“He’s never told you? Then perhaps it’s not my place to say either. I know so many things, and it’s hard to remember which of them are supposed to be secrets. But if you need to know…
I put myself Under The Hill, said the Brother heavily I killed the first of your line, Leo. The first Morn long long ago. He was a good man and a great hero, though I didn’t realise that until it was too late. This is my penance to be interred for ever and a day because I was wrong. Because I was blind and would not see.
“And now you see everything.” said Leo, “and you re still killing Morns.”
I have raised and guarded heroes. Preserved the line from its many enemies. But for all my years I am not infallible. Yes I failed your parents Leo. Is that what you want me to say? I mourn their loss just as much as you do I am your Brother.
“What was he?” Leo said to Luna “Originally, I mean. Do you remember?‘
“Of course I remember. That was back when giants walked the earth, and he was one of them. He was Nephilim, child of angels. So beautiful, and so cursed. Hello, Brother Hello.”
Hello Luna. How are you?
“Better than I was.”
Leo looked sharply at Luna “You can hear him? I thought I was the only one”
“I hear everything, from my high station,” Luna said sadly “That’s always been part of my problem.”
It was clear to Leo that if he followed up all the questions he wanted to ask, he and Luna would still be sitting here this time tomorrow, so he made himself concentrate on the matter at hand. “What brings you here, Luna? To me, in reality?”
“My sister Gayle came to see me,” Luna said slowly. “Her presence awoke me from my long stupor, from my dreams. She came to me for advice and help, which shows how desperate she must be. There was a young man with her, a focal point. His presence helped to focus me, to collect my scattered selves, if only for a while. I feel stronger now, more … coherent. Together. Yes. Gayle’s words stay with me. What she said, and what she didn’t say. For once, I didn’t forget.
“So I went out into the town, to look around. It seems much the same in spirit, though the details have changed. Not for the better, I suspect, but then, I’m no judge. And as I walked in Veritie, my reason no longer clouded by my own protective spells, I could see the Hob was planning again. He’s had plans before, his own and those of his accursed father, but this … this is something new. I can tell. The Serpent’s never been this ambitious before. He knows something, or thinks he does. I think this time he’s planning to play for all the marbles …”
Leo didn’t know what to say to that. Anyone else of her rank and station he would have believed immediately; but this was Luna, whose very name was a byword for madness. And yet … he’d seen Hob and Angel, sitting together in that rotting farmhouse, seen the dead men standing guard in the dead woods.
“How are you enjoying reality?” he said finally, just to be saying something, and then winced as he realised how that sounded.
“It’s very cramped,” said Luna, quite seriously. “Much too small and confining, compared to what I’m used to. But I couldn’t go travelling in Mysterie without Hob noticing, so I was forced to translate myself into the real world. It was quite a shock. I haven’t been real in such a long time … but I am more centred here, more focused. Less crazy. I’ve been able to think here.”
“Why haven’t you gone to see your sister?” said Leo. “She’s still a Power. She can do much more for you than I can.”
“Gayle has been human too long,” Luna said flatly. “All those years of being real have limited her thinking. She’s reluctant to embrace her responsibilities and take on her aspect again. She could leave it too late, and find herself unable to stop Hob. And she’s emotionally linked to the young man, the focal point. Dangerous things, focal points. This link, whatever it turns out to be, makes her unpredictable. Bottom line: we can’t trust her to do the right thing.”
“But why come to me?” Leo said plaintively.
“Because I need a hero. I need a Morn. Thanks to the Brother Under The Hill, those of your line have been champions of the good and the just for centuries.”
“But I’m not like them!”
“You’d better be,” said Luna. “Or we’re all dead.”
Leo felt like whining. He had a very sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. “Define all.”
“Everyone, in all of Veritie and Mysterie, perhaps. Or maybe worse than dead. You can’t outrun what’s coming, Leo Morn. No one can. Not even me.”
“What is coming?”
“I don’t know. But it feels like the End. Of everything.”
There was a long pause, and all Leo could think, over and over, was oh, shit. He searched frantically for some hole in Luna’s argument.
