The Queen of sinister

Caitlin spasmed and a large hooded crow burst from her chest. Jack bounded back in shock. Matt watched the bird circle the prone form once and then fly off into the dark.

When the beating of its wings had faded, Caitlin's eyelids fluttered and she sat up. Matt dropped down beside her to slip an arm round her shoulders.

'It's OK,' she said woozily.

'A crow just came out of you. What the hell was that all about?'

'It doesn't matter now.' Caitlin, still dazed, tried to assimilate the Morrigan's final words. She looked round and panic pushed all thoughts out of her mind. 'Where's Liam?'

'He went over that way.' Jack pointed into the dark ahead. 'I think he said he'd found another room.'

Caitlin jumped to her feet and ran on, Matt and Jack hurrying behind, trying to keep up. The next room was lighter and smaller, and there was an opening in the far wall that led on to another place that was brighter still.

Caitlin ran through it and stopped sharply. Liam's tiny figure was frozen in the middle of the massive chamber, staring at what lay ahead. The rear of the House of Pain was missing, and instead there was space, vast and endless, filled with galaxies and comets, seething gas giants, white dwarfs, gravity wells — a twelve-storey picture window looking out over the whole immeasurable spread of Existence. Around the edges, the warp field shimmered with psychedelic colours,'where one reality merged with another.

'I never imagined it was so… big!' Jack gasped.

'Is that where this place crawled from?' Matt asked.

As the words left his lips, Caitlin saw movement far, far away, on the very edge of the universe, though she had no idea how she could see that far; it was as though the more she stared, the more she could see. A shadow was coming towards them. In the context of all that lay there, it appeared minuscule and slow-moving. Caitlin knew that was a lie of perception: it was vast — entire galaxies disappeared behind it as it travelled — and it was hurding towards them in a manner, she knew, somehow she knew, that transcended the laws of physics.

'The Void,' she mouthed.

And even though the words were soundless, the Void appeared to hear her, for she felt the fall force of its intellect turned on her. It was as if it had looked at her across immeasurable light years, looked direcdy into the deepest part of her where her darkest secrets lay. She staggered back, crushed by the weight of the dread and terror it elicited.

'It's coming,' she said.

And in that instant the connection was gone, but she knew what waited for them, in the days, or weeks, or millions of years it would take for it to arrive.

She slipped her arm around Liam to turn him away from that awful sight, and as she did so another chill swept through her. Behind them, purple mist drifted in the dead heat. The army of the Lament-Brood had slipped in silently to fill the chamber and all the rooms beyond. Mary basked in a feeling of utter peace. The air was warm, the sound of the spring soothing, and the sanctity of that place made her feel so secure that she never wanted to leave. More potent was the sense of presence; an intelligence enveloped her, at once immense yet also intimate, as if it were there just for her.

She's coming, Mary thought, and she had no idea how she knew that, but an instant later a woman appeared in the billowing steam around the hot spring. Mary didn't know what she had expected — a figure filled with lights and stars, she guessed — but what actually emerged was a woman that resembled the Virgin. Mary knew she was seeing the Goddess in a way her mind could comprehend, drawn from the once-comforting iconic images she had seen during her Catholic childhood.

'Greetings, sister,' the Goddess said warmly. 'You have travelled a hard road to be here. I recognise your strength; you are a true example of all that I hoped for the sisterhood.'

Mary was lost for words. The Goddess sensed her awe, for she said, 'Come, do not shrink from me. I serve you, as you serve me. I am a part of you, as you are a part of me. That is the message Existence has set before us.'

Mary swallowed. 'I don't understand what I'm supposed to do…'

'There are no limits to anything — worlds upon worlds, gods upon gods, no limit to the heart of Fragile Creatures, no limit to what can be achieved. Time and space are not absolute. Everything is fluid. That, too, is Existence. You must learn this if you seek to understand all that has transpired, and all that will transpire.'

