the rock walls looking for any sign of a hidden passage or footholds that would help them climb to safety.
'Do you see anything here?' Ruth asked Shavi. He turned in a slow arc, letting his alien eye focus on everything. After a moment, he shook his head.
'Fucking brilliant!' Laura blazed. 'First you lose Hunter, now this!' Tears stung her eyes.
The low hunting calls grew louder. From out of the blizzard emerged the Fomorii, some descending the winding path, others clinging to the rock-face, still more rising up on the edge of the horseshoe-shaped area from where the land fell away precipitously.
Church and Veitch faced them, drawing their swords so that blue and black energy sparked between them. Ruth joined them, Blue Fire crackling around the tip of the Spear of Lugh.
Laura brushed away her tears to take a flank, but when she saw Shavi joining them, she urged him back. 'Let's face it, Shavster, you're about as useful as a wet towel in a fight like this. Go help Team Loser find a way out of here.'
'We have travelled the worlds together and you are all more dear to me than anyone else in my life. We have truly lived together and we should die together,' he replied.
She set her jaw. 'We're not about to die, because Hunter's going to come over that hill with the cavalry and crush these bastards dead. Now, go!'
In Shavi's look of sad fondness, they both accepted the lie in Laura's words, and then he turned and hurried to Tom and Miller who were scrambling around the foot of the cliffs. Virginia watched them blankly.
An oily flow of Fomorii washed into the horseshoe area until they stood ranged from cliff to cliff. It was like looking into a haze as their edges blurred with the constant shape-changing: armour plates snapping into place, human forms becoming insectile, cruel spikes and horns bursting from the hard skin.
'I've not missed them,' Church said.
'You know what makes me sick?' Veitch said. 'There's nobody here to write about how bleedin' brilliant we'll be when we go down fighting.'
Ruth smiled to herself. 'That's all you've ever wanted, isn't it? To be seen as one of the heroes.'
'Yeah, I want my name up in lights, why not?'
'Not going to happen, you tattooed psycho.' Laura crouched down and buried one hand in the snow until she was touching the ground. Concentration darkened her face, and after a second a row of bramble crawled slowly from the frozen ground along the ranks of Fomorii. With a gasp, Laura sagged back onto her behind. 'God, this place is too frozen. I'm as useless as Shavi.'
'You tried,' Church said. 'Drop back with the others.'
The Fomorii held back for a second, and then they broke like a wave at the shore.
'No,' Ruth whispered defiantly.
A sound thundered at the base of Church and Veitch's skulls. Ruth had uttered a word of power, her eyes rolling back to reveal the whites. She appeared greater than the mere dimensions of her form, magnificent, and with each passing second, more terrifying.
The wind roiled into a fist and slammed into the approaching line of Fomorii, smashing them back. Bullets of snow and ice tore into them and lightning crashed from the sky, leaving charred circles in the snow and the twisted remnants of bodies. In a trance, she levelled the Spear of Lugh, and Blue Fire surged from the tip. The Fomorii recoiled from contact with it.
Only one of the creatures made it through Ruth's assault, but Church and Veitch were ready for it. They attacked from either side, hacking and thrusting. Screeching, the Fomor lashed out, its limbs changing shape as it moved to find the most lethal aspect. One glancing blow sent Church sprawling, but Veitch was already in the space Church had occupied before he hit the ground, preventing the Fomor from delivering a killing blow.
At the cliff wall, Miller and Shavi were drawn by the furious battle, but Tom continued to search furiously, Virginia observing him. With angry frustration, he took a step back and shouted at Shavi, 'Something's here. You're supposed to be a saviour of the universe. Find it.'
'I see nothing,' Shavi responded. 'No hidden door or path-'
'Wait.' Miller pointed hesitantly to the lifeless tree. 'That stands in such a perfect position in this space… is it natural?'
Shavi ran his hands over the bark.
'Yes,' Tom said. 'Yes! Symbolic. It's a sign. A message-'
'Here, in this desolate, frozen, rocky place,' Shavi continued with a smile, 'is life.'
As he moved his hands over the rough bark, he felt the faintest pulse deep within. Resting his forehead against the trunk, eyes closed, he held it, fanned it, drew it out from the sleeping core. Miller's hand went to his stomach where he felt an involuntary connective warmth.
A faint blue light appeared on the trunk. Breathing in the smell of burned iron, Shavi concentrated, forcing the long-dormant power to grow stronger. The light became a single flame that appeared to die in the cold breeze, until suddenly it erupted along the length of the trunk and the entire tree blazed with the Blue Fire, each shimmering finger now a leaf on the once-dead branches.
At the foot of the tree, the earth energy crackled into the snow, moving in a rapid, dizzying spiral until it sizzled in a direct line towards the cliff wall and up the rock face where it illuminated the sign of a dragon eating its tail.
'Here!' Tom yelled. 'Here, now!'
Shavi raced towards it and slammed his hand into the centre of the symbol. A flash dazzled them all for a second, and then with a judder that threw them from their feet, the rock tore itself open to reveal a door into a dark space.
'Church! Ryan! Ruth! Come, now!' Shavi called.
Church and Veitch continued to whirl around the remaining Fomor, their swords leaving fiery trails in the air. They were both covered with cuts that spattered blood onto the snow. But Ruth was almost unrecognisable. She hovered six inches above the ground, arms outstretched, head back, the blue light from the Spear washing around before driving out intermittently at the storm-tossed ranks of Fomorii still closing in. She held them back, though just barely. To Shavi, she looked like one of the gods, as frightening and enigmatic as a force of nature.
He ran to her, but when he placed his hand on her side, her head snapped around, her face filled with fury and he was thrown ten feet back with a blast that left him close to unconsciousness.
Church's cry shocked Ruth from her trance, and she crashed to the ground. Still dazed, she was at first unable to comprehend Shavi's smoking form as he staggered to his feet, but gradually realisation dawned on her. Her devastation was clear in her face.
'Ruth!' Church called urgently.
The lines of Fomorii gradually recovered and prepared to attack. Although they held their enemy at bay, Church and Veitch could not find an opening to escape towards Shavi. Gathering herself, Ruth dived beneath the attacking beast and rammed the Spear of Lugh up into the creature's belly. Amidst a burst of blue light, the Fomor exploded. As the body parts rained down, Church and Veitch grabbed Ruth and half-dragged her towards the gaping hole in the cliff-face where Shavi beckoned urgently. Behind them, the howls of the approaching Fomorii echoed.
Diving through the open doorway, they had one last look at the horde of shape-shifting beasts bearing down on them before the door slid shut and they were plunged into darkness.
As they caught their breath, Tom struck his flint and found a cobweb-festooned lantern hanging on a hook next to the door. The flame guttered, then leaped. They stood in a vast entrance hall amidst blocks of fallen masonry and discarded swords, spears and shields as if a final battle had been fought there. Columns soared up into the dark and ahead of them a few cracked steps led up to a towering archway beyond which lay only shadows.
Tearfully, Ruth hugged Shavi. 'I'm so sorry. I could have killed you.'
'A slight singe here and there, but I am fine.'
'We'd all be dead if not for you,' Church said.
'You're a scary woman,' Veitch added. 'Where did all that come from?'
'The power's been growing in me for a long time.' She ran a shaking hand through her hair. 'Back on our world, I could feel it, but didn't really know how to get to it. Here…' She chewed her lip. 'I'm afraid I might not be able to control it.'
