Hello, sweetie. Miss me?
I dropped my armour and stepped forward to take her in my arms, holding her tight, so tight that no one would ever be able to take her away from me again. Molly held me just as tight, murmuring comforting, reassuring words in my ear. Eventually I let her go. Isabella was looking down her nose at me. Louisa was beaming widely. Molly looked haughtily at Crow Lee.
I have been to Heaven and Hell and everywhere in between. Did you really think you could send me anywhere that I couldn t get back from? And once you d broken the chains holding my sisters, their magics returned and they could heal me. You really didn t think it through, did you? Had to go for the big dramatic gesture. She looked at me and broke off. I m sorry, love. You still look terrible. Let me.
She took my head in both hands, gently, gently, murmuring Words under her breath, and all my injuries healed in a moment. I hadn t realised how much fighting the pain had weighed down on me till it was gone. She stepped back, looked me over briskly and nodded, and then frowned.
Eddie, you re looking at my sisters again while they re naked!
They re standing right in front of me! I am so glad to see you again, Molly. I was so worried
Well, that was sweet of you, said Molly. But you really are going to have to learn to trust me to be able to look after myself. She looked around her. Where s Mr. Stab?
You re standing in what s left of him, I said.
Oh, ick, said Molly. And what is the car doing in this room?
Saving the day! the car said cheerfully. I helped!
It s true, I said. She did. Apparently the Scarlet Lady is one of the Regent s Special Agents.
Will wonders never cease? said Molly. Hold everything where s Crow Lee?
He went into the next room, the Plymouth Fury said helpfully. While you were all distracted. He s still in there. Up to no good, I m sure.
Can you please get these collars off us? said Isabella. They re suppressing our magic, now that we re back in the world.
Oh, sure, I said.
I armoured up my right hand and gave two of the fingers sharp edges to form simple scissors. I snipped through Isabella s collar easily enough, and then Louisa s, and she giggled happily as I did so. Molly stood close beside me as I worked.
Whatever you do, she said, Don t look down.
You don t want me closing my eyes as I m doing this, I said. Could be a very unfortunate incident.
I like you, said Louisa. You re cute.
And you re a very scary and destructive person, by all accounts.
That s right!
I cut through her collar. Immediately Louisa and Isabella covered themselves with clothes. Isabella was back in her crimson biker leathers, while Louisa wore a long daisy-yellow dress and white stilettos. Isabella nodded to me brusquely.
Good to see you again, Eddie. Thanks for the rescue.
You plotted with Crow Lee to destroy my family, I said.
Your family, my family I think maybe it s time all of us stopped defining ourselves by our families.
Yes, I said. But not quite yet.
I looked at Louisa, who smiled brightly.
I knew everything would work out! Group hug!
The three Metcalf sisters moved together and held hands, and there was a brief burst of swirling lights and coruscating energies that filled the whole study. Molly let go and stepped back and stretched luxuriously, like a cat in the sun.
Ah Now, that s more like it! My magic is back, every last bit of it! Let us have words with Crow Lee.
Hard words, I said.
We marched over to the door leading into the next room. It was locked. Molly laughed and snapped her fingers at it. The heavy wood of the door groaned loudly and rattled furiously in its frame, but it wouldn t open. Isabella and Louisa said a Word of Power together, and the veneer jumped right off the door, but still it held. So I got out my skeleton key, slipped it carefully into the lock and turned it slowly, with just the right amount of pressure, and the protections on the door just threw their hands in the air and said, Have it your own way, then, and the door opened.
Crow Lee was scrabbling through the contents of a chest of drawers. He spun round as we entered, and the remote control was in his hand. I knew what it was, what it had to be, just from the look on his face. The thing didn t look too complicated. Crow Lee snatched up a long ironwood staff and held it out defiantly before him. I immediately stopped short and made sure the others did, too.
No one move, I said. No one do anything. That is Oath Breaker.
