‘You are not coming with us?’ Shavi said.
‘My place is here, not over there. I’ve got a job to do.’
Shavi turned to Ruth. ‘Are you up to this?’
She glanced up at the owl flying overhead, and grinned. ‘Oh, yes.’
8
The journey across the Far Lands took longer than they anticipated, but as they passed through its mysteries and wonders it began to feel as though they were awakening from a long, dreamless sleep. Earth and its grey streets were a distant shadow. The Land of Always Summer was more real, and life there was lived fully.
They encountered many strange beings, were guided with a paternal curiosity by some of the Tuatha Dé Danann, overcame untold dangers and magics and eventually arrived at the dark heart of the Forest of the Night.
The casket stood lonely and unmourned, gleaming in a solitary shaft of sunlight that broke through the dense canopy.
‘Veitch said Church is being held prisoner in that,’ Laura said in hushed tones. ‘I hope they’ve been feeding him.’
‘I think he meant Church was being held magically,’ Shavi said.
‘How are we supposed to break the spell, then?’ Laura asked.
‘I think that’s down to me.’ Ruth gathered herself as her owl settled in the branches of a tree.
‘Why you?’ Laura eyed Ruth suspiciously.
‘I don’t know … instinct. I think we all have particular roles to play—’
‘Archetypal roles,’ Shavi interjected. ‘Seer, warrior, king …’ He looked to Ruth. ‘Are you ready?’
She flung open the casket lid. The spiders roiled in the depths.
Laura screwed up her face. ‘That is disgusting.’
Ruth was oblivious to the spiders. All she could see was Church’s face; it pulled her in and refused to let her go, speaking to some deeply buried part of her. It was distressing, for on the surface she did not know the man at all, yet in the well of her unconscious he was all she knew. The bonds that had been forged were unbreakable, tying them together for all time, however many miles or years lay between them. Now she knew why her recent life had been swathed in sorrow, why she felt as if she had been frozen in a living death, like Church.
Her heart swelled until it felt as if it was pressing against the prison of her skin. The sadness and the loneliness were part of the past. Now she could return to life.
Without thinking, she leaned in and kissed Church on the lips. There was a discharge of blue light and the spiders rushed from the casket. She heard their torrent hit the ground and the loud rustling as they fled into the undergrowth.
And still she kissed. His lips were cold at first, but gradually warmth came back to them, and they moved in union with hers. She broke away as his eyes flickered open.
He sat up and looked around. ‘How long have I been asleep?’
‘A while, but you’re awake now,’ she said softly.
‘I had the strangest dreams.’
His eyes locked on hers, and gradually realisation dawned in them. His smile was like the sun coming up. They embraced again, passionately this time, and for that moment no darkness could touch them.
9
It was the strangest reunion Church had every experienced. Though it felt as if they barely knew each other, a deeper part of them recognised the coming together of best friends, with bonds forged over time that were now unbreakable.
Shavi hugged Church warmly. ‘I do not understand it, but you feel like my brother.’
‘I am,’ Church replied. ‘We’re Brothers of Dragons. Apart, we’re just who we are. Together we’re something better. Or so I’m led to believe.’ Shavi nodded, smiling. ‘That sounds right.’
Laura threw herself at Church, embracing him with a tangle of arms and legs. She kissed him passionately on the lips. ‘I don’t feel as if you’re my brother,’ she said with a wink.
And then his eyes fell on Ruth, who was standing away from the group in the shade of an elm tree. She was studying Church fiercely, uncertain emotions playing across her face.
‘Give us a moment,’ Church said quietly to Shavi and Laura. He took Ruth’s hand and led her away into the trees. She went compliantly, but he could feel her desperately trying to make sense of what she was feeling.
‘You don’t know me,’ Church began.
‘No. But I also feel as if I know you better than anyone else in my life. I feel—’ She caught herself.
