Destroyer of Worlds kots-3

by Mark Chadbourn

  'But something happened when I used the Extinction Shears. I felt it,' Church said.

  'Something amazing. You severed the Void's connection to the warp and the weft. It escaped into the pattern of the past, but from this day on it has no connection.'

  'The Void can't exist in the future?'

  'You freed all the worlds, Church. The Void's influence will always be felt through the infinite connections, but it can have no control. There is no Mundane Spell. What lies ahead is the Kingdom of the Serpent. Existence will rule the balance for the first time since time began. It really will be a golden age.'

  The possibilities were too vast for Church to comprehend.

  'The future hasn't been written yet,' Hal said. 'There's still a very important job to do. But that's for tomorrow. Right now, enjoy the knowledge that every sacrifice has been worthwhile. You won, Church.'

  They sat in silence, watching the moon make shadows across the desert, and the stars glinting like jewels in the vast chamber of the night, and Church felt at peace. For the first time.

  He felt at peace.

  Epilogue

  Happy Ever After

  1

  After Church had explained what the future held, he took Ruth away into the desert and left Shavi, Tom, Hunter and Laura sitting around a large campfire, drinking a potent brew that some of the Norse gods had brought with them.

  'So, an eternity of fighting. Could be worse,' Laura said.

  'It's going to play murder with my plans for a Caribbean holiday.' Hunter prodded the fire and sent a cascade of sparks shooting towards the stars.

  Laura saw Shavi smiling to himself as he looked around the circle. 'What are you thinking, Mr Enigmatic Seer?' Laura prompted. 'Or is it more of your weird sex fantasies?'

  'I am thinking that this has ruined Church's motto for his T-shirts. No happy endings, he said. And here we are. This…' he gestured expansively '… is more than I could ever have hoped for. The best of friends, a family, even. We faced death, we faced heartache, and we moved beyond them, together, by relying on each other. And we built bonds that have enriched us all. I am very, very happy.'

  Nobody spoke for a while as they reflected on Shavi's words and realised the depths of those bonds. But then Laura glimpsed Tom's face in the firelight. In it were fears and doubts she recognised.

  'Don't think you're getting away, you old bastard,' she said.

  Tom flashed a suspicious glare her way.

  'You're one of us. If I haven't got you, who am I going to torment?'

  'I am not a Brother of Dragons,' Tom said.

  'No, you are our guide, our wisdom, our conscience,' Shavi responded. 'Jiminy Cricket! We need you.'

  'That'll teach you, old man,' Laura said. 'You're going to have to spend an eternity listening to Shavi ramble on about the philosophic connections between the fluff in his belly button and the way a bumblebee dances. We can all wallow in our misery together.'

  Laura saw the relief on Tom's face as his fear of loneliness drained away, and she felt a sense of satisfaction that she had secretly helped him. They were more alike than either of them would have cared to admit.

  'Then I will accept my miserable responsibility and attempt to drill some sense into all of you,' he grumbled. 'Have pity. My life is over.' He took out his tin and carefully constructed a roll-up from his dwindling supplies, a smile playing on his lips.

  Laura stood up, stretched like a cat and took Hunter's hand.

  'Sex?' he said.

  'Like you stand a chance with me. It's only been charity, didn't you realise that?'

  She hauled him away from the light, enjoying the feel of his hand in hers. 'You're not inviting your friend over for a drink?' Laura indicated the silhouette of the hooded giant away in the desert.

  'He's not a great socialiser.'

  'He going to be joining us in the Great Beyond?'

  'It'll be like having children without going through the whole childbirth thing.'

  'That's how I always wanted children.'

  In the shadow of a dune, they held each other, and kissed.

  'I've got a question,' Hunter said after a while. 'What's your name?'

  'You know my name.'

  'Not that DuSantiago bollocks. That's for the idiots you wrap around your little finger. This is me.'

  'Privileged information. I've never trusted anyone enough to tell them that. Once someone knows your real name they have power over you. Don't you listen to any of Church's crazy ramblings?'

