"I like it. I can get olives out of a jar without a fork."
Veitch shook his head, unsure. "You ever say anything that isn't smart?"
"Do you ever say anything that is?"
The smile remained; Veitch couldn't tell if it was playful or mocking, but his insecurities made him fear the worst. "If you don't want to-"
"Stop being so sensitive. You shot some poor bastard. Deal with it and move on. Make amends, ignore it, just don't wallow in a big, slimy pool of guilt." She turned back to the sea, raising her face slightly to feel the sun.
Her words gave him some comfort, but he still couldn't begin to work her out; she made him feel stupid, uncomfortable, but he couldn't deny being attracted from the first time he had heard her display her savage wit. He leaned on the masonry next to her, fumbling for the right words. "How do you feel about giving up your life to join this nightmare expedition?"
"It's something to do."
"What about your friends? Your folks?"
"Friends are those who're around you at the time. My parents died in a car crash."
"Boyfriend?"
She inclined her face slightly towards him, her smile now sly. Veitch felt his cheeks colour. "Was that your idea of subtle?"
"Dunno what you mean." He shifted uncomfortably.
"You've got a pretty face and a good bod, but you're not my type, coniprende? No offence and all, but I think we ought to nip this in the bud before the conversation gets clogged up with all those stupid manoeuvrings."
Veitch looked away, unsure what to say.
"Don't get all hurt-"
"I'm not hurt." He felt a sudden surge of irritation at that supercilious smile.
"If you're looking for a girlie, there's always Gallagher, although you could get a bad case of frostbite. Or," she chuckled mischievously, "Shavi."
Veitch eyed her suspiciously. "He's a queen?"
"131, actually." His face obviously gave away his prejudices, because her smile drained away. "You never know," she said icily, "it might do you the world ofgood."
Before he could reply, she spotted Church walking across the green and hailed him. Veitch saw an obvious enthusiasm in her face that revealed exactly how she felt about their unelected leader; it was the first honest emotion he had seen in her, and after his rejection it made him feel cold inside. As he followed her down the steps to meet the others, his anger was already forming into an impacted lump in his chest.
Church took the others back to where Shavi lay, explaining what had happened as they ran. The bloodflow from his nose had stemmed, but he was still dazed, rambling. Ruth knelt beside him and checked his pulse.
"We should get him to a hospital." The concern was evident on her face. "He could have had a brain seizure. This is what happens when you mess with drugs."
"I don't think it was the mushrooms." Church still couldn't shake the memory of what had happened. "It began after he had some kind of apocalyptic vision."
"Did he tell you anything important?" Tom said anxiously.
"Come on," Ruth protested. "Shavi needs help!"
"I can do something for him," Tom snapped. "Leave him with me while you continue with the search. Now, did he tell you anything important?"
Church tried to remain calm. "Something about them … the Fomorii, I suppose … being everywhere. About bodies in the streets and some city burning." With a shiver, Church had a sudden flash of his own premonition in the Watchtower; he hadn't made the connection before. "And he said they're bringing back Balor."
Tom blanched.
Ruth saw the expressions on both their faces. "What does that mean?"
"We can talk about it later," Church said. "Finding the spearhead is more pressing. Shavi also said to look under the drawbridge. That makes sense-the first three artefacts were under Avebury, under Tintagel and under Glastonbury Tor."
He left Tom behind to care for Shavi and led Laura, Ruth and Veitch out of the castle gates. His first thought had been to leave the crate with Tom to free up their hands, but after Shavi's premonition he decided to keep the objects of power as close to him as possible. Through the gatehouse they skidded down the grassy bank into the dry moat and walked under the drawbridge. At first nothing caught their eye, but after Church had run his hands over the turf on the castle side, he discovered an odd, raised shape. It seemed to be a protruding lump of masonry, but he scrabbled the grass off with his fingernails and discovered it was in the shape of a spearhead.
