From a Drood to a Kill - Simon R. Green Page 0,156

beside me.

“They aren’t the real thing,” she said.

“You’d know,” I said.

“And if they’re not really hellspawn . . .”

“Then they’re just more scenery.”

My gloves became guns again, and I opened fire. The demons looked startled, even shocked, as my strange matter bullets tore into them and blew them apart. The sheer firepower I generated stopped them in their tracks, and then drove them back. I wasn’t sure I was really hurting them, but I was causing more damage to their material forms than they could hope to repair. I raked my guns up and down the length of the crevice, forcing the creatures back into the flames. Molly danced delightedly beside me, whooping and howling with glee. The Sin Eater cried out in frustration. I finally stopped, lowered my guns, and looked down into the crevice. Foul things stared back at me, unwilling to leave the flames, afraid to face me.

“I’m not afraid of you,” I said to them. “Whether you’re real or not.”

I walked forward, across the crevice, defying the fall. I walked across the wide gap as though it wasn’t there, and didn’t even feel the heat from the flames. The demons flinched back from me, cringing away from my act of faith. The crevice slammed shut, shutting off the light from the leaping flames in a moment. And every strange matter bullet I’d fired returned to my armour.

The Sin Eater glared down at me, his face full of rage and fear and desperation.

“Take him!” he said loudly. “All you demons within; I give him to you! Possess the Drood!”

They oozed out of his flesh, seeping through his white suit like so much congealed blood, forming into twisted demonic shapes in mid-air. More and more of them boiled out of the Sin Eater to hang on the night, before and around him, snarling and hissing, but not one of them moved forward to possess me. They preferred to stay where they were, forming a protective barrier around their host. He raged and roared at them, ordering them to obey his instructions, but they wouldn’t. They waited for me to come to them. So I walked slowly, steadily forward, until I was standing directly before the Sin Eater. He was breathing hard now, his ragged voice silenced by sheer frustration. The demons stared silently at me.

“You think your precious armour will protect you, Drood?” said the Sin Eater. “After everything you’ve done?”

I thought about it, and then armoured down. The demons murmured uneasily among themselves. I stood there before them, in nothing but my bare flesh, and stared steadily back at them. Real or not, they still scared the crap out of me, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me. They looked away from me, unwilling to meet my gaze. I turned to the Sin Eater and held his gaze with my own.

“I have faith in me,” I said. “Because my uncle Jack had faith in me. And I have always valued his opinion and his judgement. While I may not always be sure about me, I have no doubt he was a good man. I have done my duty, to my family and to Humanity. And to the cause I have always believed in, to be a shepherd to the world. I have fought the good fight, and done my best not to stain my honour too much in the process. I have tried to do the right thing, even in the worst situations. Judge me, you demons. If you dare.”

And one by one they turned away and forced themselves back into the Sin Eater. Even as he raged and ranted, cursing and screaming at them. They ignored him, choosing to go home, where they felt safe. Where they belonged. And as he finally realised that, the Sin Eater fell silent.

Molly moved in beside me. “Hardcore, Eddie,” she said respectfully.

The Sin Eater looked down on me, his eyes full of spite and desperation. “You can’t stop me! I have Hell’s strength on my side!”

“Shouldn’t that be Heaven’s strength?” I said. “For someone who claims to walk in Heaven’s sight?”

The Sin Eater tried to say something and couldn’t. Caught and held by an insight he couldn’t deny any longer. Caught in the terrible contradiction of the life he’d made for himself. The demons within sensed him wavering and tried to seize control. His face writhed and contorted, as other faces tried to take its place. Hellfire shot up from his staring eyes, and disappeared just as quickly.