'Why did you leave the God? Why did you hide away from us?' The Goddess's face grew sad. 'Once, we were strong. Our ways were exalted, the way of the moon and the heart and the great, shifting oceans. But the seasons turned. You know, sister, you know. Those who seek power, the enemies of Existence, took it with iron fist. We fell away and away. The great forests were burned, the seas filled with poisons, the grasslands torn up and buried, the hilltops devastated, the air itself filled with sulphur, and the sisterhood's voice grew small and smaller still; many accepted their lot. Too many.' 'So you left,' Mary said. 'We let you down.' 'I was still with you, in spirit. I still watched and hoped, waiting for a sign that I would be needed again. But it never came.' She smiled. 'Until now.' Mary bowed her head. The Goddess stepped forward, and this time there was light, and stars; Mary couldn't look at her. 'You have served me, sister, and now I shall serve you. You came to me with a request. Speak.' 'My friend… Caitlin… she needs help.' 'I know of whom you speak — another true sister. She, too, has awoken me.' 'Then you'll help her?' 'I shall, and I already have. For as I have said, time is not absolute. What I do in your here and now will affect what you have already experienced Mary tried to understand what the Goddess was saying. 'You can alter the past?' she ventured. 'There is no past, or future. Only an endless present. It is your perception that traps you in your view, little sister. What we all do rings out across eternity.' The Goddess moved back near to the spring. A second later, a large hooded crow flew out of the steam, circling the room before alighting on the floor next to the Goddess. Strangely, Mary saw the bird but felt as if she was looking at a fierce but beautiful woman with long black hair and cold, intense eyes. 'The tribes knew her as the Morrigan,' the Goddess explained. Mary knew the name, as many in the Craft did. 'She serves you?' she asked. The Goddess smiled. 'She is me. A part of me, as you are a part. All the gods are an aspect of something greater, though they think they have individual lives. Names. What are names? Here I was Sulis, and Minerva. Yes, and the Morrigan. And I am Brigid, the goddess with three faces. Three faces, sister — past, present and future, all one, all linked, all looking out across Existence.'

The crow rose up, its wings beating like the rhythm of the heart, and it flew back into the steam and disappeared.

'Gone,' the Goddess said, 'to a lonely lane on a stormy night, and a time of terrible heartache for one sister.'

'Thank you,' Mary said. Her gratitude gave way to a tremendous relief that her journey was finally over. Yet there was a strange, unsetding quality in the Goddess's face that gave her pause. 'The Morrigan will help her, won't she? That's it? It's over?'

Sadness flickered across the Goddess's features, and Mary knew the answer even before the Goddess spoke. 'Caitlin will now reach the end of her quest, where she would have long fallen before. But that will not be enough. Not even the Morrigan can save her from the forces ranged against her.' There was no whispering, but the silence was even eerier. The Lament-Brood stood unmoving, as if awaiting an order.

'What are they doing?' Jack said. 'Why don't they attack?'

Matt pressed Jack and Caitlin back towards the warp field, which buzzed like a high-tension wire. A sucking cold urged them to step back further, further, into that fantastic panorama where they would be drawn into the very heart of Existence.

Matt turned to Caitlin. 'We made a right old mess of things, didn't we?' he said. 'Don't suppose you've got any tricks up your sleeve?'

'No.' She looked over at the Lament-Brood, her mind turning.

'Not ready to conjure up that Psycho-Caitlin who got us in here?'

'Why should I?' She continued to search the purple-misted ranks.

Matt put his hands on her shoulders and physically turned her towards him. 'For old times' sake?' He smiled winningly. 'We got close on the way here… very close. I saw how you felt about me, and believe me, I feel the same way. I need you to do your stuff, Caitlin… Jack and I both do. Don't you think you and I deserve the chance to see where things might go when we get out of here? After all we've been through, we deserve some romance in our lives-'

Her cold laugh cut him dead. 'Romance?' She smiled icily, her eyes flashing. 'You were so good at your manipulation, Matt.'

'What are you talking about?'

'There is no missing daughter, is there? You couldn't have just forgotten her like you did. If you had a child she would have been on your mind all the time, driving every decision. But you only mentioned her when you used her to win me over… because you needed me to cross over to this place.'

'That's ridiculous! Of course I've got a daughter. And once we're out of here-'

'You never loved me, Matt. I saw through all that, too, because I experienced real love recently, from someone who cared for me more than himself. I'd forgotten what it was like with Grant, so you could fool me for a while, but now, looking back, you were so transparent. Who are you, Matt? Really?'

He made to continue his deception and then shrugged and wandered away to stare briefly into the warp field. When he finally looked back at her, his mind made up, his pleasant features revealed a hidden arrogance.

'Before the Fall I used to be in the Special Boat Service. Where do you think I got all those martial skills? At the local pub? These days… well, more of the same, I suppose. I work for the Government. The new Government, down in Oxford. They're still keeping things pretty much under wraps, but soon everyone will know they're on the case, and then they'll be kicking the arse of all the gods and what have you. We're going to blow them out of the water.'

Jack stared at Matt with mounting dismay. Matt ignored him.

