She Who Has No Name

CHAPTER TEN

Samuel continued bounding across the rippled sands in the eerie silver twilight. He landed softly, cradling the woman in his arms as well as he could, before springing away again towards his goal. She kept a steady stream of energy flowing into him, keeping him going when he would otherwise have failed from weariness. It was not hard for him to pinpoint the Valley of the Ancients, for the gathering of magicians there sang to his senses. Cang’s aura alone formed a blue glow upon the horizon and Samuel kept on towards it throughout the night. What had taken them days to traverse on camelback, now took only hours as he flew above the difficult terrain on wings of magic. All the while, the Star of Osirah hung above him, with its tail spread across the heavens.

‘How much further?’ she asked, flushed in the face.

‘Not far,’ he told her. ‘Can you hold on?’

‘I think so. The pains have stopped. I think our baby does not want to be born in the desert.’

‘I will hurry.’ And with that he pushed himself on with renewed vigour, with the cold desert wind blowing in his face and setting their clothes flapping wildly around them.

‘What will we do with this child?’ she asked him.

‘Why do you ask? We will raise him together, of course.’

‘I would not ask you to stay with me if you do not love me,’ she said.

‘Of course I love you. My thoughts for you are all that have kept me from going mad. Every day of my confinement, my body was kept under the mountain, but my spirit was always with you.’

‘Was it really you I could feel?’ she asked. ‘I thought perhaps I was going mad. I heard what they did to you, and I almost died from despair.’

‘I don’t know how it happened, but somehow I fled from the pain of my body, and you kept my mind from losing its grip. I was with you, more often than you could know, and my only hope was that we could one day be together. I could not see past our differences at first, but I have come to realise it is only when I am with you that I am complete. After all our time together, it is my greatest regret that I did not realise it sooner.’

She smiled at his answer and closed her eyes. ‘I felt you with me, but I could not see you. In my dreams, I thought I could hear you screaming and,at times, I could sense your pain.’ She opened her eyes again and looked at him with worry. ‘I wanted to kill them all and cometosave you, but the witch was full of lies. She said if I harmed anyone,they would kill you. I was not powerful enough to defy her. I couldn’t bring myself to even try. If not for the kindness of Sir Ferse, I don’t know how I would have survived. What became of him? Did he perish in the city?’

‘He escaped and is making his way back to his family.’

‘That is good. He missed his family as much as I missed you and every day was equal torture for him. I hope I also made his time a little more bearable-and he did teach me so much. He knows a lot about people and the ways of the world. He was very patient and understanding with me. I could feel he was troubled, but he is a good man.’

‘He is, but I am not sure how long that will last. All of us have changed in many ways. Tell me,’ he then asked her, ‘do you think we will be happy together?’

She smiled at him warmly. ‘I cannot think of anything else.’

‘Then I will help you return to your land.’

‘I do not care about going back any more,’ she told him. ‘I have learnt much of who I am and I know I am not a god-and I do not want to be one. Perhaps one day we can find a way to save my people from the Eudans, but for now, my only need is to be a mother.’

They spied the top of the Temple of Shadows, jutting above the sands, just as the sun was dawning behind him, and Samuel took one final leap into the canyon, landing lightly at the foot of the stairs that led up to the entrance.

Master Celios was waiting there at the mouth of the temple, donned in his best Order blacks with silver-hewn hems, and he beckoned to them with urgency. ‘Come! Come! We have been waiting for you all night. Come quickly! The Demon King’s return is upon us. The time is nigh.’

The Koian woman wriggled out of Samuel’s grip and she began up the stairs, holding her belly. Samuel climbed after her, but she stopped him before he could speak. ‘I want to walk a little. It will help the baby to come out. And I’m tired of being carried.’

So Samuel followed her hobbling ascent, with his hand at her back to catch her should she fall, as she took the stairs,one at a time.

‘Master Celios, how did you know we were coming?’ Samuel asked the old seer. He knew he should be angry with the man, but he couldscarcely blame him for his madness. Others had compelled the unfortunate old magician to peer into the future more often than was safe, cracking his sanity in the process.

‘Cang could feel you coming,’ old Celios revealed, craning his head to look at the star above. ‘He has learned how to find you. He tried to explain it to me, but I have no mind for such talk. My mind is ever filled with the visions he asks of me.’

Theyadvancedinto the dim, adorned passageways of the temple.

‘What has happened in our absence?’ Samuel asked the old magician. ‘Something has happened to allow the demons to return. It seems the rings were not the relics we were seeking. Something else must have been responsible.’

‘Yes, yes,we know. Cang will tell you everything,’ was all Celios would say, and they followed the plodding Koian woman to the end of the hall, where she stopped in place.

She began panting quickly and bent her legs, as if looking to sit down. Samuel rushed to her side.

‘Enough walking!’ she said urgently. ‘Carry me!’

He scooped her up and started away, but Celios called them back to the opposite passage. ‘This way. We have readied a room for her this way. The others are waiting. Come.’

Samuel turned about, careful not to hit her head against the walls, for the passageways were quite tight in places. They turned a corner andwentdown some dusty stairs,and Samuel was surprised to find a large chamber, almost as wide as the temple itself, built beneath the temple. The great space was entirely vacant, save for a circular pattern of stones laid into the floor at its very centre. A gathering of people waswaiting upon it.

Cang was foremost there, with his simple smock hanging on his skeletal frame and tied tightly around at the waist. Lomar and Eric also waited beside Balten,and they all turned to see the visitors arrive. Cang called out on sight of the new-comers’ approach and three Paatin women came scurrying from a side chamber and began beckoning Samuel over. He took the Koian woman past them to find a bedded room, stocked with linen and a washbasin, obviously prepared for their arrival.

‘Come, lady,’ one of the women spoke in a Paatin dialect and helped the pregnant woman from Samuel’s arms and into the bed.

No sooner had she lain back than she screamed, with her pained face turning beetroot red, and the women rushed to her side, pushing Samuel out of the way.

‘Come, Samuel,’ Balten said, waiting at the door. ‘They will care for her. We need to speak.’

Samuel reluctantly followed the man across the echoing chamber, where the others waited at its middle.

‘What happened to all the relics here? The books and shelves? The temple was full the last time I was here,’ he noted.

‘Plans have changed, Samuel,’ Balten said. ‘Everything has been carefully packed and removed, sent to other Circle hiding places around the world. The temples have always served as insurance, to pass future generations the knowledge to combat the Demon King. Now, we will not be needing it. Tonight we will achieve victory. Let Cang explain the rest.’

They reached the centre of the room and Samuel stepped up onto the raised stone circle with the others.

‘Samuel!’ Lomar said. ‘You are alive! It is good to see you.’ And he gave him a great engulfing hug. ‘I’m sorry I couldn’t save them. Because of my failure, you had to endure all this time in your prison.’

‘I’m glad to see you, too,’ Samuel tried to return, but the words were lost in the crush. ‘It doesn’t matter about before. You did what you could. We are well, now.’

When Samuel could tear the man away, he saw Eric waiting beside and shook his friend’s hand warmly,and then, too, gave him a great friendly hug.

‘It’s good to see you,’ he said. ‘I bet you thought I was dead.’

Eric smiled sheepishly. ‘No. Cang seemed confident the whole time that you were alive, until just before. Then, Celios was stricken as if blinded and could not see anything. There was a great light shining to the east. We ran outside to see it. What happened?’

‘Hol is destroyed: the Paatin Queen and all her people with it. Only the Emperor escaped.’

‘He was here, not long ago, but he looked…different.’

