Contents
Forty-Two
Overview
Smoke and darkness engulf the Briars as King Sorrow arrives, speaking through everyone and terrifying the group. Arthur is forced into a vivid vision of Jayne and Ronnie’s final flight west, where Sorrow hunts them to an abandoned drive-in, kills Ronnie, and burns Jayne alive. The dragon reasserts his dominance, shattering the group’s assumptions and ending their meeting with a threat-laced farewell.
Summary
Amid thick smoke and failing lights in the Briars, Arthur crawls from the poker table, colliding with Allie as King Sorrow’s voice seems to speak from every mouth. Arthur finds Gwen’s hand in the darkness and insists the dragon cannot hurt them, but Sorrow mocks him from the smoke.
Reaching the curtains, Arthur is plunged into a vision inside Jayne Nighswander’s mind in Reno. Jayne, believing garlic and distance kept Sorrow at bay, mails a letter, only to be attacked by the dragon within a mailbox. Panicked, she drags a drug-dulled Ronnie from their motel and they drive, hoping to reach Los Angeles and safety.
Their car fails near an abandoned drive-in. As dusk falls, a projector flares and Sorrow’s colossal shadow fills the screen. A sudden gust precedes Ronnie’s mutilated body crashing onto the car; his severed head follows, mouth stuffed with garlic. Trapped by the collapsing roof, Jayne pleads as Sorrow lowers his snout and incinerates her, her final sensations horrifyingly vivid.
Arthur snaps back to the Briars, opens the doors to moonlit air, and declares it over. He realizes the hand he held is Sorrow’s claw, not Gwen’s. The dragon, having demonstrated his reach and power, coolly announces the “Get Even Club” is adjourned, leaving the group shaken.
Who Appears
- ArthurCentral POV; chokes in smoke at the Briars, links to Sorrow’s vision, witnesses Ronnie and Jayne’s deaths, briefly grabs the dragon’s claw.
- King SorrowManifests in smoke, speaks through all, stalks and kills Ronnie and Jayne at a drive-in, then taunts and dismisses the group.
- Jayne NighswanderFlees west with garlic talisman; mails a letter; pursued to an abandoned drive-in; dies burned by Sorrow.
- Ronnie VolpeExhausted and numbed by pills; tries to find refuge at a drive-in; is dropped from the sky and decapitated.
- GwenIn the smoke with Arthur; briefly joined by hand before Arthur realizes he held Sorrow’s claw.
- AllieIn the darkened Briars; collides with Arthur, voicing fear as the fire is swallowed.