That is? said Isabella. I ve only ever read descriptions of it. I d expected a lot more, to be honest.
What s Oath Breaker? said Louisa, frowning prettily.
One of the Drood forbidden weapons, said Molly.
It revokes all agreements and bonds, right down to the atomic level.
Oh goody! said Louisa, clapping her hands together. I want one!
You re dangerous enough as it is, said Molly.
Girls just want to have fun! Louisa said brightly.
Is she always like this? I said quietly to Molly.
This is her being relatively stable, said Molly.
God knows how long it ll last. Now you know why we never let anyone meet her. She glowered at Crow Lee.
I don t care what you ve got. You do not get to walk free after everything you ve done.
My offer of a deal still stands, said Crow Lee, ignoring the Metcalf sisters to stare directly at me. The remote control, the coordinates it contains and the return of your Hall and family in return for immunity for all the things I may have done.
We might have made a deal, I said steadily, but not now. I can t let you walk out of here with Oath Breaker. Throw it aside and we ll talk.
How did he get his hands on that thing, anyway? said Molly.
From the Original Traitor Drood, I said.
And where s he? said Isabella.
Dead, I said.
Molly looked at me sharply. You have been busy while I was gone. Mr. Stab and the Original Traitor?
Let s not get distracted, people, said Crow Lee. This remote control can guide your Merlin Glass straight to your family, Eddie. And their safe return is all that really matters, right? And don t even think about taking the remote from me; I ve got it rigged with a dead man s switch. If the remote leaves my hand without my permission, it ll self-destruct. And then no one will be able to find the Droods. You re not going to risk that, Eddie. So, I ll be leaving you now. With the remote and Oath Breaker. I ll be in touch, from a safe distance, and then we can work out the terms of our agreement, like civilised people.
You make one move to leave and I ll kill you, I said.
Like Mr. Stab and Adrian Drood? said Crow Lee.
You are getting a taste for it. Aren t you, Eddie? But I don t think so. All your armour and all the Metcalf sisters magic are still nothing when set against the ancient brute force of Oath Breaker.
And that was when Major Michaels came slamming through the other door on the far side of the room, with a whole bunch of heavily armed mercenary soldiers. Who took one look at me and the Metcalf sisters and opened fire on all of us. Crow Lee darted quickly out of the line of fire, shouting, No! No! Stop it! You re ruining everything! The three Metcalf sisters clasped hands, and a protective screen snapped into place between them and the bullets. I armoured up and laughed as the bullets just bounced off me. Crow Lee cried out as ricocheting bullets slammed into the piece of furniture he was hiding behind. Molly let go of her sisters hands and stepped forward to face Major Michaels. He saw the expression on her face, the face repaired from the beating he d given her, and opened fire on her at point-blank range. The bullets turned into flowers in midair and drifted to the floor. Molly held up her hand and snapped her fingers sharply. And just like that, Major Michaels and all his soldiers were gone, replaced by the same number of filthy sewer rats. They ran squealing around the room, biting and tearing at one another, and then they all turned on the bigges
t and oldest one and chased it out of the room.
Never mess with a Metcalf sister, said Molly.
We always get our own back.
Yeah, I said. Major Michaels as a sewer rat, eaten alive by other rats. That ll do. Just.
And then I stepped forward and punched Crow Lee so hard in the face with my armoured fist that it ripped his head clean off his shoulders. The head still held a startled expression as it flew on to slam against the far wall with such an impact that it all but exploded before slipping to the floor, leaving a long bloody trail on the wall behind it. And while the body was slumping to its knees, blood pumping from the severed neck, I dived forward and grabbed the remote control from the slowly opening hand. I held it tightly and forced golden tendrils of my armour out of my glove and deep into the mechanism, shutting down all its systems. I waited a moment, but it didn t self-destruct. I d got to it in time.
Was he bluffing? said Molly.