Samuel nodded. ‘There is much more to his story than we will probably ever know.’

‘When we told him we had seen the Empress and Leopold safely to Cintar,he rushed after them before we could stop him. I don’t know how he will manage crossing the wastes by himself.’

‘I don’t think he will have any trouble,’ Samuel suggested.

‘Cang sent her back months ago with a squad of his Circle agents. Word returned later that they had arrived without too much trouble. She wanted to wait here until you and her husband were saved or released, but it was just too dangerous. We did not want to risk a rescue until the time was right. Somehow, the time just never became right.’

‘I can understand. I managed by myself.’

‘Master Celios has also been filling us in on the occasional events in the palace, but mostly he has been focussed on the rest of the world. He has kept us busy cataloguing and dispersing all his treasures and relics.’

‘Why? What has been happening?’ Samuel asked.

‘Lin’s return,’ Cang said, stepping up and baring his jagged teeth. ‘The Demon God’s coming is always heralded by a time of war upon the earth. There are few places now untouched by violence and it will only worsen with each day.’

‘What about Cintar?’ Samuel asked.

‘Under siege for many months, but the city still stands,’ Lomar said. ‘Alahativa’s forces are black around it, but the city is holding well. Since the Empress’ return, the will of the people has rallied. They have access to the sea and more than enough stores to survive many months more. The city has lived up to its reputation, even after its dreadful loss.’

‘What loss is that?’ Samuel asked the dark-skinned man.

‘Forgive me, Samuel. I forget you have been away from us for so long. The Council of Magicians is no more. All the Lords have fallen. Still, the great city perseveres. General Ruardin and his men, along with the remnants of the Order, are holding their ground. You and I are last of the magician Lords.’

Samuel accepted the news without any hint of emotion. ‘Then that is why Alahativa forged her alliance with the Grand Master,’ he mused. ‘No matter what efforts she made, she could not take Cintar. She lured us here to thin the ranks in the city, but still it was not enough.’

‘What’s that?’ Eric asked with interest, picking up on the mention of the old Lion.

‘Anthem was here, in the Queen’s city.’

‘And what else, Samuel?’ Cang said with a toothy, knowing smile. ‘What happened to your old teacher and friend?’

‘I see you already have some idea,’ Samuel replied darkly. He then turned back to Eric. ‘Anthem had made a pact with the Paatin Queen. He was going to give her Cintar.’

‘Nonsense,’ Eric said. ‘Even if it were true, how would he accomplish such a thing?’

‘I don’t know. Perhaps he knows its weaknesses, or some secret that would get them within the walls. The Grand Master and I had something of a disagreement. We fought and he performed a spell of Summoning. In the end, the spell engulfed him and he was lost within it.’

‘He’s gone?’ Eric said with disbelief.

‘Yes. He’s dead.’

Cang ran his tongue over his teeth. ‘I always thought the old fool would meet such a bitter end. Perhaps that is one of the worst deaths, if,indeed,he had the luxury of dying. In some realms, the things that live there would be feasting on him for centuries to come.’

‘But why would he do such a thing?’ Eric asked. ‘I thought he had been in Garteny all this time, seeking a treaty with King Otgart?’

‘We did not have time to discuss his journey to the north, but it seemed he had only just arrived when I met him. As you can see, the Koian woman and I are having a child. Anthem wanted that child and,to that end, he made his pact.’

‘That’s your child?’ Eric said with interest.

‘Of course it is.’

‘I didn’t mean it like that,’ Eric said. ‘It’s just that you are a magician.’

‘The Koian god-woman and Samuel are both unique,’ Balten explained. ‘Joined to any other, they will not produce offspring, but together it seems they are both fertile. A rare and momentous coincidence.’

‘Yes,’ Cang said. ‘So it seems the upstart Anthem has been hard at work with his own plot. Shame on him and his Order for pointing their figures at me so many times over the years! They could not resist themselves when the woman appeared, for it was obvious that the two of you were made from the same mould. They began at oncetoconsider what would happen if it turned out you could generate young. While all magicians eventually lose their eagerness for the opposite gender, it was obvious that you were not similarly affected, Samuel-a thing unheard of amongst magic-wielders of every description.’

Samuel went on. ‘Anthem wanted to takeour sonand raisehim. He believed the mixing of our blood would result in a child powerful enough to end these wars-to endallwars.’

Cang looked pleased. As always, his expressions were not well suited for the situation. ‘He did, did he? See what happens when someone only reads half the story? Did Balten not warn you of the meddling nature of the Order? They cannot help it. They are eternally meddlesome and curious, beyond even good sense. They sent you on this perilous journey, with Grand Master Tudor as your protector, knowing full well that the sultry Paatin witch was curious to see you for herself. I would not be surprised if she was thinking of using you to gain a child for herself.’ To which Samuel did his best not to react.

‘But that seems foolish,’ Eric put in. ‘If everyone wanted them together so much, why wouldn’t they just put the two of them in a comfortable room together and lock the door? Why go to so much trouble.’

‘Alahativa wanted him,’ Cang went on, ‘and she had already forged the deal with Chancellor Donovan and the other conspirators of the palace. They had no idea that the Koians were arriving. They had to send you, for that was part of the pact to be rid of the Empress, but Anthem then had to send the Koian woman along with you once those ideas had started running through his mind. He could not force you together, and so he merely hoped that something would happen along the way; magicians are certainly not renowned for their romantic genius. As it turned out, you made it all the way into Alahativa’s clutches without performing as desired, so Anthem was forced to make his agreement with the Paatin Queen: Cintarin exchangefor a child. The Koians were only too keen to assist with everything for,as you know, Canyon was pulling the strings. He was wellpractised at using the girl for his own schemes, and the promise of riches and power soon helped decide his mind. Putting the two of them together certainly did not clash with his Circle commands.’

‘But there was something else,’ said Samuel. ‘Alahativa began to remember things. It seems she had past lives. She claimed that she and the Emperor were born in the time of the Ancients.’

‘What she said is true. And that is why I am even more impressed that you managed to destroy her, for now, as their king returns, the Ancient Ones are growing in strength. They cannot ever truly be killed,and they can be formidable opponents at their full potency. No doubt,even now she will be in another body somewhere in Amandia, working to overpower her host.’

‘So what was she talking about?’ Samuel asked. ‘Why was this curse put upon them? She was furious, but the Emperor didn’t seem to care about their king or such things.’

‘I suppose even immortality could become tiresome eventually, imprisoned as they are, repeating their lives for all time. They lived in the time of Lin and were a part of his accursed rise to power. They raised him to the status of a god and they caused havoc until, for some reason we cannot understand, he left this world. They thought they would be wellrewarded for their service, but Lin left them behind, as powerless as mortals. When the Demon King is about to return, the Ancients return to their true selves, to act as his servants. The rest of the time, they are ignorant of their true origins.’

‘The Emperor is an Ancient, too?’ Eric asked.

‘Yes,’ Samuel said. ‘But he turned his back on the others. He said he refuses to serve the Demon King any further.’

‘Ah, interesting,’ said Cang. ‘It astounds me that he made such a decision. Still, it will not last long. As Lin approaches, his hold on his servants will grow stronger. The Emperor will have no choice but to bend to his master’s will eventually.’

Eric looked deep in thought. ‘Then,if the Emperor was already immortal, Master Celios was not responsible for saving him at all.’

‘Correct you are, Master Pot, but good Master Celios here did ensure the Emperor’s spirit went into the vessel of our choosing.’ Hearing his voice, Celios seemed startled, but he had obviously not been following the conversation. After barely a moment, his attention drifted away and he was again staring off into space. ‘Otherwise, it could have gone anywhere, into any random host across the world and we would have lost track of him. I wanted him here, to die along with his master.’

