemned to never-ending existence within the Heart, to make it powerful. Did they know? Were they aware in there? Did they suffer endlessly? Were they screaming all the time, behind the gleaming facets of that massive diamond?
The vision ended, and Molly and I fell back into our bodies. We both looked at each other, shocked speechless. I’d never felt so angry in my life. I rolled the scroll up very carefully, retied the ribbons, and set it back on its shelf. I couldn’t risk it being damaged. It was evidence of a crime. My anger burned cold within me, and I had never felt so focused, so determined. Molly reached out to me, and then stopped at the last moment. As though I might have burned her fingers. I don’t think she liked what she saw in my face, in my eyes.
"Eddie…"
"It’s all right," I said, though something in my voice made her flinch.
"I’ve always known my family was rotten to the heart."
I didn’t hear anything, didn’t see anything, but suddenly I just knew that he was there, standing behind me. And since I’m not at all easy to sneak up on, I knew who it was, who it had to be. I turned slowly, and there he was, with a gun pointed at me. Molly turned too, and then i
nstinctively moved a little closer to me. The Matriarch had sent the greatest field agent of all to deal with me.
"Hello, Uncle James," I said.
He nodded, not smiling, tall and dark and handsome as ever, splendidly elegant in a formal tuxedo, the gun seeming almost out of place in his hand, as it covered Molly and me. He might have just come from a cocktail party or an ambassador’s ball. Some important occasion, where the high and the mighty gathered to discuss all the matters that mattered. Uncle James was always at home in the very best circles, when he wasn’t chasing the scum of the earth through backstreet bars or hidden lairs, the Amazonian rain forests, or the darkest canyons of the urban jungle.
"Hello, Eddie," he said, and his voice didn’t sound at all strained.
"You never would do what you were told, even as a child. I told you not to come back here. Told you I’d have to kill you if we ever met again. And yet here you are, and here I am. So…Aren’t you at least going to introduce me to your young lady?"
"Heavens," I said. "Of course; what was I thinking? Uncle James, this is Molly Metcalf, the witch of the wild woods. Molly, this is my uncle James. Better known in disreputable circles as the Gray Fox."
"Really?" said Molly, looking actually impressed for the first time since I’d met her. "The Gray Fox? Damn! Eddie, you never told me the legendary Gray Fox was your uncle! It’s an honour to meet you, sir. Really. I’ve followed your career for years, from a distance of course. You took on the Unholy Inspectres, the Bloody Beast of Bodmin Moor, and the Murder Mystics—"
"Not that last one," Uncle James said graciously. "My brother Jack took down the Murder Mystics. He never did get the renown he deserved."
"You have a gun," I said. "You could have shot me in the back the moment you walked in here, before I even knew you’d found me. It would have been the sensible thing to do, before I could armour up."
"Yes," he said easily. "I could have killed you and your young lady, but I didn’t. I needed to talk to you first, Eddie. I know you’ve opened the scroll, said the Words, seen the vision. When you broke the seals, that set off a silent alarm, and we all knew it had to be you. So I said I’d come down here and take care of things. How did you break the seal, Eddie?"
"I have Oath Breaker," I said, and showed him the ironwood staff.
"So you do. You’ve been to see Jack, haven’t you? Of course you have. He always was the softhearted one. I shall have to have words with him later. Put the staff down on the floor, Eddie. Very carefully."
I crouched down, laid the stick on the floor, and then straightened up again, never once taking my eyes off Uncle James.
"Who sent you?" I said. "The council, or the Matriarch? How deep does the rot go?"
"The council and the Matriarch," said Uncle James. "You’ve pissed off pretty much everybody, Eddie."
"Do you know the secret of the scroll?" I said. "The truth behind the armour, and the Heart?"
"Of course I know. It’s the first thing they tell you when you join the council."
I raised an eyebrow. "I wasn’t aware field agents were allowed to serve on the council."
"Exceptions are made, for exceptional people," said James. He wasn’t boasting, just stating a fact.
"What did you do?" I said. "When you found out about all the children who’ve been sacrificed so we could become what we are?"
"Oh, I was shocked," said Uncle James. "Horrified. But I got over it. Just as you will, in time. The original bargain was made in a simpler, more savage time, by savage people. But the family has become too important, too necessary to risk undoing the bargain. We don’t just protect the tribe anymore; we protect humanity. We have a duty, a responsibility, to stand between them and the forces of darkness that they must never know about. And the secret…is just part of the burden we have to bear so we can do the things that have to be done."
"Like ruling the world from behind the scenes?" said Molly. "Like stamping down hard on anyone or anything that doesn’t fit your narrow criteria of what’s acceptable?"
"Getting upset won’t change anything," said Uncle James, still looking only at me. "It won’t bring back your twin brother, or mine. They died so we could wear the armour, so we could be a force for good in a world that needs us now more than ever. We can’t tell everyone in the family, Eddie; you must know that. Most of them have no idea what it’s like out in the world. They wouldn’t understand…how necessary some things can be. That’s why only the Matriarch and the council know: those of us who’ve proven our worth through long service to the family. And to the world. We bear the burden of the truth so others don’t have to. So we can go on saving the world every day."