'The Government knows more than you might think. They're smart people, Caitlin. They understand that they need to have all the facts at their disposal before they can strike back. So they've been doing the legwork, finding out all the reasons why the Fall happened, working out who the Brothers and Sisters of Dragons are and why they exist, finding out what those gods do… and how we can hit back at them. They might not know everything, but you'd be surprised at what they do know. Like this Otherworld, for instance. They knew it was here — don't ask me how — and they'd worked out how to get to it. And that was where you came in.'

'How did you know I was going to be at the Rollrights?' Caitlin asked.

'I didn't. I just struck lucky.' He glanced at the Lament- Brood. 'Or maybe not so lucky. Anyway, the Government had one of us camped out at each of the old stone circles, and some of the other places we thought might be crossover points. Our job was to bring back a cure for the plague — yeah, they guessed it was from here, too — and any other information we could use in the fight-back. But we needed a Brother or Sister of Dragons to get us across. We gambled that sooner or later one of you would turn up. I'm sorry I had to deceive you, Caitlin, but the bottom line is, we're on the same side.'

'You really think that?' she said incredulously. 'After all the time you've spent with me, you know me so little?'

He sighed. 'This is exactly why I didn't tell you what I was doing right from the start. Your trouble is, you're too naive. This is war, and in war you have to do things that might not be acceptable in peacetime.'

'Like killing Carlton?'

An audible gasp escaped Jack's lips. Matt looked back towards the warp-field.

'How could you do that? A boy… an innocent boy…'

He shrugged, wasn't going to say anything, but she wouldn't allow him that luxury. 'Go on. I'm waiting.'

'He was too smart… maybe he even read my mind. He was going to tell you what I was doing-'

'That wasn't the only reason.' She had trouble keeping her voice from trembling with the emotion she felt. 'You saw how close I was getting to him… and you knew it was another way you could destabilise me so you could control me. I was getting too independent on the boat, wasn't I? But I didn't make it back to you after the Lament-Brood attacked Sunchaser, so it was all for nothing. You killed a young boy, for nothing. How does that fit with all your lofty aims?'

Jack had tears in his eyes. 'How could you do that?'

'I still don't understand… strategically,' Caitlin said. 'He was special, the key to sorting all this mess out, wasn't he?'

Matt shook his head. 'He wasn't the one — that's some other kid down in Salisbury, and we've already got him in our sights. The things he can do make Carlton look like… some stupid child.' Caitlin visibly winced. 'You're talking about military potential. The death of a child is so painful because of everything else you lose when they die. Who knows how they're going to turn out? They might become some great hero, a champion, or they might turn into you. You didn't just murder Carlton… you murdered his future, the possibility of what he might have become.'

'I had a job to do, Caitlin-'

'Shut up.' Her voice had more of the Morrigan about it than she had expected. In that instant she had the strangest feeling that Carlton knew he was going to die, that he didn't care because he realised he was part of a bigger plan, and in a way he was: if Carlton hadn't died, Caitlin would never have allowed the Morrigan to take over and perhaps Matt would then have achieved all his aims. Something good had come out of the whole mess; perhaps it had even been Carlton's intention all along. Mahalia had been right: he really was special. 'Everything I've learned since coming here has told me you can't trust anything at face value — nothing is as it appears. You see, you believe the enemies are monsters or supernatural threats, but they're not. The real threat looks just like us, and it always has. The real threat has been amongst us since the dawn of humanity — the hard people, the ones who thought they knew better than anyone else, who could make the tough decisions about who lived or died. You think the world would be better with you and your secret Government in charge, rather than all the things we've got now?'

'Of course. You think the current mess is better with all the death and the misery we've seen?'

'And next to that, the death of an innocent boy amounts to nothing, is that what you're saying?'

Again he made not to speak, but this time he couldn't resist, so sure was he that he was right. 'Exactly. Anyone can see. There's no comparison.'

'I used to think no life was more valuable than another, but you've taught me I was wrong.'

He started to smile.

'We wouldn't miss you, Matt, you or any of your kind.'

His face hardened.

Jack drifted up to Matt. In the boy, Caitlin could see the fractured response of a child whose image of his parent had been destroyed. And Matt could see too what Jack was feeling, but aside from an uncomfortable flicker across the adult's face, he didn't place any value on it. Caitlin wondered how she could ever have been fooled by him.

Then, like a snake, Matt moved. Caitlin glimpsed a face that flashed from mild indifference to steel, and in that instant his arm was around Jack's neck, the boy spun round and locked in place, a small blade pressed against his throat.

Caitlin darted forward, but Matt tipped the knife just enough to draw blood. Caitlin was in no doubt that he would kill Jack if he wanted. 'Don't hurt him!' she said. 'It's pointless. He's a boy — let him go.'