‘So why did you let him go?’

‘He cannot run far enough in one night to escape what will come.’

Samuel became angered by the admission. ‘So it is you who has engineered this entire scheme. Why would you do this to us? What were you hoping to achieve? The relics were false and had no part in the return of the Demon King-the Emperor told me that. Everything we’ve done has been for naught. So what did you have to gain by sending us to Hol? Why put us through all this?’

Cang slowly drew back his lips. ‘My goal has never been to stop the return of Lin, young Samuel, but to ensure it. You and your party were sent to Hol for a few simple reasons, all of which were achieved. We now have everything we need to killtheKing ofDemons.’

Samuel looked around the vastandempty chamber. There was nothing to which the old devil could have been referring. ‘Where are they? What are these things?’

‘Time was the most important. We needed to ensure he arrived at the time of our choosing…or at least thereabouts. That is why we did not come blazing to your rescue during these past nine months that you were imprisoned, for it was better for everyone that you just stayed put. The other thing we needed to prepare was the method of his destruction. It is no simple matter to destroy a god. It takes more power than all the relics and magicians on earth. Indeed, no power on earthcandestroy Lin, but we now have the tool of his destruction at the ready. I have been summoning it to us for the last seventy years. It is above us now, seemingly still but,in reality,it is speeding towards us at an incredible rate and it will strike with the vengeance of all the untold souls that Lin has stolen over the Ages. This will be the weapon of his ending.’

‘The Star of Osirah?’ Samuel asked.

‘That is what the Paatin call it, but I have no interest in naming such a thing. It is only what it can achieve that concerns me. I am no trivial magician, Samuel, as I am sure you have come to learn. I have powers beyond almost every other magician in this world, and still I am not foolish enough to think I can face Lin directly. I have put all my energies into finding and directing this heavenly body, a frozen block of stone the size of a mountain. Inch by inch, I have nudged it towards us, pushing it from its natural course and ensuring it will strike exactly as required. In less than an hour, it will be here. A humble stone to kill a demon. I think it is fitting-like the fables of old.’

‘You will pull a star down upon us?’ Eric said. ‘This is madness. Surely it will kill us all.’

‘Not allof us, but most of us, yes. In truth,it is not a star, but such details matter little. I have scried the heavens all my life and the inner bodies offer little mystery to me. Occasionally, such wanderers come skimming past our world, but this one proved special. It seemed to beinjust the right place at just the right time, almost as if it weresent to me for this very purpose. All I needed was time to get the players into their position. That has now been achieved. When it strikes, half the world will be destroyed,engulfed in hellfire and destruction-even Lin cannot survive this. His first few breaths upon our world will be his last!’

‘You are mad!’ Eric said. ‘You will kill everyone!’

‘So would Lin, but this way the demon is destroyed also and he will never return to blight us. Man will survive and claw his way back, as he does after every new Age, but this time, once we recover from the ashes, we will be free forever more.’

‘I won’t allow it,’ Samuel declared, but Cang only scoffed.

‘You have no choice, boy. Look up! Starfall is here. Not even I could prevent it now. This mountain of rock will strike us with such tenacity that the sun will turn black for decades to come. Lin’s fate is sealed. We have won.’

‘But what about us?’ Eric asked, fearful.

‘That is where you come in, my dear boy. Do you think we brought you here for your good looks? Your role is to save us. I am not so valiant as to be a martyr for the sake of a humanity I now no longer understand. I had to remain here to oversee my plan, but now,all the pieces are in place, it is time for us to depart.’

‘My Journey spell,’ Eric whispered with sudden realisation.

‘Of course. Again, opportunity and chance have blessed us with the knowledge of a spell lost for Ages. Our only chance of surviving lies in you transporting us away from here.’

‘But I can’t.’

‘Of course you can!’

‘Not so many of us. I can only take one or two with me at the most.’

‘We can take as many trips as you wish, boy. Everything is ready, so we can now leave at your leisure. The only trick will be focussing on our destination, as we will need to Journey somewhere far away, where you have never been.’

‘That’s not how it works. The spell will only take me to places I am familiar with. We could return to Cintar. That would be simple.’

‘Cintar will be destroyed, dolt, or haven’t you been listening? This valley will be struck directly and the eastern side of Amandia will be turned to molten rock and ashes. TheWest will be blasted with hellish winds and buried in poisonous soot for a thousand years. Nothing will survive. I will help you visualise where we need to go, far across the world. I have constructed a chamber just like this, in the land of Euda. I had it constructed for just this purpose. There, protected, we will weather the storm and emerge to rebuild civilisation from scratch. We will lay the foundations of a better society, free from the evils that haunt us now.’

‘Is that why you have done all this?’ Samuel asked. ‘To make yourself a king?’

‘Of course not. I have no need for power or riches. I barely understand what such things are about any more. This wretched quest of mine has consumed my very being and all I seek is an end to it all. Then, I shall pass the responsibilities of overseeing mankind to any who are suitable to take them.’

Eric nodded dumbly, as if accepting their fates. ‘Very well. If we have nothing else to do, let us go. If time is as short as you say, we should be away from here while we can.’

‘But wait,’ Samuel said. ‘My son is about to be born. I will goandsee how much longer it will take.’

‘I’m afraid that’s not possible, Samuel,’ Cang said. ‘We are not taking your woman or the child in her belly.’

‘What is that?’ Samuel stated, in disbelief. ‘I am not leaving them behind.’

‘Then feel free to stay, Samuel. You have served us well, but we need you no more. In fact, you ceased being useful some time ago and have only complicated matters by returning here. By killing the Paatin Queen,you may have allowed her to escape her destruction, but it matters not. We will find her in the end. You have served your purpose and can come with us if you choose, but you must leave the woman and child behind. That is the reward for your service,’ Cang said.

‘What manner of nonsense is this?’ Samuel said angrily. ‘I will not leave them here to die. They are coming with us.’

‘I’m afraid not,’ Balten said, stepping in.

There was an awful silence.

‘Why would you condemn them to die?’ Samuel asked, incredulous at their intention. ‘Has everyone gone mad?’

‘It is not worth arguing over. Time is of the essence,’ and Cang looked at Eric, for the first time showing some urgency on his face. ‘Time is fleeting. Make your spell, boy, or we are lost.’

‘How can I?’ Eric stammered, but Cang stepped over and guided him firmly into the middle of the stones.

‘All you need to do is focus on a room identical to this, but coloured blue as the desert sky. Focus on that and your mind will find the place we seek. The circle stones here and at our destination are cut from the same source. Use that, too, to guide your spell. In all the world there is only one such place unique as that. It should only take you a moment.’

Cang then hurried out of the raised circle and Balten and Celios followed, leaving Samuel alone with his friend.

‘What should I do, Samuel?’ he asked.

‘Go,’ Samuel told him. ‘I will follow. Damn this lot and damn their plans. We will make do.’ And he moved out from the circle of stones, beside the others.

‘I feel theDemonKingapproaching!’ Celios called out, looking around with alarm, as if the door to hell could open anywhere about him.

‘Very well,’ Eric said and closed his eyes. He began knitting the spell, weaving a lattice of magic around himself. The power that went into the thing was not enormous, for it was a masterpiece of efficiency, based on precision rather than brute force. Samuel took careful note of all around him, and he noted Cang’s eyes darting about as Eric moulded his spell.

