Monster Island(68)

And if you do that, boy, my sacrifice will be wasted. My lifeand my death will have been for naught. No! I won’t let you make me meaningless! Now do as you’ve been told!

“I’m done, Mael. I won’t work for you any more,” Gary said, looking down at his feet.

The two mummies came at Gary with their hands up, clearly under orders to attack. Gary ducked under the arms of one of the mummies and saw an amulet tucked into her wrappings in the middle of her chest-her heart scarab. He tore it free and threw it away from him as hard as he could.

In his head he could hear the mummy wailing for her magic charm. She ran after the amulet, leaving her partner to take care of Gary. It was easy enough to block the bandaged arms he tried to use like flails. Gary headbutted him hard enough to crack the Egyptian’s ancient skull and the mummy went down in a heap.

Mael waded into the battle then himself. The green sword crashed down against the back of Gary’s head but he was ready for it and rolled with the impact. He dodged sideways and looked for an opening. He only had a few seconds, he knew, before Mael thought to call for reinforcements-thousands of them. Despite the energy blazing away inside Gary’s dead veins he couldn’t hold his own against an army of the undead. He also knew how strong Mael was and that given a chance the Druid could snap his neck with one hand. He needed an advantage and he needed it fast.

Mael swung and the sword came down hard against the floor, shattering bricks to powder, missing Gary by inches as he rolled away.Take what’s coming to you, boy! Gary covered his face with his arms but he knew that if Mael connected with the sword the blow would shatter his bones.

Another swing-Gary dashed out of the way and felt his back collide with a stone wall. There was nowhere left to retreat. Mael came after him, looking down at him through the eyes of thetaibhsearan.

The weapon rose again and then stopped in mid-swing.In Balor’s name, the Druid shrieked,it’s gone dark as night! What have you done, lad?

Gary held his hands tight across his face as he manipulated theeididh. His voice was softer than he meant to be when he spoke. “I’ve just told every ghoul in the Park to close their eyes,” he said.

The sword fell from Mael’s hand. The Druid reached up to touch his empty orbits. He started to moan, a low mournful sound that rattled Gary’s teeth so much he nearly lost his grasp on the dead. He could feel Mael trying to undo his command, mental shrieks probing at thetaibhsearan up on the walls, desperate cries going out for the workers outside to come in and serve their master with their eyes. Gary had become too strong, though. He had eaten too many of the living.

Gary rose slowly to his feet, careful not to make too much noise, and stepped up directly behind his erstwhile benefactor. It wasn’t easy with his own eyes closed but he had made a point of memorizing where the Druid stood.

“I have a right to exist, Mael,” he whispered.

Oh, lad, and it’s a wondrous clever thing you’ve become.Gary could feel emotion radiating from the Druid’s form like warmth. There was fear in there and some hatred and quite a bit of pride in his apostate pupil. Mostly though it was sorrow, genuine sorrow that his work was over.

With shaking hands Gary reached out and grabbed Mael’s head below the ears. It hung from his broken neck by little more than a flap of leathery skin. With one swift movement Gary tore it free. Mael’s emaciated body slumped to the floor, as dead as when it had drifted in the cold water under a Scottish peat bog. The head buzzed in Gary’s hand like something that might explode. It felt hot and cold and wet and dry all at the same time and he had a real urge to just cast it away but that would be real folly-Mael wasn’t dead quite yet. Unsure if what he planned next would actually work, he raised the head to his lips as if it were a pumpkin and bit down hard. The ancient skull fragmented in his teeth and then a black river of screaming fluid tore through the world and carried Gary’s consciousness away in its unrelenting current.

David Wellington - Monster Island





Monster Island





Chapter Three


We had no trouble getting back to the river. It looked like every dead person in Midtown Manhattan had been drafted into Gary’s army. The girls were thrilled to see Ayaan again. They laughed and wiped tears from their eyes and pressed their cheeks against hers. There were plenty of questions for her, of which I only understood“See tahay?” and“Ma nabad baa?”, the standard greetings. Her answers met with rapt attention and genuine delight.