Arthur balanced on the very edge of the mountain, his wings extended, and raised the Fourth Key. It stayed in its baton shape, but shone with an internal light that reflected back from the crocodile ring, more gold than silver.
The vortex spread towards Arthur. Almost the entire top of the mountain was a dark absence now, and Arthur instinctively knew that as the breach into the Void spread outwards it also expanded down, eating the substance of the House.
He concentrated on the vortex and on the Key, building a picture in his mind of how it had looked when he’d flown up only minutes before.
“Be as you were,” he said. “The House rebuilt, the Nothing banished.”
The Key grew hot in his hand but the Nothing continued to spread, though more slowly.
I can’t do it! thought Arthur, panic suddenly filling him. His concentration slipped. The Nothing began to spread more quickly, smoothly destroying everything as it lapped towards his feet. The Fourth Key isn’t strong enough in the Middle House! I need the Fifth Key and I haven’t got it!
You can do it, you know, came a thought, directly into his head. He knew it was Part Five of the Will and though it was only a mental touch, the Beast still sounded calm and relaxed. You’re Lord Arthur, you know. Wielder of Four Keys, though you might only hold one in your hand. Think of them all as being with you. Combined, they will have more than power enough.
Arthur grimaced and imagined the clock-hand sword of the First Key, heavy at his side. The rough feel of the gauntlets of the Second Key on his hands. The trident of the Third Key at his belt, and the heavy baton of the Fourth Key in his strong right hand.
“Begone!” instructed Lord Arthur, and the Nothing was gone, and the mountaintop was all bare, polished stone, save for a rim of debris around the edge, where the Will had swept as much as it could with its tail.
Arthur blinked and looked at his hands. He was actually wearing the gauntlets of the Second Key. The clock-hand First Key was at his side. The Third Key was thrust through his belt.
“How ... how did I do that?” he whispered.
“Don’t ask me,” said Suzy as she landed at his side. “But I reckon Dame Primus is going to be pretty miffed.”
“I think I will understand the circumstance,” said the Will as it landed on Arthur’s shoulder, parrot-sized once more. “Once I can get together with myself. That breach could have destroyed the whole Middle House.”
“Right,” said Arthur dazedly. “I have to stop saying that, don’t I? Particularly when I mean wrong .... Ugham’s dead .... The Piper’s children ...”
“Quicksilver and Sable are here,” said Fred somberly, who was crouched by the two children. “They seem to be just asleep. But the others ...”
He gestured at the shallow, smooth-walled crater that had been carved by the Nothing breach.
“The Gilded Youths?” asked Arthur. He couldn’t see them anywhere above.
Fred pointed down. Arthur looked. Way below there was the glint of gold and many small, distant figures.
“Flying home,” said the Will. “Confused. Best place for them, really. No place like home.”
“Yes,” said Arthur bitterly. He looked at the crocodile ring on his finger, watching the progress of the gold with resignation. “Not that any of us will be going home.”
“Where are we going?” asked Fred.
“We’re going after Lady Friday,” said Arthur. “To get the Fifth Key.”
“We going to do like the Piper?” asked Suzy eagerly. “No elevators for us, Front Door locked, telephones off ...”
“We will take the Improbable Stair to Monday’s Dayroom,” said Arthur. “Then the Seven Dials to wherever Friday is, out in the Secondary Realms. I’ll use the Atlas to find her.”
“But you don’t want to use the Keys,” said Fred. “No,” said Arthur. “I don’t want to. Ugham didn’t want to die for the Piper either, did he?”
Fred shook his head. “I don’t understand,” he said.
“I suppose you could call it honour,” said Arthur. “Or responsibility, or something like that. Come on. Beast, I presume you can walk the Stair?”
“If you lead me, Lord Arthur,” replied Part Five of the Will. “Or allow me to ride your shoulder.”
“We’d better leave wings for Quicksilver and Sable,” said Arthur. He reached back and twitched his off without thinking, handing them to Fred to lay down next to the sleeping Piper’s children. Suzy shed her wings too, and picked up Ugham’s weapons, though only the hilt remained of his sword and a slim splinter from the spear shaft. She also took the piece of paper, shoving it deep in an inside pocket.
Fred took his damaged wings off, but as only two needed to be left, he folded his up and put them in his pocket.
“Let’s go, then,” said Arthur. Using the Fourth Key, he confidently sketched steps out beyond the mountainside, and equally confidently stepped out, apparently into the empty air. Suzy followed at once, holding the back of his belt. Fred hesitated, almost lost his hold on Suzy’s coattails, and jumped badly.
All three, with the Will on Arthur’s shoulder, vanished and were gone from the Middle House.