“How could even Nicholas Hob hope to hurt your sister?” he said eventually. “Given who and what she is? Hob may be the Serpent’s Son, but she’s a lot bigger than that. Even with Angel at his side, surely there’s a limit to the damage he can do?”
Luna cocked her head on one side. “You know about Angel? Ah, yes; you went sneaking out to Blackacre, and saw them in conference together. I knew there was a particular reason why I came to you. You found a way in, past all Hob’s defences. Quite remarkable. I want you to do it again. Take me back there, into the dark heart of Blackacre.”
Leo could feel cold fingers wrapping tightly around his heart. This just kept getting worse and worse. If there was one place in the world he definitely didn’t want to see again … There had been a definite air of madness and awful intent about the dead house in the dead wood, a sense of danger to body and soul. But he couldn’t just say No, thank you, or, Not a chance in hell, not to as powerful and potentially crazy a personage as Luna. Even here in reality, sitting in his chair, all sweetness and innocence, Luna was scarier than Hob and Angel put together. She could turn him inside out with a thought, and still keep him alive and suffering for as long as it amused her. She’d done worse, in her time.
“What about you, Brother?” he said finally, desperately. “Can you see anything of Hob’s plans? Or anything to suggest that the worlds are in danger?”
No, said the Brother thoughtfully. But given the nature and strength of a creature like Hob I wouldn’t expect to. In fact if he put his mind to it he could be standing outside your front door right now and I wouldn’t know it until he’d burned the cottage down.
“Now there’s a comforting thought.” Leo looked unhappily at Luna “What exactly are you planning to do, if I can get you to the farmhouse?”
“I will talk to Hob,” said Luna “He is my son.”
“I see. And when did you last talk to him?”
Luna considered for a while “Do you know, I don’t think I ever have. So it’s probably well past time we sat down and had a good mother-and-son chat. I’ve been neglecting my duties.”
“Look,” said Leo, “I really don’t think this is such a good idea.”
Luna stood up abruptly and took just a little of her aspect upon her. The cottage was suddenly full of a shimmering silver light, almost too bright to be borne. It suffused Leo’s body and mind like a howl of ancient days, of running free in the wild woods, and his heart leaped in response. He wanted to fall to his knees and worship her, to hunt down some fleeing thing and lay it bloody and smoking at her feet. She was the mistress of his soul, of his wild and untamed lone-wolf soul, and he would have done anything for her right then, anything at all, sacrificed or been the sacrifice, all for her, for she was the goddess of the hunt.
The light snapped off and was gone and Leo was unsurprised to find himself on his knees before Luna. But even as he tried to find a voice to say something, Luna frowned and the whole cottage shifted as she translated it out of Veritie and into Mysterie, by sheer act of will. For a moment the living room was full of the ghosts of its previous owners, drifting and flickering through the room, until Luna dismissed them with a wave of her hand. Leo bowed his head, sweating
and shuddering, in the presence of something so much greater than himself.
Luna smiled terribly upon him, and then shut down her aspect and became just a woman again She sat down in her chair, arranged herself comfortably and smiled sweetly on Leo as he scrambled to his feet and all but collapsed back into his chair.
“I have need of you, Leo Morn,” Luna said calmly, implacably “The Morns have always been heroes.” “But I abdicated.” said Leo, whining. And of course you have so many other important things to do.
“Whose side are you on?” said Leo, feeling outnumbered and distinctly hard-done-by.
Wait a minute. Someone’s here … I didn’t see them coming. Why didn’t I see them coming? Hell’s teeth, it’s Angel! She’s found us, now we’re in Mysterie! She’s right outside the front door!
Leo surged up out of his chair and sprinted across the room to lock and bolt the front door.
That won’t stop her. Steel plating won’t stop Angel, if she wants in.
“Then think of something that will!”
“I don’t suppose you have any weapons in this place?” said Luna, rising unhurriedly from her chair. “Arthames, Elder Signs, shaped curses?”