"That’s it?" I said. "The end justifies the means? Come on, Uncle James; you can do better than that."
"I insisted they send me down here," Uncle James said urgently. "Because I’m the only one who wouldn’t shoot you on sight. I needed to talk to you, Eddie, make you understand. I don’t want to have to kill you, Eddie. Not when you could still do so much for the family. You have so much potential…and you remind me so much of your mother."
"Don’t go there," I said, and I could hear how cold my voice was.
He didn’t flinch. "My sister was one of the best field agents of her generation," said Uncle James. "Only makes sense that her son would be special too. I raised you, Eddie. Taught you everything I knew. I always saw you…as the son I never had."
"You raised me to know right from wrong," I said. "To fight evil wherever I found it. That’s what I’m doing, Uncle James."
"We keep the world safe," Uncle James said almost pleadingly. "We protect humanity from all the forces that would destroy them if we weren’t there."
"You are one of the forces that would destroy us," said Molly.
Uncle James still ignored her, concentrating only on me. "Someone has to be in charge, Eddie. You can’t trust politicians to do what’s right, not when it’s always so much easier to do what’s expedient. Do you have any idea how many wars we’ve prevented, down the centuries, by working behind the scenes? How many world wars that never happened thanks to us? There have been times when the family was all that stood between humanity and utter extinction. Our record may not be perfect, but the world would have been a far worse place without us."
"You don’t know that," said Molly. "Not for sure. Who can say what kind of a world we might have made for ourselves if we’d been forced to make our own mistakes and learn from them?"
"We’ve been a force for good," said Uncle James, holding my gaze with his.
"Yes," I said. "On the whole, I believe we have. But the price…is too high. You can’t be just a little bit corrupt, Uncle James. Maybe that’s why we went from serving and protecting the world to running it."
"Please," he said. "Surrender. Don’t make me kill you, Eddie. We can still work this out. It’s not too late. I’ll speak for you before the council. Your grandmother isn’t a monster, Eddie. If she can find a way to save you, she will. You know she will."
"I can’t let this go on," I said. "Not now that I know. I’m here to set the world free, Uncle James. To tear off all their shackles and let them run free. We were meant to be the world’s shepherds, not their jailors. We’ve become the very thing we were raised to fight. The family must fall for what it’s done to the world, and to itself; and to me. No more lies, Uncle James. No more dead babies. No more Droods walking around unknowing in the living skins of their murdered twins. This should be just between you and me, Uncle James. Will you let Molly go? If she agreed to just walk away?"
"I’m sorry," he said, and he sounded as though he meant it. "You know I can’t let her leave, Eddie. Not now that she knows the secret. If she stands with you, she dies with you. But…if you were to come back into the family, perhaps something could be arranged…As your wife, she’d be family too."
"Wait just a minute!" said Molly.
"Be quiet, child," said Uncle James. "I’m trying to save your life. The two of you could never leav
e the Hall again, Eddie, but you could still live long, useful, productive lives here."
"Serving the family," I said.
"Yes."
"Work for the Droods?" said Molly. "Screw that shit. I’d rather die. No offence, Eddie."
"I have to do what’s right," I said. "I have to fight evil wherever I find it. Just like you taught me, Uncle James."
"Eddie…" he said, taking a step forward.
"I’m sorry."
"So am I." Uncle James sighed heavily, but his voice was calm and his eyes were so cold as to seem almost disinterested. "Don’t bother armouring up, Eddie. This gun came from the Armourer, long ago. He made me some special armour-piercing bullets out of strange matter. They’ll punch right through your armour. Just like the arrow on the motorway."
"You knew about the ambush all along!" I said, almost surprised to find I could still feel shocked after so many secrets. "Did you know the arrow would leave some of itself in my body, poisoning me, killing me by inches?"
"No!" Uncle James said quickly. "It was supposed to be a clean kill. They promised me it would be quick, or I would never have agreed. You weren’t supposed to suffer…You were supposed to die valiantly on the motorway, facing the family’s fiercest enemies. It seems…I taught you better than I realised. I am proud of you, Eddie. And I promise it will be a clean kill this time. For you and your young lady."
"Like hell," said Molly.
All the time Uncle James had been talking so passionately, concentrating all his attention on me, I’d been quietly aware of Molly subvocalising Words of power, a trick she’d learned from me, struggling to raise just enough power to force one good spell through the security measures suppressing magic in the old library. And now the spell activated, opening one small spatial portal right beside Uncle James’s hand. It sucked the gun right out of his grasp and started to pull his arm in too before the security measures reasserted themselves and shut the portal down. It snapped out of existence, and Molly almost collapsed, exhausted by the strain. She grabbed at a heavy book stack to support herself and grinned at me.
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