‘It’s done,’ Eric said, standing in the middle of the spell, as it slowly revolved around him. ‘I can feel the destination. I only hope everything is as you say, or this will be the last time you see me.’

‘I’m sure you’ve done well, young Master Pot,’ Cang said, circling the spell and ogling it with interest. ‘I never would have guessed some of this. It is intricate,as I expected, but some of the design seems confounding. The concepts are beyond my understanding. You are truly talented.’

‘I don’t know how it works,’ Eric said. ‘It just does. Let me test it.’

And with that his spell fell inwards and Eric disappeared.

‘Wait!’ Cang called after him but he was too late. Eric had gone.

‘It’s coming!’ called a strained voice from the side chamber. It was the Koian woman, calling out in pain.

Samuel ran to the room and went to her side. The bed sheets were wet and the three Paatin women there were helping as best they could. One waswaitingbeside the foot of the bed, where the sheets had been rolled up, with her handspoised readyas if to catch something. Master Celios rushed in beside Samuel and began gawking at the labouring woman and Samuel had to push the man back towards the doorway.

‘It is coming! Push now,’ one of the midwives said, gesturing to the Koian woman with her hands. Taking her prompting, the Koian woman puffed and panted, then paused, before pushing again with all her might as the midwife instructed.

‘It is coming! It is coming!’ Celios echoed with glee.

Samuel tried to quieten him, but he kept jumping and clapping like a senile fool,and so Samuel did his best to ignore the man as he danced and cavorted just outside the doorway.

The Koian woman continued puffing and shouting intermittently, crying out so as to fill Samuel with alarm. She strained and sobbed until, unexpectedly, the chief midwife stood up and she helda newborn infant in her hands, wet with fluid and covered in streaks of blood. She immediately set the child onto a towel beside the bed and began to gently clean it off. The Koian woman took great breaths to recover her strength and closed her eyes with utter relief.

Samuel went beside the midwife to look at his child and he could see that it was a healthy boy. There was no aura of life around it, just as with himselfand the mother, but he supposed it was natural that the child should also share their common traits. Looking to the midwife, Samuel felt bewildered, for that woman,too,had no radiance of power about her and Samuel looked around to the others in the room, for he realised his magician’ssighthad left him entirely. Everything in the room suddenly seemed dull and grey and he could not see the natural energy in anything around him.

‘What’s happening?’ he asked aloud, but Master Celios’ crazed shouts in the doorway interrupted his thoughts.

‘He is here! He is here!’ Celios cried. ‘The king is here!’

‘What are you talking about, you fool!’ Samuel asked, turning to the man furiously, for he could tolerate Celios’ ranting no longer.

‘My Lord has arrived! Lin is here, reborn to rule the earth! Don’t you understand, yet, you stupid boy?’ Celios cried out, mocking him. ‘The moment we have been waiting for has arrived!’

‘Stop this nonsense, you idiot! Stop your ranting!’ Samuel shouted back and struck the old Master, sending him sprawling out of the room.

‘I’m afraid he’s right, Samuel,’ Cang said, stepping gingerly into the room. ‘This birth is what we have been waiting for.’

‘What are you all talking about?’

‘There are many kinds of portals and many forms of doorways, Samuel. Lin requires a way to enter our world in body and soul and this is the only way to accomplish it for the purposes he requires. Anthem was right, in a way, that your child would be special, but not as a saviour as he thought. This baby is Lin himself, returned in mortal form.’

‘But the relics…’ Samuel began.

‘You are the relics, Samuel-you and the Koian woman. The two devices that would return him to this world-that would seal humanity’s destruction-are human. He left you both behind and, like the three Ancients, your spirits are immortal, delving from one body to the next-but there is a difference. When the Ancient Ones die, they immediately inhabit another suitable body. But you and the woman live from birth to death, born at the same time to die at the same time. Yours lives are as matched as your natures. You each contain the seeds for his return and,only by combining them,can he be reborn. His plan is ingenious, for you are left at opposite ends of the earth. Only once civilisation is sufficiently developed can you be brought together: in natural ways by sea or land or air-borne by the natural processes of trade or diplomacy or war. The details do not matter, but the outcome is always the same.

‘Man should know better than to force such a child into being, but you have seen how the Koians and the Order behaved. They knew you were different, that you were unusual but,like irresponsible children,they could not wait to see what would result from putting you together. They plotted and schemed until it was done, against their better judgement and against the legends and warnings left from the past, and then they stood back to see what would be the result. In every Age,this has happened, and here-it has happened again. Today, the end of this Age has begun. Lin, your son, has returned.’

Samuel felt weak.

‘What does he mean?’ the Koian woman called faintly from her bed. ‘What is he saying about our baby?’

Samuel was still struggling to grasp what Cang was saying. ‘But, why would this happen to us? He is just a baby.’

‘Now he is but a baby, but he will grow. Inside him is the spirit of a demon. Already, he is learningabouthis new surroundings: growing accustomed to the light, the sounds, the smell of us and the room. He will grow as a normal child, but his thoughts are already that of Lin. It takes time to grow into a new body, but he is in no hurry. It is hardly a moment for him. He will grow as a normal boy, watching and observing the world. Once his body is ready, and once he decides the time is right, he will begin his work.

‘The world is already in turmoil and thosedepartedsouls that have already joined the ether will be his for the taking. He will kill those who remain and add them to his strength. Then, once his grim task is done and only a few of us remain, he will depart and the next Age will begin. Did you think the Demon King would descend from the sky, bathed in flames and hurling bolts of lightning? I’m afraid not, Samuel. This is how the world ends. There is no need of hell-spawn and demons to assist him. The wars of man are sufficientfor himto procure the food that he needs, although I am sure he will do his best to help. He will walk the earth unchallenged and fell armies with his blows.’

‘I don’t believe you,’ the Koian woman said from her bed. ‘This is my son. He is not what you say. It is you who are the demon!’

The head midwife had not understood anythingof what Cang was saying in the Old Tongue, and she had already taken care of the afterbirth and tied the child’s cord and placed the babe back against its mother. Wiped and cleaned, wrapped in a soft cloth, the child wriggled on her chest. She offered the baby her nipple at the direction of the midwife, but it squirmed and smacked its lips and would not take anything into its mouth.

‘He will not feed,’ Cang said, ‘nor drink. He has no need of air or sunlight or any of the things we require for life. He cannot be killed. All he will do is grow and develop until he is ready to take back his kingdom. The spell that destroyed Hol would have turned his mother to ashes around him, but he would have survived. Only Starfall, the greatest spell ever conceived, has the power to defeat him.’

The Koian struggled with the babe, but it wailed reluctantly and turned its head erratically as she attempted to thrust her nipple between its lips.

‘How can you be so sure?’ Samuel asked. ‘You’ve said yourself that man has tried many times to avert this fate. What if you are helping to achieve exactly what Lin desires? What if you are the one who has brought about his return with your damned plans? Perhaps this is the way it always ends?’

‘I have spent my life studying the remains of other Ages, Samuel. I admit that most ancient history is unknown eventome, but I am willing to bet that none hasever achieved a plan of such sophistication. This half of the world will be cleansed of all life. Such a thing has never happened before.’

There was a flash of magic and Eric reappeared within the main chamber, visible through the doorway and standing in the middle of the stone circle. Cang started out and Samuel and the others followed, leaving the Koian with her child.

‘Did you know of this, Balten?’ Samuel asked with concern, marching up beside the tall magician.

‘Not all of it, Samuel. Cang kept the details to himself to keep his plan safe. I did not know most of what he has said until recently. I am sorry it has come to this, but there is nothing we can do.’