‘That’s good. Because I was afraid when it got to this moment, I’d be just another stranger.’ He could feel her curious eyes on him. ‘You won’t believe how long I’ve been thinking about this meeting,’ he said.
‘Was it worth the wait?’
‘Yes. It was worth everything I’ve been through to get here. And more.’ He was shocked to realise how true that statement was. The weight of his feelings as he stood there, trapped in her gravity, crushed all the terrible things he had experienced on the long road from the Iron Age. ‘Do you want to know,’ he began, barely daring to hope, ‘about you and me, about what we’ve shared, and what we lost … ?’ He wanted to add, And what we’ve found again, but it was still too soon to presume.
‘I do. More than anything.’
The hairs on his neck stood erect. And so he began, with his clearest, earliest memory – of their meeting at Albert Bridge one misty morning, and how their eyes met, propelling them into a shared journey of adventure and fear, struggle and victory. As the memories surfaced of what he had witnessed in the depths of the cauldron, he spoke clearly and profoundly of his feelings, of how they had matured and deepened and transformed him from base metal into gold. He told her of the ache in his heart that felt like bereavement as he stood on the slopes above Carn Euny, and of his times before the Wish-Post, of Rome and Krakow and Roanoke and London, when the gulf of years separated them while in his heart and his head she was as close as this, close enough to touch.
When he had finished he waited for her response, but there was only silence. Dreading what he might see, he turned to her only to find tears in her eyes.
She grasped his hand so tightly it was as if she would never let it go. ‘I knew it all. In my heart, I knew. That feeling like someone I loved had died, only not knowing who, not being able to mourn. Feeling that my life was winding down to nothing.’
As he looked into her eyes, he saw the despair that had consumed her for so long shrivel to nothing, and behind it rose a bright consuming light. In her smile there was everything he had ever wanted.
Church took her in his arms and she came to him easily. The weakness they had both felt fell away and a new strength was forged.
‘There was a song I kept playing, one they tried to take away from me,’ she whispered in his ear, ‘and I wondered why it meant so much to me. It was called “Save Me”, and that’s what you’ve done. You’ve brought me back from the land of the dead.’
They kissed, not like strangers, and suddenly everything became possible.
10
Once they were beyond the brooding confines of the Forest of the Night, they made camp amongst the ivy-covered ruins of a crumbling watchtower. Church was still shaky and finding it difficult to differentiate between the reality of his experiences in the casket and the wider reality he was now in. From what the others had told him, he had clearly observed the scene in Ruth’s flat, but how much of the rest could he count on? His description of the Caretaker gelled with what Ruth told him of her own experiences, but if he had shifted the Axis of Existence, what effect would it have? Had he achieved what he had hoped?
Despite his disorientation, he could barely believe he was back. Jubilation came slowly, in small increments that left him smiling for no reason that the others could tell. It had been a long journey from the Iron Age back to his own time, and it had changed him in ways he was still trying to comprehend. He had looked into the darkest part of himself and still found a light that would lead him on. He had found deep, innate reserves that existed beyond the Pend
ragon Spirit, and now he felt able to cope with what lay ahead. Hal had been right. The journey itself had been all the training he needed.
But it had not just been about what was inside him. He had received an education on humanity, that throughout history people were essentially the same, struggling against hardship, finding depths that helped them transcend their origins. Good people were everywhere, doing the best they could – Will Swyfte, Gabe and Marcy, in Carn Euny, Eboracum and London. Against the constantly clustering darkness of the universe, he found that fact eminently reassuring.
As the day drew on, they talked through everything they had faced and saw how their differing perspectives came together to create a fuller picture of events. Their conversations were tentative at first, but gradually they got to know each other, and Church felt they had begun to tap into the real depth of their friendship that had been denied them by the Void.
‘So let me get this straight,’ Laura said as she threw wood onto the campfire Shavi had built when twilight started to draw on. ‘It’s the four of us against God. Or the god that created our world, at least.’
