The Demon Collector

by Jon Mayhew

  Edgy stumbled backwards, dodging more blocks of ice. But Janus charged forward, slashing with the blade. He closed on Edgy face to face. Edgy gave a last shove and sent him staggering back. A crack and a rumble made them both look up. Janus gave a final scream as a massive icicle speared down from the ceiling. It plunged down, piercing Janus’s shoulder, stabbing deep into his body. His fingers grazed Edgy’s jacket as he fell face down to the ground and lay still. Blood pooled around him, staining the icy water red.

  The cave looked smaller now – the floor had risen and become a choppy ocean of ice and rock. Janus’s arm poked out of the icy blocks. The professor’s bag lay trapped under a rock the size of Edgy’s head. He rummaged in it and managed to pull out the ossifier. The long cylind­rical barrel was slightly dented but otherwise it looked in good order. The dial on the side told Edgy it had one more charge. He slung it over his shoulder. Not that it was any use. In fact, it was the cause of all the trouble, Edgy thought. If Janus hadn’t been so trigger-happy, so intent on ‘bagging’ Moloch, then none of this would have happened. Edgy shook his head. No, the ossifier wasn’t to blame – it was Janus himself. Edgy stared numbly at the pale hand sticking up out of the ice. Who is worse, he wondered, demons or men? Maybe Salomé is right. Maybe there is nothing to choose between them.

  Salomé! She didn’t want the heart after all. She had been trying to stop Janus all along.

  Grimacing, Edgy rummaged in Janus’s breast pocket and pulled out the pearl. He smashed it down on the ice.

  Salomé appeared in a flash of red light, slightly dishevelled. Her hair hung down under her skewed hat and dirt smudged her creamy cheek. She smoothed her dress down and shook her parasol open.

  ‘That wasn’t very dignified at all,’ she said, reminding Edgy of Sally in one of her more petulant moods. ‘You freed me,’ she said, a note of surprise in her voice.

  ‘Why not?’ Edgy croaked. ‘You’re the only one who can save me, I reckon.’

  ‘Save you?’ Salomé gave a little laugh and twirled her parasol. ‘Why, my dear little boy, I’m going to have to cut your heart out now!’

  Pull off, pull off your woollen shirt,

  And tear it from gore to gore,

  And wrap it around this deathless wound,

  And it did bleed no more.

  ‘Two Brothers’, traditional folk ballad

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  The Answer

  Salomé stood gazing up at the frozen form of Moloch. Her parasol twirled to and fro.

  ‘I sometimes wonder what would have happened,’ she said, her voice distant and thoughtful, ‘if I hadn’t sided with Satan. Would Moloch have taken on the Hosts of Heaven?’

  Edgy groaned and tried to stand but his legs folded beneath him, leaving him lying on his chest.

  ‘All in all, I think Satan’s done a better job than Moloch ever could have, don’t you?’ She flashed him a perfect smile. ‘After all, it was Satan who thought to corrupt mankind. Can you tell the difference, Edgy? The difference between man and demonkind? I can’t.’

  ‘You’re the one who cuts out children’s hearts,’ Edgy gasped, rolling on to his side and levelling the ossifier at her.

  Salomé’s face hardened. ‘Now that’s not very friendly,’ she said through clenched teeth. ‘Anyway, don’t be such a silly boy. I have to cut your heart out. I have to show Satan that it’s safe.’

  ‘Then I’ll have to use this,’ Edgy gasped, raising the tube. His vision blurred. Two Salomés swam in front of him. He shook his head and staggered to his feet, leaning heavily on a boulder behind him.

  ‘You can’t ossify me,’ she sneered.

  Edgy frowned, blinking sweat from his eyes. ‘Why not?’ he slurred.

  ‘Did you ever work out my riddle? The one I asked you all those months ago.’ She raised her eyebrows. ‘Remember? What is it that everyone is born with, some die with, but most die without?’

  Edgy’s head swam. The cavern seemed to turn slowly. Salomé’s words rolled around in his mind. What is it that everyone is born with, some die with, but most die without? His heart thumped, punching at his ribs. Why is she asking stupid riddles? The blood roared in his head. She’ll cut out my heart anyway. Like she does all her children. Think of all those kids down through the centuries. Murdered by her – their own . . .

  Edgy fixed his eyes on Salomé.

  His mind cleared a little as the realisation sank in.

  He looked down at his ossifier and at Salomé again.

  ‘Well?’ Salomé asked, a frown of impatience creasing her face. ‘What is it that everyone is born with, some die with, but most die without?’

