‘What is the point in offering the promise of magic to a people dwelling in a place where there can be no magic?’ Osiris continued. ‘In offering hope where there can be none? It only makes the people restless and bitter and sorrowful. It disrupts the tranquillity of their lives and ruins what little joy they might find in their short existence. What you do is cruelty. What you bring to this stable world is terror. The Brothers and Sisters of Dragons are not a force for good, but for harm.’
‘So you’re saying we should give up and accept the world’s a mess? Just because people are stumbling along blindly-’
‘They are content.’
‘Because they don’t know what they could have.’
‘They never will. Not in this world.’
‘Then we’ll blow the damn thing up and start again.’
‘You must recognise the absurdity of your words: that a handful of mortals could unseat the great architect of the universe.’
‘You’re not recognising something, bonehead,’ she spat. ‘We’ve got the Pendragon Spirit, and it’s alive. And every human being has a shard of that power in them, just waiting to be awakened. That’s why you want to destroy us, and the big bad Void wants to keep us contained and living in ignorance — because you’re scared of what we might achieve if the human race ever opens its eyes.’
There was silence for a long moment, and then Osiris raised a hand. ‘The judgment will commence. And if you are found wanting, the Pendragon Spirit will be removed and destroyed. And one by one the lights will be extinguished, and the Blue Fire will die, and there will only be the comforting, endless dark.’
‘You don’t get to judge me,’ Laura said. ‘No one does.’
‘I call forth the Lord of the Sacred Words.’
The ranks separated and a god with the hunched body and features of a baboon stepped forward. He unfurled a papyrus scroll, which he set on a lectern, and then took up a reed pen, poised to write.
‘Thoth, god of wisdom, will record the judgment.’
Then came Anubis, jackal eyes glittering coldly. He held a pair of golden scales with a feather resting on one dish.
‘The god of embalming will weigh your heart against the feather to see if you are worthy of joining the ancient gods in the Fields of Reeds.’
‘Why do I get the feeling you’ve already made up your mind?’
Laura was overcome by a deep sense of dread. A shadow fell across her, and it was the coldest thing she had ever experienced. Webs of frost bloomed on her skin. Something loomed over her just beyond her field of vision; she had the feeling she would go mad if her eyes were to fall on it.
‘If you are judged unworthy, if you are found false and wicked, the daemon Ammut is here. She is the Devourer of the Damned. She will eat your heart, and then she will eat you, and you will die the ultimate death — wiped from Existence, never to have been.’
Laura closed her eyes and tried not to tremble but failed. She wanted to say something brave and clever, but no words would come.
‘Let the judgment begin,’ Osiris announced.
4
Church found himself in a stone tunnel lit by torches. Along one wall there was a beautiful relief of brightly coloured images that appeared to tell a story. The hieroglyphics made no sense to him, but amongst the scarabs and stylised men and animal-headed gods, there was a scene of a row of gods bowing down to what was unmistakably a Caraprix.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden arrival of a cursing Hunter, then Shavi, Fayed and finally Etain.
Church took Etain’s cold, dead hand. ‘I don’t know if you can understand me, but thank you for bringing us this far. I’m sorry for what happened to you. I didn’t mean for you to die, and if there’s any way I can make up for it, I will.’ He let the words hang in the air. Etain continued to stare at him with wide, unblinking eyes.
After a moment, she marched along the passage. As they followed her, the atmosphere in the tunnel became increasingly heady, and an unreal quality permeated everything.
‘Someone is coming,’ Shavi said. Church had noticed that Shavi’s perception was now so sharp he was aware of things long before anyone else.
Church drew his sword. They waited.
Running footsteps echoed off the stone. A figure hurtled around a bend in the tunnel, and Church was shocked to see a duplicate of himself. The new-Church, however, did not appear to be shocked at coming into contact with his doppelganger.
He ran up to Church and the others. ‘Is this it? Is this the right time?’ he gasped. ‘You have to listen to me. This is a warning.’ He looked around, confused. ‘Is this the right place? Am I too late?’
A chill ran through Church. ‘This doesn’t make sense.’
‘When you’re in Otherworld and they call, heed it right away. They’re going to bring him back. They’re-’
Church turned to Hunter. ‘I’ve experienced this before. It was an echo, or something like that, some breakdown in time and space, between when I was in the other place … after the casket of spiders … between there and when I was in Edinburgh …’ He dried up, unable to explain the bizarre sequence of events clearly.
‘Okay, the medication is clearly not working,’ Hunter said.
Church turned back to his other self. ‘That was a closed loop, an echo. It shouldn’t be happening here.’
The new-Church became gripped with fear. In panic, he yelled, ‘Too late!’ and then he was running back along the tunnel. The footsteps quickly faded to nothing.
Church was filled with a deep anxiety. ‘What is going on?’
Shavi rested a hand on his shoulder. ‘Some say moments of great trauma can resonate through all time, through reality itself, imprinted on the very essence of what is. A fingerprint on a window, a trace memory of what was.’
‘When I was in that cavern, before I met the Caretaker and I made that warning, it felt unreal,’ Church said, ‘as if I was mouthing someone else’s words.’ He sheathed his sword. ‘So what was I really trying to warn myself about? What’s waiting for us?’
‘It is best not to try to second-guess the future. That is a guarantee for living in fear,’ Shavi said. ‘Follow the Buddhist code: live in the moment. It is the only way to find peace.’
Unsettled, they continued through enormous, ringing chambers, some filled with reflecting pools, others with shafts piercing upwards through the stone to frame stars or the moon. There were palms and strange, alien flowers, statues of cats and crocodiles and hawks, and an overwhelming air of grandeur.
‘I don’t like this,’ Church said. ‘Where is everybody?’
‘Do you hear that? Ritual music?’ Shavi cocked his head. ‘And I smell incense.’ He broke off to the left, following the sound and smell. It brought him to a row of lattice windows, each barely bigger than a hand. Peering through, Church and Shavi saw Laura lying on the slab.
Church blocked Hunter from seeing. ‘We need to get into that room,’ Church said.
‘Let me see.’
‘No. It’s Laura. They’ve cut her open.’
Hunter thrust Church to one side. When he turned back from the window, his face was like iron. ‘She’s still alive. She’s a tough kid. Let’s get her out.’
‘The chamber is filled with gods,’ Shavi said. ‘We could not survive.’
5
‘Will you shut the hell up? You’re driving me crazy!’ Veitch ranged around the chamber, followed closely by Ruth.
‘I’m just trying to get you to see sense. We were a team once. Come back and work with us-’
‘I preferred you when you were ready to stab me in the back. At least you were quiet.’
‘I’m not saying I’ve forgiven you for what you did. Jesus, who could-’
‘You think that’s a good way to win me over?’
Ruth glanced at Miller, who urged her to continue. She chose her words carefully. ‘I know you’ve had some hard times. And it’s made you bitter. And you’ve done some … questionable things. But Miller is right. Existence wouldn’t have chosen you to be a Brother of Dragons if you weren’t inherently good. Screwed up, massively flawed — clearly, but good nevertheless.’