‘That’s about the size of it,’ Church said.
‘And it controls an army of ten billion supernatural spiders.’
‘Unless the number is meant metaphorically. Could be more,’ Church said.
‘And this god controls an unspecified number of lesser gods, any one of which could probably bring the world to its knees.’
‘Yep.’
‘I think you’re going to need a bigger sword.’
‘It sounds like a suicide mission to me,’ Ruth noted.
‘Ah, don’t let that get in the way of your thinking,’ Laura said. ‘Life’s a suicide mission. It’s not a case of if, it’s when.’
They all thought about this and then laughed. Though he wouldn’t have said it to their faces, Church was proud of them; everything he had heard suggested they would be fine additions to the long heritage of the Brothers and Sisters of Dragons. Ruth was right – it was a suicide mission. Yet that didn’t bother them in the way it would have troubled other people, a fact that was both absurd and uplifting.
‘So how do we conduct a fight like that?’ Shavi mused thoughtfully.
‘I’ve been thinking about that. Laura was right in a way – we do need a bigger weapon,’ Church said.
‘If you only knew how many times in my life I’ve had to say that,’ Laura said.
‘What kind of weapon?’ Ruth edged closer to him.
‘The Extinction Shears,’ he said. ‘I saw what they could do. I think if we had them we could inflict some serious damage on the Void. Maybe even destroy it for good.’
‘You want to kill god,’ Laura said. ‘Nobody’s going to accuse you of aiming low.’
‘Then we need to find that market you mentioned—’ Shavi began.
‘The Market of Wishful Spirit,’ Church said. ‘It travels around, from place to place. You never know where it’s going to be until you stumble across it. The trader implied that the Shears were going to be off the market for a while, but we’re not going to let a little thing like that stop us, are we?’
‘Any idea where to start looking?’ Ruth said.
‘Not yet. But there’s something else we need to do first. Tomorrow.’
‘I don’t know about you,’ Laura said, ‘but I need to get some shut-eye. Finding out you’re a plant is pretty exhausting.’ She made light of her comment, but Church could see in her eyes how much it troubled her.
The others fell asleep quickly, but Church stayed awake for almost an hour, watching Ruth, and feeling an abiding peace. Finally, after so many years and so much struggle, they were together.
11
The moon was full and milky in a star-spangled sky as they left the comfort of Stonehenge and made their way to Shavi’s van. Church took the wheel, enjoying the prospect of driving much more than he would ever have anticipated before he turned up in the Iron Age.
‘So where are we going?’ Laura asked as she climbed into the back with Shavi.
‘I don’t know yet.’
‘Doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence.’
Church tapped his head. ‘It’s all up here. I’m going with instinct.’
Laura rested her head in Shavi’s lap. ‘I’ll say, ditto.’
‘I have to say, in my experience of the last few days, we cannot afford to stay in one place too long,’ Shavi said.
‘Yeah, everywhere is enemy territory,’ Laura said. ‘How fucked up is that?’
‘I don’t see how we’re going to be able to do anything positive,’ Ruth said. ‘The enemy will have us on the run continually.’ She searched the shadowy hedgerows and the lonely Downs as Church pulled onto the main road. She half-expected Rourke to be waiting there, ready to throw himself at the van.
‘That’s the first thing we’re going to tackle,’ Church said. ‘Some of this land has to be our land.’
‘Sounds like the man has a plan,’ Ruth said.
Shavi stretched out. ‘It is Veitch I feel sorry for. He was one of us, and though I cannot remember it, we must have been good friends. He has been a victim in these events.’
‘He was a victim, but he’s also slaughtered hundreds of Brothers and Sisters of Dragons over the years,’ Church replied. ‘He chose to cross a line a long time ago.’ Of all their enemies, Church was convinced Veitch was the most dangerous. He would never stop, never walk away, until he felt he had got his revenge, even if rivers of blood were spilled and the land looked like a charnel house.
