The trapdoor hid a roughly carved stone spiral staircase. It was so narrow that they had to climb down on it one by one. There were cressets on the stone wall, but they were empty; the light came from the old and flickery electric lamps fixed on the wall.

'What is this place?' asked Jenna. 'Doesn't look like the Underground…'

'You'll see,' answered Luther, who was leading them down.

'It is very old,' said Benjamin, examining the time-worn blocks. 'Talking about centuries here. It was built way before the Underground.'

'Indeed,' agreed Luther. 'But now it's not the time for wondering about it. You have a dangerous task ahead.'

'So you are not coming,' noted Teodore.

'I cannot. The source of my powers is here, at the pub. The further I go, the weaker I became.' answered the fae.

That was very odd and interesting but not important for the moment being, and even Robert could stop himself from asking about it.

The stairs continued for a long time. Robert lost the count after three hundred steps, and he could only guess how deep under the surface they were. Nobody talked for a while, except when Ayana asked Marcus if the call for help was legit. Robert didn't even think about the possibility that the Priest might just want to lure them out so he can get to Mr George. But Marcus was certain that this was not the case, and that was enough for Robert.

He wanted to ask how long it will take to get wherever Luther showed them when they suddenly arrived. It was a small room, or more like a small, round cave with no lights and soft, dusty ground, almost like wet sand. This was where the spiral stairs ended.

Robert and Jenna made their own lights at the very same moment. Three doors, simple wood front door looking doors were somehow inside the round cave wall, although Robert was sure that whatever was on the other sides of those doors, it wasn't another room under London. Or everywhere else on the planet.

The doors were all different size and colour, and they all felt deeply magical, almost as if they were breathing. A fourth one stood in the middle of the small place, without any support, just by its own.

'Do not ask questions, and do not waste time. I will open this door in a minute, and it will take you where you need to be. Then I will close it and from that moment you are on your own.'

Robert already took a breath to ask something, but Rose stepped on his foot while Jenna poked him in the ribs with her elbow. Marcus cleared his throat.

'I…' he searched for words then shook his head and said: 'Don't die.'

'The man is an inspiration to all, don't you think?' asked Jenna from Robert, who couldn't help but grin.

Then Luther opened the door. Magic roared silently like a muted thunderstorm. And through the door frame they saw Trafalgar Square.

It looked like the end of the word. Robert could only see a slab of it, but it was bad. Fire and thick, black smoke, people running and probably shouting too, although there was no sound coming through the door. Further away the traffic stopped around the square because several cars ran into each other.

Some people acted weirdly; they were hunting down others, like animals, crept after the ones tried to get away then attacked with teeth and nails until they drew blood. Some of them wore police uniforms.

'What the fuck are they doing?' asked Vittorio. His voice was shaky.

'They are zombies,' explained Ayana in a cold, professional voice. 'Legends says necromancers tend to raise their dead enemies to fight for them.'

Rose said something very quietly which might have been a quick prayer.

'Can we save them?' asked Robert.

Ayana shook her head.

'They are dead. The necromancer's will and magic make them move, but they are only empty shells.'

'Are they contagious?' wanted to know Teodore.

'You won't become a zombie if they bite you,' said the woman. 'But if they are close enough to bite you, you will most likely be dead soon, so better avoid the contact.'

'That's… Good to know,' said Marcus. 'Okay, so, first step: evacuation. Rose, Benjamin, Martin and Vittorio: take everyone down to the Underground. Put them onto trains if they are running, clear out the zombies that went down. Teodore, see what you can do for the injured ones. I will cover you. Ayana, Robert and Jenna, you will have to find the Priest and the Goddess. The statue has to be somewhere around, maybe you can put back the Goddess. Everyone's ready?'

'No,' replied Rose, but she took out her wand.

'Do not hesitate to use lethal force against the zombies,' added Ayana. 'They are already dead. Aim for their brains.'

There was nothing else to say. Robert went first; it was like stepping under the shower. He blinked because the afternoon sun was bright after the shadows of the cave. He looked back but saw nothing. Then, from this very nothing Jenna stepped out: she just appeared next to him.

'Shall we, Professor?' the girl smiled, but her eyes told another story.

The square was full of people. A bus somehow managed to break the small iron obstacles what supposed to stop cars and ended up next to one of the fountains. It was on its side, the windows were broken and the frame wrinkled. The pillar with the statue of Admiral Nelson on the top was broken into half, and a handful of teenagers tried to find some shelter climbing its pedestal. The rest of the pillar was fallen across the road, causing another mass car crash. The Admiral was still on the end, but his head was missing.