“Never felt the need for any before now.” Leo looked quickly about him. “Come with me. There’s a back door …”
And then they all fell silent as they heard Angel run up the outside wall of the cottage. It was a light, eerie sound, like an insect the size of a man scuttling over the uneven stone. She strode unhurriedly across the roof, her great heavy footsteps crushing the thatching, to let them know where she was. The room shook under the impact of each awful tread and Leo was afraid she might come crashing through the roof at any moment. Luna craned her neck back to look up, seeming more interested than anything. It occurred to Leo that this was his worst nightmare come true: to be trapped between two powerful women who might destroy him in their fight over him. He tried to smile at the thought but there was no humour in him, and anyway his mouth was too dry. Angel had come to kill him, and there was nowhere left to hide.
The heavy footsteps stopped. Leo and Luna looked around them. It was very quiet. And then there was a thud outside the front door as something heavy hit the ground, and even as Leo span round, Angel smashed through the locked and bolted door in one sudden movement. The solid oak tore like paper, and the hinges flew across the room like shrapnel, torn from the door jamb. Angel stood framed by the wreckage of the doorway, a menacing figure as pale as a ghost, wrapped in black tatters, grinning fiercely and with glowing, blood-red eyes. Leo made a sound in his throat. Angel took a step forward and laughed happily as he took a step back.
“Little animal, I have sniffed you out,” said Angel, smiling her inhuman smile. “You shouldn’t have come spying to Blackacre. Shouldn’t have made yourself known to us. Nicholas Hob wants to talk to you. I’d just as soon kill you now, but he’s curious. Maybe after he’s finished with you, he’ll let me play with what’s left of you.”
“I don’t play well with other people,” said Leo. He tried to sound calm and composed, even threatening, but Angel didn’t look at all impressed.
“Pretty Angel,” said Luna. Her face had gone all vague, and her eyes were unfocused. Her summery frock had changed to a gypsyish outfit of brightly coloured blouse and skirt, and her blonde hair now had thick curls in it. The black beret had been replaced by a knotted kerchief. Leo’s heart sank. Luna was drifting again. Being in Veritie had kept her focused, but the move back to Mysterie must have weakened her grip on herself. Angel looked at Luna and frowned.
“I feel I should know you. But it doesn’t matter. Stay out of my way or I’ll kill you.”
Luna giggled and brought one hand up to her rosebud mouth so she could suck on her thumb. Her eyes were very far away now. Angel turned back to Leo.
“Come with me. Come with me now, or I’ll hurt you. I think you’d break very easily.”
“Ah, hell,” said Leo resignedly. “Some days fate just won’t leave you alone.”
He reached deep inside himself, called on his father’s heritage and changed. Thick fur burst out all over his body. His legs lengthened. Claws erupted from his feet and hands. His back arched and a tail burst out of his hindquarters. His face shot forward, forming a long muzzle crammed with sharp fangs. His clothes disappeared as he fell forward onto all fours, seven foot long, three hundred pounds, all wolf and angry with it. Like his ancestors before him, Leo Morn was a shape-shifter. A lycanthrope. A werewolf.
“Cute little puppy,” said Angel. “You are full of surprises, aren’t you? Still, time to go walkies, Leo Morn.”
Leo went for her throat.
His powerful back legs propelled him forward faster than the human eye could follow, his vicious jaws gaping and slavering as he launched himself, but Angel didn’t even fall back a step. She caught him by the throat with one hand and held him fast, absorbing his speed and the impact of his weight as though it were nothing. Leo kicked and scrabbled helplessly as her fingers closed around his windpipe like steel bands. Angel laughed in his changed face and threw him from her. He flew across the width of the living room and smashed into the far wall, hard enough to crack the plaster. He hit the floor already back on his feet again, and went to meet Angel snarling as she advanced on him, her pale fingers crooked like claws. Luna wasn’t even watching.
Leo ducked under Angel’s reaching hands and tore a wide rip across her belly. The blood that flowed was thick and dark, intoxicating in the wolf’s flaring nostrils. He howled, an ancient, primal sound full of rage and defiance and bloodlust. He and Angel circled each other for a moment, respectful of each other’s strength, and then Angel lashed out and her more-than-human fist crushed the side of his skull, driving the bone sharply inwards. A killing blow, under normal circumstances. Leo grinned widely as the bone popped back out again, and the wound healed in seconds. He was were, and only silver could hurt him now.
