Destroyer of Worlds

8

The blizzard continued to tear its bitter path between the mountain peaks as Laura became the final surviving member of their band to make the precarious journey from the last section of the shattered bridge to the terrace that lay before the Groghaan Gate. The mood was desperate. Church, Veitch, Ruth and Shavi stared into the middle distance, while Tom sat in a nook in the rocks, smoking.

Veitch extended a hand to help Laura up onto the terrace. 'I know we've given each other a hard time,' he said awkwardly, 'but you saved us here. And I wanted to say, you know, thanks.'

'All right, tattoo-boy — don't get all misty on me. Just doing my job.'

They exchanged a moment of silent communication before Shavi came over. 'I am concerned about Church,' he whispered. 'The loss of the Two Keys, Virginia and Hunter has hit him hard.' He glanced back at Church, who had one hand on his forehead, deep in thought. 'I am afraid that despair might be setting in. He fears the mission is already lost. And-'

'And you're worried this might be the point when he stops being Church and starts becoming the Libertarian,' Veitch continued.

Shavi nodded.

'That's awful,' Laura said. 'I mean, if one thing had to tip him over the edge, it would be this, right? But still… God.' She looked away, chewing a lip.

'I'll keep an eye on him,' Veitch said, 'and if I see anything dodgy…' He steeled himself. 'I'll do what I have to do.'

Hugging her arms around her for warmth, Ruth called them over. 'We can't stand around here talking — we'll freeze to death.'

'Mate, you want to carry on?' Veitch said to Church.

Church inspected the Groghaan Gate arching up at least twenty feet above their heads, the top lost in the snowstorm. It was constructed of some unknown material that sparkled like the sun, and from it came a feeling of electricity. 'What else can we do? Go back and die? Go on and die?'

Behind him, Shavi, Veitch and Laura looked at each other uneasily.

Church reached out to the shimmering arch, his fingers tingling as they brushed the warm surface. 'This is marvellous. The Drakusa must have passed through here every day, between Winter-side and Summer-side. Such an amazing thing to do, moving between worlds. They must have thought they owned everything. Kings of the world. And now they're gone.' He turned back to the others defiantly. 'We might not be able to win, but that doesn't mean we give up. We're going to make life a misery for the Enemy. We're going to show it what it means to stand for Existence. What it means to have the Pendragon Spirit. What it means to be a Fragile Creature. We're going to tear the whole damned thing down. From this point on, this is a suicide mission. As long as we know that, we're not going to be disappointed how it turns out.'

The others nodded without a moment's thought.

'No happy endings,' he said, before turning back to the gate. 'Let's go.' He stepped through the arch and with a shimmer he was gone.