After checking they weren't being watched, Church pushed, pulled and twisted the rock in a blind attempt to open it. Eventually something seemed to work, although he wasn't sure what, and there was a burst of blue sparks. An opening grew in the grassy bank, leading under the castle. As they slipped in quickly, they felt the same odd sensation of entering a bubble as they had on Caldey. The moment they were all in, the opening closed silently behind them, leaving them in the oppressive darkness of a tomb.
Church took out the Wayfinder, which gave them enough light to see they were in a tunnel in what appeared to be the bedrock. The walls were wet and shimmering, and the floor sloped slightly downwards.
"If these artefacts were hidden millennia ago, are you telling me it's pure coincidence that structures have been erected over the top of them?" Ruth's whisper was almost reverential, yet it echoed like the tide along the tunnel.
"You've felt their power," Church replied. "Who knows what subtle influences they exert? Maybe they drew the builders."
The tunnel opened out into a stone chamber about the size of the one they had discovered under Tintagel.
"If you see any holes in the wall, don't put your hands in them," Veitch deadpanned.
"There are holes," Church noted, spraying the light across the chamber. "Or niches, to be more precise."
The four openings were of different sizes in a horizontal line on the far wall. Veitch was the first to them, and he investigated cautiously, withdrawing his hand repeatedly in case something shut down on it.
"There's an indentation at the bottom of each one," he said. "This one's round." He moved on. "Another round one." The next. "Long and thin. And this one, not so long and not so thin."
They mulled over the information briefly, but Ruth was the first with the answer. "They're for each of the talismans," she said excitedly. "It's impossible to solve this one unless you've already got through all the other ones."
"Big wows. Aren't you smart?" Laura said sarcastically. "So if we're also supposed to learn something from each of these puzzles, tell me what we've picked up from Caldey and here. Apart from never look a severed head in the eye."
Church ignored her; he was already unloading the talismans from the packing crate. With Veitch's help, he dropped the stone and the cauldron into the first two holes; they fit perfectly. The sword went into the fourth. The inden tation in the third hole showed the full shape of the spear, including the head. Church carefully positioned the handle of the spear and the moment it lowered into place, the space for the head opened and a blue light flooded up. A second later the actual head rose into place.
"We've done it!" Church said triumphantly.
"You know, I almost expected cheers," Ruth added with a broad grin.
Veitch didn't seem so jubilant. "Yeah, great, we've just signed our death warrant."
"Ah, Mr. Glass-Half-Empty," Laura said coolly. "Just pick up the damned pieces and let's get out of here."
They hurriedly gathered up the artefacts, and the moment the last one came out, another door opened up in the wall; they could see blazing sunlight at the end of it.
"How long to sunset?" Veitch asked anxiously.
Church checked his watch. "Four hours. Lots of time."
"Depends which way you look at it." Veitch was already in the tunnel and moving as fast as he could.
Whatever Tom had done, Shavi had recovered slightly when they met up with them, but he was still loose-limbed and dazed. To the curious stares of onlookers, Church and Veitch helped wa
lk him out of the castle and back to the van.
"He's not going to be much use to us tonight," Church said redundantly.
"He wouldn't be much use if he was normal," Veitch said sourly. "So, we going to run for it or make a stand?"
"I vote we run and don't spare the horses," Laura said hastily.
Veitch was obviously ready for a confrontation. "And I vote we make a stand. Let's face it, they're going to catch us sooner or later. That's their whole reason for existing."
"Well, aren't you the macho man. What are you doing to do-flex your biceps and hope they faint?" Laura jabbed him in the sternum with her fingertips, unbalancing him.
Church held out an arm as Veitch advanced angrily. "He's right," he said. "We wouldn't get far if we ran."
"Then what do you suggest? Wet towels at dawn?"
Church was encouraged to see some real emotion in Laura's blazing eyes; it seemed to be happening more and more. "We've got four powerful artefacts here. Surely they've got to be some use."