'He's not a boy,' Matt said emotionlessly, 'he's a weapon. The biggest and best weapon that ever existed. If I get him back, with what's inside him, then we've got the upper hand. The other side would have to fall in line.'

'What if they don't? What point is a weapon that could destroy all Existence?'

'If you can't have the world the way you want it, there's no need for the world at all.'

'You'd destroy everything? Just because you couldn't bear not to be in charge?'

Matt began to drag Jack towards the first rank of the Lament-Brood. 'It's about freedom — you wouldn't understand-'

'I know. I'm too naive.' Did humanity stand any chance of advancing when there were people like Matt around, the kind of people who always rose into positions of power? What was the point, then, in anything? 'Turn on the power, Jack,' Matt said firmly. When Jack didn't respond, Matt jabbed the knife hard so that the boy howled in pain and then yelled, 'Turn it on!'

The thin light of the Wish-Hex began to leak from Jack's stomach. Matt forced the boy towards the Lament- Brood, using him as a shield while keeping one eye on Caitlin; his face warned her not to make any move. 'They'll let us out,' he said. 'They know what he can do. But more than that, they don't need us. You were the only threat. As long as they've got you, they'll be happy.'

His words were shown to be true as a path opened up through the Lament-Brood. If the Morrigan had still been a part of her, Caitlin might have been able to do something, but Matt was too vicious, too cunning, for her even to get close. But more than that, she knew she wasn't up to what was expected of her, for if she were she would risk killing Jack to prevent such power being used against Existence. She couldn't do that, not even there at the end. She wasn't hard enough; not like Matt.

He gave a sickeningly triumphant smile and eased down the path towards the exit that would take him away. He still hadn't got a cure for the plague, couldn't cross over on his own, but Caitlin was convinced that a person like Matt would find a way. He'd always win through.

Just as he reached the door to the next chamber, there was a movement a little way along the far wall. Caitlin couldn't tell what it was, but it appeared to come from one of the slits that led to the network of capillary tunnels.

Matt paused in the doorway. Caitlin didn't know if he was going to make some last arrogant comment to celebrate his escape, or simply show his contempt for her, but it never came. There was an odd moment when his face froze in puzzlement, and then a crimson shower gushed from his neck. The knife dropped from his fingers and he pitched backwards, emitting a queasy gurgling noise, his body lost behind the Lament-Brood. And there was Mahalia. The tremble in the hand that held the knife that had slit Matt's throat was visible across the chamber, and her face held the devastation of someone who had been forced to sacrifice their last chance for redemption. But she erased it in a second and grabbed Jack. 'Come on,' she yelled to Caitlin. 'We can still get out of here.'

Caitlin tried to find some remorse in her heart for Matt's death, but there was none. She pulled Liam to her side and made to hurry towards Mahalia and Jack, but she was distracted by the sucking and slurping sounds as the House of Pain birthed another representative from the floor in front of her. It emerged quickly, a spindly frame on skeletal legs. When it was finally complete, it was nearly ten feet tall with a head like a black egg, bending over Caitlin and Liam to speak.

'Cannnnooottttttt… leawwwwe. Boyyyyyy… stayyyyyy. Beyondddd… liessssssssss… deathhhhhhhhhh.'

And there it was, finally, what she had been expecting for so long: the twist in the devil's contract. Liam hadn't been returned to life — he was simply caught in limbo. If she took him out of the House of Pain, his death would once again be a reality.

'Youuuuuuuuuuu… staaaaayyyyyyyyy. Beeeeeeeee… Queeeeeennnnnnnnn…'

Caitlin was numb. Inside her, Amy, Briony and Brigid howled into the storm. There was no way out. 'Yes,' she said. 'I'll stay.'

She held Liam close and walked back towards the warp field. While her back had been turned, the House of Pain had created a seat of shiny black stone, the perfect throne for the Queen of Sinister. Caitlin swallowed hard so her voice would be steady and then called to Mahalia, 'Go on. I'll be OK.' Mahalia stared in disbelief, then grabbed Jack's arm and hauled him through the doorway. Caitlin felt pleased the girl had got away, and with Jack, the one who still meant there was a chance for her. That small success provided the thinnest glimmer of light in the dark existence that stretched before Caitlin.

Desolately, she walked up to the seat and sat down. It was icily cold, but soon that wouldn't matter. She looked out across the army — her army — and knew now why they waited: for their queen.