  Edgy raised the ossifier, managing to smile at the look of discomfort on her face. The answer to the question that had been bothering him since he realised what Janus was up to flooded into his mind.

  ‘A mother,’ he said. ‘You’re my mother.’ He pulled the trigger and swung the gun to her left.

  The last sludgeball in the ossifier flew over Salomé’s shoulder and splattered wetly on the thigh of the frozen Moloch. Edgy dropped the ossifier and fell forward into darkness. Salomé’s scream of rage echoed in his ears.

  The cavern lay in a dim twilight when Edgy awoke. His head ached and every muscle protested as he pulled himself to his feet. Salomé sat on a pile of rubble, staring up at the grey, ossified body of Moloch – a massive gruesome statue. Edgy put a hand to his chest. His heart thumped gently, calmly.

  ‘When you ossified him, the heart became yours,’ Salomé said, resting her chin on her hand. Her hair hung loose and her hat lay discarded at her side. ‘If you knew the effort I’d gone to. The tricks and traps I’d laid to stop Janus. What a waste.’

  ‘But it’s sorted now. You don’t need to show Satan that the heart’s safe,’ Edgy said, ‘cos there’s no Moloch.’

  ‘No,’ Salomé sighed. ‘Very clever. I thought you were going to ossify me.’

  Edgy shook his head. ‘I should’ve done. All those child­ren you must’ve killed over the years . . .’ Rage boiled up inside him.

  ‘It doesn’t matter now,’ she said flatly. ‘It’s over. You’ve spoiled the game.’

  ‘Game?’ Edgy spat. ‘Everyone that’s died, everyone who’s suffered cos of this an’ you call it a . . . a . . . game?’ He snatched up the ossifier that still lay buckled and dented by his side. ‘I wish I ’ad another shot. I’d let you ’ave it and not worry about ’ow I got ’ome.’

  ‘I wish you had another shot,’ Salomé said. For the first time, Edgy noticed tearstains on her cheeks. ‘Then you could end it all for me. It’s over, Edgy Taylor. The time of demons is finished. It’s mankind’s turn now. But I suspect he’s more than capable of destroying himself.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Edgy frowned. Is this some kind of new riddle?

  ‘Your precious stonemasons have hunted us to the verge of extinction. Either that or demons have become so earthbound that they’re virtually human. Who’s to say where demons end and humans begin?’

  Edgy stood mute. He thought about Slouch, paralysed by sloth, and Madame Lillith, reduced to a shrivelled husk of envy.

  Salomé sighed. She suddenly sounded old and weary. ‘This was the last game. The last challenge. This island will sink soon and I think we’ll go with it. It won’t rise again.’

  ‘You can drown if you want to,’ Edgy said. ‘But you owe me – I freed you from the demon pearl. I command you to send me back to the Royal Society.’

  ‘See?’ Salomé smiled. Her black hair had strands of grey in it now. Worry and age lined her face. ‘So selfish, humans. They don’t know when it’s time to give up. That might be one difference. Very well.’ She rummaged in her skirts and produced the spiral dagger that Janus had tried to kill Edgy with. Edgy’s heart gave a lurch.

  ‘What’s that for?’ Edgy took a step back.

  ‘Don’t worry, I’ll do what you ask. You might find this useful, that’s all. It’s the Devil’s Dagger. Made by Satan himself
. Janus sharpened it to a razor’s edge but it could be blunt as a mallet and still do its job.’ She handed the dagger to him, handle first.

  ‘Which is?’ Edgy murmured, taking it gingerly.

  ‘To kill Satan himself,’ Salomé sighed. ‘You know the story. He always wanted to be mortal.’

  ‘One of his games,’ Edgy said, remembering the tale of the hunter.

  ‘Yes,’ Salomé smiled, something of her old looks flaring back for a second, ‘in happier times.’

  ‘So what d’you want me to do with it?’ Edgy asked, staring at the dagger in his hand.

  ‘Whatever you see fit,’ Salomé said. ‘I don’t care any more. But remember: if you decide to use it, then your life is forfeit.’

  The cavern gave a shudder, dislodging a few loose shards of ice from the roof. Meltwater began to pour from the walls, trickling down the stone face of Moloch and spouting from between his teeth.