"What? Use them ourselves?" Laura said.
"It might work."
"It might work. If we lived in cloud-cuckoo-land."
"We are supposed to be some kind of champions," Ruth said.
"Right." Laura's voice dripped with sarcasm. "A screwed-up techno head, an old hippie, a woman with a poker up her arse, a drugged-up fey romantic, a murderer and-" she nodded towards Church "-him. Some big fucking champions."
"So we roll over and die like good little slaves?" Veitch responded angrily.
Laura pulled a face, then walked off. Church waited a moment before following and found her sitting on the grass on the other side of an ice cream van where the attendant was lazing in the back with a copy of the Sun.
"All this is out of our hands now, you know," he said, sitting down next to her.
Eventually she said, "I like to have choices."
He nodded, watching the midges dance in the sunlight. "I know it's a cliche, but this is bigger than anything we feel. This must be how they felt going off to the Great War. Scared, but with a great sense of responsibility, a feeling of being part of some great … I don't know, destiny."
"I'm glad you feel that way, because I'm completely ruled by selfpreservation here."
"You're saying we can't count on you when the chips are down? I don't believe that."
"You think you know me, do you?" She turned her head away so he couldn't see her expression.
"Yes. I think I know you."
She thought for a moment, then rolled up her T-shirt so he could see the words scarred into her back.
Church caught his breath, but said nothing for a while. Then, "Who did that?"
"It doesn't matter who." She paused. "Does it make you feel sick to see it?"
"My God, how could someone be so inhuman?" Church said in shocked disbelief.
"There are a lot of sick bastards out there. I said, does it make you feel sick?"
Church gently reached out to touch the scar tissue, then retracted his fingers at the last moment. Laura seemed to sense what he was doing for she leaned in towards him, only slightly, but enough to move into his personal space. Away from the pink cicatrix, her skin seemed unduly soft; he could smell her hair, the faint musk of her sweat from the morning's exertions. And suddenly he had an overwhelming need for physical contact, just to feel humanity and emotion rather than the cold, hard wind of constant threat. He reached out his hand again.
"Stop making goo-goo eyes at each other. We're running out of time." Veitch was standing at the back of the ice cream van, his expression cold and hard.
Church jumped to his feet. "Yeah, you're right." He held out his hand and hauled Laura up; she held on to it for a moment longer than she needed, then withdrew her fingers so softly it was almost a caress.
Back at the van, they decided to find someplace with strong defences where they at least stood a chance of making a stand; if any of them were feeling fatalistic, it didn't show. But when Witch went to turn the key, the engine was dead. "We can't fucking rely on anything!" he said, hammering his fist on the steering wheel.
Time was running away. It was too dangerous to wait for everything to start working again and then find themselves caught out on the open road. Veitch hit the wheel one final time, then said, "We'll have to hole up round here."
"The castle would be perfect," Ruth noted, "but there's no way we'll be able to get in there after it's shut up for the night."
Veitch thought briefly before pointing to a Norman church perched on the opposite side of the valley to the castle. It stood isolated amidst a sea of green fern and small bushes. "We could do it there. Nobody's nearby to get hurt and we'll be able to see them coming from a long way off. Plus, it's got a wall round the churchyard, which may be nothing, but every little helps."
Church was impressed by Veitch's tactical vision and at how comfortable he seemed making those sorts of decisions quickly. "Okay. You're the boss."
Veitch glanced at him as if he thought Church were mocking him. When he saw that wasn't the case, he looked both bewildered and a little pleased. "Right, then. I'm the boss."
They left the van sitting useless in the car park and walked up to the church half an hour before twilight fell so as not to draw attention to themselves. They needn't have bothered; there was no one around for as far as the eye could see, and the church noticeboard said the vicar was shared with other parishes, so there was no reason why they should be disturbed. The weather seemed to be changing to complement the approaching conflict; after the heat of the day, a chill had swept in from the sea, with slate-grey clouds which turned the waves an angry dark blue. They crashed on the stony beach with increasing violence; enormous fountains of gleaming surf cascaded high into the air, filling the valley with the deep bass rumble of angry nature.