For God’s sake, Leo! The Brother Under The Hill was yelling in his mind almost constantly now, forcing his words through the wolf’s killing frenzy. Grab Luna and get the hell out of there! I’ll think of something to slow Angel down. You can’t beat her! She really is a descended angel!
“What makes you so sure?” said Leo, allowing some of his human mind to resurface for a moment.
Because I recognise her.
Which was a very interesting statement, and one Leo would have liked to follow up, but Angel came at him again, and the bloodlust drove all other thoughts from his mind. They slammed together, pounding and clawing at each other, ignoring the damage they took in their determination to bring the other down. To Leo’s enhanced wolfish senses, Angel seemed more than real, burning bright like a flame at night, elemental and almost pure in her fury. Part of Leo wanted just to curl up at her feet and be petted, but that only made him fight all the more fiercely. His emotions were larger now, more extreme. He could still taste her blood in his mouth, and he wanted more.
He surged forward, ignoring the pale hand that clawed his left eye clean out of its socket, and fastened his jaws around her throat. The flesh actually resisted his fangs, but he bore down, forcing his mouth shut with great wolfish jaw muscles, and blood spurted into his mouth as his teeth sank in. They fell to the floor, tearing at each other like lovers in the heat of a furious passion, and Angel grabbed Leo’s elongated head with both hands and forced his jaws away from her throat. She was bleeding heavily and laughing breathlessly. She brought her knees up sharply, and Leo’s ribs splintered and broke under the impact. He coughed harshly, his own blood flying from his muzzle to spray Angel’s face.
She kicked him away and rose quickly to her feet as he lay scrabbling on the floor, struggling desperately for breath. And then she stepped forward and stamped on his head. The skull fractured, and Angel stamped again and again and again, not allowing the splintering bone to repair itself. Sharp bone fragments were driven deep into Leo’s brain and all he could do was howl like a soul newly damned to Hell. br />
And then Luna woke up. She stood tall and proud in a long gown of shimmering samite, and light blazed from her face as she took her aspect upon her. The silver light hit Angel like a hammer, forcing her away from Leo. The harsh, implacable light drove Angel back, for all her struggles, and something in that light seemed to diminish her, making her smaller and more human. In the end Angel screamed with rage and turned and fled, rather than face a light and a presence that was so much greater than she was.
Leo lay on his side on the floor, panting hard, listening to the sharp popping sounds in his head as his skull repaired itself. Angel’s blood was still sharp in his mouth, and he surged to his feet, turning his head back and forth as he tracked the sound of Angel’s departing footsteps.
Don’t you dare, his Brother said firmly. You were lucky, Leo. For all your heritage, you are not in Angel’s class. Now change back. We need your human mind, your common sense, because we sure as hell aren’t going to get it from Luna.
Leo became a man again, in a series of twists and jerks, his bones cracking loudly as his shape changed. His fur sank back into his skin and his clothes reappeared—a very useful rider spell to the original curse. Luna applauded, her clapping hands a surprisingly soft sound. Leo looked at her carefully. She was back in the summer frock and beret again, but she was at least a foot taller. Leo decided he wouldn’t mention it.
“Well fought, Leo Morn. And now you will take me to Blackacre.”
All Leo could say was, “Yes, ma’am.”
NINE
DEAD INDOORS
Gayle and Toby Dexter exchanged hardly a dozen words as they headed back, through an increasingly empty town, to Jimmy Thunder’s godly semi-detached, which was probably just as well, as Toby had a lot of hard thinking to do. So far he’d been more or less content to follow where Gayle led, partly because she knew this magical world so much better than he did, and partly because he was so utterly captivated by her; however he didn’t feel he could do that any more. He no longer trusted her, not after the death-walkers. Not after what she’d made him do there. But if he couldn’t rely on Gayle, that meant he’d have to take charge himself, and Toby liked that idea even less. He’d never been comfortable about making decisions, for himself or others. He was much happier to stand back and let someone else do all the hard word and shoulder the responsibility.