The Burning Man

3

The Hu Hsien attacked Church from all sides, a blur of whirling bodies and limbs. As they shapeshifted, snapping jaws and flashing feet and hands appeared from nowhere, lunging for his throat, then disappearing just as quickly.

Church was forced to draw on all his fighting skills. Blue Fire crackled through the air as Caledfwlch swung in constant motion, creating a defensive wall of flame and steel. He couldn’t drop his concentration for even a fraction of a second.

But the relentless attack was taking its toll, and more and more blows were getting through his defences. Teeth raked across his forearm. A rib cracked from a high kick that sent him sprawling, and though he was on his feet in an instant, claws tore open the back of his neck. It was only a matter of time before one blow laid him low, and then they would be on him in a frenzy of tearing jaws.

Satisfied he had given Tom and Shavi enough of a head start, he checked the path to the door. His opening came when one of the Hu Hsien telegraphed an attack. Church brought the sword up and put all his weight behind it. With the sizzle of cooking meat, his attacker was bisected mid-change. The two halves fell apart, internal organs flipping and twisting as they continued to morph between man and beast.

A rush of shock ran around the crowd. The King of Foxes half-lifted himself from his throne in disbelief.

In the brief lull, Church sprinted for the door. As he laid his fingers on the handle, Tai Sui appeared. He bowed quickly and lifted the clock that hung around his neck. With one slim finger, he spun the hands forward.

The world spun with them. The Hall of Supreme Harmony blurred into complete darkness and after a moment of queasy disorientation Church realised he was somewhere else.

It was dark and cold and there was the damp smell of deep underground. Echoes rang distantly in a great space, and here and there lonely torches flickered in the gulf. Church was on his knees, his body wracked with pain. Blood spattered onto stone. Beside him, Caledfwlch lay shattered, its outlines blurred and continually changing, the Blue Fire extinguished.

Rough hands grabbed his jacket and hauled him up. His head spun with the blood loss.

‘Three minutes till you’re dead, Brother of Dragons.’ It was the Libertarian. His scarlet, lidless eyes glowed in the gloom, and his broad smile was triumphant.

‘Everything has been leading up to this point, when you wave goodbye to what has gone before.’ The Libertarian’s voice rang with irony. ‘All your sacrifice, all your pain and suffering, all your minor victories and your great losses. And know, as your life fades into the black, that you threw it all away — you and only you — because of your pathetic, doomed love for a woman.’

The Libertarian shoved Church viciously and blood flew everywhere. He shook his head with weary theatricality. ‘Ah, the things people do for love. It makes us strive for greatness, drives us on when all hope is gone. It makes us do terrible things, like the mindless slaughter of generations of Brothers and Sisters of Dragons. And ultimately it turns us into the things we hate.’

The Libertarian glanced over his shoulder, and behind him Church saw for the first time a burning wicker man, its feet lost somewhere in the abyss. Inside it, figures squirmed as they were consumed.

‘At the moment of your death, I will toss you into the fire,’ he continued, ‘and you will come out of those flames reborn, transformed. The final, absolute victory of the Devourer of All Things. The end of all hope for Existence. That is what you have thrown away with your stupid love.’

Church tried to speak, but his lips were dry and the words would not come. The Libertarian pressed his ear close to Church’s mouth and proclaimed, as if performing in a pantomime, ‘What’s that you say? “What will I become, Mr Libertarian?” ’

He drew his red eyes level with Church’s so that they filled his vision. ‘Can’t you see the resemblance?’

The darkness spun wildly and with a shock that felt like a hammer blow, Church was back in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, almost driven to his knees by the disorientation of the devastating revelation.

Tai Sui had reset the hands of the clock to their previous time. Church lurched, heard the running footsteps of the Hu Hsien and realised that only a second or two had passed. Recovering, he knocked Tai Sui to one side and snatched at the door handle.

Before his fingers closed on it, the door flew open. Framed in the doorway against the silvery sky was Veitch, his sword drawn. Behind him the Guei watched with a mixture of adoration and fear.

‘Bleedin’ hell, you get everywhere,’ Veitch said.

As Church raised his sword, the Blue Fire roared into a sheet of flame that leaped the gap to Veitch’s sword. The black fire limning the blade surged — Church could feel the intense cold increase. The flames from his own sword gradually winked out.

‘You see what I did there?’ Veitch said. ‘These days you just make me stronger.’

The strength ebbed from Church’s limbs. Veitch stepped forward and rammed his blade right through Church’s side, the tip emerging from his back. Cold mixed with hot pain rushed through Church’s body and he fell backwards, black stars flashing before his eyes.

The Hu Hsien halted in surprise. Their uncertainty turned to unease as the Guei tramped in, bowing to Veitch. He moved past the first of the Hu Hsien, taking off its head with a slice so fast Church barely saw it. A second Hu Hsien fell just as quickly, disembowelled.

The rest of the Hu Hsien adopted fighting stances. Veitch gave a weary sigh. ‘All right, let’s do it.’ He made a summoning gesture.

The Guei fell on the occupants of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Badly injured, Church lay in the growing pool of his own blood as the first cries of, ‘I see shadows!’ rose up. The Hu Hsien were the first to fall, their fighting prowess useless against the weight of numbers. Next, the members of the court were rapidly dismembered as they attempted to flee for the doors. Even when they returned to their true hideous forms they were shown no mercy.

As the frenzied slaughter died down, Church saw Veitch on the throne, his sword at the throat of the King of Foxes.

‘See, mate, your watchdogs have a new master.’

Only when Church saw the terror in eyes of the King of Foxes did he realise the extent of the power Veitch wielded.

‘Now,’ Veitch said calmly, ‘you need to tell me the location of the Second Key.’

‘The great city,’ the King of Foxes shrieked. ‘New York!’

‘Where in New York?’

‘On the great island at the heart of the great city in the shadow of the towers. The Key is a boy who walks with a girl who has killed and will kill again. They are guarded by a man who stands on the brink of ending his days, for he is cursed to remember all the stories. And the word that binds them to their spot is “empire”.’

‘Give me something solid.’

‘That is all I know!’

‘Yeah? Okay.’

Veitch sliced his blade across the King of Foxes’ neck, only the slightest cut, but the black fire roared into it. The King of Foxes went rigid as the cold flames consumed him from within. A moment later he was just a sheath of skin that slid slowly down to the floor.

Veitch put away his sword and splashed through the gory soup that now covered the floor. He stood over Church, who was fighting to stay conscious.

‘I should chop you into chunks, finally get it over and done with here and now. But … I’m not going to do that. I gave my word and I’m an honourable man.’ Subterranean emotions flickered across his face.

‘Don’t do this, Ryan.’ Church tried to ignore the pain. ‘There’s nothing to be gained by destroying everything.’

‘That shows how much you know. The whole thing is a mess. There’s no point to it. No meaning to all the pain. Better to wipe it away and give someone else a chance.’

He stepped over Church and walked towards the door.

A lake of blood surrounded Church. He could feel every laboured beat of his heart.

‘You’re not going to die,’ Veitch said. ‘Not here. It won’t let you. But at least you’ll get a taste of it, just so you know what I’ve been through.’

He gave Church one last, curious look, and then he was gone.