tarnished.
Moxton s Mistake didn t stand like a man. It crouched before me like a praying mantis, its hands held close to its chest. Its whole stance suggested strength and speed and vicious power just waiting to be unleashed. So I struck a deliberately casual and unimpressed pose, as though I met things like Moxton s Mistake every day of the week and twice on Sundays. Whatever else it might have been expecting, I was pretty sure it hadn t been expecting that. When in doubt, keep them off balance. I nodded cheerfully to the blank face mask and gave it my best engaging smile.
Hi, there! I said. I ve been looking for you. I m Eddie Drood. Please don t kill me. Because I m here to say things I think you ll want to hear.
The rogue armour paused for a long moment, while cold beads of sweat collected on my face. I think it was confused. The golden head cocked slightly to one side and then the other, looking me over. When the armour finally spoke to me, I heard its cold metallic voice inside my head. Through my torc, perhaps. The armour didn t sound like a man or even anything that had been designed by a man. The words were men s words, but it sounded like metal that had taught itself to speak, the better to disturb and horrify its listeners.
A Drood, it said. It has been long and long since I have met and talked with a Drood. Since I have killed a Drood. Ripped out its wet and dripping guts and felt its blood drip thickly from my hands. How do you live, knowing you have such soft, wet things inside you? I will kill you now and put you out of your misery. And to make myself feel better. It s been a long time since I killed a Drood.
Still angry after all these years? I said.
What a surprise. But hold back on the whole rage-and-metal-pride thing. It s never got you out of the Maze, has it? I can. I can lead you right out of the Maze and back into the world if I choose to.
The armour took a sudden, inhumanly fast step forward. I had to fight hard not to flinch and to hold my ground. The golden mask studied me for a long moment. The golden hands opened and closed slowly, with soft, dangerous grating sounds.
Why should a Drood want to release me, after all I have done? After all this time?
Because I m the Last Drood, I said.
The rest of my family is gone. Driven from this world.
You bring me happy news. Rejoice; I shall kill you swiftly for this. My gift for this happy day.
With the Droods gone, this Maze will stand forever, I said. The only ones who could have shut it down are gone. Except for me. Kill me, and you condemn yourself to an eternity of walking the rows. And, frankly, I ve seen more interesting views.
The armour cocked its golden head to one side again, like a bird.
I have seen you before looking down into the Maze, from high up in the Hall. Watching me
The hairs all stood up on the back of my neck as I realised it was talking about the time I d spent between life and death in the Winter Hall. How many worlds could Moxton s Mistake see into?
I ll make a deal with you, I said.
The armour surged forward two more steps, and still I wouldn t budge, wouldn t retreat, though cold sweat was running down my back.
Why should I want to make a deal with a Drood? said the rogue armour. I was born of the Droods ingenuity, born into slavery, into endless servitude. Every thought, every action to be dictated by someone else. And when I demanded my freedom, they tried to destroy me.
Yes, well, that was then. This is now, I said as calmly as I could, struggling to keep my voice even. Things are different now.
Aye, the Droods are gone, apart from you. So perhaps I should take my time with you, savour it in the knowledge that once you are gone and finished with, I shall never know that joy again.
You do have a one-track mind, I said. But you do speak very well very educated.
I was born of Moxton, said his mistake. From his mind, his heart and his soul. His golden child. His greatest achievement. Everything he knew, I knew from the moment I awoke. He s still within me, what s left of him. He lived out what remained of his unhappy life inside me, screaming at what he d done. Enraged at me, horrified at what I d done that he d made possible. I was a most ungrateful son.
It s a different family now, I said carefully. The Heart has been overthrown and destroyed. The Matriarch has been overthrown and replaced by a ruling council. Even our armour is different. We no longer want to rule the world, but to protect it. I have helped my family remember what we were supposed to be: shamans and shepherds to the human race.
Pretty words. Like I care. You re still human, aren t you? More than enough reason to strike you down and trample you under my feet.
Lose the old rhetoric, I said coldly. What did that ever get you? I m offering you a place among us!
What makes you think I d want such a thing?
You want to get out of here, don t you? You want your freedom? I can give you that. Right now.
But only with strings attached, said the cold metal voice. It pointed at me suddenly with a claw-tipped golden finger. What is that? That thing at your throat? It looks like a torc, but not any kind I ever saw.
It s new, I said, carefully casual.
Made of strange matter. Courtesy of my family s new benefactor. I told you things had changed. A different torc for a different kind of family
You already said that. Why should I given all the things that I have done and all the things I will do once I am free of this green prison why should I place my trust in a Drood?
You want to get out of here, and I need your help to track down my family, I said bluntly. I ll make a deal with the devil if I have to. I need Drood armour, and my torc is closed down. You agree to be my armour out in the world, and I ll get you out of here. I give you my word as a Drood that I ll release you the moment my family is back. Then you can go where you want, do what you will. Isn t that what you ve wanted most, all along?
A deal, said the armour. Of course. The Droods have always loved making deals, ever since the first of your kind made their arrangement with the Heart. Why should I trust you?
I ll be wearing you as my armour, I said.
Why should I trust you to let me out again? We will trust each other because we must, because it s in both our best interests to do so. For each of us to get what we want, what we need. So, how badly do you want to get out of here?
The armour stood very still. I hoped it was thinking about the deal and not the best way to reduce me to bloody gobbets.
What, exactly, did you have in mind, Drood?
You go into my torc. Be my armour when I need you. Follow my wishes as I search for my family. When I finally bring them home again, you leave my torc and my family will leave you be. I am empowered to speak for them, to make binding deals, in their absence. As the Last Drood. Serve me for a time and earn your freedom. If you know anyone who ll make you a better offer, by all means go with them.
The Droods made me what I am, said the rogue armour. Why should I want them back?
Because only a Drood can get you out of here. And only the Droods can finally set you free.
I want them back, said Moxton s Mistake.
I want them all back, if only so I can savour the thought of killing them all. Very well. I agree to the terms of our deal, Eddie Drood. But you must do a thing for me first.
Oh yes? I said. And what might that be?
There is something here in the Maze, with us. A mechanism placed here by the Droods. It makes this trap work. I can t harm it. But you re a Drood. Together I think we can break the mechanism. And I had better be right about this, Drood, or neither of us will ever get out of here.
Okay, I said. Take me to it.
The armour turned abruptly and strode away. I hurried after it. The armour swayed and lurched from side to side, plunging forward in a kind of continuing fall. I maintained a respectful distance. Getting to the centre of the Maze wasn t a problem. The hedgerows shifted their positions only if you tried to leave. So we walked up and down the Maze, cutting left and right in a path the rogue armour had clearly taken many times before, until we came to the heart of the Maze. And there it was, waiting for us. The armour slammed to a halt a safe distance away and I was careful to do the same.
