Darren Shan - The Demonata 6-10

His right hand in place, Dervish moves his left hand up. I don’t know if he means to choke Bill-E or snap his neck. And I never find out. Because the fingers halt halfway up Bill-E’s spine.

“I can’t,” Dervish says quietly, and this time the words are the confession of a broken man.

“I knew it,” Lord Loss laughs. “Humans are so predictable. Even though all else must fall, you cannot bring yourself to harm your beloved nephew. You’ll damn yourself, him, the whole world, all because of misplaced love.” He sighs happily. “Moments such as these make the long, monotonous millennia worthwhile.”

Dervish moans and clutches Bill-E close, planning to hug him as long as he can, to maybe get sucked into the crack with him, so the pair can perish together. Except Bill-E won’t die. He’ll become something terrible and twisted, inhuman and beastlike.

I think of Bill-E suffering, captive within the rock, alive down here indefinitely, wracked with guilt, a plaything for the Demonata when all the other humans have been slaughtered. They’ll torment him. Guilt will eat him whole. Madness will be his only escape, but the demon masters will use magic to restore his senses, to torture him afresh. An eternity of misery, madness and sorrow.

I can’t let that happen.

Entering this cave, I realised I couldn’t kill Dervish or Bill-E if they were in league with Lord loss, not even to save the world. I still can’t. But to save Bill-E from a fate genuinely worse than death… for my brother’s sake, as opposed to the sake of billions of others who mean nothing to me…

“Bill-E.” I lean forward, smiling. “Want to help me kick the crap out of these demon creeps?”

Bill-E returns the smile. “Now you’re talking! What do we have to do?”

“Grubbs,” Dervish groans.

“Shut up,” I snap, then smile at Bill-E again. “Take my hands, little brother. Close your eyes. Focus on…” I gulp. “Your mum. Think of your mother.”

“How can that help?” he asks doubtfully.

“It’ll clear your head of bad thoughts and fear,” I improvise. “I need your help to stop this. But I can only do it if you’re calm. It won’t be easy, but you have to try. Think of your mum and every good time you ever shared. That will generate a positive energy which I can channel. I can use that power to stop the demons.”

“Brilliant!” Bill-E gasps, face lighting up. He sticks his hands out, shuts his eyes and concentrates, lids twitching, eyeballs rolling behind them as he searches his memories for cherished moments. He trusts me completely.

Lord Loss has drifted closer. He could stop this, kill or delay me, but he’s entranced. He’s forgotten his mission of all-conquering mayhem. Living only for the bittersweet pain of the moment. Dervish has lowered his face to Bill-E’s shoulder, diverting his gaze. I can’t see Beranabus, Kernel, Spine or Artery. I don’t care. There’s only Bill-E and me in the world now. We’re all that matters.

I let magic build within me, then reach out to take Bill-E’s hands. I stop. A moment of doubt and disbelief. I can’t do this! Then I look over Bill-E’s head. I see claws coming out of the crack. A massive, shadowy cloud of a face, pure evil. Every shade of darkness imaginable. It fills the gap entirely. I’m not sure what it is – no ordinary demon, that’s for sure – but I know it exists only to destroy, and will unless it’s stopped.

“I love you, Bill-E,” I whisper, my heart breaking. And take his hands.

Magic flows from me into my brother. Soft, warm, pleasing energy. His smile spreads slowly from the warmth of the magic or an especially fond memory. Maybe both. The face of shadows within the crack splits with hatred. It hisses — the sound of a sea boiling dry. Tendrils of darkness dart towards me, a thousand writhing snakes, intent on tearing me away from my brother, separating us forever, using Bill-E for their own evil ends.

“Time to fly, little brother,” I sob, and quickly push. The energy touches Bill-E’s heart and stops it instantly. No pain. Bill-E’s smile freezes in place. The tendrils of darkness blow apart. A furious, hateful bellow as the shadowy face disintegrates. Screams within the crack from scores of cheated demons. The wind stops dead and the howl is replaced by the noise of rocks grinding together as the crack closes. The screams rise sharply, then die away.

It’s over.

I lean forward. Put my lips to my dead brother’s forehead and kiss him, my tears dropping on to his still warm flesh. Then I hug him and Dervish tight, and pray for Lord Loss to kill me swiftly, before I lose my mind to wretched, soul-destroying grief.

→ Growls coming nearer, the patter of tiny feet and the snapping of sharp teeth — Artery. I squeeze my eyes shut, silently willing on the demon child.

“No,” Lord Loss stops him. “To me.”

I reluctantly open my eyes and look up. Lord Loss’s face is glowing with sad satisfaction. Artery is making his way to his master’s side, glowering. Behind them I spot Beranabus, looking old and frail, but triumphant. Kernel is still locked in combat with Spine.

Dervish puts his ear to Bill-E’s chest. Listens a few seconds, then raises his face — his eyes are those of a haunted man. “He’s–”

“Shut up,” I sob before he finishes the sentence. Then, softer, “I had to. Not to stop the Demonata, but for his sake. He would have suffered worse than any of us. They’d have used him. He couldn’t have died. He’d have been stuck down here, tormented by demons, knowing he’d handed our world to them. I couldn’t let that happen. If there’d been any other way…”

Dervish finds my left hand and squeezes reassuringly. We both weep fresh tears.

“Delicious,” Lord Loss murmurs, savouring our sorrow. “I wish this moment could last an eternity. It was worth having our plans thwarted. My brethren will break through another time. This world cannot stand against the Demonata much longer. There is a force in motion which cannot be repelled. That is why I pledged myself to the cause of destruction, much as I delight in humanity’s enduring pain. Things might have gone badly for me if I’d resisted. But this is the best of both universes. You have a done me a great favour tonight. I am almost tempted to let you all live… but there are scores to be settled. A few more minutes to relish your agony, then I shall extract my long overdue retribution.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I mutter halfheartedly, brushing Bill-E’s hair back from his eyes. I don’t care about the demon master’s threats. I don’t care about anything except the fact that I’ve killed my brother and life can never hold any pleasure for me again. Better to die sooner rather than later.

But part of me cares. It stirs in response to Lord Loss’s pledge. Energy slides down my arms to my hands. I call it back, but it doesn’t respond. It’s a strange type of energy, not like the magic I used to fight the demons (or kill Bill-E). This is more like the power I felt when I thought all was lost, when I distorted the laws of time and…

“We can go back!” I gasp, bolting upright. “We can travel into the past again and save Bill-E!”

Lord Loss hisses, not liking the sound of that. His six arms rise and he glides closer. Laughing hysterically, I bring my own hands up, aim at him and unleash the energy which has been buzzing at the tips of my fingers for the last few seconds. I expect a huge ball of magic to knock the demon master back, then shoot us into the past, where I can make things right. But the magic comes out in a stream, not a sudden burst. And it doesn’t fly in Lord Loss’s direction. Instead it flows into Bill-E.

I try redirecting the energy, but I can’t control it. The magic seeps out of me and into my dead brother. Lord Loss is watching uncertainly, frowning, perhaps wondering if this is part of a time-travelling spell. Beranabus is dragging himself towards us, not willing to die without a fight. Dervish is still weeping over Bill-E, oblivious to all that’s going on.