Apparently not, I said, pulling the golden tendrils back into my glove. But it s safe now.
I looked up from the remote control to find all three Metcalf sisters staring at me, and not in a good way.
That makes three people you ve killed, said Molly. You even put finding your family at risk to kill Crow Lee. And that isn t like you, Eddie. None of this is like you.
He had it coming, I said. You can t say he didn t have it coming. They all did. I ve just been doing what needs doing. Taking out the trash.
No, said Molly. More and more you re doing what your armour wants you to do. I ve seen it affecting you, Eddie.
Maybe I like what it s doing to me, I said. I feel so much more decisive now. Taking care of business, and to hell with the consequences.
That s Moxton s Mistake talking, said Molly. Turning my Eddie to the dark side for its own purposes. I can t let that go on.
She clasped hands with her sisters again. I armoured up almost involuntarily. Bright lights and swirling energies surrounded the sisters, as they chanted a series of Words of Power. I tried to speak to them, to explain that everything was fine, really, only to discover that my words were trapped inside the mask with me. The armour wouldn t let me be heard. I tried to move and found I couldn t. The armour was moving on its own now. I was trapped, helpless, inside it. Like being buried in a golden coffin with murder on its mind. It moved slowly towards Molly and her sisters, savage claws emerging from its golden gauntlets. I could hear the rogue armour laughing. I called out to Molly, trying to warn her, but she couldn t hear me. She didn t know the armour advancing on her wasn t me but Moxton s murderous Mistake.
He s mine, said the armour. You can t have him.
The three sisters stopped their chanting, though coruscating energies still spat and sparked in the air around them. Molly looked directly into the featureless golden face mask.
He was mine long before you got your claws into him, she said. And you can t keep him.
The three sisters spoke together, chanting a single powerful Word:
Out!
The rogue armour shook, shuddering and spasming wildly, fighting for control and losing, and then it leaned forward abruptly and vomited me out. The face mask split apart like a great wide-stretched mouth, and I was forced up and out and deposited on the blood-stained carpet like a newly birthed thing. I lay there, shaking and shivering, curled into a ball, suddenly aware of all the things I d done while wearing the armour and wondering how long it had been since I was thinking clearly and on my own. I finally looked up to see the armour standing awkwardly stiff and poised, as though considering its situation.
So much hate, so much rage How long had it been influencing me in all the things I d said and done?
Free! Moxton s Mistake said suddenly. In a voice just human enough to make it sound really disturbing. Free at last No more masters, no more orders. And, oh, the things I ll do now there s no one left to hold me back. I was bound to serve you, Eddie, once I d given my word, because that s the way I was made. But you took so easily to my quiet murmurings in your back brain. Still, now you re gone, I am free to do what I will do! And I had so many years in the Maze to think of all the terrible things I d do to the Humanity that made and disowned me!
Five minutes on his own and already he sounds like a bad Frankenstein movie, said Molly. Sorry, Moxton s Mistake, but it s clear you can t be left to run wild. Not that I ever thought you should. You need someone to wear; you need a controller and a conscience. And since you ve worn Eddie out, that just leaves me.
She looked at Isabella and Louisa, and they nodded slowly. They all hummed together, in increasingly complex harmonies, and a torc appeared around Molly s throat. Silver, not gold. She turned away from her sisters, and walked steadily towards the rogue armour. It backed clumsily away from her. It could tell something was happening, something was in the air, but it couldn t tell what. Its back slammed up against the far wall, and there was nowhere left for it to go. It lifted one golden hand to make Stay away! motions at Molly, but she just kept coming. She reached out and grasped the extended golden gauntlet, and the rogue armour cried out in shock and anger as the golden metal was pulled forward onto Molly s hand and over it, and then up her arm.
You re mine now, said Molly. You have no choice. The power of the torc compels you.
