I stood in front of the arch, building up my courage to step into it. Despite my early conviction, I must admit to being nervous as the climax drew closer. Behind me Syntan lay on the ground, still unconscious and bound securely by ropes we had found in the basement. Standing at my shoulder was the battered body of John Hughes. 'These bodies are rather cumbersome to use at first, but I'm certain they will get the hang of operating them as I did.'
I couldn't help but laugh. 'Took you some time, yes?'
'Quite.' Replied Hughes dryly. 'It took a while to even learn to write.'
A piece of the puzzle clicked into place. 'That explains why the writing in your letter was so –'
'Basic.' Finished Hughes, smiling wryly. Abruptly a sense of impatience entered his voice. 'There is not much time left, Hangly. We must begin.'
'What do I do?'
'Step into the archway and open your mind. I will guide you.'
I nodded and stepped cautiously into the archway.
'You're making a mistake, Mr. Hangly.'
Both Hughes and I turned round in surprise to face the now conscious Arthur Syntan. Despite his predicament, he was in surprisingly good spirits. 'You're being used, Mr. Hangly. If you follow this creature's instructions you will bring about the destruction of everything.'
Hughes looked down at him angrily. 'When the new age begins, Syntan, you will most assuredly not have a place in it.'
'New age?' asked Syntan.
'The age of Man and Gelth.'
To his fury, Syntan laughed mockingly. 'Man and Gelth? More like Gelth alone! Mr. Hangly, if we are indeed about to witness the dawn of a new age, do you honestly think there are enough bodies here to hold all of the –' he was silenced as Hughes kicked him sharply in the stomach. I should have protested to this treatment, but instead only felt happiness and contentment at my role in the dawn of a new age. 'I am ready.'
'Excellent!' said Hughes excitedly. 'My kind are in the void. I want you to find them. Follow their voices.'
I closed my eyes and focussed on the voices that I could hear. I allowed them to become stronger and soon I once again saw the image of the void form before me. 'I see it.' I whispered. 'I've found them.'
The image grew stronger and stronger as my mind drew closer. Soon it felt as if I was floating in the void itself. For a few minutes I simply allowed myself to drift, overcome by the awe of where I was, enjoying the feeling of time floating passed me on it's never-ending journey. 'Don't lose concentration Hangly, or you'll be lost forever' said Hughes.
I shook myself out of my trance and remembered my mission. I turned around to find the Gelth and stopped frozen in horror.
Floating below me were the Gelth, but there were more than I had seen before. Hundreds, no, thousands were there. I remembered what Syntan had said before: 'If we are indeed about to witness the dawn of a new age, do you honestly think there are enough bodies here to hold all of the –'
He was right. There was not near enough bodies to hold all of these Gelth. 'Hangly, have you found them?' I heard Hughes say.
'Yes, but –' I tried to warn him.
'Excellent. I'll take over from here.'
Suddenly a voice that wasn't mine emerged from my lips. 'My brethren! The way is open! Follow my voice! Our chance is now!'
At once the mass of Gelth below me suddenly became more focussed, all of them flying up towards me. In a panic, I shut my eyes and willed myself back to the basement. I had to warn Hughes.
'Hangly! What are you doing?' screamed Hughes. I opened my eyes and found that I was back in the basement. A wind had sprung up, and was growing stronger every second. 'There aren't enough!' I said urgently.
'Enough what?'
'Bodies! There aren't enough here to house all of your kind!'
To my surprise, the thing known as Hughes laughed. 'Of course there aren't. There are enough here to house a few, and from that we can get more. An advance guard if you will.'
'More? Where will you get more from so…?' and abruptly I knew. These creatures were by no means benevolent. They intended to kill living people for shells.
I had been tricked.
'Yes, Hangly, I can see you've guessed our intentions.'
'Thousands of people will die!'
'We shall live. That is all that matters.'
I tried to jump to my feet, to break the link, but to my horror found I was unable to move. 'Once the link is open it cannot be broken Hangly. You will serve your purpose one way or another.'
I could feel the triumphant cries of the Gelth growing louder as they drew nearer. Their eagerness to escape was frightening, but Hughes shared in their excitement. He stood erect, eyes closed, and I knew he could hear them as well. 'Yes, my brethren, the way to freedom is here!'
But behind him somebody appeared as if from nowhere. Alerted by some sixth sense, Hughes spun round to face Arthur Syntan. 'You! How were you –'
Before he could reply Syntan raised the knife he was holding for Hughes to see. 'I always come prepared.'
And he plunged the knife into Hughes' chest.
