by Gill, J. G.
“Did anyone know he was doing that?” I asked.
“Not at first,” said Thomas. “The Aeon kept his plans secret. He knew that if he told us, we would either try to stop him or become involved. The thought of the rest of us ‘polluting’ his world with our light horrified him.”
I frowned. “Didn’t he want any light then?” I asked.
“Yes...and no.” Thomas answered cryptically. “He knew he needed some light, but only as much as he could control himself – in other words, his own light. Any more than that and the Aeon knew it would become impossible for him to exert complete control.”
“So if he only had limited light, how did he have enough stuff to build his world with?” I said.
“He created new materials,” said Thomas. “Dark, heavy matter that light couldn’t easily penetrate – rocks, minerals, metals – and he melded these together to form a planet. Next, he set about creating living creatures to inhabit it, made of flesh and blood and bones. Again, these were solid substances through which it was very difficult for light to penetrate or pass through. Humans, Clare, were among his finest and most complicated creations.”
“Hang on,” I said, frowning. “Are you telling me that human beings were created by some bored Aeon who was on a bit of a power trip?”
Min nodded, smiling wryly. “That’s one way of putting it.”
For a few minutes I was too stunned to speak. Could it be true, that the world I’d known all my life had just been an elaborate hoax, designed for someone’s else’s entertainment? Had I, and everyone I knew, been the unwitting actors in someone else’s drama? It was ludicrous. At the same time though, why would Min and Thomas lie about something like that? Besides, wasn’t the very fact that I was standing in the middle of some completely weird new place called the ‘Slipworld’ proof of something? Maybe they were right, maybe all of us had been duped. I began to feel inexplicably stupid. I also realised that I still hadn’t asked the most obvious question of all.
“Does this Aeon have a name?” I asked.
“Of course,” said Min, smiling bitterly. “In fact he has two names – one in your world, and one in ours.” I searched Min’s face for clues, but she wasn’t going to make it easy.
“You know them both already,” she said.
In the pit of my stomach, I knew with dread that she was at least partly right.
“It’s Demarge, isn’t it?” I said.
“That’s his name among Aeons,” said Thomas.
“And humans…” Min prompted me. “The name of the world’s creator?”
There was only one name I could think of.
“God?” I said.
“Yes,” Min whispered.
“You mean, that guy who is chasing us around is actually...God?” I stammered. “You can’t be serious?”
“I’m afraid so,” said Min.
My eyes flitted from Thomas to Min, then back to Thomas again. Neither of them were smiling, much less, joking around.
“I don’t get it, why do we all worship someone who’s so…” I struggled to find the right word, settling for one that wasn’t quite right, but was still the closest I could find. “Evil?”
“Because that is how Demarge controls his creations. He is all they know.”
We stood in silence for a couple of minutes, Min and Thomas waiting for me to say something, and me not having a clue what to say. The best I could come up with was a bewildered sigh. Gradually, I felt my feelings of stupidity morph into something else, something sharper and much more spiky. I was angry.
“How dare he play with us like that!” I said. “Who the hell does he think he is? It’s so unbelievably arrogant.”
Thomas nodded. “I’m afraid that arrogance is a central part of Demarge’s character,” he said.
I took a deep breath to calm myself down.
“So Demarge created us, then what happened?”
“You need to go back a small step,” Thomas corrected, “to before Demarge had finished putting his finishing touches to humanity. It was during those final stages that the rest of us discovered what he’d been up to.”
“How?” I said.
“He slipped up,” said Thomas. “Demarge couldn’t help but boast to one of us about it. I think his words were, “not everything in the universe is shared.” That’s when we started spying on him and discovered exactly what he’d been up to.”
“Did you try to stop him?” I asked.
“Of course,” said Min. “We feared that what he was doing would destroy the equilibrium that had existed since the beginning of time. Our first instinct was naturally to stop him. We also feared – rightly as it turned out – that by acting alone, Demarge would be able to abuse his power to the detriment of those living in his world. Unfortunately, we were too late.”
“So that was it, there was nothing you could do?” I said.
“Not quite,” said Min. “We just had to settle with the next best option, which was to find a way of protecting his creations. It was the least we could do, to provide recompense for his selfishness.”
“What do you mean by “protecting”,” I said.
“We needed to find a way of smuggling as much light into the new world as we could,” said Min.
“Is that the light that Demarge was trying to shut out?” I said.
Min nodded. “Aeon light is very powerful, particularly when given by the chosen among us. We knew that trying to get it into Demarge’s carefully guarded creation would be extremely difficult. In fact, some of us had abandoned hope. Then, just as the new world was in the final stages of completion, one of us managed to pierce its atmosphere and scatter their light. That light was absorbed by human beings and has kept us connected to them ever since. It’s the presence of that light that has enabled us to help you.”
“Help us?” I said, squeezing the words out of my bewildered mouth. “How?”
“By providing a sanctuary to those who have needed it,” said Min. “The Slipworld has always been a place for mortals to hide when they were being persecuted by Demarge.”
