accord. His heart sank.
As Church prepared for the wave to break over them, he realised something odd was happening. The Fomorii had moved into a crescent formation, the twin horns bypassing the Brothers and Sisters of Dragons. His first thought was that they were completing the circle, but they continued with mounting speed until they crashed with the force of a tsunami on the disoriented ranks of the Enemy.
Church had forgotten the sheer ferocity of the Nightwalkers. The Fomorii ripped through the brutish creatures, the Lament-Brood, the Redcaps, as if they were sheep. Razor-sharp limbs and snapping jaws churned up a fountain of body parts, bones and blood, as if the Enemy had been put through a giant mincer. A red haze came down, making it impossible to see more than a few yards ahead.
The unthinking enemy army put up a fierce resistance, seemingly oblivious to their own impending destruction. By sheer weight of numbers they bought down several of the Fomorii. But soon paths were being carved through their ranks and the flow from the gates was reversed: the retreat had been announced.
Church and the others shielded themselves from the wild, bloody storm in the reaches of the crevice, but as it moved towards the Fortress wall, they clambered out to witness the carnage. A red slurry lay across the ochre hardpan. Along the walls, some of the Fomorii harried the last of the Enemy left out in the open after the gates were closed, while others threw themselves at the walls, attempting to break through or scale them.
'What the hell?' Mallory said. 'Never saw that one coming.'
'I… I think that may explain it,' Ruth gasped.
Making his way across the hardpan with a piratical swagger was Hunter. Behind him trailed Miller, Jack and Virginia, all in the bizarre shadow of a hooded giant.
Stunned, Church and the others could only gape as Hunter offered a broad grin and a wave. 'Missed me?' he said.
'We thought you were dead,' Shavi replied. 'All of you.'
'Takes more than a few-hundred-foot fall to kill me. I'm a hard, hard man.' He nodded towards Miller. 'Besides, when you've got Doctor Miller here with his healing hands, anything is possible.'
Church shook his hand forcefully. 'It's good to have you back, Hunter.'
'Who's the big guy?' Veitch asked.
'My new brother. Yeah, probably wouldn't be a good idea to antagonise him. He gets under your skin and into your head, and not in a good way.'
Ruth looked towards the Fomorii. 'How did you-?'
'Him too.'
While Mallory hugged Miller, then Virginia, and clapped Jack on the back with honest relief, Shavi said with cautious sensitivity, 'We feared you had been murdered by Laura. She has not been herself.'
'You always did have a way with words,' Hunter said noncommittally. His grin remained broad.
'Did she attack you?' Ruth pressed.
'Not something we need to think about right now.'
'It's something you need to think about very shortly,' Tom said sharply. 'She's working with the Enemy. She's inside the Fortress. With all she knows about us and our plans, she could cause untold damage.'
'I'll deal with her,' Hunter said. He removed the Balor Claw from his backpack and slipped it on.
'What's that?' Church asked suspiciously.
'Nice, isn't it?' Hunter turned it so it caught the harsh light. 'I think it adds to my flamboyant appeal. Got to look good going into battle.'
'Hunter, I know how much you cared for Laura,' Ruth pressed. 'I know you must be devastated by what she did to you. It's okay to let it out.'
'Nothing to let out, beautiful.'
'Just… just don't hurt her. Whatever she's done, she's still one of us,' Ruth said, unsettled by his calm demeanour.
'Don't worry, I'll be gentle.'
'Virginia can lead us inside the Fortress?' Church asked.
'There's a dry river bed about a mile that way.' Hunter indicated east. 'It runs close to the walls. Somewhere along it there's the remains of an underground tributary. Follow that and it'll bring you through run-off channels to the lowest levels of the Fortress. Apparently it's pretty deserted down there, so we should be able to move quickly to a good proximity of where we need to be.'
'I don't think we should travel together,' Church said.
'I agree.'
'Are you mad?' Ruth said. 'Haven't you seen a hundred horror films where the team splits up only to get picked off one by one?'
'We need to maximise our chances of somebody getting through,' Church said. 'If we're all travelling together we're easy to find — and to kill.'
'If you want my advice, you should lead your original lot,' Hunter said. 'Mallory and Caitlin work well together. Looks like they've still got Hal in the lantern. That makes a team. I'll take Miller, Jack — the Two Keys — and Virginia. We've got a good rhythm going.'
'Mallory can take the Extinction Shears so we haven't got all our resources together,' Church said.
'I'll look for Laura first,' Hunter said. 'Neutralise the fact that she could upset the apple cart. Then I'll head for the reunion.' He ignored Ruth's searching gaze.
'How will we know where and when to meet up?' Shavi asked.
'My new pal.' Hunter indicated the giant who was standing motionless on the fringes, his head cocked to one side. 'He's some kind of mentalist — reads minds, talks to you in your head. Weird as hell, but it works. He's the link for group communication, and he can also perceive any potential threats upcoming on our routes. And guide me to Laura.'
'Sounds like a plan.' The relief in Church's voice was palpable. 'I thought we were done for. Now we're back on course. I'll tell the others.'
Veitch and Hunter were left alone. 'You and me, we're alike,' Veitch said, gently clanking his silver hand against the Balor Claw. 'Same basic abilities, same psycho-skills for killing. You're smarter by a long way, and I'm not going to be copying your fashion sense, but we're on the same wavelength, right?'
Hunter nodded, wondering where Veitch was going with this line of thought.
'I might be a thick-headed git from South London, but that doesn't mean I don't learn from my mistakes,' Veitch continued. 'So whatever you're planning for Laura, give her a break. Things might not be how they seem. I know how you can end up doing stuff that you'd never normally do. Her and me, we've never seen eye to eye, but deep down her heart's in the right place. For her sake… and for yours… don't do something you'll regret for the rest of your life.'
'Thanks for the advice.'
They nodded curtly and separated. Veitch hoped he'd done enough; Hunter was impossible to read, but Veitch was afraid they really were too much alike.
While Mallory and Caitlin examined the unnervingly weak flame in the Wayfinder, and Hunter regaled the others with a brief but dramatic version of his journey from Winter-side, Church and Ruth returned to Veitch.
'Everything is going in the right direction now,' Ruth said. 'We've eased the tensions amongst us. We've turned you away from the Libertarian-'
'No, we haven't,' Church said bluntly. A shadow crossed his face. 'If everything was going fine, he'd be here, making our lives a misery every step of the way. But he's not, he's sitting back somewhere, and that means he still thinks things are on course.'
'But what can go wrong now?' Ruth said. 'We're together.' She squeezed his hand tightly. 'You said that it was something to do with you and me that tips you over to become the Libertarian — we're not going to let that happen.'
The defiance in her voice failed to move him. A black mood welled up in Church, all his fears laid bare, and Ruth realised how much he had been suppressing it. She couldn't bear to see that raw emotion etched in his face.
'We don't know what's ahead,' he said. 'We can mitigate against it as much as possible, but… we don't know. One thing's for sure — I will never let myself become the Libertarian. I've already seen some of the misery my
