Part 32 (1/2)

Will went quiet, then started shaking his head. ”I won't let Matt go in there by himself.”

”It's no use, Cruessan,” Ramirez said. ”We're at the endgame. It was always going to be Archer. We knew that, ever since Africa. It's time, that's all.” He knelt heavily next to Jorge. ”I defer to the Sentinel.”

I swallowed hard, but I knew-I had to go alone. The Master had told me as much. I'd have to face the darkness by myself.

Not alone.

In answer to Tink, four other voices whispered, never alone, never alone, for we are with you.

Jorge nodded. ”We are with you.”

He laid his knife down at the edge of the gateway, and pushed it toward me. Energy crackled when it met the barrier, but the knife came through. Ramirez pushed his through. Aunt Julie knelt, giving me a stern nod, and sent her knife across as well.

That left Will, who was still standing. ”Matt, I can't.”

I knew what he was saying. And he really couldn't. The thought of giving up his knife so I could take it and go off to die wasn't in his DNA.

I held out a hand. ”I have to go on-there isn't a choice. What I need from you now is a promise.” My throat tightened up. ”If I don't make it out, I need you to look after my mom, okay? If I fail, if I can't save Mamie, she'll lose all three of us. I want you to be there for her. Can you do that?”

”Yes.” His response was barely a whisper. ”I'll take care of her.” Will's eyes filled with tears. ”But if you don't come back, I'll hunt down your ghost and kick its a.s.s. Understand?”

”Yeah, man, I understand. Ghostly-a.s.s-kicking,” I said, forcing a smile. ”I'll see you on the other side, okay?”

Drawing in a jerky breath, Will fell to one knee by Ramirez, who clapped him on the back. He laid his knife down, and pushed it through.

I stared at the four knives on the ground at my feet, each one different, but all the same. Figuring out how to carry them all wasn't easy. I held mine in my right hand and Will's in my left, since I had combat experience with those two. The others I shoved through my belt or sheathed in Tink's thigh-pocket.

Ready, I turned my back on the other wielders and went to find the Shadow Man.

Chapter Thirty-Eight.

The hallway was pitch dark, as I knew it had to be. The only light came from my blade's faint blue glow. The stone walls were rough and the floor was uneven, and I tripped or whacked my arms more than once. As I fumbled my way forward, Tink fed me a quiet stream of encouragement, echoed four times over by male voices-two familiar, two foreign. If anything, it made me more anxious.

The hall wound around, doubling back on itself in a few places, before ending at a doorway. Inside was a large, square room with a vaulted ceiling so far overhead, I couldn't see it. I couldn't see how far back the room went, either; shadows swallowed all of it up.

Worse, the windows we'd seen from outside lined the wall to my left but they were as dark as the ceiling and the back walls. I wondered, though, if they were like a two-way mirror. Could my team see inside? G.o.d, I hoped not.

A chuckle that set my teeth on edge floated out of the darkness. ”So, you came after all.”

”Where's my sister?” I asked, not in the mood for games.

”Close.”

Chains rattled at the back of the room. ”I'm here, Matt.”

She sounded so tired. Weak, too. I closed my eyes. ”And you're coming home with me.”

”Only if you can take her.” A smudged form slowly broke away from the deep pitch and came into the faint light my knife made. A powerfully built man, made of darkness and blurred around the edges like his master, stood before me. His face was nearly featureless, except for indentations for a mouth, eyes and nose, but his muscles were distinct. He held the curved spear I'd seen in both cave drawings and his master's hand.

”Like it?” the Shadow Man asked, holding out the spear. ”Forged to more than match your blades, I a.s.sure you.”

I didn't doubt it. Ann's access to Jorge when he created the knives meant the Dark Master knew exactly how they'd been made. ”Let's put that to the test.”

The Shadow Man swung the spear back and forth like a pendulum. ”Want to tell your sister goodbye first?”

”Want to tell your master goodbye first?” I asked, a bitter taste filling my mouth. I realized it was fear.

Steady, Tink whispered.

Steady, steady, steady, steady, the others answered.

I shook out my arms, letting Tink's strength feed mine. I'd killed countless monsters. I'd fought primes to strike down each point of the star. This was just another boss battle.

The outcome of which decided the fate of the world.

Tightening my grip on the knives in my hands, I made a ”come here” gesture at the Shadow Man. Posturing to be sure, but he didn't know that.

He laughed and shook his head.

Stalemate.

While I was contemplating the first move to make, he struck. Not expecting it, I barely got my knife up in time to block the blow. The crash of the spear against my blade sent a shock wave down my arm. Jolted out of my fear, I tried to undercut him with Will's knife, but he knocked my wrist aside before I so much as scratched him.

He shoved me away hard. I tipped over and hit the stone floor flat on my back. Something vital popped and my left shoulder screamed in agony. He rushed me and I rolled, wincing as sparks flew from the rock right next to my head when his spear struck.

I crawled to my feet and circled around. My shoulder was hurt pretty badly; I wasn't going to be able to use that arm much longer. Maybe if I could get away from him for a second, I could cut through Mamie's chains so she could run. If my destiny was to be the ultimate distraction, then so be it, as long as my sister got away to fulfill her own.

The Shadow Man saw through my plan. He swung his spear at my legs, forcing me to jump over it. I backed away, heading for the archway. I didn't know what I was planning to do-panic made for ugly decisions-and found out real quick that the barrier keeping my team out was also there to keep me in. I bounced off the opening and barely had time to duck a blow aimed at my neck.

Tink was feeding me everything she had, plus energy from the other spirits, but I still couldn't keep up with this thing. Every strike I made, he countered, while I had all I could handle staying out of his reach.

He was too strong for me, and he knew I was tiring.

The monster backed me into a corner of the room and sliced my left arm, widening my wound from earlier. Will's knife fell out of my hand and skidded across the floor. I tried to reach for Julie's, but I couldn't make a fist. I ducked under my enemy's arm to get clear, and he slashed my back, sending me tumbling to the opposite wall. Trying to ignore the pain, I sheathed my knife, drew Ramirez's and threw it at his head.

The Shadow Man caught it. He caught the knife-by the blade.

Laughing, he flipped it over and flung it back at me. It struck my collarbone. It cut me, but by some magic of the blade, it didn't go straight through my flesh. Rather, it bounced off the bone and clattered against the rocks.

Mamie moaned in the dark, and that sound hurt worse than any injury. She knew I was losing. So did I.

I wouldn't just roll over and play dead, though. I had three knives left. I'd keep mine for last, so I reached for Julie's.

He knocked it out of my hands easily before I even had a good grip on it.

I skittered away and grabbed Jorge's knife. It pulsed with power and I countered a rain of blows from the Shadow's dark spear, even managing to scratch his arm. Dancing in close, I smeared my blood on the cut, then jumped clear.