'You've got a good crowd here,' Mallory said.
That appeared to please her. 'Sophie seems to think the two of you are very likeable, too.'
Mallory glanced at Sophie who blushed and looked away.
'We're trying to fit in with the locals,' Melanie continued. 'We want people to see that what we're doing here is right.' She ended her sentence with a deep, tremulous breath.
'Mallory here is very sceptical.' Sophie eyed him slyly. 'He doesn't believe in ley lines or the power in the land. And he especially doesn't believe we can create a boundary that will make us invisible to Fabulous Beasts.'
'Sophie, dear, not everyone is a forward thinker, even in this newly enlightened age.' She smiled weakly. 'I'm sorry, Mr Mallory, I'm teasing you. If you're hard and fast in your views, I wouldn't dream of trying to change them. But this is the way it was told to me. Millennia ago, the power in the land flowed freely through everything and everyone. We call it the Blue Fire, but it has many other names: chi to the Chinese…' She waved a hand to suggest this wasn't important. 'It healed, but it could also be destructive when used against the enemies of life. It could be shaped and directed by will alone and it could cause effects at a distance.'
'Magic, in a word,' Mallory said.
'Very perceptive,' Sophie said, with mild sarcasm.
'The Blue Fire formed a global network that kept the world… nature… healthy. It was fuelled by spirituality, by the faith of ancient people in tune with the land. They erected the standing stones and established die old sacred places at points where the Blue Fire was the strongest. But as civilisation advanced we lost touch with the energy. It became increasingly dormant, and the land suffered accordingly. There were still people who could use it to achieve things, but it was hard work and the effects were both hit or miss and not particularly great. The Craft, we call it. The great Wiccan tradition.'
Miller gasped audibly and took a step back. Mallory saw a glimmer of panic in his face. Please don't shout, 'Bum the witch!', Mallory thought.
Melanie smiled at his reaction. 'Forget the old cliches. We're not all double, double, toil and trouble. This is a religion, if you will. We have our rituals, the same as the Christian Church. We have our ministers and silly little trappings that make us feel happy. And we do good works. But I digress-'
'The Blue Fire is back in force.' Sophie's eyes gleamed, her voice quiet but intense. 'And we can do great things again.'
'Just like that,' Mallory said.
'Yes. Just like that.' She looked to Melanie. 'When everything changed with the Fall, it regained its old vitality. The Fall was a signifier that we'd moved into a new age-'
'The dawning of the Age of Aquarius,' Mallory joked.
'Not everyone has the ability to work subtle magics, in the same way that not everyone can be an artist. But those who are able are very, very able. Supercharged,' Melanie said.
'I remain to be convinced,' Mallory said.
'Of course you do,' Melanie replied. 'This is a hard topic for many people to swallow. They get taught things when they're young… things about the way the world works… and they don't like to give them up easily. It makes them feel uneasy. Destabilised.' Melanie nodded to Sophie. 'Darling, be a dear and tell Mr Mallory about Ruth Gallagher.' Her eyelids drooped shut.
'I've heard that name,' Miller said.
'You should have. Everyone should have, but the word is still getting round.' Sophie tried to read Mallory's face to see if he had become any more receptive. 'After the Fall, there was a group of people who fought for humanity. They were heroes. And one of them was Ruth Gallagher. The gods gifted her with a tremendous power. She became an ultimate adept at the Craft-'
'An Uber-witch.' Mallory couldn't restrain himself, but Sophie was unfazed.
'She could do amazing things. She could shake the world if she wanted. After the final battle, she set out across the land, spreading the word, teaching those who came to her. And Melanie was one of the first. They met in the Midlands, near Warwick, and Melanie took to it phenomenally. Her potential was off the scale. And she taught me.'
'And Sophie's potential is great, too.' Melanie's eyes were open once more, but she looked even more weary.
'I still think you're fooling yourself,' Mallory said. 'But I'll bite. Go on, show me.'
'No,' Sophie said indignantly.
'We don't perform, Mr Mallory.' Melanie threw a scrawny arm over her eyes. 'We use the Craft sparingly and for the right reasons. We use it as Christians would prayer. It's not something to be taken lightly.'
'Oh, well, then, that's all right. You can show me, you just don't feel like it,' Mallory said. 'You've convinced me. I'm a believer.'
'Are you always like this?' Sophie's eyes blazed.
'Actually, he is,' Miller said.
Mallory flashed him a look that suggested he was a traitor. 'As you said earlier, everyone out there thinks they know the way the world works. And they're all wrong. So why should you be right?'
Miller moved to the foot of Melanie's bed. His curiosity had been caught by the way the blankets were lying; it didn't look right. 'If you don't mind me asking,' he said gently, 'what's wrong with you?'
Sophie's face grew hard. 'What's wrong with her?' Rick suddenly appeared near to tears. 'She was trying to do some good and she was attacked and beaten for it!'
'I'm sorry,' Miller said. 'We have access to medical care… well, herbs and the like. If we can help-'
'There's not much that can be done, I'm afraid.' Melanie gently pulled back the blankets. Both her legs were missing from the knee.
Miller recoiled. 'My God, what happened?'
'She was attacked by a group of bastards from the cathedral!' Rick said, his eyes brimming over.
Miller blanched, glanced at Mallory in disbelief.
'We were at Stonehenge,' Sophie continued, her face like stone. 'It used to be a dead site… all the energy leeched from it because of exploitation… but after the Fall it came back with force. We were investigating some reports that a Fabulous Beast had settled in the area when-'
'They came out of nowhere!' Rick raged. 'Black-shirted bastards with a red cross on the front — we've seen them around the cathedral! Think they're some kind of knights-'
'No!' Miller exclaimed, waving his hands as if he were trying to waft away the notion.
'They did that?' Mallory said.
'They tried to drive us off,' Sophie replied. 'Came at us on horseback with swords and pikes and all sorts of medieval weaponry.'
'I couldn't get out of the way in time,' Melanie said. 'I fell beneath the hooves. They weren't able to save my legs.'
'No,' Miller repeated, backing towards the purple drapes. 'I don't believe it.' Sophie, Rick and Melanie looked at him in puzzlement.
'It's true,' Sophie said. 'We wouldn't make something like that up. They knew who we were — unbelievers — and they rode her down. They didn't try to help or anything, just drove us away. They didn't care if we lived or died.'
'No,' Miller said again. 'We're knights — we're from the cathedral. And no one there would do anything like that.'
Mallory's heart sank. Miller's denial was too strong, bolstered by his own need to believe that there was no truth in the story. Mallory had been focusing on Rick's face; the puzzlement hung there for an instant while he processed what Miller had said and then his features hardened.
'Is this true?' Sophie said directly to Mallory. A hint of betrayal chilled her eyes.
'We only signed up today,' Mallory replied.
Rick looked as if he would leap across the room and attack them. 'They're all the same!' he raged. 'They hate anyone who's not a Christian-'
'That's not true!' Miller protested, close to tears himself.
'Please,' Melanie said weakly, 'no arguments.'
Mallory could see that the warm atmosphere had already evaporated. The extent of Melanie's tragedy meant any attempt to argue their innocence would be offensive. 'Come on, Miller, this isn't the time,' he said, grabbing the young knight's arm. Miller threw it off, preparing to defend his Faith further, and Mallory grabbed him tighter this time, dragging him back. 'Get a grip,' Mallory hissed in his ear. 'Look at what's happened to her — have some heart.'