He had begun a new game; had placed the first stone on the board. Now he stared at it fixedly, conscious that he must learn it all again.
"What do you want, old man?" he asked, looking up at the shadowy figure seated across from him.
"To travel with you," the other answered, leaning closer as he placed an answering stone. "And to enlighten you."
DeVore laughed. "Enlighten me?"
The old man stared back at him, his dark eyes narrowed. "You think yourself beyond enlightenment?"
"No. No . . . it's just . . ." Again he laughed, amused by the whole thing.
"You lost," the old man said, sitting back.
"You cheated," DeVore answered, placing a second stone. "I don't know how, but that's the only way you could have beaten me."
"The only way?" It was the old man's turn to laugh. "You stare into the dark and think the dark is all."
"In the beginning there was nothing. And in the end . . ." DeVore shrugged. "Nothing."
"And yet we live in-between, neh?" The old man slapped down another stone—carelessly, it seemed.
DeVore stared at it, then shook his head. "It's all such a mess, don't you think? All so ... confused."
"That is one way of looking at things. But there are others, surely? As Chuang Tzu said, the human form has ten thousand changes that never come to an end. In consequence one's joys, like one's sorrows, must be uncountable. Life . . . life cannot be reduced. It cannot be tidied up, the way you wish to. It simply is."
DeVore snorted. "Nonsense! Life's there to be shaped, to be changed into other, better forms. Why give us knowledge if we are not to act upon it? Why give us power if we cannot use that power?"
"To teach restraint?" The old man waved a hand across the board. "It is like the game. It must not be mistaken for life."
DeVore stared at him, then picked up the board and threw it at him. It passed through the old man, landing on the floor, the stones scattering.
The old man was gone.
"Light and air," he said contemptuously. "That's all you ever were, old man. Starlight and nothingness!" He stood, stretching, looking about himself at the tiny cabin.
The room was dark. He was alone now. He had always been alone. Outside the stars shimmered redly.
Restraint, he thought and laughed, just wait. I'll teach you cunts restraint!
END OF BOOK SIX