Some people tried to escape to the National Gallery or down the Underground, but the majority was only running around in a panic, trying to dodge the attacking zombies. There were a few banging noises and flashing lights, coming from the occasional sorcerers who happened to be around and from the police officers. A few louder bangs implied that some of them had guns, too.

Three zombies jumped on them and separated Robert and Jenna almost immediately. Robert punched one in the face, a middle-aged man with a horrible opened scar on his throat. His clothes were soaked in blood, but he couldn't be bothered by that or by the hit, so Robert raised his cane and sent an impulse with the Rune of Movement. The zombie, as if some invisible tornado grabbed him, flew away. Robert didn't even have time to look around, another dead body attacked him. He tripped and fell, the back of his head hit the cobblestones hard. The zombie laying on him tried to bite through his trench coat, at the shoulder, with no luck. Robert gave another of the same simple pulse like the one before, and he (it, he reminded himself) was blown away.

'There is no time for napping, old man,' heard Robert his brother's voice. Big hands grabbed him and put him back on his feet. Vittorio lifted him like he was a little child. He and Benjamin were looking at Robert, so they couldn't see the car, a whole, big car, flying towards them from somewhere. Must have been The Priest's work or the Goddess'. Robert pointed his cane at the car, and the vehicle changed its course. It hit the fountain behind them, broke its edge and suddenly there was water everywhere.

That was a good thing because the next moment four or five zombies attacked them, and the flowing water became a weapon very easily: icicles went through dead eyes, stopping the zombies.

'Nice one,' said Vittorio to Benjamin, then he doubled up and vomited on his own shoes. Another use for the water, though Robert inconsistently.

'Where is Jenna? Who sent that car?' he asked. Benjamin just shook his head. Robert's eyes jumped from leather jacket to leather jacket, but none of them was worn by Jenna. He left Benjamin behind and hurried towards the stairs leading to the Gallery on the basis that he will see better from higher.

He didn't reach the stairs. A child, a little girl in her best white dress stopped him. She had two cute little ponytails, beautiful but empty blue eyes and a lot of blood on her stomach.

Robert knew that the girl was a zombie, yet he couldn't raise his cane to curse her. Not even to defend himself, and the dead child might have killed him there and then if it wasn't for Teodore. He came from nowhere, seized the blood-stained pretty white dress while the girl was mid-air, and threw her on the ground. The Runes of Breakage and Body lit up amongst the many rings on Teodore's fingers and the girl's skull bashed in.

'Get your shit together, Montgomery,' he said, then disappeared into the crowd again.

Teodore was right, and Robert knew that. This isn't murder. They are already dead. Almost like the ghouls, except they looked a little more human. Somehow that thought helped, and the next zombie got a hole between her eyes by a tiny but blindingly shining fireball.

It was indeed very much like fighting against ghouls. Brutal and efficient, no fancy spells and elegant curses. When Robert fought with a Carano, it was like a game of chess: he had to outsmart his opponent. Not this: this was nothing but a bloodbath. He cut through the crowd and zombies fell left and right. He was rigid and resourceful, one step, one spell, one kill. Cold like a machine.

The method what Ayana suggested seemed to be working: zombies with a destroyed brain did not come back. Rose and the others did a good job with the evacuation too, and the chaos slowly eased up as the square emptied. Robert finally found Jenna now that he could look around properly. She was fighting, shoulder to shoulder with Marcus and Ayana against an older woman, who must have been the Goddess herself. The three of them couldn't knock her down, she was too strong. Magic pulsed and exploded, breaking stones, changing things around, making the air ice cold as the heat itself was taken and used to fuel spells.

Robert burst into a run, but couldn't make it until halfway when a strike went through his shields, his enchanted coat and ripped in his flesh. He fell on the ground. His side was numb and felt warm and wet because of his blood. He was sure that this is how it ends, but the last spell did not arrive. He leaned on his cane and stood up.

Five metres away there was The Priest. He was a little shorter than Robert, but slim like him, with a plain white mask covering his face. A long, blood-stained coat wrapped his body.

'I heard a lot about you, Mr Montgomery' said The Priest. His voice was polite, with perfect pronunciation and no sign of any accent.

