Daemons Are Forever

CHAPTER SIXTEEN High Tension

The new place hit me like a hammer, driving me to my knees. Just the weight of the world was so much more than I could stand. It was like being inside a ghoulville, only much more and far worse. The sky blazed with a fierce light, blindingly bright, as though the whole sky was a sun. The air was packed with a hundred scents, so rich and foul and intense that they fought to fill my head. Sounds everywhere, sharp and cutting, deep and disturbing, shuddering through my flesh and reverberating in my bones, as though someone was scraping their nails down my soul. I hugged myself tightly to keep from flying apart. I looked down to save myself from the incandescent sky, and the ground beneath me heaved and squirmed, covered with overcomplicated shapes that might have been vegetation or insects or something else entirely. There was so much detail my eyes watered, trying to cope with it all. Everything in this new world beat with life, as if even the ground and the stones were alive and aware, everything pulsating with an appalling aggressive vitality. There was movement all around me, swift and sharp, as though nothing here ever rested, even for a moment.

Welcome to the higher dimension. Welcome to the greater world. Welcome to the home of the Hungry Gods. It was all I could do not to puke.

I felt as much as saw Molly fall to her knees beside me, shaking and shuddering from the shock of the transition. I grabbed blindly for her, and she grabbed me, and we clung tightly together for comfort. Overpowered by a reality and a world we were never equipped to deal with. In this higher dimension, everything was just too big, too real, too insanely complicated. We’d have been lost if it hadn’t been for Giles Deathstalker. Just as he’d said, his experience of surviving alien worlds gave him enough of an edge to help him cope. He crouched beside us, speaking calmly and soothingly, his voice coming clearly to us as the only sane and normal thing in this new existence.

“It’s just another place,” he said. “The details change, but that’s all. You can cope. You can adapt. Because you’re human, and that’s what humans do. We roll with the punch, and we come back fighting. If you can’t cope with what you’re seeing, let your mind translate it into something you can cope with. You’re stronger than you think, Eddie, Molly. No matter how weird things get here, remember; it’s just another place.”

His voice, his calm sanity, were a lifeline I could cling to, something I could use to ground myself. Slowly I built a shell of defiance around me, refusing to be beaten down by the sheer loudness of the place, and bit by bit I got control of my senses. Until finally I was able to get to my feet again, and Molly with me. We were both breathing hard, and still clinging to each other for mutual support, but we were back in the game. It might be a very small thing to be human, in this largest of worlds, but even the smallest insect can pack a deadly sting. A deplorable sting.

“As long as the gateway remains open, and we stick close to it, we bring some of our world here with us,” said Molly. “Just like on the Damnation Way. It… insulates us, from the full force of the experience.”

“Well thank the good God for that,” I said. “I really don’t think I could cope with the full-on experience. It’s like everything here has been cranked up to eleven.”

“It is a bit of a strain,” said Giles. “And I’ve been around.”

“We need to do what we came here to do, while we still can,” I said. “Molly, I think…Molly?”

“Oh shit,” said Molly.

I forced myself to raise my eyes from the ground and looked where she was looking. I heard Giles gasp as he saw them too. They were all around us. The Invaders, the Many-Angled Ones, the Hungry Gods. Huge and vast, living things big as mountains. They existed in more than just three physical dimensions at once, so my mind interpreted their appearance as a series of overlapping images, always subtly shifting, never quite the same twice. Their aspect strobed in my head, as much an impression as an image. There were circles of them, rank upon rank, impossible numbers, stretching as far away into the distance as I could bear to look. Waiting.

They rose up into the sky, all of them moving slowly but inexorably forward. Towards the gateway, still pulsating and unfolding behind us. Looking up at them gave me vertigo, as though I might suddenly be plucked off my feet and sent hurtling up into the unbearable sky. I couldn’t tell what the living mountains were made of; only that it was vile and awful, like sentient cancers, with implications my mind didn’t dare consider. They had no obvious limbs, or sense organs, but I knew they knew we were there. Small as we were in comparison, they saw us, and knew us, and hated us.

