Destroyer of Worlds

6

Mallory spent the rest of the afternoon preparing for that evening's ritual. An oppressive apprehension mounted with the fading of the light, and by the time night fell the feeling was so potent it appeared to have spread across the entire city. Fewer lights burned in the windows of the houses, and none of the familiar songs rose up from the inns and public squares. Beyond the walls, the war camps were silent. The Burning Man hung over all.

As Mallory looked out across the city from the window of his chamber, his attention was drawn by one particular light in the winding streets below. It was blue and moving from side to side in a manner that suggested it was signalling. After a moment or two, he became convinced it was signalling to him, although he knew how ridiculous that would have seemed to anyone else.

With little else to do until the ritual, he made his way down to the approach to the palace. To his surprise, the light still wavered gently in the street ahead. Intrigued, he headed towards it, only for the light to move away. He followed for a while, but when he stopped, the light stopped too, and that was when he realised it was leading him on. Remembering the Hortha in the palace loft, he let one hand fall to his sword and proceeded with caution.

Along winding streets, down alleys and across deserted courtyards, he pursued the light, always the same distance ahead. Just when he thought he really was taking an indiscriminate risk, he came to a part of the city he had never visited before, and an overgrown area in the centre of a square, fenced off by rusted, sagging iron railings. Stone monuments engulfed by ivy rose from the long, yellowing grass. It reminded Mallory of an abandoned Victorian cemetery. The gate hung open, and the blue light flickered amongst the statues and mausoleums.

'I've played the game this far. Time to own up,' Mallory said as he stepped through the gate.

'Brother of Dragons. Draw nearer.'

Mallory recognised the resonant voice. Relaxing, he pushed through the long grass until he encountered a towering figure waiting in the lee of a statue. A wild mane of black hair and a thick beard, coal eyes simmering beneath an overhanging brow. A belted shift of what appeared to be sackcloth. A thong fastened around his left forearm bore several cruel hooks. The blue light came from the dancing flame of a lantern.

'Caretaker,' Mallory said. 'You found your way to me again.'

Mallory recalled the first time he had encountered the mysterious stranger in Salisbury, and discovered that he was, if not a friend, then a benign guide through the dark places.

'I will always be near you, Brother of Dragons.'

'Why are you here, now?'

The Caretaker raised the lantern so the illumination picked out the strength in his features. 'My lamp. The Wayfinder. With this, I walk the boundaries of this world and all worlds. A light burning brightly in the long watches of the night.'

'I know the lamp. It's guided the Brothers and Sisters of Dragons on more than one occasion.'

'And so it shall again.' As the Caretaker lowered the Wayfinder, the flame moved with a life of its own. 'All there has ever been has been leading towards this time. Millions upon millions of interlocking events, grains of sand, one bumping into another, shifting the course of a mighty river. And I have shepherded them all. But soon my work will come to an end.'

'You work with the Puck?'

'The Oldest Things in the Land are agents of a higher purpose.'

'How do I know you haven't been manipulating me?'

'I have been manipulating you.' His eyes glowed. 'But that does not mean that I do not look on you and the other Brothers and Sisters of Dragons with fondness. Your road has been long and hard and I have shone the light for you whenever you needed to see your way. But soon your journey will be over.'

'I don't know if I like the sound of that.'

After a moment of silence, the Caretaker said, 'Remember, Brother of Dragons, that even terrible events, from one perspective, may lead to great good from another, greater perspective. The view across Existence is limitless, and within that all things have their place. Leave the deep sadness in your heart behind, and turn your attention to the distant horizon.'

The Caretaker's words reminded Mallory of something Ogma had said to him in his great library and, as then, they touched him on a level he couldn't comprehend. 'So you're here to show me the way?' Mallory asked.

'An old friend will show you the way.' The Caretaker smiled, and as he raised the lantern even higher, the blue flame leaped and grew.

Mallory took a step back as the flame jumped from the Wayfinder and surged into the crackling shape of a man. 'Hello, Mallory,' it said.

Within the Blue Fire, features flickered. It was Hal, Mallory knew, the fourth member of his team, who had sacrificed himself to the currents of the Blue Fire to help and guide the Brothers and Sisters of Dragons across the ages.

'Hal. Everyone says you're hot stuff.'

Laughter rose and fell as the flames danced. 'I like you, Mallory. I've been keeping a particular eye on you from the depths of my blue home. Pity we couldn't have hung out, you know, when I had a body.'

'Not exactly a bundle of laughs at the moment. Lot on my plate.'

'Which is exactly why I'm here. You're going to the Grim Lands… or the Grey Lands… why does that place get two names? It's a big place, Mallory. Infinite, in fact. The chance of you just stumbling across the Extinction Shears is… well, it's not going to happen.'

'We like our missions impossible.'

'I bet you'd like some help more. Say, a lantern with a flame that will point relentlessly to the object you're searching for.'

Mallory grinned. 'That might come in handy.'

'Thought you'd say that. Only one problem: the Blue Fire doesn't reach there. You couldn't have such a powerful force for life in a place of death, right? And that means the Wayfinder wouldn't work properly… unless you took your own powerhouse of Blue Fire with you.'

'You?'

'Me. I have to detach myself from the flow, which will be a wrench. It's amazing in here, Mallory, like being in touch with everything, feeling everything, seeing how it's all interconnected, how it all means something. Can you imagine what that's like?'

The note of loss in his voice was powerful. 'But you're still going to do it?' Mallory asked.

'Of course. How could I not?'

'And… what? You get to be the genie in the lamp?'

'Yeah, that's me. I'll be able to help you out in a much more personal and direct way than I can now. But you're going to have to look after me too. Once I cut myself off from the flow of the Blue Fire, I lose so much power. In that form, I can be… I hate to use the term "killed" for a living flame, but that about sums it up. I die. I don't go back to the Blue Fire.' Again, that palpable sense of loss in his voice.

'We'll look after you, Hal. You can count on us.'

'Then it's done. Take the lantern, Mallory… and let's strike out for the great adventure.'

The figure flickered, faded and disappeared back into the lantern. The Caretaker held it out for Mallory to take. 'Be strong, Brother of Dragons, and trust the light to guide your way.'

When Mallory's fingers closed around the Wayfinder there was an electric burst and a feeling of well-being rushed through him. The flame engulfed his whole vision, and when he finally looked around, he was alone.