“Do you mean like people who are caught up in wars and stuff like that?” I said.
“No, not exactly,” said Thomas carefully. “I wish we could provide a place of refuge for everyone who needs it, but unfortunately we can’t. You see, we have no power to intervene in matters that are solely between humans. Because we didn’t create them, their conflicts and abuses are beyond our control.”
“So who is the Slipworld for then?” I asked..
“The Slipworld is for mortals who have an abundance of light in them. We call them ‘Shards’,” said Min.
“An abundance of light? Shards?” I said. Just when I’d thought I’d got the hang of it, things were suddenly starting to get very confusing again.
“Like we were saying, an Aeon managed to sprinkle light into human beings just before the creation of your world was complete,” said Thomas. “Those who managed to receive a large amount of light became known over the ages as ‘Shards’. It’s because they have an abundance of this property in their bodies that they can literally slip from their own world into the Slipworld, in much the same way as Aeons can.”
“So do the Shards do anything in particular?” I asked, half-hoping to hear about telekinesis or mind-reading powers.
“Shards are very important,” said Thomas. “Because of the amount of light within them, Shards have an innate ability to question the world in which they live. They have a thirst for knowledge and want to understand how things work. The problem arises when they start to analyse or question in a way that threatens their creator. If they push too hard, he retaliates, sometimes with deadly consequences.”
I gulped. “But can’t the Shards just stop asking questions, before it gets to that point?” I said.
Thomas shook his head. “No. It’s impossible. The light simply won’t let them be still in that way.”
“Nor would we ever want it to,” said Min hurriedly. “You s
ee, the light is the only thing that is capable of pricking Demarge’s arrogant sense of control.”
“Being a Shard sounds like a pretty heavy responsibility to me,” I said, as a nasty thought suddenly struck me.
“I’m not a Shard, am I?” I said. Min and Thomas exchanged awkward glances.
“Yes, you are,” said Min.
“But I can’t be,” I said, rapidly trying to extricate myself. “For a start, I’m not smart enough. I mean, there are people way smarter than me. They’re the ones who should be Shards, not …” Min cut me off, mid-rant.
“No one chooses who should be a Shard and who shouldn’t, it’s just how a person is born. The first Shards were created at the very beginning, before humans even opened their eyes. Since then, light has passed from each Shard to their children, generation after generation.”
“Does that mean that all the light that was once given to human beings is still in the world somewhere?” I said.
“Unfortunately not,” said Thomas, glancing at Min. “Only some of the original Shard light has been inherited in this way. The rest of it has, over centuries, been absorbed into the heavy darkness of your world.”
“How come?” I said. “Why doesn’t it go back to where it came from?”
“Because it doesn’t know how to,” said Thomas. “It gets trapped.” He paused, glancing at Min as if he wasn’t quite sure if he should continue. “Clare, our light in your world is dying.”
“Dying?” I said dully. “What do you mean?”
Thomas took a deep breath. “Do you remember how exhausted I was when I met you in the prison and how Min and I didn’t have the strength to fly?”
I nodded.
“It’s because there is now so little light left in your world that, for us, trying to move, or even think clearly, is like swimming through thick mud. Had I been in the Slipworld, I never would have been so easily captured in the first place.”
“So what happens, if all the Aeon light in our world is lost?” I said.
“It means that, within the next few decades, all of the light that was once given to humanity will belong to the Aeon who made you,” said Min. “If that happens, we will lose all connection to human beings and the Slipworld will disappear forever. Mortals will be forced to live under the tyrannical rule of their creator.”
“You say “if” that happens – is there still a way to stop it?” I asked.
Min nodded. “Yes, the pattern can be reversed, but only if the right Shard can be found to do it.” She paused, smiling expectantly at me. I began to feel slightly queasy.
“You can’t mean me?” I said, shaking my head. “There must be hundreds of others who would do a better job of it than me.”
Min shook her head. “No Clare, there aren’t. We’ve been waiting for you for a very long time. So has Demarge.”
My blood chilled.
“What are you talking about?” I said slowly, making no attempt to hide my horror.
“Clare, you have more light in you than any other Shard alive today. No one knows how, or why, but somehow you’ve managed to inherit an unusual amount from both your parents. Bede has inherited it too, although not to the same extent as you. The line of Shard light in your family is very strong.”
“That can’t be right,” I said. “I mean, look at me, I’m so…ordinary.”
Thomas laughed. “No Clare, you’re not.”
I frowned. No way did I believe what he was saying.
“Look, even if that was true, what on Earth could Demarge possibly want with me?” I said.
“You’re a threat to him, Clare,” said Min.
“A threat?” I said. The suggestion was almost laughable. “How? I’m a sixteen-year-old girl, he’s….God.” The words, said out loud, were so utterly crazy that I actually did then start to laugh. I was verging on hysteria when I felt Thomas’s hand on my arm.
“You’ve got to understand, Clare, the world has reached a tipping point. In a few years, mortals may lose their ability to question their creator altogether. If that happens, humanity will be forced to live under the darkness of his rule and in ignorance for the rest of eternity. You’re the only one who can stop that from happening.”
