'Greetings, sister,' the Goddess said warmly. 'You have travelled a hard road to be here. I recognise your strength; you are a true example of all that I hoped for the sisterhood.'
Mary was lost for words. The Goddess sensed her awe, for she said, 'Come, do not shrink from me. I serve you, as you serve me. I am a part of you, as you are a part of me. That is the message Existence has set before us.'
Mary swallowed. 'I don't understand what I'm supposed to do…'
'There are no limits to anything — worlds upon worlds, gods upon gods, no limit to the heart of Fragile Creatures, no limit to what can be achieved. Time and space are not absolute. Everything is fluid. That, too, is Existence. You must learn this if you seek to understand all that has transpired, and all that will transpire.'
'Why did you leave the God? Why did you hide away from us?' The Goddess's face grew sad. 'Once, we were strong. Our ways were exalted, the way of the moon and the heart and the great, shifting oceans. But the seasons turned. You know, sister, you know. Those who seek power, the enemies of Existence, took it with iron fist. We fell away and away. The great forests were burned, the seas filled with poisons, the grasslands torn up and buried, the hilltops devastated, the air itself filled with sulphur, and the sisterhood's voice grew small and smaller still; many accepted their lot. Too many.' 'So you left,' Mary said. 'We let you down.' 'I was still with you, in spirit. I still watched and hoped, waiting for a sign that I would be needed again. But it never came.' She smiled. 'Until now.' Mary bowed her head. The Goddess stepped forward, and this time there was light, and stars; Mary couldn't look at her. 'You have served me, sister, and now I shall serve you. You came to me with a request. Speak.' 'My friend… Caitlin… she needs help.' 'I know of whom you speak — another true sister. She, too, has awoken me.' 'Then you'll help her?' 'I shall, and I already have. For as I have said, time is not absolute. What I do in your here and now will affect what you have already experienced Mary tried to understand what the Goddess was saying. 'You can alter the past?' she ventured. 'There is no past, or future. Only an endless present. It is your perception that traps you in your view, little sister. What we all do rings out across eternity.' The Goddess moved back near to the spring. A second later, a large hooded crow flew out of the steam, circling the room before alighting on the floor next to the Goddess. Strangely, Mary saw the bird but felt as if she was looking at a fierce but beautiful woman with long black hair and cold, intense eyes. 'The tribes knew her as the Morrigan,' the Goddess explained. Mary knew the name, as many in the Craft did. 'She serves you?' she asked. The Goddess smiled. 'She is me. A part of me, as you are a part. All the gods are an aspect of something greater, though they think they have individual lives. Names. What are names? Here I was Sulis, and Minerva. Yes, and the Morrigan. And I am Brigid, the goddess with three faces. Three faces, sister — past, present and future, all one, all linked, all looking out across Existence.'
The crow rose up, its wings beating like the rhythm of the heart, and it flew back into the steam and disappeared.
'Gone,' the Goddess said, 'to a lonely lane on a stormy night, and a time of terrible heartache for one sister.'
'Thank you,' Mary said. Her gratitude gave way to a tremendous relief that her journey was finally over. Yet there was a strange, unsetding quality in the Goddess's face that gave her pause. 'The Morrigan will help her, won't she? That's it? It's over?'
Sadness flickered across the Goddess's features, and Mary knew the answer even before the Goddess spoke. 'Caitlin will now reach the end of her quest, where she would have long fallen before. But that will not be enough. Not even the Morrigan can save her from the forces ranged against her.' There was no whispering, but the silence was even eerier. The Lament-Brood stood unmoving, as if awaiting an order.
'What are they doing?' Jack said. 'Why don't they attack?'
Matt pressed Jack and Caitlin back towards the warp field, which buzzed like a high-tension wire. A sucking cold urged them to step back further, further, into that fantastic panorama where they would be drawn into the very heart of Existence.
Matt turned to Caitlin. 'We made a right old mess of things, didn't we?' he said. 'Don't suppose you've got any tricks up your sleeve?'
'No.' She looked over at the Lament-Brood, her mind turning.
'Not ready to conjure up that Psycho-Caitlin who got us in here?'
'Why should I?' She continued to search the purple-misted ranks.
Matt put his hands on her shoulders and physically turned her towards him. 'For old times' sake?' He smiled winningly. 'We got close on the way here… very close. I saw how you felt about me, and believe me, I feel the same way. I need you to do your stuff, Caitlin… Jack and I both do. Don't you think you and I deserve the chance to see where things might go when we get out of here? After all we've been through, we deserve some romance in our lives-'
Her cold laugh cut him dead. 'Romance?' She smiled icily, her eyes flashing. 'You were so good at your manipulation, Matt.'
'What are you talking about?'
'There is no missing daughter, is there? You couldn't have just forgotten her like you did. If you had a child she would have been on your mind all the time, driving every decision. But you only mentioned her when you used her to win me over… because you needed me to cross over to this place.'
'That's ridiculous! Of course I've got a daughter. And once we're out of here-'
'You never loved me, Matt. I saw through all that, too, because I experienced real love recently, from someone who cared for me more than himself. I'd forgotten what it was like with Grant, so you could fool me for a while, but now, looking back, you were so transparent. Who are you, Matt? Really?'
He made to continue his deception and then shrugged and wandered away to stare briefly into the warp field. When he finally looked back at her, his mind made up, his pleasant features revealed a hidden arrogance.
'Before the Fall I used to be in the Special Boat Service. Where do you think I got all those martial skills? At the local pub? These days… well, more of the same, I suppose. I work for the Government. The new Government, down in Oxford. They're still keeping things pretty much under wraps, but soon everyone will know they're on the case, and then they'll be kicking the arse of all the gods and what have you. We're going to blow them out of the water.'
Jack stared at Matt with mounting dismay. Matt ignored him.
'The Government knows more than you might think. They're smart people, Caitlin. They understand that they need to have all the facts at their disposal before they can strike back. So they've been doing the legwork, finding out all the reasons why the Fall happened, working out who the Brothers and Sisters of Dragons are and why they exist, finding out what those gods do… and how we can hit back at them. They might not know everything, but you'd be surprised at what they do know. Like this Otherworld, for instance. They knew it was here — don't ask me how — and they'd worked out how to get to it. And that was where you came in.'
'How did you know I was going to be at the Rollrights?' Caitlin asked.
'I didn't. I just struck lucky.' He glanced at the Lament- Brood. 'Or maybe not so lucky. Anyway, the Government had one of us camped out at each of the old stone circles, and some of the other places we thought might be crossover points. Our job was to bring back a cure for the plague — yeah, they guessed it was from here, too — and any other information we could use in the fight-back. But we needed a Brother or Sister of Dragons to get us across. We gambled that sooner or later one of you would turn up. I'm sorry I had to deceive you, Caitlin, but the bottom line is, we're on the same side.'