  ‘You see,’ Salomé shouted, her face twisted with anger as she stabbed a finger towards Moloch. ‘That’s what we’ve become. Gargoyles! Hideous statues stuck on buildings where once flew creatures of fire and light. Our riddles shall become no more than children’s amusements, our tales forgotten, our songs unsung. So many dead, so many killed. Ask yourself who is to blame. Is it me? Janus? You, Edgy Taylor?’

  Salomé cast a hand towards Edgy. In a panic, he turned to run but the water swirled and gushed into the cave, freezing him, sweeping him up and throwing him from left to right until he was blind and consciousness left him.

  When a snake is in the house you need not discuss it at great length.

  Traditional proverb

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Paying the Price

  Warmth enveloped Edgy and he found himself lying on a hard marble floor. No, not warmth – heat. Burning heat. The smell of woodsmoke filled his nostrils. He opened his eyes a crack. Is this heaven or hell? The room swirled with smoke but Edgy could see the wall paintings and knew he was back in the entrance hall of the Royal Society of Daemonologie. But the paint bubbled as flames licked around the door frames and across the panelling.

  Slouch leaned over the arm of his sofa, resting his long chin on his forearms, and stared down at Edgy.

  ‘Been busy?’ he yawned.

  ‘Y’could say that,’ Edgy replied, coughing on the smoke. ‘Slouch, what’s going on?’

  ‘Change of management,’ Slouch murmured, his eyes glowing orange and a malicious smile splitting his drooping face. ‘The place is burnin’ down, I reckon. I’d escape but . . . Well, what’s the point?’

  ‘What d’yer mean, “new management”?’ Edgy’s eyes watered and he pulled the hood of his ragged jacket around his face. ‘Where’s Sally and Professor Milberry? Where’s Henry?’

  Slouch heaved a huge sigh and slowly raised an arm, pointing off down the nearest blazing passage. ‘Library, I s’pose.’

  Edgy didn’t wait to question him further. With a curse, he dashed down the corridor into the thickening smoke. The snake was behind this, Edgy was certain. He gripped the Devil’s Dagger tightly. Glass crunched beneath Edgy’s feet. Above his head, the hellfire lamps blazed, each one looking as if it had exploded. Fire roared from them, pooling across the wooden ceiling.

  A little piece of knowledge at a time. That’s what the snake said. He’s been setting this up for decades. Edgy sweated in his thick coat but it shielded him from the burning flames as he staggered through the swirling smoke. He tried not to think of what might have happened to the others. Just think of the library, the library . . .

  A beam crashed down behind Edgy, spitting sparks and sending him scurrying down the tunnel of flames. The smoke thickened, blinding Edgy and sending him stumb­ling onward. With an oath, he hit something solid and then fell forward as it gave way before him. Edgy found himself sprawled on the floor of the library. The dome of a dark summer evening sky arched over him. Nightbirds sang in the branches that sprouted from the bookshelves lined with black, scaly books. Dark apples clustered among the leaves and quivered gently. No fire invaded this room.

  Milberry, Spinorix and Trimdon lay bound and gagged at the foot of a tall bookcase. Henry quivered next to Trimdon, too terrified to move. Above them, looped time and again about a thick overhanging branch, hung the snake.

  ‘Hello, Edgy Taylor. Back so soon?’ he hissed.

  ‘What’ve you done?’ Edgy snarled, taking a step forward. He held the dagger behind his back.

  ‘First things first. How’s Mr Janus?’ the snake said, as if enquiring about an old friend.

  ‘Dead,’ Edgy said, narrowing his eyes at the snake.

  ‘And Salomé?’

  ‘Dunno,’ Edgy murmured. ‘Said she was goin’ to stay on the island.’

  ‘Aah,’ said the snake. ‘And did you find Moloch?’

  ‘Ossified him,’ Edgy said. ‘He won’t be trouble to no one again.’

  ‘Excellent,’ the snake said, slithering back along the tree to the main bookcase trunk.

  ‘You knew all this would happen?’ Edgy snapped, gritting his teeth.

  ‘You never can tell with humans,’ the snake hissed. ‘But with my experience, I could make a good guess. Things were getting a little worrying here, what with Janus’s obsession with Moloch and Salomé’s growing arrogance, continuously making demands on me, talking about “the old days”. Quite tiresome, really.’

  ‘So you gave us clues and got poor old Madame Lillith to steal the skull of Aldorath,’ Edgy said.

  ‘Clues? Madame Lillith? No, I just trusted her to follow her nature. She was almost human after all.’ The snake’s eyes glowed. ‘But all games have to come to some sort of a close.’ The snake’s tail uncoiled out of the shadows, whipping around Edgy’s arms, pinning him and sending the dagger clattering off behind the bookcases. ‘You’ve proved highly entertaining as well as useful, Edgy. But now it’s over.’

