Destroyer of Worlds

3

'I've been here before,' Church said.

'Of course you have. We all have at some time,' Tom replied. 'We leave here and we return here.'

A cavern, a space deep in the earth, the smell of damp and the chill of the dark. A blue light guided the three of them forwards until they encountered Hal holding the Wayfinder aloft.

'I am the Caretaker,' Hal said. 'I keep a light burning in the darkest night. I serve all who come to me, whether their hearts are filled with hope or tainted by despair.'

Church recognised the words, and now understood that it was a ritual greeting.

Beyond Hal lay a cave where a cauldron bubbled over a small fire. Poised over it was a man with wild grey hair clutching a long staff and an old woman in a black dress who could have been his twin, her face smeared with dirt or grease so that her eyes stared with a terrible intensity.

'Look into the cauldron,' the woman said.

Uneasily, Church ventured beside her and peered into the depths. He saw himself lying on a bed, eyes closed, with people watching him. There was an air of uncertainty to the image.

'Is that the truth, then?' he asked. 'Am I really dying?'

'The real question is, does it matter?' the wild-haired man said.

'Nothing is true, except what you make it,' the old woman cackled.

Church wanted to see more, to try to understand, but Tom gently pulled him away. 'Where are we going?' Church asked.

'You have learned the ability to alter much,' the wild-haired man shouted after them.

As Hal led them along a tunnel, there was a flash beside them, a fleeting grin, mischievous eyes. 'Fools and lovers are the greatest heroes,' the Puck said. 'This Merry Wanderer of the Night will wander alone no longer.' He gave a flourishing bow and disappeared.

A feeling of dread fell across them as they approached another cave. Cernunnos waited outside it, his eyes glowing within the vegetation of his face. He indicated that Church should enter. 'You have something that belongs to the Daughters of the Night,' he said.

Inside the cave, three hooded women stood, their faces hidden. They were the source of the dread that made Church's flesh crawl.

'One spins threads. One measures them,' Cernunnos said. 'And the other…?'

From the small bag at his belt, Church pulled the Extinction Shears. They sang as he brought them into the light. When the third woman reached out a bony hand and reclaimed the Shears, Church took care not to brush her fingers with his own.

At the side of the cave a silvery thread stretched from the shadows above down to the floor. The third woman opened the shears around the thread, and waited. Slowly she turned to look at Church; he bowed his head, afraid that if he looked into the depths of her cowl he would die.

'What is that thread?' he asked, unsettled.

'You don't need to know that.' Hal's tone was sympathetic. 'You've returned what belongs to the Daughters of the Night. Let's move on.'

Outside the cave, Carlton waited. Beaming, he shook Church's hand, and then Ruth's and Tom's. 'We're nearly done now,' he said. 'But I wanted to let you know that what you have achieved is no more than what was expected of you, and, in the final reckoning, remarkable. You've earned the faith that was placed in you, Church.'

'What do you want me to do?' Church asked.

'Destroy the world. Destroy all the worlds.'

'What?' Church said incredulously.

'Turn the Axis of Existence, as you did once before.'

'I don't understand.'

Carlton smiled. 'Destroy what's out there, Church. Do what the Void could not do.'

Church gaped.

'Remake the world, as you would see it made.'

'Remake…?' For a long moment, Church tried to comprehend if there was some hidden meaning in Carlton's comments, but the honest innocence in the boy's face told him the truth. 'That's insane! I can't do that!'

'You are the only one who can.'

'How long are you giving me — seven days? I'm not God!' The insanity of what was being proposed left Church reeling.

'Why Church?' Ruth took his hand, supporting him.

'Everything that has happened to you has been preparing you for this moment,' Carlton said.

'I'm not prepared. How can you say anyone is prepared to change the world?' Church looked from Ruth to Tom.

Tom rested a reassuring hand on Church's shoulder. 'During my travels I read the story of the Pilgrim's Progress,' he said, 'and that is essentially what you have done. You've journeyed around Britain, across time, around the world and across the dimensions, meeting humanity, and life in all its forms, learning valuable lessons from your experiences. You know what it is to be human, to feel, to love. That is what has prepared you for this moment.'

'Destroy the world and remake it? I can't do that. It's too… big! I'm not up to it.'

'Then leave it just how it is, but maybe with a few slight changes,' Tom prompted.

Slowly, what Tom was saying dawned on Ruth. Her eyes gleamed. 'Yes,' she breathed. 'Think of it. A world that's about magic not money. That's about friendship and love, not power. And you're the best person to do that.'

'How can you say that?' Church tried not to feel betrayed. 'Nobody should have that kind of power. The ultimate power. I could be as bad as the Void. What if I didn't like… I don't know… people who walked with a limp, so I made sure they didn't exist in this brave new world?'

'Because I know you.' A quiet confidence suffused Ruth's face. 'I know in any given situation you will always do the right thing. You've proven that over and over again.'

'I trust you too,' Tom said.

'Is that why they brought you along? My mentor. To convince me?'

