Laura cursed loudly, but Shavi interrupted, indicating outside where the storm-clouds had made the city as dark as night.
Mahalia emerged from her daze. ‘What the hell’s going on? Who are you losers?’
‘Oh, look — a little Laura,’ Ruth said.
Mahalia slapped off Miller who was trying to comfort her, and he turned his attention to the awakening Jack and Crowther.
The metallic noise began to boom with a regular beat, and beneath it was a rustling whisper, growing louder.
‘What the hell is that?’ Laura asked quietly.
‘The people,’ Shavi replied, ‘speaking with one voice.’
As the sound grew, they could make out the words:
Shavi drew their attention to the outline of buildings against the storm-clouds, now blurred with movement. ‘The spiders are coming,’ he said in awe.
Amidst a mounting sense of doom, they made their way to the sidewalk where Nelson and Tombstone waited in disbelief. The spiders swarmed across the sides of skyscrapers and surged up from the sewers.
‘Ten Billion, huh?’ Laura said.
‘I am starting to think that was a slight underestimation,’ Shavi replied.
Church grabbed Nelson. ‘We need to get back to Grand Central Terminal.’ Nelson nodded, dazed, and ordered Tombstone to commandeer a taxi.
Veitch pulled Church to one side. ‘What’s the point?’ he said quietly. ‘You heard that Sky God say all the gates to the Otherworld are closed. We’re stuck here.’
‘I’m not giving up, Ryan.’
Veitch shook his head, but as they raced as fast as they could through now-seething streets in two packed cars, he kept glancing at Church, his confused emotions playing out on his face.
All around people stood in a trance, faces turned to the boiling storm clouds, each of them quietly chanting, ‘Croatoan, Croatoan,’ in a preprogrammed ritual of release. Over it all, the flaming outline of the Burning Man was now clearly visible in the sky.
A small number of people who had seen through the Void’s spell and had spent their days living outsider lives now ran in horror, searching for some escape that they would never find.
‘This world is coming to an end,’ Tom said. ‘The Mundane Spell has been shattered once and for all, and you have become a threat to the Void’s rule. It’s shutting the planet down and starting again.’
‘All those people,’ Ruth said desperately.
‘There’s still hope for them. Nothing dies,’ Church replied. ‘It’s up to us now.’
At the entrance to Grand Central Terminal, Church asked the detectives to come with them. Nelson shook his head. ‘Somebody I’ve got to see.’ He looked out across the blackened, churning city. ‘She shouldn’t have to face this on her own.’
‘I’ll drive,’ Tombstone said with bright fatalism.
Church led the others down the sweeping steps and across the main concourse to the tracks.
‘You’re planning to catch a train?’ Laura said incredulously. ‘You’ve lost it!’
‘We’re going to the Far Lands.’
Veitch prodded Mahalia to keep moving and she glared at him murderously. ‘What are you planning?’ he asked.
At the end of the platform, Church sliced his arm with Caledfwlch and sent blood spraying across the rails. Within moments, the Last Train rumbled into the station in a cloud of steam and smoke. The doors slid open to reveal Ahken, smiling obsequiously, a cruel glint in his eyes.
‘I was expecting you for one last journey,’ he said.
‘Can you take us to the Far Lands?’ Church asked.
‘Of course. That is our next and final destination. We have always been travelling towards this time, towards that place. The end of the journey is near now.’
He stepped aside to let everyone on board. Church, Ruth and Veitch remained in the open doorway as clouds of steam gushed across the platform from the starting engines. They watched as a wave of scurrying black washed down over the platform. Everywhere they looked was black and seething. The city, the world, was being taken apart by the spiders.
The train pulled out of the station slowly, gathering speed.
‘It’s going,’ Ruth said. ‘It’s all going.’
‘The Blue Fire’s still out there,’ Church said. ‘And we’re not beaten. We’re stronger than ever.’
Veitch watched the spiders at work, his deep thoughts unreadable. ‘From now on, it’s war,’ he said, almost to himself.
They let the door close and took their seats with the others. Silence filled the carriage as they all pondered what they were leaving behind, and the weight of the responsibility that now lay on their shoulders.
Then Church drew Caledfwlch and said to Veitch, ‘Draw your sword.’
Puzzled, Veitch took out his blade. As the two great swords were slowly brought together, the black flames and the blue flames jumped towards each other, danced, mingled. Church winced at the touch of the cold as the fire around Caledfwlch grew a shade darker. But Veitch was wide-eyed with wonder as small blue flames shimmered amongst the black fire around his sword for the first time.
‘We’re ready for the fight,’ Church said, and seeing the confidence and hope shining in the faces of his Brothers and Sisters, he knew they all agreed. For the first time in a long while, they were all together, drawing from each other’s strengths. He felt a surge of pride and the belief that anything was possible.
The train moved out from the gathering darkness towards an uncertain future. The old age had passed. A new one lay ahead.
