Marc Chadbourn - The Devil in green

Broderick had already escaped. Mallory stepped over the sticky pool of gore and twitching remains, the sight already lost to him. His only thought was for Sophie. When he saw her, a sharp pain shot into the core of him; she looked as if she was dead. She hung on the chains, her chin on her chest. Her clothes were torn and there were bruises on her face and forearms; blood trickled from one nostril.

But as he placed his hands on her shoulders she stirred, her eyelids flickering open. She forced a smile.

'Are you OK to move?' he asked gently.

She nodded.

'The bastard Broderick will have everyone down here in minutes. We have to get out quickly.' His sword sheared through the chains easily and Sophie fell into his arms. For the briefest moment he pressed his face into her hair and inhaled the scent of her, and then he supported her towards the opening in the wall where the Caretaker waited impassively.

'Who's that?' she asked weakly.

Before Mallory could respond, the Caretaker took Sophie's hand with surprising tenderness. 'Let the Blue Fire heal you, Sister of Dragons.' A shiver ran through Mallory as he saw the lantern flame flicker towards Sophie as if it were alive. Mallory could almost see her vitality returning; her skin bloomed, her eyes grew wide, the bruises slowly lost their sheen. 'You have been a good friend to my people,' the Caretaker continued, 'and a good leader of your own. You have a strong heart — the Blue Fire works in you, and through you into the world.'

There was something almost deferential in the Caretaker's tone. Mallory looked at Sophie curiously, wondering what the giant saw in her.

She smiled, took the Caretaker's hand. 'Thank you,' she said.

Through the walls came the distant ringing of the cathedral bells. The alarm had been raised.

Sophie turned to Mallory. 'Where are we going?'

'I don't know. I haven't thought that far ahead.'

'We need to get out of this place-'

'We can't go outside the walls. Those things are still waiting-'

'They never troubled me,' Sophie said, 'and now you've renounced your place with the cathedral, they'll probably leave you alone, too.'

'It's nice that you're prepared to take that gamble,' Mallory said acidly. 'And I didn't renounce them. They renounced me.'

The Caretaker led them along the tunnels to a door that opened into the Chapel of St Margaret of Scotiand in the south transept. The room was bitterly cold and suffused with the soft glow of candlelight from the altar. 'Thank you,' Mallory whispered to the Caretaker.

'Your call came from the heart, Brother of Dragons. How could I refuse? My people have always cared for lovers… and fools.'

'We'll debate which side we fall on later,' Sophie said.

They stepped into the chapel and when they looked back, the Caretaker and the doorway to his realm were gone. Beyond the low wooden walls of the chapel, the cathedral was quiet.

'I'm betting they've already blocked off the tunnel,' Mallory whispered. 'I reckon our only option is to get on to the walls and lower ourselves over,' he mused. 'Don't know how we're going to do that. The whole of the cathedral is between us and the way out.'

'I might be able to help there.' She turned away from him, lowering her head so that her hair hung across her face. He heard whispered words that made no sense to him, and then her body grew stiff and trembled with the strain. When she turned back, her face was drawn. Though the Blue Fire had re-energised her, her reserves were still low and easily drained.

'What was that all about?' he asked quietly.

'A little inclement weather to mask our tracks.'

Cautiously, he approached the door.

'Mallory?'

The voice made him start. He turned to see Miller standing at the front of the chapel; the young knight had obviously been on his knees in prayer, hidden behind the rows of chairs.

As Sophie went to the door to peek out, Miller rushed over and grabbed Mallory's hand desperately. 'How did you get out?' he said, his eyes wide with amazement.

Sophie was beckoning; the cathedral was empty.

'Mallory, take me with you.' Miller's fingers closed tighter around Mallory's hand; there was a profound desperation to him that was quite shocking.

'You're better off here, Miller. I don't fancy my chances outside the walls-'

'No, no, you don't understand. You have to take me with you.' His gaze ranged around the chapel with unbearable anxiety. 'Stefan's going ahead with the testing… using the relic.'

'You've got nothing to hide.'

Miller's eyes fell; his whole body appeared to shrink. Mallory had forgotten about the beast from Bratton Camp. Was that why he was so afraid — that the relic would expose him as the one who had slaughtered Cornelius and the others?

'What is it?' Mallory asked.

'I killed my girlfriend!' He blurted the words out, then collapsed in sobs.

Mallory stood dumbfounded, trying to comprehend what Miller had said. 'You killed her?' He recalled Miller telling him how he had fled his home after his girlfriend had dumped him for some local thug.

'I didn't mean to,' Miller whined. 'She was the only thing I had in the world… the only reason I had for living. I begged her to stay, but she wasn't having any of it. When she started to go, I grabbed hold of her… she fought me off… and… and I hit her.' His eyes burned with devastation. 'I didn't mean to! I loved her! I just couldn't cope… I was weak… pathetic…'He sucked in air to stop a wracking sob. 'She went down… didn't get up…'

'You killed her?' Mallory repeated in disbelief. Miller's story resonated throughout him with a strength that stunned him.

Miller saw it reflected on Mallory's face. 'Don't judge.me, Mallory,' he pleaded. 'Not you. I couldn't bear it if you judged me. You're such a good man… you were the one who gave me the strength to keep going

'You're blind, Miller… and stupid.' Mallory felt queasily empty, felt like laughing at the stupid irony of the situation. Miller had given him hope. He'd seemed so decent and honest, so innocent. But he was just like everyone else. There was nothing to which anyone could aspire, nothing at all.

'I came here to do penance, Mallory,' Miller continued amid the tears. 'To earn my redemption. I didn't think I had any hope until I met you. You gave me hope, Mallory. You saved my life-'

'Yes, and wasn't I a stupid bastard.' He looked to Sophie, who was watching them nervously. She motioned frantically for him to hurry up.

'The relic will show what I did!' Miller continued. 'The mood in this place now… it's all turned sour. They won't forgive me, Mallory. They won't give me a chance. I'm afraid of what they'll do to me.' Pathetically, he threw his arms around Mallory's legs, sobbing.

Mallory pushed him off with the roughness of someone who'd been betrayed. 'You made your bed, Miller — you've got to lie in it. Same as all of us.'

He marched over to Sophie, untouched by Miller's crying. 'What was that all about?' she asked.

'Nothing.' Mallory tried to ignore the desolation he felt. 'Come on, we'd better move.'

They slipped out, and Mallory didn't look back once.

The nave was dark and deserted; Mallory had lost all sense of time and had no idea how long it would be until the next service. Keeping his sword firmly in its scabbard so that the blue glow didn't attract attention, he led Sophie towards the door at the west end.

They'd progressed barely twenty feet into the nave when a cry made them jump. A brother on guard had been sitting unseen in the quire and was quick to raise the alarm. They hurried towards the exit, but before they were halfway to it, the door crashed open and three Blues burst in, brandishing swords. Mallory recognised the group they had ridiculed during the snowball fight.