There was so much more to them than my limited human mind could cope with, more than I was capable of comprehending. I knew that. I made myself concentrate on what my eyes were showing me. They were vast and they were ancient and they were monsters. Their nature blazed forth from them, unhidden by any trace of self-deception. They knew what they were, what they had made of themselves, and they gloried in it. They were evil, evil as an almost pure concept, hating everything that wasn’t them. Because the only thing they wouldn’t or couldn’t feed on was each other. They ate life, and not just for sustenance, but for the sheer joy of destroying it. Antigods, concerned only with consuming creation.

“How do we fight…that?” I said.

“You don’t,” said Molly.

I looked quickly around at her, disturbed at something in her voice, and saw something else looking back at me through Molly’s eyes. She looked…different, her whole face suffused with a new personality. She even held herself differently, as though new things were forming inside her, changing her shape and her balance. Giles swore softly beside me and reached for his sword. I gestured urgently for him to stop, and then gave the new Molly my full attention. I knew what had happened. The Loathly Ones were only ever extensions of the Hungry Gods, and this close to the real thing, the drone inside Molly had awakened and taken control.

“That’s right,” said Molly. It didn’t sound like her at all. She smiled in a way Molly never would have, her gaze full of hate and spite. “I’m in the driving seat now. Molly’s having a little nap while I talk to you. I’ve done this before, you know, when I killed Subway Sue. Oh yes; that was me. So simple and easy, and no one even noticed. Didn’t it strike you as just a bit suspicious, her dying so suddenly? For no good reason? No? Well, you mustn’t blame yourself, Eddie. You’ve had a lot on your mind.”

She stretched slowly, luxuriously, in a not entirely human way. “It’s good to be out in the open, instead of trapped inside such a small and limited thing, watching the world from behind her eyes and making my plans. I’m not strong enough to take over yet, to subsume her mind and soul in mine. I’m more…potential, than actual. But you should never have brought me here, Eddie. You never should have brought me home.”

“How long have you been…switching her off, and taking over?” I said. My mouth was dry, but I fought to keep my voice steady.

“Not long. It hasn’t been easy, corrupting Molly from within, protected as she is by her magics and the terms of the various unpleasant bargains she made in return for power. You wouldn’t believe some of the things she’s done, and some of the things she had to promise, so she could become the wild witch of the woods. I think you suspected me, didn’t you, Eddie, but you never asked because you didn’t want to know. Still, no need to worry about that now; I will become her, and she will be just another drone serving the Masters, for as long as she lasts.”

“Why kill Subway Sue?” I said. “She was your friend.”

“Not my friend, Eddie. Dear Sue had to go, because she might eventually have realised you could use the Damnation Way to access the higher realms. And we don’t like visitors here. We really don’t.”

“Why kill Sebastian?” I said.

“That wasn’t me, sweetie,” said the thing inside Molly. “Why would I kill one of us? Now, hand over the weapon. The box. The Deplorable End. Your quest is over, your mission a failure, your war at an end.”

“I can’t do that,” I said. “Molly wouldn’t want me to.”

A silver blade appeared in Molly’s hand, and she put the edge to her own throat. It was the arthame, its supernaturally sharp edge already cutting the skin so that blood coursed down her neck. Molly smiled, her eyes full of a vicious glee. “Do as you’re told, little human, or I’ll cut my throat. And after she’s dead, I’ll take the box from you anyway.”

“You’re really ready to die?” said Giles.

“I can’t die. I am part of a greater thing. You wouldn’t understand. I exist only to serve a function. Give me the box, Eddie, and you can have her back. For a while.”

“She’d rather die,” I said, “than become you. She’d die happily, if it meant she could take you and your masters with her.” I slowly raised my right hand to show her the flat silver box with its red button. “If I press this button, this whole place goes away, forever. A second Big Bang, to end a universe. No more here, no more you, no more Hungry Gods. Molly would see her death as a triumph, to bring that about.”

“Are you sure?” said the thing, in a voice so like the real Molly it cut me to the heart.

“Yes,” I said. “I’m pretty sure she came here expecting to die. And I think perhaps I did too. We never really thought we’d find our way back again. And at least this way, we could go out together.”

“And just when were you planning on telling me this?” said Giles.