Before Hughes could react Syntan punched him hard in the face. Hughes tumbled backwards. His concentration broken, I could hear the triumphant screams of the Gelth become that of panic as they lost their beacon and were flying blind. I watched, powerless, as Hughes scrambled to his feet and pulled the still bloodless knife from his chest. Syntan's eyes darted around quickly, and he saw what he was looking for and dived for it. Hughes jumped after him, but Syntan was too fast for him. He grabbed his gun from where it had fallen and jammed it into Hughes' face. I forced myself to shut my eyes. I head the sound of a shot, and then felt someone trying to pull me up. I opened my eyes to see Syntan in front of me. 'Hangly, move! We've got to get out of here!'
'I can't! The link –'
'What?'
'The link's too strong! I can't move!'
A look of panic came briefly across his face as he tried to think of a way to help. He looked around the room eagerly, his gaze lingering on his gun for a perhaps a fraction too long. Finally out of options, he turned round and without any warning punched me.
There was a lot of strength in the blow and I was hurled backwards, out of the archway. Instantly the paralysis was gone from my body and I found I could move again. Syntan rushed over to help me. 'I'm sorry about that, Mr. Hangly, but we have to get out now!'
A movement behind him got my attention and I did my best to shout a warning, but it was too late. The indestructible John Hughes grabbed him while he was still turning and threw him into the wall. As Syntan fell into apparent unconsciousness, Hughes turned back to face me. Any hope that I had that he really did have good intentions vanished instantly. The thing standing before me was more demon than man. Hughes' face was ruined from the gunshot, a gaping hole in the jaw. When he opened his mouth teeth knocked loose came pouring out. But the worst thing was the light. The light had once been a calming blue, was now a fiery red. Despite his injuries, his voice could be heard as clear as day. 'I see that I need to take a more direct approach.' With a sudden turn of speed he grabbed me and dragged me back into the archway. I struggled but like Syntan he was surprisingly strong. Once we reached the archway, he put his thumbs to my forehead and closed his eyes in concentration. Instantly I could feel his presence in my mind…
And suddenly we were in the void again. The wind that had disrupted the basement was even stronger here, and I realised for the first time that the void was no place for any living thing. I looked at Hughes in surprise. 'You have powers as well.'
'Yes,' admitted Hughes. 'Not strong enough to open the void though.' A grin came across the ruined face. 'But now I have you Hangly, and under my personal supervision the Gelth shall pass through into your world.'
He turned me round to face the advancing mass of Gelth. They rushed towards us eagerly, their screams of horror now ones of triumph. I was overwhelmed by the panic within me. I struggled in Hughes' grip but he kept hold firmly. 'At last the way forward is clear!' he shouted over the howling wind. 'Our survival is assured! Not even that interfering fool Syntan can stop us now!'
As if on cue, a familiar voice rang out behind him. 'I'd rather you didn't put me out of the race just yet!'
We spun round in disbelief but there he was, floating serenely in the void.
'Syntan!' choked Hughes. 'Then you…?'
'Yes, I am what you would call partially psychic.' said Syntan simply. 'Not strongly, but with a link this strong a child could enter.' His mood suddenly became deadly serious. 'This is your last chance Hughes. Close the link.'
Hughes suddenly flung me aside in rage and it was all I could do to stop myself from drifting away. 'We have been trapped in this realm for aeons! So many of us lost… doesn't that mean anything to you?' There was a hint of sadness in his voice. 'We shall die if left here… can you have that on your conscience?'
I could see Syntan was struggling with what to do. 'Syntan!' I shouted as loudly as I could. 'Remember what they have planned for us! They're cold… merciless!'
Hughes spun to face me with fire in his eyes but it was too late. Syntan suddenly shot across and hit him with as much strength as he could muster. Caught off guard, Hughes plunged down into the void with an unearthly scream, until he disappeared into the seething mass of Gelth.
Syntan floated over to where I was and grabbed my hand. 'It's time for us to go.'
Tears of joy suddenly sprung up in my eyes and I wept unashamedly. The nightmare was over!
Suddenly a horrendous chorus of scream broke out. The Gelth were nearly upon us! 'It's too late!' yelled Syntan. 'We… we failed!'
For a moment I stood frozen in horror as the Gelth surged towards us, then I felt my temper rising. 'No! No more! I want this to end!' my voice rose to a shout. 'I want this to end!'
I felt it happen. As I screamed that last statement, my anger was released from me in a huge wave, hitting the Gelth and sending them spinning away. 'Well done Hangly!' laughed Syntan. 'Now let's go!'
I closed my eyes and concentrated, willing us back to the basement. I concentrated until it felt as if my head would explode. 'No more of this! I want to go home!'
Suddenly the wind stopped and I abruptly lost my balance as I regained control of my body. Both Syntan and I steadied each other. 'What – what happened?' I gasped.
Syntan turned to look at the now lifeless body of Hughes. He gave it a nudge with the toe of his boot but there was no reaction. 'I think, we won, Mr. Hangly'
I put my hand to my head as realisation dawned upon me. The pressure was gone. The link was closed. It was over. I looked at Syntan and returned his smile. 'Yes, I do believe we did.'