He was interrupted by a knock at the door, and then Church entered. He was in unusually high spirits.
‘Well, you have the smile of a winner,’ Tom noted.
‘And with good reason. The crystal skull is destroyed. The Anubis Box has been taken. The Army of the Ten Billion Spiders can’t entrap any more gods. I’d call that a result.’
‘Unless they have already trapped everyone they need,’ Tom pointed out.
Church plucked an apple from a fruit display and pulled up a chair. You’re a real glass-half-empty kind of person, aren’t you?’
‘I’d call it pragmatic.’
‘Okay, we don’t know how many gods they’ve got on their side: Janus, Apollo and Loki for definite …’He shifted uneasily when he thought of Loki’s ferocity. ‘All right, they’re pretty terrifying and I wouldn’t want to face one of them on my own again. But we’ve got twenty courts here to oppose them. That weights things in our favour, I think.’ He crunched on the apple. Have you heard of Robin Goodfellow?’
‘Stay away from the Puck,’ Niamh interjected. ‘He is dangerous.’
‘I don’t know why he decided to focus on me, but he really messed things around. Changing his appearance, shepherding me this way and that—’
‘The Puck has his own agenda,’ she warned.
‘This time it coincided with ours. I would never have destroyed the crystal skull without his help. Okay, he absconded with the Anubis Box, but—’
‘And you call that a success?’ Tom said. ‘An artefact of such power in the hands of something so unpredictable?’
Church shrugged. ‘Whatever you say, I think things are turning in our favour.’
Tom hesitated before saying, ‘I believe I have found a way into the Court of the Final Word.’
‘See? That’s great,’ Church said. ‘So the next thing is to get the lamp and my Pendragon Spirit back.’ He didn’t see Tom share a dark glance with Niamh. ‘I’ve put things in place to get Shavi, Laura and Ruth together in the future. Trust me. Everything is going to be fine.’
2
‘So, have we got to spend the rest of our days hanging out in churches? ’Cause, you know, it’s not really me.’ Laura leaned against the wall of Waltham Abbey Church and watched the rising sun cast pointing shadows from the gravestones.
Shavi sat cross-legged on the grass. The atmosphere was still, perfect for meditation. ‘The power in the land was strong at all sites people considered sacred – not just churches, but stone circles, cairns, springs, hilltops, lakes. Perhaps people instinctively sensed its strength and worshipped there. Or perhaps the act of worshipping made the power stronger in some way. Who knows?’
‘Sounds like a load of hippie crap to me.’ Laura sniffed. ‘So where’s it gone now?’
‘I do not know. But I believe locating the Blue Fire is important in freeing the world from the Army of the Ten Billion Spiders.’
‘You really believe all that bollocks the old git keeps spouting?’
‘Behind his demeanour, the Bone Inspector is a wise man with a vast amount of knowledge that has been passed down to him across the generations—’
‘So he says.’
‘I am inclined to believe him. Everything I have witnessed gels with his perception of the situation.’
‘So … dragons?’ She rested her head on the stone wall, enjoying the sun warming her face.
‘He says if we can find the Fabulous Beasts we can find the Blue Fire, for the two are inextricably linked. The latent Blue Fire in these places not only masks our presence from the Army, it appears to be anathema to them. You saw how Rourke was thrown when the spark flashed between us. It appears it can be used both to heal and to hurt.’
‘This Pendragon Spirit is the thing I don’t get. The old git says we’re supposed to have it because we’re some kind of heroes. But, you know – and don’t take this the wrong way – are we the best they can get? I wouldn’t want to be protected by any army that has me in the front line. I’m a selfish, lying, cheating, promiscuous coward who will fuck anybody over if it will save her neck.’
Shavi smiled. ‘I think you are being harsh on yourself. And I think you are presenting a certain face to the world to hide the truth. You fear people will think the worst of you so you try to show them that aspect to prevent your disappointment.’
‘You don’t know anything, pretty boy. You think you do, but you really, really don’t.’ She changed the subject with a dismissive gesture. ‘So there’s supposed to be five of us, right? The magic number. Five Brothers and Sisters of Dragons. There’s you and me—’