  The snake’s coils began to tighten. Edgy cursed, struggling against the pressure. The dagger lay just out of reach. He could see the handle poking out. But what if he recovered it and used it? Didn’t the legend say that he would perish himself?

  A pale hand reached out and grabbed the dagger. Edgy’s eyes widened. Sally! Edgy struggled again. Sally peered round the edge of the bookcase and put a finger to her lips. Edgy tried to shake his head. Would she die all over again if she used the dagger? He had to distract the snake and somehow get free before they found out.

  ‘But if you wanted Moloch’s body destroyed why didn’t you just go and do it yourself?’ Edgy said. Sally disappeared back behind the bookcase.

  ‘Do it myself?’ the snake hissed, shuddering. ‘Do you know who I am? I rarely do things myself. That would be far too easy and where’s the fun anyway?’

  ‘The Leviathan wasn’t fun,’ Edgy snapped. He thought of Captain Boyd and the crew of The Maggot, Mauldeth, Janus, Sokket. All dead. Sally appeared behind the snake, the dagger raised.

  ‘Ah, yes,’ the snake said, unaware. ‘The sea monster was gilding the lily a touch, I admit, but nothing’s valued if it isn’t a challenge.’

  ‘You killed all those innocent people,’ Edgy scowled.

  ‘Oh dear,’ the snake mocked. ‘You seem a bit put out. Maybe I shouldn’t brag about the fact that I also managed to bag three members of the illustrious Royal Society in the process. It seemed the right time to destroy the rest of them. Poor old Plumphrey’s heart couldn’t stand the strain of the fire, thanks to my demons of gluttony. That just leaves the complacent Miss Milberry here. I’ll finish her after I’ve finished you.’

  Sally crept nearer, her eyes wide with fear. Edgy wriggled and kicked but the snake held him fast. ‘The whole crew – and the others – dead,’ Edgy spat. ‘Just for your idea of a game?’

  ‘Oh, come on. I’m Satan. What do you expect?’ the snake chortled. ‘Would you kill me now if you could, Edgy Taylor? Even though you promised never to hurt me?’

  ‘It’d be more than you deserve,’ Edgy hissed. Sal
ly raised the dagger.

  ‘Oh, I like that,’ Satan said. ‘You’d justify breaking a solemn promise. That’s what I call the thin end of the wedge. The road to hell is paved with good intentions and well-meant excuses . . .’ Edgy gasped as the satanic snake tightened its grip. ‘Demons always keep promises, which is why humans are worse than demons.’

  ‘But humans care for each other.’ Edgy felt like he would burst as Satan squeezed his scaly coils. ‘Which is why they’ll always be better.’

  Sally pounced, ramming the dagger deep into Satan’s neck. With a screech of surprised rage, the snake reared up, uncoiling from around Edgy and dumping him on the library floor. Satan thrashed from side to side, smashing over bookcases, splintering the wood.

  ‘Damn you all!’ screamed Satan, trying to lunge at Edgy. Satan writhed around, hissing like a deflating balloon, lashing his tail to and fro. Then he stopped. He lay still and dead.

  The evening sky faded, the branches and apples vanished, and Edgy stood in an ordinary panelled room, lined with normal bookshelves filled with ordinary books. Smoke began to billow in, clouding Edgy’s view.

  Sally stumbled back, her eyes glazed.

  ‘Sally, no!’ Edgy screamed, running forward to catch her. She shook, staring into the distance.

  ‘It’s all right,’ she whispered. ‘We did it. I’m dyin’, that’s all. Only a hundred or so years late.’

  ‘But you can’t die,’ Edgy said, choking back tears. ‘You’re my friend . . . my family.’

  Sally gasped, her face creasing with pain, and then smiled. ‘My family are comin’ for me. I can see them again . . . Edgy, you ’ave a family ’ere now . . . Look after them. Don’t be sad . . . Molly, my little Molly . . .’ She stared into another world, pressing her hand on Edgy’s. Then she lay still. Her face had uncreased, a contented smile frozen on her lips.

  The smoke in the room thickened and fire began to leap from the door frames to the panelling, nibbling at the piles of old books. At first, all Edgy could do was hold Sally’s cold hand and gaze. All around him, white spectral figures flitted and laughed as they weaved among the flames. The library’s trapped souls were free.