‘How was your journey, Master Pot?’ Cang asked of Eric.

Eric looked quite excited. ‘I made it. I found another chamber just like this, lined with blue tiles. It was empty, so I came back. We can leaveatany time.’

‘Wait a moment,’ Samuel told him. ‘Before you do anything to help them, we need to settle something with Cang.’

‘There’s one more thing you should hear, Samuel, before you do anything rash,’ Cang announced. ‘You may have noticed that you have lost much of your wonderful magic. Lin now has need of it and has called it back unto himself. Mother and father are no longer required to care for him. You could throw him into a ditch if you felt the inclination and he would still survive, although I would guess he would be mighty angry about it, flailing about in the dirt for years-but I doubt that has ever happened. Asforyou two, the instinct to care for him is natural and his parents would always have felt the need to care for him. But,if I were you, I would be careful what you do from this point on. You will find you are no longer nearly as powerful as you were. Any curses or blessings that Lin had granted you have been taken back. You are nothing more than a common man and she, a common woman. You can live and die separately as you wish, for that part of Lin’s legacy has now ended. Any powers you have left are what you may have cultivated yourself over your short life. I can see already that is something, but you are now nothing more than an ordinary magician.’

‘I still don’t believe you, Cang. Your words are poison and,even if it were true, his fate is not decided. People can change. Perhaps he will be the saviour of the world and not its destroyer. Everything you know you have learnt from stones and books. They could be wrong. They could be nothing but stories for all we know.’

But Cang only scoffed. ‘Of course not! He is the King of Demons. He will not throw down his crown and be a humble farmer or a poet, no matter how hard you may wish for it. His only purpose is to harvest us and devour our very souls!’

‘To what end?’

‘He is absolute evil! That is the only reason he needs. He has already begunpreparing himselffor the task. Have you guessed why you and the woman seemed to lack all presence, Samuel?’ Samuel looked at his hands and, despite the fact that he could no longer see magic, he could sense power shimmering around his skin-something he could never do before. ‘You have lost that blessing and we can sense you now easily enough. As magicians, we can sense other living things. Everything has energy within it. It is the boundary of their selves, where the extent of their life force ends, and what we can feel are the vibrations that occur at the edges of this energy.

‘The boundary of my power is larger than most and,to see it,I must stand in an open space, where the walls do not get in the way, for it is only the edges that give themselves away. I can then see it, shimmering around me like moondust or glitter. Lin had left half of his power to you and half to the girl-a vast reservoir of energy. To see such power,you would need to look to the horizon, or further, out to the edge of this world, towards the stars. You had access to almost limitless supplies of power, the remnants of every soul who has died since the last Age, gathered and awaiting Lin’s return. You were not invisible, Samuel, but hidden at the core of a power that surrounds this very world. Now that power is his. If you had known how to properly harness it, you could have been something akin to gods yourselves. But,as you have found, it takes the experience of a god to wield such power, and you seem to have enough trouble dealing with your own petty woes and worries. Now, I have dallied enough. I must kill you, for I had hoped you would be completely powerless once the demon was born, but it seems you did develop some skill by yourself. I can’t risk you escaping away with that demon. He needs to wait here for his end.’

Cang raised his palm without further ado and Samuel had only that instant to prepare himself. He cast up a shield of spells, but was startled when nothing appeared before him. In the moment it took to remember that he could no longer see his magic, a blast from Cang had him flying onto his back and he screamed with pain upon the stones.

‘Eric!’ he cried.

But Cang kept the other back with a warning glare. ‘Stand back and do not interfere, Master Pot. I have no need of you, either, although I would not readily see you dead. Now I have witnessed your Journey spell,I can cast it for myself. Do not tempt me.’

‘You may not need me, but I can still cause you some grief,’ Eric called out, and summoned a fistful of magic into each palm. He was still on the dais, and he aimed his spells at the stones beneath his feet. ‘Harm Samuel and I will destroy the circle. You may have learnt the Journey spell, but you still need this circle to focus on your destination.’

‘Damn you, boy! Don’t be foolish. I have been to the other temple many times. I don’t need some rocks to find my way.’

‘That may be so,’ Eric responded, ‘but if you have only just learned my spell,then you have had no time to master its details. It is quite tricky, as you can understand. It took me years to perfect. If I were you, I wouldn’t risk burying myself inside a mountain. Even the slightest mistake can be fatal.’

Cang was enraged and the floor around him crackled black as furious magic seethed from within him. ‘Damn you twice, boy! Very well. We will not harm him, but the demon child must stay to meet its fate.’

Meanwhile, Lomar, quiet all this time, crepttowhere Samuel lay upon the floor and helped him to his feet. ‘Ready yourself, Samuel. I will save the child and its mother, but you and Eric will need to distract Cang and Balten while I get them away. When I call to you, do whatever you can. If I can get them to the dais, we can escape. Then, I will return for you.’

Samuel nodded and Lomar backed away, bound for the birthing room.

‘You’d better take care, Cang, or you will find yourself stranded here beneath your star,’ Samuel called and Cang again spun round to face him.

The knotty magician made a cruel smile. ‘Then so be it. I was hoping to escape and help the survivors of this mess to recover, but if you insist that we all need to die, then so be it-but whatever happens, I will not allow the demon to leave this valley.’

Lomar then came stepping out of the side room. He had his cloak bundled up andhemoved stealthily, but Cang immediately turned towards him and knew what was happening at once. He seemed to have eyes in the back of his head.

‘What are you doing, Lomar, you insolent fool! Put the child back with its mother!’ he roared and that was when Samuel struck.

He knew he had little power left, but he had not spent the last few minutes being idle. He had spent his time crafting a subtle Sapping spell. Blindly and numbly he had acted, fumbling with magic by feel and from memory, when normally he could have cast such a spell in an instant. He had enshrouded the thing within the best concealment spells he had learned from Grand Master Tudor and across the floor he sent it. He attached it to the leg of Cang and it began nibbling cautiously at his power.

The stream of power that came back into Samuel revitalised him. He took a few refreshing gulps and then he sent out a blast of magic towards the leader of the Circle. The spell struck Cang without effect, for the cunning magician ever had his defences in place. He took the blow without flinching and, turning from Lomar, he sent a spell of his own back that evaporated Samuel’s hastily crafted barriers in a single swipe.

At this, Balten seemed to lurch into life and came forward to assist his master, but Eric in turn struck out against him, sending a spell into the man’s back that made him spin around with a grimace. The two fought, trading spells that whistled and roared, but Balten had to take care not to damage the circle. Eric, however, was under no such limitation.

Samuel opened his Sapping spell further, for the thing had rooted itself deeply within Cang and had a tight grip. He started gulping at the power and only then did Cang realise what was happening.

‘Damn you all thrice!’ he howled and struggled to disrupt the spell, stamping his legs and blasting at the elusive magic with magic of his own.

Samuel took the chance to send more spells hurtling at the old magician, using the wiry man’s own power against him, and Cang howled in rage as he deflected the blows with one hand.

A shadow caught Samuel’s eye and he was relieved to see that Lomar had finally gained his place beside Eric, with the child moving about inside his robe. It was Master Celioswhogave him away, for he came running up behind Lomar laughing and clapping.

‘The King is here! The King is here!’ he cried, like a buffoon and,in response, Lomar acted. He twirled about like a tornado, once in full circle and with the deftness of an acrobat. Something had glinted in his hand amongst the blur of flying black cloth and Celios froze on the spot, clutching at the red line across his throat.

‘What in blazes are you doing? You fool!’ Cang called aloud.

