Destroyer of Worlds

'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.'

'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.'