“That . . . is what was following us?” said Julien.
“That is what would have killed you if you’d failed the Sisters’ entirely arbitrary sense of what is right and proper,” said the Sun King. “It would have sucked the life out of you, then impaled what was left on the thorns of the hedge walls. The Very Righteous Sisters may like to think of themselves as a new kind of Druid; but the fruit never falls far from the tree. What you’re looking at is the hedge walking. It still wants to kill you. Because you don’t venerate the Stones. Can’t you feel it? Your basic goodness is all that’s kept it at bay, Julien. But the Sisters could still let that thing run loose, to kill anyone they disapprove of.”
The hedge thing was looking at Julien and me, and I could tell it didn’t like us. But it liked the Sun King even less. It swayed slightly on its thorny feet, as though readying itself for an order to attack. And I was pretty sure if it did, it wouldn’t stop with the Sun King.
“Plants should know their place,” the Sun King said firmly. He snapped his fingers, and a great blast of sunlight stabbed down out of nowhere, pinning the hedge thing to the spot. The light and heat were so intense that Julien and I had to throw up our arms to shields our eyes, even as we staggered backwards. The sunlight engulfed the hedge thing in a moment, and it burst into vicious flames that consumed it from the inside out. Fire and smoke rose into the evening air. The hedge thing waved its green arms, and the flames danced hungrily. I thought I heard the thing scream, and some cold place in my heart approved. The beam of sunlight snapped off. And when I was finally able to see clearly again, there was nothing left of the hedge thing but a blackened, smoking mess on the ground and a heavy scent, like burning leaves.
And the Sun King was gone.
“He hasn’t changed,” said Julien. “He still has to have the last word.”
“So,” I said, trying to keep my voice light. “That . . . was the Sun King. I thought he’d be taller.”
“You weren’t seeing him at his best,” said Julien. “There was something . . . off, about him.”
“Yes,” I said. “I felt that. What did the Entities from Beyond do to him, during those long years they had him all to themselves, in the White Tower?”
“And why wouldn’t he tell us their real name?” said Julien. “Perhaps because . . . we might recognise it?”
“This is what you wouldn’t tell me,” I said sternly. “That the Sun King had been putting things in your head. Telling you to come here, so he could talk to you. And you didn’t want me to know that, because . . .”
“Because it would have given you the wrong impression,” said Julien. “I wanted you to see him as he really was.”
“I have,” I said.
Julien sighed tiredly. “As a demonstration of power, what he did here was pretty impressive.”
“Until the Righteous Sisters turned up and kicked his psychedelic arse.”
We looked around, but they were gone, too. Green Henge stood silent and alone, as before, and the maze was very still.
“They would have let that thing kill us,” I said. “Like it did all the other poor bastards in the maze. I’ve half a mind to burn the bloody thing down before we leave.”
“But you won’t,” said Julien. “Because that’s the kind of thing the Sun King would do.”
“Don’t mess with my head,” I said. “Because that’s the kind of thing the Sun King would do.”
“Touché.”
“Threeché.” I raised my voice. “I know you’re still listening, Sisters! I want all those bodies removed from the maze! And no more hedge things! Or I will come back and find a way to really mess things up around here.”
There was no reply, but I had no doubt they’d heard me. I looked at Julien, and he was smiling again.
“And that . . . is why I wanted you as Walker.”
I shrugged. “There’s some shit I just won’t put up with.”
“Exactly.” And then Julien frowned, considering. “The Sisters only stopped the Sun King because they had the backing of the Stones. And because he didn’t really care. I’m not sure even the Stones could have stood against him if he’d thought they were a real threat. He was having fun, showing off his power. He wiped out the hedge thing with a thought, and he did bring sunlight to the Nightside; for a while. No-one has ever done that before.”
“But as a demonstration of getting his own way . . . not so much,” I said. “If the Very Righteous Sisters could slap him down, even for a moment, I have to wonder what will happen when he goes head to head with something nasty from the Street of the Gods.”
“I saw him work miracles, back in the sixties,” said Julien. “I can’t believe he’s grown weaker since then.”
“Not weaker,” I said. “Not as such. But didn’t he seem to you . . . as though he couldn’t quite get his act together?”
“As though he always had something else on his mind! Yes! He never had any doubts, any second thoughts, back in San Francisco.”
“Okay,” I said. “Where do you think he’s gone now?”
“I don’t know. He hasn’t put anything in my head if that’s what you’re thinking. Can’t you find him, with your gift?”
“No,” I said. “I already tried. I can’t even look in his direction. It’s like staring into the sun. The light blinds me.” I felt suddenly tired, so I sat down on the flat stone in the middle of the Circle, taking the weight off my feet. After a moment’s hesitation, Julien joined me.
“I don’t think the Sisters will approve of this casual disrespect,” he said.
“They can blow it out their ears,” I said. “Starting with Sister Dorethea. I don’t approve of them. Look, you know the Sun King best. Where would he go next, in the Nightside?”
Julien shook his head. “He’s beyond me, John. He always was. I only knew to come here because he told me. And if he could get inside my head that easily, he already knows everything I might plan to do against him.”
“You can’t be sure of that,” I said quickly. “Just because he has access to your thoughts doesn’t mean he has access to your mind. Or your soul. Come on, Julien, give it your best guess. Where should we go next?”
“He really wasn’t the man I remembered,” Julien said slowly. “His wisdom is gone, never mind his common sense, and his old easy confidence has been replaced by arrogance. You must have noticed: he was happy to talk, but he didn’t want to listen. That wasn’t like the old him at all. He always had time for everyone, back in Haight-Ashbury. He used to preach; now he boasts. He felt . . . wrong, as though he was acting like he thought the Sun King should. Like a bad copy of his previous self. What did the Entities from Beyond do to him, for all those years? Mental contact with them made Harry Webb into a living god. But years of close communion with the Entities . . .”
“Have made him into a real prick,” I said.
Julien actually winced. “I do wish you’d avoid such vulgar language, John. You are Walker now.”
“Stick to the point,” I said, not unkindly. “I think the Entities spent all those years programming him, impressing their true purpose on him. Whatever that might be. So that when they finally released him back into the world . . . he’d follow their Dream instead of his.”
“I don’t know,” said Julien. “Maybe. Perhaps . . .”
“Should we try the Street of the Gods?” I said. “There’s got to be a whole bunch of Entities and beings on the Street who could give him a good run for his money.”
But Julien was already shaking his head firmly. “The Sun King was always so much more than a living god, even back then. Damned if I know what he is now. Do we really want to start a god war in the Nightside? Particularly when we can’t be sure of the outcome?”
“All right,” I said. “Should we go to the other real place of god power in the Nightside? St. Jude’s?”