The Burning Man

4

Church found himself in a stone tunnel lit by torches. Along one wall there was a beautiful relief of brightly coloured images that appeared to tell a story. The hieroglyphics made no sense to him, but amongst the scarabs and stylised men and animal-headed gods, there was a scene of a row of gods bowing down to what was unmistakably a Caraprix.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden arrival of a cursing Hunter, then Shavi, Fayed and finally Etain.

Church took Etain’s cold, dead hand. ‘I don’t know if you can understand me, but thank you for bringing us this far. I’m sorry for what happened to you. I didn’t mean for you to die, and if there’s any way I can make up for it, I will.’ He let the words hang in the air. Etain continued to stare at him with wide, unblinking eyes.

After a moment, she marched along the passage. As they followed her, the atmosphere in the tunnel became increasingly heady, and an unreal quality permeated everything.

‘Someone is coming,’ Shavi said. Church had noticed that Shavi’s perception was now so sharp he was aware of things long before anyone else.

Church drew his sword. They waited.

Running footsteps echoed off the stone. A figure hurtled around a bend in the tunnel, and Church was shocked to see a duplicate of himself. The new-Church, however, did not appear to be shocked at coming into contact with his doppelganger.

He ran up to Church and the others. ‘Is this it? Is this the right time?’ he gasped. ‘You have to listen to me. This is a warning.’ He looked around, confused. ‘Is this the right place? Am I too late?’

A chill ran through Church. ‘This doesn’t make sense.’

‘When you’re in Otherworld and they call, heed it right away. They’re going to bring him back. They’re-’

Church turned to Hunter. ‘I’ve experienced this before. It was an echo, or something like that, some breakdown in time and space, between when I was in the other place … after the casket of spiders … between there and when I was in Edinburgh …’ He dried up, unable to explain the bizarre sequence of events clearly.

‘Okay, the medication is clearly not working,’ Hunter said.

Church turned back to his other self. ‘That was a closed loop, an echo. It shouldn’t be happening here.’

The new-Church became gripped with fear. In panic, he yelled, ‘Too late!’ and then he was running back along the tunnel. The footsteps quickly faded to nothing.

Church was filled with a deep anxiety. ‘What is going on?’

Shavi rested a hand on his shoulder. ‘Some say moments of great trauma can resonate through all time, through reality itself, imprinted on the very essence of what is. A fingerprint on a window, a trace memory of what was.’

‘When I was in that cavern, before I met the Caretaker and I made that warning, it felt unreal,’ Church said, ‘as if I was mouthing someone else’s words.’ He sheathed his sword. ‘So what was I really trying to warn myself about? What’s waiting for us?’

‘It is best not to try to second-guess the future. That is a guarantee for living in fear,’ Shavi said. ‘Follow the Buddhist code: live in the moment. It is the only way to find peace.’

Unsettled, they continued through enormous, ringing chambers, some filled with reflecting pools, others with shafts piercing upwards through the stone to frame stars or the moon. There were palms and strange, alien flowers, statues of cats and crocodiles and hawks, and an overwhelming air of grandeur.

‘I don’t like this,’ Church said. ‘Where is everybody?’

‘Do you hear that? Ritual music?’ Shavi cocked his head. ‘And I smell incense.’ He broke off to the left, following the sound and smell. It brought him to a row of lattice windows, each barely bigger than a hand. Peering through, Church and Shavi saw Laura lying on the slab.

Church blocked Hunter from seeing. ‘We need to get into that room,’ Church said.

‘Let me see.’

‘No. It’s Laura. They’ve cut her open.’

Hunter thrust Church to one side. When he turned back from the window, his face was like iron. ‘She’s still alive. She’s a tough kid. Let’s get her out.’

‘The chamber is filled with gods,’ Shavi said. ‘We could not survive.’