Lomar’s hand then reached Eric and he gripped on and hugged close. Eric looked as surprised as Samuel at the deftness and ferocity at which Lomar had dispatched of Celios, for the seer had been more of a pest than a threat. Still, Eric’s spell hadanticipatedthe plan, and his second Journey spell snapped out around the both of them and they were gone.

Cang stood wide-eyed with disbelief. The room was quiet, with smoke rising from scorched pieces of stone where spells had landed astray. Only Master Celios’ gurgling and final coughs of blood broke the silence, until he, too, was quiet, lying still on the floor.

‘What has he done?’ Cang stammered and snapped Samuel’s Sapping spell with a final shake of his leg.

Balten had wandered onto the dais, but Cang rushed past and pushed him aside.

‘Get outofthe way,’ Cang ordered and,with that,he forged his own Journey spell, bringing it into being around himself with impressive speed and skill.

Samuel could no longer see the weaves in play, but he could sense the magic falling into place. He could feel the designs as if they were scars upon reality, but they were intangible to his eyes.

‘There!’ Cang called as he finished the final segment, and he released the spell at once. He should have disappeared along with the spell as the magic flashed from existence, but something went terribly awry. His right hand had vanished, while the rest of him remained. He held the stump before him and roared, but more from anger than anything. No blood issued from the wound,andCang was too powerful to be worriedashe turned to face Samuel, full of rage.

‘Do you see what you’ve done? The Demon King has escaped and we cannot follow him. Your fool friend has broken the stones at the other side. We are trapped here!’

Several shrill screams sounded from the birthing room and Samuel felt magic at work from within. He forgot Cang and went to rush away, but the Koian woman had already come running out and was tying a sash around her waist. She had new clothes on, of the Paatin-style, and,remarkably, she looked refreshed and vital. She looked as lithe as she had in the year past and was obviously having no difficulty in moving about, despite the trauma of having just given birth.

‘Where is my baby?’ she called.

‘Your demon spawn is gone!’ Cang called. ‘Escaped!’

She looked content with the news and came over tostandbeside Samuel. She threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly, pushing her face into his chest. ‘That’s good. Then let us go and be with him.’

‘What have you done?’ Samuel asked her, pushing her away so he could look into her face. ‘Where are the midwives?’ he added, looking back towards the room.

‘I couldn’t just wait in bed,’ she replied. ‘I needed them. If we were all going to die anyway, what does it matter?’

Samuel had no time to argue with her. In the end, he supposed it was true; they had no time to let her rest in bed. It was only her flagrant disregard for the livesof othersthat bothered him.

‘How can this be?’ Cang said to himself, still raging. ‘What has he done? Lomar has ruined everything!’

‘Lomar has tricked you,’ Samuel said. ‘Eric will be back for us, but your plans are finished.’

‘Back? My dear Samuel, Iamcertain that by now your friend Eric is dead. Lomar is the most devilish servant of the Circle I have. I just can’t imagine how he thinks to profit from ruining our plans. He must realise this means doom for us all.’

‘What do you mean?’ Samuel asked.

‘Who do you think kidnapped the Empress and brought her here in the first place? He was the one who secreted her away, keeping her hidden in Ghant andsurrenderingher to the Paatin. He delivered the Paatin Queen’s poison to your School of Magic and ensured it would thin the Order ranks. That was Anthem’s punishment for tampering with Chancellor Donovan’s affairs, and the Chancellor’s payment for services rendered. Lomar has been on top of this whole affair since the start. Why do you think he has been standing with his mouth clamped shut all this time, while we have been making revelations that would attract comment from even the most dim-witted of magicians? I will tell you why. Of all my minions, Lomar was my oldest and most trusted. He already knew everything there was to know! Lomar was supposed to carry on with my plan if I fell. See how skilfully he killed poor Master Celios? What kind of magician can do that? He has been an assassin since he was barely nine years old.’

‘That’s ridiculous.’

‘My, how you have been fooled! Balten’s task was to intimidate you when required, but Lomar was charged with befriending you. He was there from the very beginning, or don’t you remember? After I first heard rumours of your presence in Marlen, he was the first man to be sent to the scene! It was he that called in Ash and his team to do their dirty work upon your family. Lomar has been steering you all along.’

‘No, you lie,’ Samuel said, in complete denial of Cang’s words.

‘It is true, Samuel,’ Balten said. ‘If you think deeply, you will realise that he has always been leading you towards this path. Lomar is much more diabolical than he seems. He is my superior within the Circle.’

Cang grit his teeth in anger. ‘He would have made a worthy successor, but now, he has done the inconceivable and deceived even me.’

‘No,’ Samuel said, shaking his head in disbelief. ‘Lomar wouldn’t do that. Ash’s men tried to kill me, too. I only got away by jumping in the river. They would have killed me, too.’

‘Those fools got carried away! They were supposed to catch you, not kill you, but those worthless scum were lazier than they were worth. Once Cadin had gotten his hands on you,he would have realised you were the one, but those fools were only interested in their spoils. Luckily, despite their incompetence, it ended well. Lomar arranged for you to move down from the mountains where we could keep a closer eye on you. When the time was right, we sent you to Cintar and,as you know, everything progressed from there.’

‘And we are stuck here now,’ said Balten.

‘We can still Journey away,’ Samuel suggested, still attempting to digest what he had learned.

‘But not to anywhere worth going,’ Cang added sourly. ‘Anywhere we can reach will still be destroyed. We need to cross the world in the next few minutes to survive. Even then, our survival will only be temporary-ten, fifteen years at the most. With Lin escaped, he will eventually come for us all.’

There was a tiny flicker of light and a swelling of magic and they turned towards the dais as Eric reappeared upon it. He fell to the stones, spilling dark blood from his belly.

Samuel left the Koian woman where she was and ran to his side. ‘Eric! What happened?’

‘Lomar attacked me,’ Eric stammered. ‘I…I don’t know why.’

Samuel put his best healing spells onto his friend, but his magic was nothing like it used to be and the wound was awful, being a zigzag through his belly that had sliced him to pieces inside.

Cang strode up beside the two of them. ‘What did I tell you?’ he said smugly. ‘Everything has gone to pot! What a sorry state of affairs.’

‘There was someone waiting in the room when we arrived,’ Eric continued. ‘Lomar gave him your son.’

‘Oh?’ Cang said, genuinely perplexed. ‘Who could it have been?’

Eric only shook his head. ‘I’m sorry, Samuel,’ he said, gripping onto Samuel’s arm fiercely. ‘I never meant to argue with you. I never meant to hide anything from you.’

‘It doesn’t matter, Eric. Hush. Save your strength.’

But Eric would not be quietened. He coughed up bright red blood and yelled in pain. When he could continue, he strained to push the words from his mouth. ‘I was always jealous of you, Samuel. I always wanted to be the best, to be better than you. They call youthe Saviour of Cintar,’ he said, grimacing with the effort. ‘They made you a Lord, but what am I? I am only the one who always lets you down just before the end. I’m sorry, Samuel. I know it was foolish of me. What a stupid petty wish I made, to be better than my friend. I’m sorry.’

‘I don’t care about that. I couldn’t have done any of it without you,’ Samuel said, but Eric shuddered. Blood saturated Eric’s robes and covered Samuel’s hands. ‘Save him!’ Samuel said to Cang, looking up at the bestial magician.

‘There is nothing I can do for him,’ Cang said, bearing his jagged teeth. ‘Close his eyes and leave him be. At least his wish was granted, if only for a few minutes.’

