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It was not being wounded that I feared I had treated all kinds of wounds, and could easily i put in a position where I ht show my fear, where my natural instinct to run would take over

I knew that my father would soon knoas a coward But I had no choice

I was under his eye, and deeply programmed from my earliest years, I knew no other course but to obey

Half a mile fro of standing stones We were easily six hundred feet below the notional surface, but the sa My father gestured again, and his troops quickened their pace, as he circled his hand and indicated that we should for the posture of the stones the from the western end of the silver road," said my father quietly as the two of us continued on, and entered the ring of stones "We may take a quicker path, as befits the children of Maponos"

"Where is Hellboy?" I asked I could see no sign of our fire-skinned friend

"He too, er path He is not a child of Maponos Noe must pay our respects, before the hurly-burly starts"

There was a single stone in the her than the others, and in fact all the stones of the ring were quite modest sarsens, little taller than reen color

Even so, I knew that central stone was different If I looked at it from the corner of ure, with the hint of a grin too wide for a human face, and clasped hands that were not hands, but taloned claws

I fell back as we drew closer My father stopped and looked atto be afraid of Maponos knows his own Those others, who come, they will seek to bend hiainst us of his own accord"

I felt six years old again, listening towhy I should not be afraid of a cow in a field, because it was not a bull Only e did cross the field, there was a bull there that we hadn't seen and it had frightened ht it was funny at the time, and of course, was not the parent who responded to a srant him a small taste of our blood," continuedhook and sliced the end of his finger, and wiped the blood upon the stone

Out of the corner of ue curl and lick it off, and then there was no blood

"Hold your finger up"

I shook eon," I answered "I can cut h that if I'd been doing a prac I would never have passed er on the front of the stone, and suppressed a shudder as I felt a war in Gaelic and stepped back I stepped back too, very readily

The stone was the saht, that's done I wonder where these Reds are?"

He sounded confident, as perhaps he had every right to be, with some forty heavily armed men in position, their aod Maponos along for the ride

Thenthe first of the approaching enemy I don't knohat my father expected, but I had a hazy idea that so, that apart froe location, it would be a relatively conventional battle

But the figures who came toward us did not walk across the loch floor as we had, but descended froh sea, not the silver atmosphere we experienced

They were not Soviet -deaduniforsmarine

They were dead U-Boat crews froets! Open fire!" shouted my father, and before even the word "open" was out of his mouth, the sharp crack of rifles and the chatter of the Stens and the deeper beat of the Brens exploded all around us I knelt down and opened , but continued to look up at the ene, loose strings being lowered to a stage, ju as they were struck by bullets, bits of unifor out above them

"They have so theed with the power of Maponos They should be falling apart"

But the dead sailors kept co toward us The first of them touched down soht it would just settle in place, a sodden, long-drowned relict, its flesh long stripped away But it jerked upright, as if those puppet strings were suddenly under command, and advanced upon the nearest of our defenders He eazine froh its skull was blown to pieces, the headless thing kept coilded pruning hook He took one arrip on the blade, and pulled it frorasp and before he could retreat, another revenant fell upon his head and thrust its long fingers through his eyes and into his brain

"We od himself," said my father quickly He looked down at aped up at hi-dead Ger flowers behind and above hiht off, even if they had been susceptible to our weapons

"Dad -- "

"Not you, Malcolm!" exclaimed my father testily He pulled me to my feet and forced the sickle into my hand "Do you really know me no better than that? Now cut my throat and let the blood fall upon the stone!"

Those taloned hands were cupped now, ready to catch my father's blood and drink it up

"Hurry!"

I raised the sickle My father quickly gripped it and tried to bring it down across his throat But I was faster, and held it back I had seen so fast, accompanied by a sound like a iant kettledru undead skulls

Hellboy ca them as he advanced Where his fist hit, the ene carried away on unseen tides

I dragged the sickle back, and the grin on the stone becaether in annoyance

"Hellboy!" I exclaimed

"What?" asked my father He craned his head around to look, and stopped trying to drag the sickle down I let rip ease, and the sickle suddenlyacross my father's throat