First published in hardback in Great Britain by HarperCollins Childrenâs Books 2009
First published in paperback in Great Britain by HarperCollins Childrenâs Books 2010 HarperCollins Childrenâs Books is a division of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 77-85 Fulham Palace Road, Hammersmith, London, W6 8JB
www.harpercollins.co.uk
HELLâS HEROES. Copyright © Darren Shan 2009. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Darren Shan asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of the work.
EBook Edition © FEBRUARY 2011 ISBN: 9780007435371
Version: 2014-10-29
For:
Liam, Biddy and Bas â the Father, the Mother and the Holy Bust!!!
OBEs (Order of the Bloody Entrails) to:
Geir, Wiedar, Jon and all the other nocturnal Norwegian Shan crew
Road Managers:
Geraldine Stroud â the ripper skipper! Mary Byrne â the tipsy first mate!
Editor-in-chief:
Stella Paskins â 10 rounds, not out!!
Apocalyptic agents:
the Christopher Little chorus line
And an extra special thank you to all of my demonically
delightful Shansters, especially those of you who have kept me company on the web through the run of the series. But take heed â if you desert me at this point, heads will roll!!!
â âI miss Cal,â Dervish says. âWe fought a lot when we were young, like all brothers, but we were always there for one another.â
Weâre lying in the mouth of a cave, admiring the desolate desert view, sheltered from the fierce afternoon sun.
âItâs strange,â Dervish chuckles. âI thought Iâd be the first to go. The life I chose, the risks I took⦠I was sure Iâd die young and nastily. I pictured Cal living to be eighty or ninety. Funny how things work out, isnât it?â
I stare at the hole in the left side of Dervishâs chest. Blood is seeping from it and I can see bone inside. âYeah,â I grunt. âHilarious.â
Dervish shifts and grimaces. Heâs in a lot of pain, but he wonât have to suffer much longer. My uncle was in bad shape before we took on an army of demons. Now, having come through hell, he doesnât have a prayer. Heâs finished. We both know it. Thatâs why we came up here from the underground cave, so he could die in the open, breathing fresh air.
âI remember one time,â Dervish continues, ânot long after Cal married your mum. We had a huge row. He wanted me to quit being a Disciple, marry and have kids, lead a normal life. He thought I was crazy to do what I did.â
âHe wasnât wrong,â I snort.
âYou love it really,â Dervish grins. Blood trickles down his chin.
âSave your breath,â I tell him, trying not to shudder.
âWhat for? I wonât need it where Iâm going.â He raises an eyebrow. âYou donât think I can survive, do you?â
âOf course not. Iâm just sick of listening to you whine.â
Dervish laughs softly. The laugh turns into a blood-drenched cough. I hold him as he shakes and moans, spewing up blood and phlegm. When the fit passes, he asks me to move him out of the cave. âI donât think I need worry about sunburn,â he murmurs.
I pick up my dying uncle and carry him outside. He doesnât weigh much. Thin and drawn, overstretched by the world. He rests his head on my chest, like a baby cuddling up to its mother. I prop him against a large rock, then settle beside him. His eyes stay closed. Heâs dozed off. I study him sadly, memorising every line of his creased face, brushing the wilting spikes of hair back from his forehead, remembering all the nights he comforted me when Iâd had a nightmare.
With a jolt he wakes and looks around, alarmed. When he sees me, and the hole in his chest, he relaxes. âOh, it was only a dream. I thought we were in trouble.â
âNothing can trouble us here.â
Dervish smiles at me lopsidedly. âI loved having you live with me. You were like my son. Billy was too, but I never got to spend the sort of time with him that I did with you.â