Samuel looked back to Eric and saw that there was no life left in him. There was nothing else he could do, as he had less magic than ever before and less ability to control it. Reluctantly, he shut Eric’s eyes and gently lay him on the floor.

‘A senseless death,’ Cang hissed. ‘What is Lomar doing?’

‘What areyoudoing?’ Samuel said, eyeing Cang with rage. ‘Why have you done all of this? You have killed everyone with your ridiculous plans!’

‘No,’ Cang replied calmly. ‘It is you who have doomed us all, Samuel, setting the demon free. The world shall pay for your actions with the loss of countless lives.’

‘I’ve saved my son.’

‘Your son is a demon!’ Cang declared. ‘He would have killed the both of you the moment he could. But now we will never know. He is free and we are lost. It seems Lomar hasseenfit to raise him as his own. Who knows what god-forsaken idea has gotten into his head?’

‘We are doomed,’ Balten said from his place beside the dais. For the first time, he looked defeated, hunching over and clasping his face in his hands. ‘After all we’ve done, it’s all been for nothing.’

‘Damn you, Cang!’ Samuel said, standing to face the scrawny old magician, incensed with anger.

‘Oh, shut up, boy!’ Cang responded. ‘Sit down and await your fate. We are all dead anyway.’

Samuel took an angry step forward, but Cang would have none of it and sent him flying backwards across the chamber with barely an effort. He landed heavily on his back once more, grazing it upon the stones, but he was up again and charging himself with whatever magic he could summon.

‘Please don’t start!’ Cang called across the echoing chamber.

‘Samuel!’ Balten called. ‘Calm yourself!’

‘Stop this! Please!’ the Koian woman also chimed.

But Samuel could not;he was overcome with rage and whispering voices were screaming for his attention. We will help you. We will give you what you desire. Let us in, they called to him in the Ancient Lick.

‘Yes!’ Samuel replied to them, for he was livid with fury. ‘Come to me! Help me defeat them! I will give you anything if you just help me to kill him!’

‘What are you saying?’ Cang called across, but Samuel did not reply. Magic began filling him from some otherworldly source-dark powerful magic that breached the ether as if from nowhere. He hadtasted just smatterings of it before, but now it came spilling into him, pure in form. The vileness of it made him bend over and he emptied his stomach upon the floor, but it was a bitter-sweet feeling to have such furious power once again. As he straightenedand wiped the vomit from his chin, he was grinning with madness.

‘What are you doing?’ Cang called out. ‘What power is that? Stop what you are doing at once, you mad fool! This is senseless!’

All the while, the Koian woman stood with her handsoverher mouth, unsure of what to do.

‘Stop him, Balten,’ Cang instructed.

Balten took a step forward and Samuel raised his hand. He only thought to stop the tall magician, and that is what happened. A dark whip of magic struck out and hit Balten. It pierced his defences and the man fell to the floor,his body wracked byspasms.

‘Black magic!’ Cang roared out with dismay. ‘What kind of fool gives himself to demons over something as foolish as this? You will lose your soul and have nothing to show for it. What do you have to accomplish?’

‘I have no soul of my own to lose,’ he replied. ‘Everything I am belongs to Lin, or so you tell me’.

He came striding towards Cang and called for more dark magic. Wild beams burst from his palms, but Cang waswell preparedand turned the bolts aside with a spray of fire and vapour.

‘There has always been something terrible inside me,’ Samuel spoke aloud. ‘I have always tried to keep it at bay but,as you say, what do I have to lose? At least I will savour your death before my own.’

Cang snarled and let out scathing magic of his own. It crashed into Samuel and screeched on his dark shields. They swapped spells and tussled to and fro within the chamber as they battled against each other. The Koian woman turned and fled, for she had no defence against such magics, while Balten lay motionless on the floor.

The voices called in his head and Samuel kept saying‘yes’to whatever they asked of him, if only it allowed him to kill Cang. Still, it was not so simple a task and Cang was vastly powerful. Their spells filled the air with smoke and dust, yet both of them were forced to choose their spells carefully, lest the temple should be brought downon topof themall.

They faced each other with spells designed to burn flesh, but the magnitude of Cang’s power was astounding. Even Samuel’s dark wrath was not enough and,as the minutes dragged by and the devious leader of the Circle of Eyes remained unfaltering, Samuel’s confidence waned. The voices seemed to give up their whispering as the inevitable outcome of the battle became clear. Finally, Samuel fell to his knees, exhausted, and his dark powers left him.

‘You sorry fool,’ Cang said, standing over him. The bony magician shook his head as he prepared a final spell. ‘You should be thankful you can die before they take you, but I’m sure Lin would find a way to get you back before too long. He could not be left without his father, or how would he return in the future?’

But something leapt onto Cang’s back and he began cursing, twirling away as he struggled against whatever had hold of him. Samuel stood groggily to his feet and saw it was the Koian woman who had leapt upon the man. She hung onto his back and pushed her nails into his eyes. She sucked at Cang’s power and it came streaming out into her in tempestuous volumes.

‘Get off me, witch!’ Cang roared, but she stuck fast, and the furious magician howled in fury as she drained his very life. ‘Without me you will never learn your name!’

‘I promised I would kill you, demon, and I will!’ she yelled back into his ear. ‘Now die!’

Bolts of lightning erupted from his fingers and struck the girl on his back as he twisted and shook in effort to shake her free. Magic poured out of him and sizzled upon her skin, but she would not relent. Howling, Cang finally threw himself onto his back and lay still, smoking, with the Koian woman beneath him. Samuel hobbled over as quickly as he could and dragged the stiff magician from her.

He almost cried aloud with grief when he saw her, for she was scarred and burned all over. Cang’s magic had cut into her deeply, and parts of herbodyhad been baked alive.

‘Quickly!’ Samuel told her and he dropped beside her and cradled her head upon his lap. ‘Take me! Take my life and save yourself!’

She slowly shook her head as best she could. ‘No. You must live. You are stronger than me and one of us must live to save our son. He may be a demon as they say, but that can change…people can change.’

‘They can,’ Samuel admitted. ‘But you can’t die. I have only just found you.’ He looked towards the form of Balten, where he still lay on the floor. ‘Take him then.’

But she shook her head. ‘No. You are right. I can’t take the lives of others any more. You will need him if you are to escape. I’m sorry, Samuel. I don’t want to die. I just wish we could be together. That’s all I’ve ever wanted-just to be with you. I’ve always loved you, and I had you, Samuel-I had you for just a little time.’ Tears streamed down her cheeks,tears of pain and tears of sorrow mixed as one.

He laughed as he cried and held onto her, considering the pure ludicrousness of his life. He had truly been cursed, for nothing he loved, and nothing that loved him, could ever survive. ‘You’ve never called me by my name before,’ he told her, with tears dripping from his cheeks.

‘Nor have you called me by mine,’ she said softly.

‘You don’t have a name,’ he said, stifling the sobs within his chest.

‘I do…I just don’t know what it is. Samuel-’ she tried to go on, but was lost in her tears. ‘I don’t want to die without a name. Real people have names. I don’t want to be a god any more.’

He thought desperately. ‘I don’t know what name to choose.’

‘Please…think of something.’

While once he had thought of her as a freakishOutlander, nowhecould not bear the thought of being without her. She was the most beautiful thing he could imagine and he did not realise it until now, too late, as she lay dying. Again, he looked to the ceiling with watering eyes, desperate to think of a name for the one he loved. He strove to conceive of a fitting name, but every notion seemed foolish or inappropriate. The ceiling of the chamber seemed to be swimming before his teary vision, but he could not bear the thought of disappointing her.

