Chapter 60 of 74 · Book 6, The Eye of the Bedlam Bride

Chapter 60 — The last rampart

Book: The Eye of the Bedlam Bride · Part: The Bedlam · Previous: Chapter 59 — Velma · Next: Chapter 61 — Three out of four · Floor: Floor 8 — The Ghosts of Earth · Series: the series

Opening

Quan had more crap in his inventory than I did, which was saying a lot.

Summary

Quan's inventory: a magical chainsaw, a bowler that decapitates and returns, a sock of nickels among his most valuable items, five million gold, and an armoury of every dead crawler's weapons — 'The least I could do was make certain it got put to good use.' The ring left in his hand; the arm kept, 'I wasn't sure why.' The urge to slip on the Ring of Divine Suffering and mark Ren or Khulan, fought; on the ninth floor it will mark many at once. Amayon in the Madre's body stands ramrod straight on the tallest building, pouring fire into the sky, demon gulls in a tornado round it, the air heating. 'Goodbye, everyone. At least I won't have to listen to anyone butcher the pronunciation of my name anymore […] Make them all pay.' A small controlled collapse of the dome; Tserendolgor in the deceased folder. Samantha wants to name the round guy; a ten-times-resurrected tummy acher once ate a small dragon. Three throws and a ten-minute roll to bite Donut's tail; Donut yaks after the teleport and wears a new gold player-killer skull neither of them mentions — 'We were losing more of ourselves every day.' Zombie seals and crabs with a communal mind flood the city; possessed ones scream off toward Amayon. Imani: a ram cleric and a mantaur at the church's Club Vanquisher outbuilding keep opening the door to kill zombies and drawing a crowd. Loot's best: Eye in the Sky scrolls, tomes, Velma, the nickel sock, Quan's celestial cloak. Mordecai: keep the meatball boxed; Ren erred saying his weaknesses aloud — the factions spy; save the scrolls; 'She's not going to take it.' 'Elle will convince her.' Samantha pied-pipers zombies away shouting two blocks off. 'Did you beat him with his arm? I promised the Posse […] I even put it in the newsletter.' 'Using a loophole isn't cheating, Carl. Not when we do it.' Then Sister Ines: the last key opens the door in the Iglesia de Jesús de Miramar, a holy place, and 'If you open that door, it will be the end of everything. They told me so.' 'JUST TRY TO STOP US YOU HALF-BREED BITCH' — 'Wow. That came out way more racist sounding than I intended.' 'I am filled with power, Carl. With each demon who appears, I grow stronger […] I am the last rampart […] I showed my sisters, and I can show you.' Carl's read: not her medicine wearing off but her imbalance 'deliberately kicked back into place' by her sponsor-patron the Nebulars — the cult that worships the thing running the centre system, still sore about the Hunting Grounds; a picture forming. Stall her: 'Come to the FOSCA building.' Imani: three level-140 pleasure demons walked into the church as Ines's minions. The snake-prince stops its fountain and speaks, fighting the words: 'Here, Carl […] Come here.' 'is she controlling the giant demon?' 'Come now, Carl. Come or I will make the demons under my control destroy that church.' 'This is what you get for not letting Mongo eat her.' 'Well, shit.'

Characters

• Carl — Keeps an arm; refuses the ring's urge; reads the Nebulars into the nun.
• Sister Ines — Commanding freed demons and a Demon Prince; 'the end of everything.'
• Princess Donut — A gold skull unremarked; an accidental slur.
• Samantha — Zombie bait; wants to name Garret.
• Tserendolgor — 'Make them all pay'; dead.
• Amayon — A fountain of fire, then a forced 'Come here.'
• Imani — Watching clerics feed the zombie crowd.
• Mordecai — Box the pet; save the scrolls; 'She's not going to take it.'
• Quan Ch — An armoury of the dead.

Locations

• Havana — Burning downtown; alleys of zombies; the Capitol's dome falling in.
• Iglesia de Jesús de Miramar — The last door, named by the nun.

Motifs

• The Nebulars — Carl's guess: a patron who broke a nun on purpose; worshippers of the centre system's engine.
• Demon Eviction — A Demon Prince under a crawler's charm; a communal zombie mind.
• The Ring of Divine Suffering — The urge; the ninth-floor upgrade.
• This is what we lost — The ring back in a dead father's hand; 'I kept his arm.'
• Player-killer skulls — Gold, and unmentioned.