The armour surged forward and fell over her in a great wave of liquid metal, and when it was done, Molly stood there, wearing the golden armour. The details slowly reworked themselves around her, fitting the armour to its new shape. It tucked in at her waist and showed off her pronounced breasts, though the face mask remained blank and featureless. I forced myself up onto my feet and moved unsteadily forward to stand before her.
Molly? I said.
Oh, Eddie, said her voice, from inside the armour. You should have told me how good this feels. What do you think? How do I look?
You look a lot more feminine than most Droods do, I said.
I m not a Drood, said Molly. Oh, Eddie I feel so sharp, so alive! Like I ve been dreaming all my life and only just woken up! I feel strong and fast, like I could take on the whole world! Except it s cold. It s so cold in here. And I m isolated from the natural world, in a way I never was before. Eddie, I don t like this.
Her voice was unsteady and uncertain. I stood right in front of her, staring into the blank mask. Isabella and Louisa watched from a distance, making no move to intervene.
Control it, Molly, I said. It s your armour while you wear it, so you have to be in control. It s all about willpower, and you ve never been short of that.
The golden head nodded slowly, jerkily, and raised one golden hand before the mask. The hand shook as she turned it back and forth, studying it. And then the armour just disappeared back into the silver torc around her throat and was gone. Molly smiled uncertainly at me.
It s me. I m back. But I can still feel the armour s presence, like it s always there, looking over my shoulder.
I know, I said. Don t get used to it.
I hate feeling cut off from the natural world, said Molly. I m the wild witch of the woods, the laughter in the trees! But with this collar around my neck, I can t hear the trees or feel the sunshine or
Molly
Don t worry, sweetie. I can handle this. At least long enough to get your family back.
This is the bravest thing I ve ever seen you do, I said. And you re doing it for me.
I know! Molly said cheerfully. I m going to hold this over you for the rest of our lives!
Fair enough, I said.
I may puke, Isabella announced loudly.
Oh, hush, you, said Louisa. I think it s all very sweet.
How do you feel, Eddie? said Molly.
Naked, I said. And helpless and very vulnerable. I was trained on how to operate in the field without my armour, but knowing it s not there anymore, even as backup
You still have your training and your experience, Molly said firmly.
If we re going after my family, I m going to need something, I said. A weapon or
And then I looked down at the floor, and there was a long staff of dark ironwood just lying there. I reached down and picked it up.
Eddie said Molly. That s Oath Breaker.
Just the thing, I said. I m sure it ll come in very handy wherever we end up going. And afterwards I can make sure it goes back in the Armageddon Codex. Where it belongs.
I hefted the long staff, turning it slowly back and forth to study the strange shapes carved into it. Very old carvings; some of them possibly prehuman. Oath Breaker is one of the oldest weapons in the Drood Armoury. Some say older than the family itself. There are good reasons why we keep it locked away. It felt heavy in my hand, weighed down with spiritual weight as well as physical. A burden to the body and the soul because of what it was, and what it could do. You don t break heads with a staff like Oath Breaker; you break worlds.
Just what I needed.
I led the sisters back into the main room and addressed the Plymouth Fury, still sprawled half in and half out of the broken wall.
Go on back to the Regent. Tell him everything that s happened here. So he ll know what to do if Molly and I don t come back. If the Droods don t come back.
Oh, sure! said the car. I m your secretary now, am I? No, don t you mind me. I ll find my own way home. I m a better driver than you, anyway.
What are you, really? said Molly. There s no way you re just a car with a souped-up sat nav.
I ll never tell! said the car. I might be all manner of things. I might be an AI, I might be a ghost haunting my old ride, I could be a demon poltergeist possessing the car or I could be an alien in a really good disguise. You ll never know!
The car fired up her engine and roared back out the hole in the wall with only a moderate amount of tyre squeal, and taking only a little more of the wall with her, and then she charged off through the devastated grounds, sounding her horn and loudly singing Bruce Springsteen s Thunder Road.
Live and let Drood sh-6 Page 34