  He waited.

  'Smith.' She sighed. 'Laura Smith.'

  'You see, the reverse is actually true,' he said. 'Now you have power over me.'

  They kissed again, and it felt as if it would go on for ever.

  2

  Hand in hand, Church and Ruth walked out of the Warp Zone into a misty morning just before dawn. Familiar, comforting smells of exhaust fumes, damp vegetation and the heavy, deep aromas of the river reached them. They breathed deeply, soothed by the silky sensation of the mist on their faces. The city breathed slow and easy too. It dreamed good dreams.

  'Where are we?' Ruth looked from the hazy street lamp to the parked cars covered in dew.

  'Don't you recognise it? Come on.'

  As they walked along the road, the trees eventually revealed the lights of Albert Bridge, and Ruth smiled. 'London. Where we met,' she said with a smile. 'God, that seems so long ago. We were different people then.'

  'If we knew what lay ahead, do you think we'd have carried on down that road?'

  'You're joking, aren't you?' They walked to the railings and looked down at the slow-moving river. 'Miss that chance to peel back the boring, real world and see the magic that lies behind it? I remember…'

  A Fabulous Beast swooping out of the night over the lights of the motorway. Stone circles, still and peaceful under the stars. Hidden doors in crumbling castles. Secrets encoded in the landscape thousands of years ago. Old knowledge shining new light on life. The Craft. Flying. Magic swords. A boat that sails between worlds. A Welsh night and a being as old as time, eyes burning in a face made of leaves, ushering her into a new life with a brand on her hand. Friendship. Love. And the Blue Fire burning just beneath the surface of the land, and in the stones, and in hearts.

  'The world is better than it seems. And so are people,' she said. 'We've been allowed a glimpse into the biggest mystery of all. The knowledge that there's so much more… I wouldn't trade that for anything.'

  'The Void's influence is still here. It's going to take people a while to open their eyes and pull themselves out from under the effects of the Mundane Spell. But once they have, there'll be no going back. This is the start of something big and new, and-'

  A fox trotted out of the mist and paused when it saw them. In its eyes was a light Church hadn't noticed before; it was filled with secrets. The fox looked them over as if greeting fellow travellers and then moved on. In that moment was a strange magic that neither could explain.

  'Why have you brought me here?' Ruth asked.

  'I wanted to remind myself what was important, before…' He looked around at the trees and the lights and the still, dark houses. 'Whatever lies ahead.'

  He was interrupted by a splash in the river below them. Glowing with a dull golden light, a low, long boat drifted slowly in the flow, and aboard it were the Seelie Court, returning once again to the land they loved. Each mysterious member looked around in awe at the scenery, but the queen caught sight of Church and gave a slight, enigmatic bow.

  Once they had passed, Ruth slipped her arm around Church's waist and rested her head on his shoulder. 'Since we met here, things got so complex. We've been through cynicism, darkness, we've become more troubled. But in the end, innocence wins out,' she said. 'That was always the message.'

  In the circle of misty light beneath a lamp, Tom waited. 'It's time,' he said.

  'It was always going to be you, wasn't it?' Church said.

  'Of course. I'm your guide.'

&n
bsp; 'Can Ruth come?'

  After a moment's hesitation, Tom nodded. 'She's the one who kept you on the path.'

  Looking around one final time, Church glanced up and thought he glimpsed a brief light somewhere through the layers of fog, so high, so fleeting, it would have been easy to miss it. A burst of fire.

  3

  'I've been here before,' Church said.

  'Of course you have. We all have at some time,' Tom replied. 'We leave here and we return here.'

  A cavern, a space deep in the earth, the smell of damp and the chill of the dark. A blue light guided the three of them forwards until they encountered Hal holding the Wayfinder aloft.

  'I am the Caretaker,' Hal said. 'I keep a light burning in the darkest night. I serve all who come to me, whether their hearts are filled with hope or tainted by despair.'

  Church recognised the words, and now understood that it was a ritual greeting.

