The Key

58

The rapid beeps of a number being dialled fed through the stereo speakers of Liv’s laptop. She was still in shock from the flood of memories the translated text had brought back. For all her scepticism and rationality what she had read there made a sort of sense. It explained why she could understand an ancient language she had never heard of or learned. It explained why she felt the sting of needles every time the whispering rose up. But it didn’t explain what ‘The Key’ was, or what it had to do with her. The dialling tone switched to a ringing one. Liv cleared her throat and pushed herself up in the chair, suddenly nervous about seeing Gabriel again.

On screen the feed from Liv’s webcam popped up, revealing a low-res version of herself, amplifying how tired and dishevelled she was looking. She fussed with her hair and rubbed at the dark circles under her eyes as if it was dirt that could be wiped away. She considered cutting the connection and splashing more water on her face first to try to make herself more presentable, but a click cut off the ringing sound and the main window expanded to display the incoming feed.

Gabriel’s voice materialized first, much richer than it had sounded on the phone and just as deep as she remembered.

‘Liv? Can you hear me?’ Then there he was, gazing at her, his brow knitted with concern, his blue eyes burning from the screen. She reached out involuntarily to touch his face. ‘Hey,’ she said.

A smile softened his face and he reached out for her. It was the first time they had seen each other since the Turkish police had taken him away and he had told her to go somewhere safe, promising he would find her. And now he had made good that promise, though it was not quite the reunion either of them had envisaged.

‘I need to show you something,’ Liv said, reaching for the piece of paper she had found in the envelope. ‘The monk who helped us escape from the mountain gave it to me. Let me know if you can’t read it — turns out, I can!’ She held it up to the screen and four thousand miles away in Ruin the symbols came into focus. She held it long enough for him to translate it. When she lowered it again Dr Anata had joined Gabriel on the screen. From the looks on both their faces she could tell that they’d both read it.

‘Of course,’ Anata said. ‘What else would the Sacrament be but something of the original divine. It’s the only thing old enough or powerful enough to make sense. The Sacrament is the earth goddess, trapped in darkness by envious men, and you have set her free. The prophecy has been fulfilled.’

Liv shook her head and let out a long breath. ‘I have to tell you I’m having a lot of difficulty with all of this. A couple of weeks ago I would have laughed in your face if you had told me half the things I’m now taking seriously. Let’s, for argument’s sake, say that all of this is true, then why do I feel like crap? If some divine spirit has entered into me, shouldn’t I be feeling fantastic? And why am I getting whispered messages that don’t make sense? And how come those maniacs in the Citadel are still killing everyone? Doesn’t feel like very much has been fulfilled to me.’

Gabriel and Anata exchanged glances.

‘What?’ Liv said.

‘There is a second prophecy,’ Gabriel said, ‘the Mirror Prophecy, and it follows on from the first.’

He held Oscar’s diary up to the webcam and this time Liv’s screen filled with the familiar symbols. The whispering rose again as she stared at it and again she scribbled the translation into her notebook directly below the other. Even as she was transcribing she realized its significance. She had wondered what the key was and now she knew. It was her.

The Key unlocks the Sacrament

The Sacrament becomes the Key

And all the Earth shalt tremble

The Key must follow the Starmap Home

There to quench the fire of the dragon within the full phase of a moon

Lest the Key shalt perish, the Earth shalt splinter and a blight shalt prosper, marking the end of all days

She had been yearning for home ever since waking up in the hospital. At the time she had thought it was her survivor’s instinct driving her to return to the familiar and the safe, back to America and away from the dark, threatening streets of Ruin. Now she realized it was something different. It had not been her own home she had been craving — and continued to crave — it was wherever the Sacrament had come from. ‘The Key must follow the Starmap Home,’ she repeated.

‘Yes,’ Dr Anata said. ‘The Home referred to by the Mirror Prophecy is the original home for all of us, the place where the Sacrament first walked: Eden.’

Again Liv felt her rational self take a body blow.

‘The Mirror Prophecy is clear,’ Anata continued. ‘The dragon is the symbol of fire and destruction. If you do not carry the Sacrament home to Eden in time, then the end of days will be upon us.’

‘How long have we got?’

‘Seventeen days — maybe less.’

‘And if we fail?’

‘The end of days is described in the Book of Revelation of Saint John the Divine. An antichrist will arrive on earth bringing plague, famine, earthquakes and flood. The oceans will rise up and swallow the mountains and the mountains will crumble to the sea. Cities will be destroyed. Life as we know it will end and the righteous will be gathered to God.’

Liv slumped in her chair.

Gabriel leaned forward until his face filled the screen. ‘I’ll arrange safe transport to bring you here. All the ancient biblical lands are close to Ruin and that’s where we’ll need to look. By the time you get here, I’ll have worked out a way of getting into the Citadel.’

Liv snapped to attention. ‘What?’

‘That’s where Oscar hid the Starmap. If we don’t find it, we won’t find Eden.’

Yet again the Citadel was pulling at her with its dark gravity. She had run as far away as she could and yet here she was, still shivering in the long shadow it cast, her destiny still tied up in the secrets it contained and now carried with her. Then a thought struck her. She reached for the sheet of paper, reread the note from Athanasius, then looked up at Gabriel and smiled. ‘I think I know how you can get into the Citadel,’ she said.