Her fate was clear. An iciness was creeping into her limbs, the legacy of the House of Pain, transforming her into something that could live in that place, revelling in the dark emotions it generated. She would sit on that cold, black throne for evermore, commanding her army of the dead, with her son standing silently at her side until the stars winked out one by one and all that was left was the Void. Mahalia and Jack raced past the last of the Lament-Brood, through the next room and into the network of tunnels that cut through the House of Pain.

'We could go back for Caitlin,' Jack said. 'We can't leave her here.'

'She chose to stay — she's a grown woman.' Mahalia tried to sound hard so that Jack wouldn't find a chink that would prise her back, but inside she was devastated. Not so long ago she had tried to kill her, yet now she mourned Caitlin. What was wrong with her?

Jack appeared to sense what was going through her head, for he grabbed her hand as they ran and gave it a squeeze. 'I'm glad you're here,' he said quietly. His honest expression of emotion brought a lump to her throat.

'You want a dirty job doing, I'm your girl.'

They broke out into the main corridor that led to the entrance. Through the massive doorway, late afternoon sun glowed like a beacon.

'What are we going to do now?' Jack said. 'One more thing before we leave, then…' Mahalia looked across the plain to the panorama of the Land of Always Summer stretching out across the horizon. '… we've got a whole world to play with.'

She came to an abrupt halt not far from the entrance and began to search the wall. Finally she found what she was looking for, and forced her hands into one of the nearly hidden slits that gave access to the capillary tunnel system. 'Come on, give me a hand,' she called.

Without understanding what he was doing, Jack thrust his hands into the slit alongside her and felt something alive inside. Before he could recoil or question, Mahalia was hauling whatever it was out into the corridor and he was helping her.

There was a sucking sound and Crowther emerged, as pale as death and covered in blood, the spear still embedded in him but now broken off on both sides. Yet he was still alive — but only just. His eyes flickered and the faintest wheeze of breath escaped his lips.

'He was planning to do something heroic, but it was so out of character I couldn't let him,' Mahalia said. 'So I dragged him away and stashed him in there.'

'Why?' Jack could see that the professor was only a whisker away from death.

'Because I had an idea.' Mahalia faced Jack, her arms on his shoulders to focus his attention on her face. 'Call me stupid, but I found this thing called hope. It was something I'd not bothered with before, but when you're down to your last, you take anything you've got, right?'

He saw that same hope in her frightened eyes and felt more in love with her than he had thought possible. 'What's your idea?' 'That power inside you… the Wish-Hex. Everybody talks about it like it's some doomsday weapon, but I've seen you use it and I thought, maybe it's not just useful for destroying things. It's a kind of energy, like that Blue Fire everyone was always wittering on about. Maybe it's one and the same thing. And… and…' She leaned forward to kiss him quickly. 'I want you to try to use it to save the professor.'

Jack looked down at Crowther in dismay. 'I don't think I can.'

'Just try, Jack. For me.'

Hesitantly, he knelt down beside the prone form and cradled the professor's head in his hands. His brow knitted in concentration, and the light leaked out of his stomach and flowed into his arms and then his hands.

Mahalia watched Jack for fifteen minutes as he battled with the stream of energy, directing it, forcing it to his will. Sweat dripped from his forehead and soaked his underarms and back. For all that time, it appeared to be doing little good, for the professor continued to hover on the brink of dying; but then, gradually, colour drifted back into his cheeks and his eyes began to flicker.

Mahalia leaned forward and yanked the remaining stub of the spear from his chest. It came out with a sucking sound, but instead of a gout of blood there was only white light. As the light cleared, Mahalia could see the hole in the professor begin to close.

Five minutes later it was all over. Jack flopped back, exhausted but beaming with the wonder of what he had done. The professor moaned and then slowly opened his eyes. He looked up into Mahalia's face.

'Oh,' he said. 'This must be hell.'

'Looks like you've got some use after all, boy,' Mahalia said to Jack. Her heart swelled at the depth of feeling etched on his face; he knew now that he wasn't just a weapon, that his lifetime of suffering might have had some positive outcome after all.

But as she and Jack struggled to help Crowther to his feet, a shadow fell across them. Mahalia looked up suddenly. 'Who the hell are you?' she said in astonishment.

*

In the hot steam of the sacred spring, Mary clasped her hands and pleaded. 'I'll do whatever it takes. Please, if there's anything you can do to save her…'

'You will do anything?' The Goddess was serious and contemplative. 'What does this sister mean to you?'

