Gradually, his eyes cleared and he could see into the depths of the box. Something small and dark lay at the bottom; something alive. It squirmed, tried to scramble over the edge. Mallory almost dropped the box in shock.
'The Devil can do God's work,' Stefan intoned gravely. 'Indeed, there is a delicious irony in bending Satan to His will.' The thing appeared over the lip. 'Beware the Serpent, Mallory,' Stefan warned.
And then Mallory could see what it was. It was small, almost foetal in shape, and although the glittering sheen of scales had not yet appeared, its wings were perfecdy formed.
'It is the first one born to this world for many an age.' Mallory looked up at the booming voice. The Caretaker stood next to the mausoleum with Stefan cowering at his feet.
'That was why the Fabulous Beast came,' Mallory said. 'They killed it, but all it wanted was its young.' Suddenly he knew why the glorious creature had been flying back and forth across the countryside, why it hadn't used its cataclysmic flame to destroy the cathedral in its final attack. There was something so desperately sad in it all.
'How can you justify this?' Mallory said in disbelief. 'It's a living creature.'
'The Devil can take many forms,' Stefan replied, and, because he clearly believed a supporting argument was necessary, 'God's will overrules all.'
'It was a crime,' the Caretaker said dispassionately, 'against Existence.'
'A crime against nature… the world… everything,' Mallory added. 'That's why the Green Man threw everything into getting it back.' He turned incredulously to Stefan. 'Don't you understand — these things represent life?'
'It's the Serpent,' Stefan said, unmoved. 'This is the thing that corrupted humanity. In the very first times it led to the expulsion from paradise. It is knowledge-'
'Yes,' Mallory interrupted, 'knowledge… meaning… the force that holds everything together. You've made this the enemy, but you know in your heart it's the same thing you want, the same power that fuels your prayer… the same path to-'
Stefan shook his head vehemently. 'The Bible tells us what this thing is.'
'You idiot,' Mallory snapped, his emotions running away from him. 'You put all your faith in a book when you had salvation in your hands!'
Stefan was unmoved. 'The only important thing was to save our religion — that was our sole motivation. We understood full well what this… thing could do. It's a generator, providing an energy that those of a devout mind could shape to their will… to God's will. With this charge, the force of our faith could enable the Church to thrive, to spread out rapidly. We would have saved Christianity from extinction! That was a prize worth any sacrifice.'
'Tyrants always think the ends justify the means, Stefan.' Mallory watched the tiny creature wriggle around, enjoying its freedom. It was not yet able to fly, but the awe it generated was palpable, and came from some place beyond its form. 'There's no logic to any of your arguments,' he continued. 'A central tenet of Christianity is the power of faith — if you believed that, wouldn't it have done the job on its own? If you believe in the omnipotent power of your God, would He allow His own religion to die?'
'He did not. We were his instruments-'
Mallory sighed; there was no point in arguing — Stefan could justify anything through his belief system. 'What do I do with it?' Mallory asked the Caretaker. 'We can't just let it free, can we? It won't survive on its own.'
The Caretaker smiled with what Mallory thought was a hint of sadness. 'It is not a creature as you imagine it, Brother of Dragons. It is more… it is an idea, a convergence of hope and belief and symbolism of something greater, given form. But it is still only partly formed, and without the care and guidance of its guardian it will not survive.'
'It's dying?' As Mallory watched the tiny Fabulous Beast, he gradually realised the true tragedy of what had happened: the first glimmer of hope in a very dark world had been extinguished.
The Caretaker watched Mallory intently. 'If its guardian had not been slain, this new one may well have given up its power to the Fragile Creatures,' he added. 'The forces aligned against them would not have been able to stand-'
'So if they hadn't killed the Beast, they might have got everything they wanted?' Mallory looked back at Stefan. 'Well, there's irony for you.'
The acceptance of his monumental error slowly dawned on Stefan's face. Mallory wanted to rub more salt in the wound, but he knew it was a childish impulse and, after all that had happened, quite insignificant. Instead, he bent down and picked up the tiny Fabulous Beast, which was enjoying itself wriggling in the dust. It was velvety soft and warm to the touch; the blue light appeared to be radiating from the very pores of its skin. Mallory experienced another surge of transcendental emotion at the contact before he dropped it into the box and closed the lid. The light snapped out. 'Sorry,' he whispered, a simple word filled with the depth of his heart's emotion. He turned to the Caretaker. 'Isn't there anything we can do to save it?'
Before the giant could respond, Mallory caught sight of movement amongst the mausoleums and stones. He drew his sword and pressed his back against a wall, at first thinking that the Hipgrave-thing had somehow found its way into the mysterious cemetery.
It was Stefan's fearful reaction that made Mallory realise what was happening. The cowled figures of the clerics emerged from every side with slow, purposeful steps, the gravity of their intention creeping oppressively over all. Their approach was silent and eerie; they were like an execution party. Mallory guessed that they had followed with the same slow insistence from the reservoir; and now they had what they had always wanted: the man who symbolised, they felt, the betrayal of the devout traditions to which they had dedicated their lives.
Stefan had left it too late to run. The clerics were on every side, pressing him back against the mausoleum. His eyes ranged with an awful awareness, not because of the fate that awaited him but because he finally appeared to recognise his shortcomings; his own kind had judged him and found him wanting.
Even after everything, Mallory still considered rescuing him. He gripped his sword and took a step forwards, but by then Stefan was lost behind a wall of black. There was one final cry, quickly muffled, and then the haunting figures began to drift slowly away, like shadows fading in the morning light. When they had departed, of Stefan there was no sign; Mallory couldn't tell if they had dragged him off in their midst, or if he had been consumed by them. Whatever the answer, Mallory had an instinctive understanding that there had been some kind of justice.
As the tension dissipated, Mallory felt suddenly deflated. 'What now?' he asked.
'Now,' the Caretaker replied, 'there will come an ending.'
'Yeah, I can dump this box and get back to Sophie,' Mallory said, brightening; still not quite accepting his triumph. 'And then it's just me and her-'
'No,' the Caretaker said. 'That is not how it will be.'
Mallory couldn't meet his eyes; although he shouldn't have had any inkling, he somehow knew what lay ahead, and it left him with a desolation that made him tremble.
'There is one more door to pass through, Brother of Dragons.' The Caretaker motioned behind Mallory. The mysterious door with the carved surround through which he had first passed now stood behind him. He could feel the weight of it, as if it would suck him through.
'I can't,' Mallory said. 'I need to get back to Sophie.'
He sheathed his sword and broke into a run, zigzagging randomly through the grave markers. When he was finally exhausted, the Caretaker was waiting. 'Take me back to Sophie,' Mallory pleaded.