  Beyond Hal lay a cave where a cauldron bubbled over a small fire. Poised over it was a man with wild grey hair clutching a long staff and an old woman in a black dress who could have been his twin, her face smeared with dirt or grease so that her eyes stared with a terrible intensity.

  'Look into the cauldron,' the woman said.

  Uneasily, Church ventured beside her and peered into the depths. He saw himself lying on a bed, eyes closed, with people watching him. There was an air of uncertainty to the image.

  'Is that the truth, then?' he asked. 'Am I really dying?'

  'The real question is, does it matter?' the wild-haired man said.

  'Nothing is true, except what you make it,' the old woman cackled.

  Church wanted to see more, to try to understand, but Tom gently pulled him away. 'Where are we going?' Church asked.

  'You have learned the ability to alter much,' the wild-haired man shouted after them.

  As Hal led them along a tunnel, there was a flash beside them, a fleeting grin, mischievous eyes. 'Fools and lovers are the greatest heroes,' the Puck said. 'This Merry Wanderer of the Night will wander alone no longer.' He gave a flourishing bow and disappeared.

  A feeling of dread fell across them as they approached another cave. Cernunnos waited outside it, his eyes glowing within the vegetation of his face. He indicated that Church should enter. 'You have something that belongs to the Daughters of the Night,' he said.

  Inside the cave, three hooded women stood, their faces hidden. They were the source of the dread that made Church's flesh crawl.

  'One spins threads. One measures them,' Cernunnos said. 'And the other…?'

  From the small bag at his belt, Church pulled the Extinction Shears. They sang as he brought them into the light. When the third woman reached out a bony hand and reclaimed the Shears, Church took care not to brush her fingers with his own.

  At the side of the cave a silvery thread stretched from the shadows above down to the floor. The third woman opened the shears around the thread, and waited. Slowly she turned to look at Church; he bowed his head, afraid that if he looked into the depths of her cowl he would die.

  'What is that thread?' he asked, unsettled.

  'You don't need to know that.' Hal's tone was sympathetic. 'You've returned what belongs to the Daughters of the Night. Let's move on.'

  Outside the cave, Carlton waited. Beaming, he shook Church's hand, and then Ruth's and Tom's. 'We're nearly done now,' he said. 'But I wanted to let you know that what you have achieved is no more than what was expected of you, and, in the final reckoning, remarkable. You've earned the faith that was placed in you, Church.'

  'What do you want me to do?' Church asked.

  'Destroy the world. Destroy all the worlds.'

  'What?' Church said incredulously.

  'Turn the Axis of Existence, as you did once before.'

  'I don't understand.'

  Carlton smiled. 'Destroy what's out there, Church. Do what the Void could not do.'

  Church gaped.

  'Remake the world, as you would see it made.'

  'Remake…?' For a long moment, Church tried to comprehend if there was some hidden meaning in Carlton's comments, but the honest innocence in the boy's face told him the truth. 'That's insane! I can't do that!'

  'You are the only one who can.'

  'How long are you giving me — seven days? I'm not God!' The insanity of what was being proposed left Church reeling.

  'Why Church?' Ruth took his hand, supporting him.

  'Everything that has happened to you has been preparing you for this moment,' Carlton said.

  'I'm not prepared. How can you say anyone is prepared to change the world?' Church looked from Ruth to Tom.

  Tom rested a reassuring hand on Church's shoulder. 'During my travels I read the story of the Pilgrim's Progress,' he said, 'and that is essentially what you have done. You've journeyed around Britain, across time, around the world and across the dimensions, meeting humanity, and life in all its forms, learning valuable lessons from your experiences. You know what it is to be human, to feel, to love. That is what has prepared you for this moment.'

  'Destroy the world and remake it? I can't do that. It's too… big! I'm not up to it.'

  'Then leave it just how it is, but maybe with a few slight changes,' Tom prompted.

  Slowly, what Tom was saying dawned on Ruth. Her eyes gleamed. 'Yes,' she breathed. 'Think of it. A world that's about magic not money. That's about friendship and love, not power. And you're the best person to do that.'