'What does she mean?' The question was curious and unsettling; there was so much to sum up. How to decide what one person meant when their impact on your life was complex and inscrutable. 'She means… the future.' Once Mary had latched on to that word, her thoughts quickly fell into place. 'I've had my time — I know I've got a lot of years left, but I made such a mess of things so long ago, it's impossible to go back now. I never thought about having children. Perhaps if I had, there might have been a chance for me. If I'd made them into good people, then I'd have done something worthwhile. But I've not done anything that really matters. If I was wiped off the face of the earth right now, I'd leave nothing behind that anyone would remember. But Caitlin… she's my daughter in all but flesh. She's my hope for the future. If I save her, and she does good, then at least I've added something to life.' The words were painful to express, but Mary recognised their abiding truth as they left her lips.

'I can help her, but what is required is beyond even my capabilities. There are rules of Existence that we all must follow.' The Goddess raised one hand and it appeared that it was night in the spring and the moonlight was streaming all around, the world painted silver and black. 'A sacrifice will be the key to unlock the door. Are you prepared to make that sacrifice?'

'Yes.' Mary's throat was dry. She thought she knew what lay ahead.

'It is the greatest sacrifice… your life. A life for a life.' Although Mary had anticipated the Goddess's words, the enormity of what was being asked, once it had been put into words, stunned her. She was terrified, yet she knew she had no doubts. There was no alternative: Caitlin was good and decent and deserved her chance at happiness. To save her… that was an achievement worth dying for.

'I understand,' she said. 'A life for a life. I accept.'

'You are brave, little sister.' The Goddess raised her arms in a gesture that showed her appreciation of what Mary had overcome to make her decision. She smiled. 'What lies ahead is the greatest mystery of all. But know this: death is not the end. Do not be scared, for Existence always cares for its own. Though you leave behind everything you understand, your sacrifice is recognised. Take with you the knowledge that you have committed an act of great importance and great goodness.'

The moonlight became brighter, and briefly Mary thought she was in a verdant grove on a hilltop somewhere in the deepest country. 'Know also, sister, that you have touched my heart. To travel here along the hard road, to overcome the three tests, to give up your life for another… you are all I could have hoped for in your kind. You, little sister — you alone — have turned me around.'

'You're going back?'

'A new age awaits, and I shall be there to guide your people through the light of the moon. I will be there, in the forests and by the rivers, on the mountaintops and by the cool lakes. There is a struggle ahead, but if there are more sisters like you, then we have hope.'

'I'm so pleased.' Mary's words didn't begin to capture the magnitude of what she felt, but before she could say anything else, she sensed movement behind her. Standing in the steam was the Jigsaw Man, her nemesis.

'He is death, and when he touches you, you shall die,' the Goddess said. 'But there shall be no pain. You shall slide into the cool night… and then the moon shall rise.'

Mary took a deep breath and steeled herself, yet she was surprised to find she was no longer scared. Instead, she was excited at what was to come. She knelt down, for it seemed right, and then said, 'And Caitlin will be all right?'

'A life for a life, little sister,' the Goddess said. The steam swirled in a gale that blew from nowhere. Blue lightning crackled all around, and as the thunder rolled out, a knight in black armour emerged from the vicinity of the stream. He wore a helmet crafted like a boar's head.

'Who is he?' Mary asked.

The Goddess merely smiled enigmatically.

The steam shifted and behind it Mary could see the storm-lashed lane leading to Caitlin's house and Caitlin hiding behind a hedge, waiting. 'When is this?' Mary asked, though she thought she knew.

'The beginning,' the Goddess said. 'And now, another beginning.'

Mary felt a cool touch on the back of her neck and her eyes fell shut, though her smile remained. The warp field behind Caitlin came alive with crackling blue lightning, obscuring the vista across deep space. The bolts of coruscating energy sizzled like molten iron across the now-deserted chamber, the Lament-Brood long gone to who knew where. Liam danced away in shock, but Caitlin, already numb from the House of Pain's gradual transformation, only turned to stare.

From the depths of a wall of Blue Fire stepped the black knight, the fierce light transforming the boar's-head helmet into a wild beast with glittering eyes. He strode forcefully towards the throne.

'Caitlin.' His voice echoed behind the grim helmet. 'The time has come.' Caitlin blinked once, twice, taking in what she was seeing with the languorous abandon of someone freezing to death. Yet the knight's appearance provided a brief spark that warmed her spirit.

'You can't give in, Caitlin.' His voice was clearer now than it ever had been, as if with each appearance he gained a little bit more of the person he had been.

'You've been with me right from the beginning,' Caitlin said. 'Why do you keep coming to me?' Curiosity brought more warmth. She shook her head, trying to remove the cotton-wool swathing her mind.

'You will have to wait a while for that answer. Just accept that someone has your best interests at heart. Now come with me.' He held out a gauntleted hand.

