Live and Let Drood

then pulled him off the wall and slammed him onto the floor. He hit hard and curled into a ball, fighting to get his breath back. Molly nodded to me.
    “Nice one, Eddie.”
    “I thought so.”
    And while we were busy congratulating ourselves, Hollis sat up abruptly and spoke a single powerful Word. The wooden floor exploded before us, solid floorboards flowing like water as they took on new shape and purpose under his augmented will. They formed themselvesinto two huge wooden hands that wrapped themselves around Molly and me in a moment, crushing us so tightly neither of us could move. It was all I could do to get my breath, even inside my armour’s protection, and with my arms pinned to my sides I had no leverage to use against the unnatural strength of the wooden fingers. The hands rose, holding Molly and me off the floor, our legs dangling helplessly, utterly helpless. Molly hung limply, eyes closed, in the hand. Either through shock or unconsciousness. I struggled fiercely to get to her, but couldn’t budge the wooden fingers in the least. Hollis got to his feet, took a moment to brush himself off and then smiled mockingly at me.
    “High and mighty Drood with his cheating armour, never underestimate the value of planning and preparation. Of checking out the scene in advance and setting a few booby traps before the enemy shows his face. I knew you were coming here. Crow Lee told me. And unlike those stuck-up devil boys of his, I think ahead. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking on how best to take down a Drood. Now, I’m sure that impressive armour of yours will break free eventually, but by then, it’ll be far too late. I’ve got something special here just for you. Supernatural Can Opener, Part Two. Try not to take what happens next personally, Drood. It’s just what I do.”
    He walked unhurriedly up to me, the wooden hand lowering me slowly until I was face-to-face with him. I still couldn’t move. He lifted his hands and placed them on either side of my face mask. The bones within his hands glowed fiercely, blazing right through the flesh, and then the glow seemed to seep slowly through the flesh to encase both his hands in the same brightly glowing light. Hollis set both hands carefully on either side of my head, and up close the glare almost blinded me.
    The shining fingers clamped onto the golden metal. It didn’t even occur to me to flinch. I trusted my armour to protect me, as it always had. The fingertips dug deep into my armour. I couldn’t move; paralysed, helpless. The glowing fingers sank in deep and then pulled back, stretching and distorting the face armour. I screamed despite myself as an agonising pain swept through me. I was bonded to the rogue armour as a living thing, and its pain was my pain. Hollis pulled his glowinghands this way and that, tugging at the face mask, and the armour stretched and deformed but wouldn’t break. I screamed again as the armour screamed, as Hollis struggled to pull the mask off me.
    I could hear Molly screaming at Hollis. “Leave him alone, you bastard! Stop it! I’ll kill you for this!”
    “Shut it, girlie,” said Hollis, not even looking at her. “I’ll get to you when I’m finished with him.”
    He moved in close, concentrating on me as he fought to break the face mask. I was screaming so hard now, it hurt my throat. And while Hollis was concentrating on me, Molly pulled her wits together and concentrated on a simple teleport spell. She jumped herself out of the wooden hand and reappeared right behind Hollis. He started to turn, but Molly had already picked up one of the heavy potted plants and broke it over his head. The sheer weight of the thing clubbed Hollis to the floor and tore his glowing hands away from my mask. I cried out one last time and hung limply in the wooden hand, while the golden metal of my face mask slowly reformed itself. I watched numbly as Molly kicked Hollis good and hard in the ribs, to make sure he was unconscious, and then she hurried over to stand before me. She grabbed hold of the Twilight Teardrop hanging from her throat and spat out a single powerful Word. The wooden fingers holding me rotted and fell apart, and I fell through them to collapse on the floor. I forced myself up onto my knees. Molly was quickly there beside me.
    “Eddie, are you all right? I never heard you scream like that before.…”
    “I’m fine,” I said. I had to say it again before it sounded like I meant it. “I’m fine, Molly. It