“You can’t be serious?” I said, scanning his face. He wasn’t laughing. Nor was Min.
“So how exactly am I supposed to do that?” I said.
“That’s something that you and other human beings must work out for yourselves,” said Min. “The light was a gift from the Aeons, we cannot now tell you how to use it.”
What? I thought to myself, my forehead creasing in on itself. Min was talking in riddles now. I was about to ask her to explain, but paused as she fixed me with a solemn look.
“Clare, Demarge will keep doing everything in his power to bring you over to his side and stop you from finding the answer.”
“Why does he want me on ‘his side’,” I said. “I thought he hated the Shards and everything they stood for.”
“He does,” said Min simply. “But if Demarge can control a Shard like you then he can control your light. That could be an extremely useful tool to him in keeping the rest of humanity in the dark.”
“What if I refuse to help him?” I said.
“He will try to kill you,” said Min, matter of factly. “That’s why we have to do everything to keep you safe.”
I gulped, wishing like anything that Min had at least tried to sugar-coat the truth. From the corner of my eye, I saw Thomas cast Min a glance that suggested she’d gone too far. Min met his eyes.
“I’m sorry Thomas, but she has to know.”
“Why is this all happening now?” I said weakly.
“Because now is the crucial time, both for Demarge and for the Aeons. You are on the brink of adulthood – for Demarge, it is imperative that he is able to shape you into the leader he needs you to be,” said Min.
“Doesn’t anyone understand, I’m not a leader!” I said, as memories of school came flooding back to me. “I can’t even stand up for myself, let alone anyone else. You need someone who will get other people to follow them.” I turned to Thomas. “You know, like one of those girls from maths who can get the whole class to bully one person in about five seconds flat.”
“They’re not the kind of leaders we need, Clare,” said Thomas. “If humanity is to have any hope against Demarge, you will need to join together, not split one another apart.”
“You think I can do that?” I said, my voice dripping with scepticism.
“Yes, if you choose to,” said Min. She sounded like she was actually being serious.
“But I wouldn’t even know where to start,” I said.
Thomas picked up on the rising panic in my voice. He slipped his arm inside mine, as we continued to pick our way through the flowers scattered across the meadow.
“You don’t have to worry about that right now. Let’s at least get you settled in first.”
“Are there others Shards here as well…?” I said, still feeling slightly weird about using the label.
“Yes, a hundred or so,” said Thomas, “although there can be several hundred here at any given time.”
“All from Wiltsdown?” I said.
Thomas laughed.
“No, they come from every part of the world. We can open and close the entrance in different places as the need arises.”
“You mean the entrance we’ve just come through isn’t permanently in Wiltsdown?” I said.
“Exactly,” said Thomas. “It’s only here at the moment because it needs to be. One of the advantages of the Slipworld being made of light is that it can be moved easily.”
“So does the Slipworld move often?” I asked.
Thomas nodded. “Yes, it’s a bit of a nomad in that way,”
“So once the Shards are here, can they stay forever?” I said.
“No, unfortunately not,” said Min. “All humans ultimately belong in the world of matter. Bodies made of flesh and bone are very heavy. If the S
lipworld became saturated with human beings, the light would eventually become so heavy and clogged that everything would grind to a halt. For that reason all humans must return to their own world when they are no longer in danger.”
“So how does a Shard know when they’re no longer in danger?” I said.
“It varies for each person,” said Min. “Some need to stay in the Slipworld for many years. Their absence from your world can often mean that they get classed as ‘missing people’ or ‘recluses’. For others though, it’s possible to return from the Slipworld within a matter of weeks, or even days.”
“And if they end up in danger again?” I said.
“Then they can come back,” said Min. “Everything shifts – all Aeons recognise that.”
“Everything shifts?” I said.
“I mean that no matter what we do, nothing ever stays exactly the same,” said Min. “Time doesn’t work like that. It explains why we can go from feeling bad one day, to feeling better the next, without even realising why or how it’s happened. Everything shifts. All we can really do is be prepared to adapt. Sometimes it takes a while for that to happen.”
“I guess,” I said. I’d never really thought about it like that before.
“It’s through here,” said Thomas, jolting me from my thoughts.
I looked up to see him pointing at a small opening in the forest at the edge of the meadow. The grass seemed to be standing on its very tiptoes, trying to compete with the tall, dark pine trees. The beginning of a narrow dirt track invited us to enter the damp, green morass of foliage.
“After you,” said Thomas, allowing Min and I to go first.
The temperature dropped the minute we stepped into the trees. I tried to take my mind off the cold by focusing on the clean, woody scent of pine sap, and by counting the number of red toadstools I could see hiding like misplaced gemstones among the ferns and mosses. Below me, a carpet of soft pine needles cushioned my feet as I followed Min amongst some of the tallest trees I’d ever seen. Their branches twisted ornately, as if they were snapshots of electricity, or dancers performing intricate movements.