‘Sounds like you’ve got a downer on the Veitch-dude,’ Laura said lazily.
Church glanced in the mirror and thought he saw a faint movement on the skyline. It was impossible to discern the cause, but it troubled him immensely.
12
They headed west through the ancient heart of England, over rolling downs and past silent golden cornfields, through market towns still dreaming of the Tudors and woods where the oaks were twisted with age, and onwards to the M5 motorway. They followed it south to Exeter, and then west through Devon and into Cornwall, stopping only briefly to refuel. Every time they slowed at junctions, Laura, Shavi and Ruth turned to the windows, searching for anything that might hint of an impending attack. But there were only lorry drivers heading through the night from the port at Bristol, or tourists trying to beat the daytime jams.
‘I don’t get it,’ Laura said. ‘They wouldn’t give us a free run. Maybe they don’t know where we are.’
‘They know,’ Church said.
‘They are biding their time.’ Shavi leaned on the back of Church’s seat, searching the road ahead. ‘After our escape they are not taking any chances. They want to get us into a position from which there is no escape.’
‘Because they’re scared of us,’ Ruth said.
‘They’re scared of what we represent,’ Church corrected. ‘They’re scared of the Pendragon Spirit.’
They followed the granite spine of Cornwall towards the land where Church had begun his journey 2,300 years earlier. Before they reached Carn Euny, Church took them south, past patchwork fields and stone walls and trees bent double by Atlantic storms. In the distance the lights of St Austell rose up, with the beach and sea just beyond.
‘Nearly there now,’ Church said. ‘I can feel it.’ The light in his head was brighter; he could almost hear the Seelie Court singing.
The roads beyond St Austell were poorly lit and the dark appeared to be closing in on every side. In the shadows they thought they glimpsed faces and movement, but they sped by too fast to be sure.
The road continued up a steep incline; at the top Church slowed and peered over the steering wheel. ‘I think I know where we are.’
Ruth looked out into the night. ‘Don’t stop here,’ she said uneasily.
From there it was downhill all the way. They left the main road and passed through some gates onto a private road. Ahead a soft golden glow rose up from somewhere below their line of s
ight.
And there Church did bring the van to a halt. While the engine idled, he looked at the faint glow. ‘This is either a coincidence or the weirdest synchronicity,’ he said. ‘This particular part of my journey is ending where my journey as a Brother of Dragons began this second time round. Metaphorically speaking.’
‘It is the ouroboros,’ Shavi said, ‘the serpent eating its own tail. A full circle. Every ending is a new beginning, and so the cycle continues.’
‘I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about,’ Laura said, ‘and to be honest, no interest. But you’ve clearly done a lot of drugs in the past.’
Ruth had been staring out of the side window, not at the glow, but at the vast sea of darkness that surrounded it. ‘Something’s not right,’ she said.
‘What do you mean?’ Church asked.
‘The shadows are moving. See? All over.’ She indicated a wide arc.
Ruth was right: the darkness looked like a black sheet with something squirming underneath.
They were all mesmerised by it until Church realised what they were seeing. ‘Spiders.’
They covered every inch of the fields and hillsides surrounding them, billions of them drawing in on the golden light ahead.
Laura pointed through the windscreen. In the cone of illumination from the headlights, the spiders streamed towards them.
‘We’ll never get past them,’ she said.
‘If we don’t get down there to the light, it’s all over,’ Church said. ‘We’ve got nowhere else to go.’
He revved the engine and popped the clutch. The van jumped forward with a squeal of tyres and Laura and Shavi were thrown across the back seat. Laura let out a stream of foul-mouthed abuse. Ruth gripped the dashboard until her knuckles turned white.
The van ploughed into the wave of spiders at speed. Some of them burst like overripe fruit, others crunched like gravel. It was difficult for the tyres to gain traction on the pulped remains, and the van skewed before going into a slide. Church wrestled with the wheel and kept the vehicle moving forward.
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