Caitlin hesitated, then took it. Blue sparks crackled into the tips of her fingers, reminding her of some of the exhilaration she had felt as she grew into her role as a Sister of Dragons. Suddenly she missed it acutely, felt almost bereft, and another part of the iciness burned away. 'Why can't you leave me alone?' she said dismally. 'I've had enough of all this. I'm so tired. I just want…'

'What? To die? To give up everything… all life? That's not you, Caitlin. I heard you were a doctor once, caring for the sick and the dying. Caring for them more than yourself.'

Memories of her past life surfaced, so vague and distant they seemed to belong to another person. 'Yes. That's right. So what?'

'Then you still have a job to do. I've been sent here to save you, Caitlin — or rather, to show you the path so you can save yourself… and everyone else. Come.'

He marched across the chamber, then waited for her to follow. As Caitlin watched him, she remembered what Crowther had said about the boar-king in the Forest of the Night and she suddenly understood the symbolism of the knight's strange helmet. A boar, one of the Celts' totem animals — a messenger between humanity and the gods.

'Who's that, Mummy?' Liam's voice was a pale shadow; the House of Pain was working its dark magic in him, too.

'Someone sent to haunt me, honey. Don't worry about it.' She took Liam's hand and marvelled at how cold his fingers were.

The knight led the way through the deserted corridors. Caitlin expected the House of Pain to unleash one of its twisted manifestations to bar their way, but it had either decided she was no longer worthy of its attention, or the knight in some way shrouded their passing from the House of Pain's perceptions.

Eventually they came to a room closed off by a curtain formed from that sickening meat. Caitlin could hear a noise like a thousand rats on the other side.

'Steel yourself,' the knight said. He threw open the curtain.

It was the room with the plague egg that Caitlin had seen before. The floor was swarming with thousands of the plague demons, while others were being birthed by the minute. As the knight strode forward, the demons attacked his ankles and then swarmed over him, but his armour kept them at bay. He drew his sword, and in the darkened room it glowed with a thin blue light. The demons surged away, shrieking in fear, scrambling over each other to disappear into the far corners of the room. The knight walked up to the egg and waited. Another demon emerged into the world and then hurtled away the instant it saw the sword.

'Here,' he said, offering the weapon to Caitlin when she arrived at his side. 'Destroy the egg.'

'You do it — you're the good knight,' she replied. 'Or is this just another trick to damn me?'

'Aren't you damned already?'

His logic was impeccable. She took the sword, wavering under its weight. Not so long ago she would have wielded it as though it were nothing. Now it took all her effort just to lift it.

'This will stop any more from coming out,' she said, 'but it's not going to stop the ones already infecting people in my world.'

'The egg births them and nurtures them,' the knight said. 'Without it, none of them can survive.'

The last of the House of Pain's ice fell away and Caitlin felt a rush of adrenalin. Here was her chance finally to do something good. She heaved the sword up.

Despite their terror, in that instant the plague demons recognised what was about to happen. They surged forward as one, flinging themselves from every corner, screeching and squealing, their glittering eyes filled with murderous intent.

The knight became a blur of destruction, battering away the first wave. Still dogged by their basic fear of what the sword represented, the imps hadn't yet unleashed the true depths of their fury, but it would come.

'Do it now!' the knight yelled as Caitlin wavered in the face of the storm of activity around her.

She brought the sword down with all her strength.

It cut through the egg as if slicing through a giant mushroom. Around the room the shrieking of the plague demons became so intense that Caitlin dropped the sword and clutched at her ears; Liam ran from the room crying. As the creatures hurtled around the room in their death throes, the knight picked up his sword and forced Caitlin out of the chamber.

They didn't stop running until the egg room was far behind them, and they could no longer hear the awful cries of the dying plague demons. 'Is that it?' Caitlin asked breathlessly as they waited in an empty room that pulsed with the distant heartbeat she had heard when they first entered the House of Pain. 'Is it all over?'

The knight stood erect, resting his hands on his sword. 'The plague is over.'

'Thank God.' Caitlin wiped away a fugitive tear. 'At least I'm not a complete failure.' She pulled Liam to her and stroked his head, feeling the weariness sweep over her again.

'You can still leave this place,' the knight said.

'I can't. Liam will die if we leave.'

'Not him. You.'

She glared at the knight. 'How can you say that? He's my son.'

'Think, Caitlin. You've stopped him from moving on. Do you think this place is good for him? Do you believe it's right to deny him what lies beyond… whether eternal rest, or eternal life? Moments frozen in time have no meaning. Only constant change gives us perspective… and life. Liam not growing, not having a life, is not Liam. It's just a snapshot. Nothing more.'