I looked at him. “You can still get away. Gateway’s still there, still open. You’ve done all that could be asked of you, held Molly and me together long enough so that we can do what’s necessary.”

“No,” said Giles. “There’s a better way. Give me the Deplorable End.”

“What?” I said.

“I’ll do it,” said Giles.

“Excuse me,” said the drone inside Molly. “But I am still holding a very sharp knife to my throat.”

“Take Molly back through the gateway,” said Giles. “I’ll do the business with the button, blow up the Hungry Gods, bring down the curtain. With them destroyed, the Loathly Ones should all perish too, including the one inside your Molly. You can both have a life together, Eddie. My gift to you.” He smiled briefly. “For showing me things I never would have believed possible. For taking me into your family. And because…I have never had, never known, what you and Molly have and know.”

“I thought…you said something about woman trouble, back in your time?” I said.

“Oh, there were always women,” said Giles Deathstalker. “Comes with the territory, when you’re Warrior Prime. But never anyone special. Never anyone who mattered. So take your Molly and go. I can do this. In fact, I have to do this. Someone has to shut the gateway from this side, to make sure the universe-destroying energies don’t blow back through the opening into your world. I’ve got some energy grenades that should do the trick; disrupt the energy matrix and collapse the hole.”

“I didn’t bring you back all these years just so you could die,” I said.

“Maybe you did,” said Giles. “Who knows? Time plays strange tricks on all of us.”

“I have a dagger at my throat!” yelled Molly.

Giles’s arm snapped out and he snatched the dagger right out of her hand. “No, you haven’t. Now behave yourself.”

Molly glared at him, and then at me, her eyes darkening dangerously. “You really think you can threaten Gods with a mechanism? With your little box full of clockwork?”

“Only one way to find out,” said Giles. “Give me the box, Eddie.”

“It won’t work,” said Molly. “We won’t let it work. Nothing happens here that we do not allow.”

And then we all looked up, startled, as a new sound entered the higher dimension; a triumphant howl like a great steam whistle, Dopplering down from some unimaginable distance. The heavens split apart, and the Time Train came thundering across the brilliant sky, hammering over the very tops of the mountainous Hungry Gods. A big black beast of an old-fashioned steam train, its engine roaring, strange energies sparking and cascading all around it, marking its trail across the sky with a rainbow of discarded tachyons.

Jay and Jacob Drood, the living and dead man, had made it through after all.

The Hungry Gods cried out, a terrible, unbearable sound, full of rage and malice and spite, outraged that something from a lower world should dare force its way into their hidden home. Ivor blew his steam whistle defiantly, a sharp, clear sound. The Time Train was falling now, descending at a controlled speed…and then it just stopped, hanging there, as time itself slammed to a halt. Nothing moved anywhere, everything was quiet, and suddenly the ghost of Jacob Drood was standing right in front of me, smiling his old crafty smile.

He reached out sharply and prodded Molly on the forehead with his forefinger. She swayed suddenly and shook her head.

“What?” she said. “What just happened? Eddie, why are you looking at me like that? And Jacob, what are you doing here?”

“Saving the day!” Jacob said grandly. “I just hit your reset button. Don’t know how long it’ll last, so pay attention. I have things to tell you.”

“What are you doing here?” I said. “I mean, why aren’t you up in the Time Train?”

“I am,” said Jacob. “I’m up there and I’m down here. It’s amazing what you can learn to do when you’re dead. Being in two places at the same time is child’s play when you don’t have a material body to worry about. Well, I do now, but Jay’s in charge of that.” His ancient face grew serious as he glanced up at Ivor the Time Engine, hanging suspended in the awful sky above the living mountains. “Listen, time will start up again any moment. Ivor can’t hold this for long, not against the combined will of the Hungry Gods, even with all the extra power he’s accumulated during his long trip. Oh, the places we’ve been, Eddie, and the things we’ve seen… It’s a much bigger universe than any of us ever expected. Now, when time starts up again I’ll be back aboard Ivor, and then Jay and I will steer the Time Train down to a probably apocalyptic impact right in the midst of the Hungry Gods. And all the temporal energies he’s holding will be discharged in one almighty explosion. Not enough of a bang to destroy the Hungry Gods, but quite enough to set off the Deplorable End, no matter how hard the Invaders try to suppress it. So, you can’t be here, Eddie.”