They erected a tent in the churchyard for shelter in case it rained, and then halfheartedly chewed a few sandwiches left over from lunch. The thunder started just as the half-light of evening turned to the gloom of night. Veitch lit a handful of storm lanterns they'd bought in Glastonbury and positioned them around the tent.
"You don't think this is going to attract attention?" Ruth said as the first fat drops of rain fell. Away in the dark an owl hooted mournfully and Ruth wondered if it was the same mysterious bird which seemed to have befriended her.
"No one's going to see it, and even if they did, they wouldn't turn out on a night like this." Church opened the packing crate and examined the three talismans inside; the spear had been lashed to it with a rope from the van and an oily rag tied to disguise the head. After a moment's thought he selected the sword, as surprised at how it felt in his hand as the first time he had touched it; sturdier than it appeared, warm, tingling.
"Let me have the spear," Ruth said.
"You sure? I was going to give it to Ryan."
"Why? Because he's a big tough boy and I'm a girl? Besides, he's got his little gun to keep him happy, for all the good it'll do him."
Church weighed the spear in his hands, then passed it over. He wondered if it might be more effective with Veitch's strength behind it, but he had no doubts about Ruth's bravery.
"Thanks," she said. "I'll take that as a vote of confidence. It means a lot to me." She took the spear and balanced it on her open palms before taking it firmly with a smile. "Feels good."
"Ruth Gallagher, warrior woman."
She laughed. "I've got so much pent-up frustration and anger I feel like I could take them all down on my own." She brandished the spear theatrically, then her face darkened. "What was it Shavi said that disturbed you and Tom?"
Church thought about not telling her, but decided it wasn't fair. "Shavi discovered why the Fomorii haven't attacked. They're trying somehow to resurrect the one who used to lead them before he was destroyed by the Danann. At least, that's what he seemed to be suggesting."
"And that's bad?"
"According to the Celtic myths, Balor was a force of ultimate evil and darkness.
Virtually indestructible, terrifying to look upon, so powerful that if he turned his one eye on you, you were instantly annihilated. If the myths have captured even a fraction of the truth, it could be the end of everything."
"Then we need to free the Danann before they bring him back."
"But we don't know how close they are. They could be doing it tonight-"
Ruth clapped her hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "No point tearing ourselves apart. We just have to do the best we can."
In her face, Church saw something that brightened his spirit. "I'm really glad we met under the bridge that night. Sorry. I just felt I had to say that."
She smiled and gave his cheek a gentle pat. "You're a man of excellent taste, Jack Churchill."
He pushed the crate with the remaining talismans into the tent where Laura and Veitch sat in frosty silence, and Shavi dozed with Tom beside him. "How's sleeping beauty?" he said.
"As well as can be expected, given the psychic shock." Tom's Scottish brogue was more pronounced, which Church put down to the tension.
"I don't understand it," Veitch moaned. "We've got all the prizes together, like you said, but nothing's happened."
Church nodded. "I'm hoping we'll get some kind of sign." He half expected the woman from the Watchtower to turn up at any moment with the final piece of the jigsaw.
"I know what we've got to do," Tom said. Everyone stared at him. "They have to be brought together in the right place to work."
"So when were you planning on telling us this?" Church asked with irritation.
"At the last possible moment," Tom snapped. "There's too much at stake to start throwing vital information around. You don't know who's listening-"
"There's only us listening!" Veitch said angrily. "It's about time you got on the team-"
"There's no point arguing about it now," Church said with exasperation. "Do you all want to come out and choose your weapons, for what it's worth? We've found some pretty mean lumps of driftwood and an iron bar on the beach."
Veitch crawled out first, and then Laura more reluctantly. "I'll stay here," Tom said. "Look after Shavi and the other talismans."
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