'Don't you dare lecture me!' she raged. 'What right do you have?'

'More right than you might think.' He appeared to steady himself, though the armour hid any sense of what was going on inside him. 'You asked why I kept coming to you, Caitlin. Here's why.' He took off his helmet. 'Because I love you… and I'll always love you.'

The shock was so great that Caitlin staggered, and for a moment she thought she might faint. It was Grant, filled with the flush of life, looking as though he had never succumbed to the ravages of the plague, and for a moment she wondered if her devastating images of burying him in the back garden were just a nightmare.

There was a weight in her chest forcing its way up into her throat, blocking all the words that wanted to come out. Liam cried, 'Daddy!' and ran to throw his arms around his father's waist, and then Caitlin thought the rock would burst her chest open. She buried her face in Grant's neck, immersing herself in the fragrance of his skin, something that had been taken for granted for so long and now was as valuable to her as all the riches of the world. She didn't want to lose that simple aroma ever again. It brought with it a rush of such overpowering memories that she was carried away: the two of them sitting in Roundhay Park when Grant gave up his career and his ambitions for her; their marriage, seeing Grant waiting at the end of the aisle, looking so handsome, so special; Liam's birth, the baby on her chest, Grant holding her hand, tears in his eyes, too choked to speak; and more, every precious moment that had made up their lives together, now more precious than ever.

And by the end of it, all the suffering and the harrowing experiences on the road from their village to the House of Pain had been forgotten, and once again she was the woman she had been, Caitlin Shepherd, GP. Not a Sister of Dragons, not a saviour of the world. Just a person; and that was enough.

'I don't understand… how you can be here…' she said.

'Come on,' he replied. 'We've got a lot to talk about.'

He led her to the entrance, where they sat just inside so they could look at the slowly setting sun playing across the plain, and the night drawing in, with a full moon and a spread of glittering stars providing a wonder to the darkness. They talked about everything, exhausting all the questions Caitlin had and the issues that needed resolving that she had thought would hang over her for the rest of her days; and they played with Liam, and kissed him and hugged each other. And when the sun came up, they were a family again.

But then Grant's face grew serious and he took Caitlin's hand. 'You know we can't stay like this.'

'Why not?' she replied, knowing the answer to her question, not wanting to hear it.

'This is all fake, Caitlin, sitting here in the shadow of this nightmare place, and we can't pretend it's anything else. There won't be any happiness here — no shared moments, no joyful experiences, no growth. What we have had is a second chance to put things right. We wiped away all the things that can hang around after a death and spoil a life. That's a tremendous gift, more than other people get.'

'It's not enough!'

'It is, Caitlin. Really. It's hard for you, being alone in the world, but the fact that I'm here now should tell you something. To stay here is to offer victory to the House of Pain and what lies behind it, because it's a mockery of all the things that make life so wonderful. It's not life, it's anti-life — it's what the Void stands for.'

'Don't go,' she pleaded. 'Don't leave me alone.'

'You won't be alone. You'll find more love in the world…' She went to protest, but he silenced her with a finger to her lips. 'You might not want to consider that now, when you're here with us, but it's important that you know I'm happy with it. Having someone who loves you, and loving somebody, is the most valuable thing there is — that's what Existence is all about, when you come down to it. It might sound stupid, and soppy, and you know I've never been a great romantic, but it's the truth. The only truth.'

His tone calmed her enough to take his hand. 'I know you're right… I don't want you to be, but I know. I'll do my best to cope. Really… for you, and Liam. I'll miss you… both of you.'

'You've had a glimpse of the rules that underpin everything, Caitlin. You know there is no beginning and no end, that everything is connected, that emotions are more powerful than concrete things, that reality is just what we make it. You know all that, and that will give you the strength to keep going… until we see each other again.' He held her for a long moment and she didn't want to let go, but she did. 'There's one thing… You said I could leave here, but I can't. The House of Pain has changed me to make me survive here. There's a cold that keeps crawling up my body — I can feel it coming back now — and it's stopping me from walking away. I can't leave of my own accord. It's making sure I'm going to be the queen here for ever.' Grant smiled and ran his fingers through her hair. 'Wait and see. You may not have to leave on your own.' 'What do you mean?' 'Wait and see.' 'I don't want to see you both leave.' 'Then close your eyes. Remember us both sitting here now and that thought will stay with you for ever.' He touched her forehead. 'Just here.' She closed her eyes. And when she opened them again, they were both gone.