  'How can you say that?' Church tried not to feel betrayed. 'Nobody should have that kind of power. The ultimate power. I could be as bad as the Void. What if I didn't like… I don't know… people who walked with a limp, so I made sure they didn't exist in this brave new world?'

  'Because I know you.' A quiet confidence suffused Ruth's face. 'I know in any given situation you will always do the right thing. You've proven that over and over again.'

  'I trust you too,' Tom said.

  'Is that why they brought you along? My mentor. To convince me?'

  'They could have brought any of the others. They all would have said the same thing.'

  'I'm not the person you think I am.'

  'You've never had confidence in yourself,' Tom said. 'You've doubted at every turn, but your actions have shown the truth. On the long road, you were presented with numerous opportunities to go the wrong way. You could have given it all up to pursue your love for Ruth, the sole, defining factor in your life. But you kept going. You kept true. You're a hero.'

  'I'm not!' Church snapped. 'I'm… nobody. I'm just an ordinary bloke.'

  'And maybe that's what's needed here,' Ruth said quietly. 'Somebody who knows the right thing when he sees it. Somebody who understands simple, uncynical, easily mocked concepts — like love. Or innocence. Or duty. Sacrifice.'

  Her admiration for him was so powerful he could barely look at her.

  'We need a better world,' Tom said. 'Everybody on the planet wants that. They don't want a world ruled by those desperate to make money or seek power. They want something true, and honest. And it's your responsibility to give them that.'

  'Don't say that!'

  'It's your duty,' Tom insisted quietly.

  The words hung heavy on Church's shoulders. Desperate and isolated, he lowered his head and closed his eyes, wrestling with his answer. After a moment, he sighed, 'How does it work?'

  'Come with me.' Carlton took Church's hand and led him to a large cavern filled with a brilliant light. It took Church a while to realise the cavern was filled with Caraprix, all of the mutating creatures in a state of flux. Amongst them stood Jerzy, blank-eyed but alive.

  'God, you manipulated that poor bastard,' Church said. 'You made sure one of those shape-shifting things was stuck in his head to call all the others home.'

  'The Mocker will live,' Carlton said. 'He's been a good servant.'

  'How are those things going to help?'

  'The Caraprix are like the spiders, if you will,' Carlton said. 'They are
the agents of Existence. They can unpick the weft and the weave, and then weave a new reality. They are machines of creation.'

  Church watched the silver creatures continually change shape. 'So they're like angels?'

  Carlton laughed.

  'I decide what the world's going to be like and they go out and make it a reality.'

  'Something like that.'

  'Where do they come from?'

  'That's not for you to know right now.'

  'But they destroyed the Drakusa,' Church said. 'They were a real threat. The Drakusa did everything they could to wipe them out, but the Caraprix committed genocide.'

  'The Drakusa had the potential to become agents of change, but they chose to direct all their abilities to their own ends. They ignored the greater good. They desired power, for themselves. They crushed other races that fell before them. If they had been true to who they were, perhaps the golden age could have been ushered in a long, long time ago.'

  'So you destroyed them?'

  'Me? No. The Oldest Things in the Land are agents, just like you, Church. We worked and strove and failed, sometimes. But did Existence wipe out the Drakusa? Yes. They chose to work for the Void, though they didn't understand it in their terms. Innocence does not mean weakness.'

  'How many races fell, like the Drakusa?'

  'Every race has a choice: act for the greater good, bring magic back into the world, or support the aims of the Void,' Carlton said. 'Free will, Church. There is a pattern, but everyone has a choice. The only rule is they must accept responsibility for their actions. If you seek out personal power and lay others low, do not be surprised when a higher power decides to do the same to you.'

  'Sounds very Old Testament to me.' Church watched the Caraprix change and for the first time felt awe: he could see something wonderful in the very essence of them.

  'Everyone has a choice. Fragile Creatures didn't fail. You didn't fail.'

  Church steeled himself. 'There's no point talking. Let's do this.'