“But if the gateway’s left open…” said Giles.

“We can spare enough energy to close it, just before the crash,” said Jacob. “Ivor’s a remarkably sophisticated machine, once you learn to speak his language. He’s capable of far more than was ever asked of him. He doesn’t want to die…but he’s a Drood, and he understands duty. He’s very pragmatic, for a steam engine. And, of course, I have to be here. Both of me. I’ve arranged things with Ivor so that he will use some of the time energies to ensure that my death works out the way it should. On impact, Jay will die but his spirit will be sent back in time, to become the family ghost. And I… will be set free at last. To go on … and make trouble there, too. I’m quite looking forward to it.”

“Does it have to be this way?” I said. “Aren’t there any other options?”

“We’re lucky to have this one, Eddie,” Jacob said kindly. “The Hungry Gods will be destroyed, the world will be saved. We don’t really have a right to expect any more.” He looked at Giles. “There’s even enough spare temporal energy to send you home, boy. All the way back to the future. Just stand by the box, and trust me. Close your eyes, if it helps.” He turned back to me. “Good-bye, Eddie. You always were a good friend. And the son I never had… Don’t stop giving the family hell, just because I’m not around to prompt you.”

“Good-bye, Jacob,” I said. “I wish…”

“I know,” he said.

He disappeared, and Ivor’s defiant steam whistle sounded again, striking right through the raised, awful clamour of the Hungry Gods. The Time Train was plummeting through the incandescent sky, trailing tachyon steam as it headed remorselessly for the living mountains. Giles held out his hand for the Deplorable End, and I gave him the box. He hefted it once and smiled briefly.

“Good-bye, Eddie. Good-bye, Molly. I’ve enjoyed my time with you. It’s been…interesting.”

“Good-bye, Giles,” I said. “And wherever you go, and wherever you end up, remember, you’re still family.”

I took Molly by the arm and headed for the gateway. It snapped shut before me, gone in a moment. And Molly jerked her arm out of my hand. She laughed exultantly, her face and her body no longer her own again.

“You’ll never get out of here! We have shut down the gateway; you’re trapped here with us! Jacob will never destroy this world as long as you’re still here!”

“Of course he will,” I said. “He’s a Drood.”

“Yes,” said Giles. “Nothing matters but family, honour, and duty. I understand that now.”

The Time Train was dropping fast, hammering towards the surface, accelerating all the while. Wild energies exploded around the steam engine as the living mountains struggled to slow or stop it. But wherever Ivor had been, he’d become so strong that even the Hungry Gods couldn’t touch him. He howled down out of the sky, and I swear I saw Jacob and Jay leaning out the black cab, laughing and cheering like schoolboys.

There had to be a way out of this. There had to be a way. We couldn’t have come this far, just to die now. I pushed Molly into Giles’s arms, and he held her securely while she fought him and snarled curses and threats. I searched my pockets with both hands, looking for something, anything, that could help. I was never short of gadgets; the Armourer saw to that. But nothing I had on me could help me here. I should have asked Uncle Jack for something special before I left, but he was always saying I never used what he gave me anyway…

I stopped, and looked at my wrist. And there was the teleport bracelet he’d given me, that I’d never got around to trying because I was always too busy. Just a short-range jump, but if it could tap into the remaining energies of the gateway … I grabbed Molly out of Giles’s arms, yelled him a quick good-bye, and then threw both Molly and me into the place where the gateway had been, while yelling the Words that activated the bracelet. A very small space unfolded between us and swallowed us up. Molly stiffened in my arms, her voice abruptly shut off. I glanced back at Giles. He was waving good-bye, the steel box in his hand.

Behind him, I saw Ivor the Time Train come crashing down into the midst of the living mountains, his steam whistle blowing defiantly to the last. There was a concerted scream from the Hungry Gods, and then a great light and a greater sound, and a wave of energy blew me back through the gateway, with Molly in my arms.