'They could have brought any of the others. They all would have said the same thing.'

'I'm not the person you think I am.'

'You've never had confidence in yourself,' Tom said. 'You've doubted at every turn, but your actions have shown the truth. On the long road, you were presented with numerous opportunities to go the wrong way. You could have given it all up to pursue your love for Ruth, the sole, defining factor in your life. But you kept going. You kept true. You're a hero.'

'I'm not!' Church snapped. 'I'm… nobody. I'm just an ordinary bloke.'

'And maybe that's what's needed here,' Ruth said quietly. 'Somebody who knows the right thing when he sees it. Somebody who understands simple, uncynical, easily mocked concepts — like love. Or innocence. Or duty. Sacrifice.'

Her admiration for him was so powerful he could barely look at her.

'We need a better world,' Tom said. 'Everybody on the planet wants that. They don't want a world ruled by those desperate to make money or seek power. They want something true, and honest. And it's your responsibility to give them that.'

'Don't say that!'

'It's your duty,' Tom insisted quietly.

The words hung heavy on Church's shoulders. Desperate and isolated, he lowered his head and closed his eyes, wrestling with his answer. After a moment, he sighed, 'How does it work?'

'Come with me.' Carlton took Church's hand and led him to a large cavern filled with a brilliant light. It took Church a while to realise the cavern was filled with Caraprix, all of the mutating creatures in a state of flux. Amongst them stood Jerzy, blank-eyed but alive.

'God, you manipulated that poor bastard,' Church said. 'You made sure one of those shape-shifting things was stuck in his head to call all the others home.'

'The Mocker will live,' Carlton said. 'He's been a good servant.'

'How are those things going to help?'

'The Caraprix are like the spiders, if you will,' Carlton said. 'They are the agents of Existence. They can unpick the weft and the weave, and then weave a new reality. They are machines of creation.'

Church watched the silver creatures continually change shape. 'So they're like angels?'

Carlton laughed.

'I decide what the world's going to be like and they go out and make it a reality.'

'Something like that.'

'Where do they come from?'

'That's not for you to know right now.'

'But they destroyed the Drakusa,' Church said. 'They were a real threat. The Drakusa did everything they could to wipe them out, but the Caraprix committed genocide.'

'The Drakusa had the potential to become agents of change, but they chose to direct all their abilities to their own ends. They ignored the greater good. They desired power, for themselves. They crushed other races that fell before them. If they had been true to who they were, perhaps the golden age could have been ushered in a long, long time ago.'

'So you destroyed them?'

'Me? No. The Oldest Things in the Land are agents, just like you, Church. We worked and strove and failed, sometimes. But did Existence wipe out the Drakusa? Yes. They chose to work for the Void, though they didn't understand it in their terms. Innocence does not mean weakness.'

'How many races fell, like the Drakusa?'

'Every race has a choice: act for the greater good, bring magic back into the world, or support the aims of the Void,' Carlton said. 'Free will, Church. There is a pattern, but everyone has a choice. The only rule is they must accept responsibility for their actions. If you seek out personal power and lay others low, do not be surprised when a higher power decides to do the same to you.'

'Sounds very Old Testament to me.' Church watched the Caraprix change and for the first time felt awe: he could see something wonderful in the very essence of them.

'Everyone has a choice. Fragile Creatures didn't fail. You didn't fail.'

Church steeled himself. 'There's no point talking. Let's do this.'

'You're ready?'

'No. But I'll do my best.'

'That's all anyone's ever asked of you, Church. And you've never let anyone down.'

Carlton led Church back to Ruth and Tom who waited by the cave he thought he had visited in a dream when he had been in the Sleep Like Death. Whatever lay inside made his perception skew wildly. He saw a network of lights, a mandala, a rotating crystal, and then the image his mind found easiest: an enormous machine of cogs and gears with a protruding lever.

'Just like before? Pull the lever?'

'It'll be easier this time,' Carlton said.

'Symbols,' Church whispered to himself before announcing, 'This could be the last gasp of my dying brain. The final shape of the hallucination. Pull the lever and it's all over. Is that what it is? The lever is death?'

'It's whatever you believe it to be,' Carlton said.

Ruth kissed him on the cheek. 'Just remember, whatever happens, we've won. Against all the odds, we've rid the world of corruption. It's been a long, hard struggle, but we've won.'

'What kind of world will you make, Church?' Carlton asked.

'A good one,' Church replied. 'I hope.'

'Jack?' Tom caught his attention. 'You're a good man. Don't forget that.'

Church placed both hands on the lever and steadied himself. He looked to Tom and then Ruth and drew strength from the absolute trust he saw in their eyes.

'Every happy ending is a new beginning. Come on, Church — pull the lever,' Ruth encouraged.

He hesitated for a long time.

Her final words were a whisper, a prayer, a promise from the depths of her heart. 'You can do it, Church. I trust you. I love you. I'll love you always… and for ever.'

He pulled the lever.