'It's Professor Montgomery,' said Robert and sent a dozen of little, shiny fireballs towards The Priest. They disappeared before they hit their target. Robert's knees buckled and he almost collapsed. His side wasn't numb anymore, pain bit him hard.

'You call yourself the professor of magic, indeed,' said the man behind the mask amused 'yet you know so little about it.'

Whatever forgotten magic The Priest was able to do with the dead, he clearly knew his way around the Runes too. Barbed wires appeared as the Runes lit up on his leather gloves, ready to tie up Robert. He turned them into confetti and the same time ordered the cobblestones under the Priest's feet to give way. They swallowed his legs up until the middle of his thighs like shifting sand. He was trapped but not harmless. His next curse was some kind of black smoke, and Robert was sure that he did not want to breathe it in, so he used the Rune of Air to send it back to the Priest. By then the masked man was out of the ground, and with a simple flick of his finger threw a deadly amount of spells at Robert.

He used all the Runes that could save him, Mirror and Movement and Refusal but the curses cut through them like a hot knife in butter. His surprise when the murderous spells died out centimetres from his face was almost as big as The Priest's, who already turned away thinking that the fight was over. Robert didn't hesitate. He attacked the Priest's senses: used the Rune of Voice to deafen him, the Light to blind him, hexed maddening irritation on his skin with the Rune of Poison. The Runes of Dream and Mind lit up as Robert ordered the necromancer to sleep, but he was incredibly strong. Robert used the Movement to swipe the Priest's legs and he collapsed. An invisible force tore his gloves away. He cried out as the very ground started to grow around him, grabbing his limbs, breaking bones then Robert added more power to his stunning spell and the Priest went silent.

Looks like there was still some kraft in old Mr George's dog tag, Robert thought, looking at the now blackened round pendant. It saved him when he needed to be saved the most.

Robert checked his injury. As far he could tell it looked really bad, but the fight wasn't over yet. Using his cane, likely the first time ever properly to support himself, he stumbled towards the stairs. Right in front of the National Gallery's main entrance Jenna fought with the Goddess. She was alone now, Ayana and Marcus must have been knocked out or worse.

Robert saw Martin battling with three zombies at the same time, next to the other fountain. Behind him Teodore kneeled in a pond of blood, leaning over Rose's motionless body. Benjamin waved a whip made out of fire a little further at a zombie, while his other arm dangled uselessly and broken beside him.

Robert wanted to help them, all of them, but he had only so much power. Defeating the Priest was a herculean task especially while he was slowly bleeding out, and he had to fight really hard just to stay conscious.

Jenna didn't look good either. Her jacket, and most likely the skin under that was ripped. There was blood on her face, dripping from a cut above her already puffed and purple left eye. She limped because of a nasty looking burn on her leg as she tried to dodge a curse. Behind her the huge shadow dog fought with two zombies, protecting its owner.

One stair, then another. Jenna's spells didn't find the way, they couldn't breach the shields of the Goddess. Robert already knew that they cannot win this time. Their only chance is to scare the Goddess away and fight another day, with more power and a better plan. Either this or fight until death. It wasn't a question whose death.

Jenna was down now, hiding half-fainted behind a rainbow-coloured, sparkling, dying shield spell.

'Oi!' shouted Robert. 'You, ancient lady! My name is Professor Robert Montgomery and these people, this city is under my protection! Now, stand down!'

He didn't think the Goddess will do as she was told, and sure enough, the first couple of tiny, pointy spikes already arrived, bouncing off Robert's invisible wall. That was the plan. He didn't know if the Goddess understood what he said or she just realised there was a new challenger, but she left Jenna alone, and as far as plans go, that worked splendidly. Now step two.

'I don't want to hurt you! Let me help you. Please.'

Robert saw in her eyes that she did understand him. She simply just didn't care. The ground around Robert cracked and broke and transformed into a gigantic mouth with stone fangs, ready to tear him apart. He used the Runes of Refusal and Movement to make it stop. On the peripherals of his sight, darkness started to grow. His torn side sent fiery pain all over his body.

He raised his cane and pointed it at the Goddess. The power of the thunder orb felt hot and strange as it flew through him, and the lightning bolt struck the Goddess at the middle of her chest. Robert fell on his knees as an unspeakable agony exploded in his head. That was not part of the plan.

The Goddess was still standing. Her whole body was burnt. She stepped forward but stopped as Robert raised his cane. They looked at each other, then she leapt and Robert let out another lightning bolt. Another flash of headache.

Then there was silent darkness and nothing else.