Not knowing what to say, he returned his gaze to her, but she was utterly still and she looked up at him with vacant eyes. He pulled her to his chest and sobbed, her hair spilling over his face and matting in his tears.

‘I do love you!’ he sobbed over her. ‘I do. I always loved you, too.’ He could hardly gather his breath and his chest stung from the effort. ‘I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry!’

He sat for a time, cradling the woman in his lap and crying over her, when Balten spoke from beside him.

‘She’s gone.’

‘I know,’ Samuel managed to say. His voice was hoarse. Slowly, gently, he eased her to the floor and stood, wiping the tears from his eyes with his black sleeve. She had died to save him so that he could save their son, but he would not survive at all unless he could escape. ‘What do we do?’ he asked the solemn magician. ‘I need to be gone from here.’

‘It cannot be undone. That was the whole point. Once committed, Starfall is irreversible. Nothing can stop it and we cannot escape it.’ Baltensat down cross-legged to await his fate, still rubbing his ravaged muscles. ‘It should not be long.’

‘We must do something. We must try!’ Samuel said desperately. ‘She can’t have died for nothing.’

‘Sit down, Samuel. Accept your fate. We have prepared well. We failed here, but future generations will still have a chance. They will find the other temples that Cang has prepared. There is hope for future Ages.’

‘We must do something. It’s not over yet. She died to save me! Let me try!’

Balten sat still, but finally something must have changed his mind, and he stood reluctantly. ‘Very well. What does it matter? If you want to try, so be it. If the star can be cracked, it may lessen the impact but,even so, it will only gain us some time, until Lin begins his work. If we can damage the star enough, perhaps the destruction will be lessened and you can reach a safe haven.’

‘We could make it to Cintar,’ Samuel suggested.

‘Yes. And then what?’ Balten said. ‘You would only be waiting for your own son to come and consume you. Do you want more anguish in your life? Do you want more heartbreak than you have already received? You are a glutton for punishment, Samuel. If you sit down now and wait a few moments, you will be at peace.’

‘While we live there is always hope, Balten. Nothing is set in stone. I believe even a child that has become a demon can become a child once again. I can save my son.’

‘Your resilience impresses me, Samuel. Very well, we can try, but I will need your help. You will need to help me with the Journey spell. I will need a few minutes to prepare-and any magic you have left. I will need a lot of power, perhaps more than we have between us.’

‘What will you do?’

‘Die…but perhaps in doing so I can finally do some good.’ With that,the magician took a great breath and formed a deepSummoning stance. ‘Come. Lend me your strength,’ he said and Samuel moved to behind the man, placing his hands on Balten’s back and adding all the power he could still muster.

‘It’s not enough, Samuel!’ Balten said after a time. ‘I need much more!’

‘I don’t have any more!’ Samuel said, but,despite his own words,he closed his eyes and searched deeper, pulling at the ether around him with all his will, and scouring his insides for any last vestiges of power. It was difficult to believe that so much power had been his before, and he had accepted the fact unquestioningly. Now, he felt howhardit was for normal magicians to gather magic. It was frustratingly difficult work to compel the ether to hand over its strength and he had always taken it for granted.

‘More, Samuel! Do you want to live or not?’ Balten shouted at him.

Samuel redoubled his efforts and his head began to swim. A faint whispering sounded at the back of his mind and Samuel could hear a dark voice speaking to him, whispering promises in the Ancient Lick. It was calling to him, pleading to him, offering its power in exchange for a bargain. It knew what he wanted and he whispered back to the voice, ‘Yes!’

At that moment, more dark magic began to spill into him, channelled into him from another realm. He swallowed it and transformed it into raw power that he, in turn, fed into Balten.

‘That’s it, Samuel!’ Balten called. ‘I can feel it! We’re nearly there.’

All the while, the voice inside Samuel was chattering with laughter, but Samuel did not care. His only intention was to save his son.

Balten kept his mind on forging two Great Spells. One of them was unknown to Samuel, but the other was obviously an attempt at a Journey spell. Balten did well with the core of the spell, but Samuel guided him, filling in the crucial missing details. Balten had obviously been working on a version of the spell himself, and perhaps had been gleaning parts of its making from Eric, but he was far from perfecting it on his own.

Finally, Balten breathed a heavy sigh of relief and Samuel took it as a sign that all was finished, and he stepped away. Two great bodies of magic throbbed around him, readied to be unleashed.

‘That’s enough,’ Balten said. ‘I must go now if there is still to be time.’

‘Go? To where?’ Samuel asked him.

‘To save you, so that you can save the world.’ With that,Balten released his first Great Spell, and lines of sparkling jade began to run across his face. They met and joined in a latticework of green across his skin and,as each tessellation closed, his skin changed appearance, growing shiny and hard, transmuting into translucent crystal. Bit by bit Balten was transformed by his magic, until he had become a man of tinted diamond. His clothes, too, had become part of his physical form, fused into him and changed into such crystal. He rolled his eyes to Samuel and his voice rumbled like the trembling of the earth. ‘I cannot be killed like this, but I will only live a short time. It should be enough to do my work.’

The Journey spell still remained and it was enough to guess the tall magician’s plan.

‘Do you think you can shatter the star, even like this?’

‘I will try,’ Balten boomed. ‘This body is harder than any stone, whether it be from the heavens or not.’

Looking at the man’s crystal form, Samuel remembered something. ‘When I was fighting with Grand Master Anthem, a spear of glass saved me. Was it your doing?’

But Balten only shook his head. ‘Whatever happened, it was no act of mine. I was busy here all the while, although I would readily have saved you if I could. I once told you, Samuel, that only I can teach you what you need to know. Do you remember that day?’

‘I remember. I’ve been waiting a long time for those lessons to begin.’

Balten managed a crystal smile. ‘They began from the first day that I met you, and now they are complete. I cannot be your teacher any more, for I have nothing left to teach. I hope you have learnt well.’

‘I always thought you were mocking me-even trying to kill me. But it is true. You have taught me much, without ever uttering a word of advice.’

‘I never lied to you, Samuel. If anything, I have only ever been brutally honest with you in hope that you would find your way. True wisdom cannot be grafted from one place to another, Samuel. Its seeds can only be thrown to the wind, and left to become what they may. I thought to pass you some of my knowledge, but I think I ended up learning more from you. I always thought I was doing the right thing by joining Cang-I suppose I still do. We only wanted to save the world, but perhaps we should have gone about it in a different way. Everything seems so clear now, here at the end of the world. If only it could have been like that at the beginning.’

‘The future is never clear,’ Samuel responded. ‘I once saw Cintar shrouded in ruin, with black-cowled things walking the streets and terrorising the people. I always assumed that some awful battle would eventually take place,as I had foreseen, and then the High Tower of the palace would fall, but,in my time beneath Mount Karthma,I figured the true meaning of this vision. It was meddling of the Order that I saw. They have filled the streets with fear and destroyed their own ambitions. In a way, we would truly be better off without magic, if those that choose how to use it cannot be trusted.’

‘All forms of power can and will be abused, Samuel, as long as man is driven by his greed. After all, power is only what you can frighten others into giving you. Perhaps that will change one day, but not any time soon from what I have seen. I would like to talk more of such things, but we have little time left. Samuel, I want to tell you one more thing before I go.’

‘What is it?’

‘I am sorry-for everything that has happened to you. You did not deserve to lose so many of your loved ones. It has never been your fault.’ Even with his crystal expression, the man looked sincere. ‘The Circle is broken and the fate of the world is now yours. Goodbye.’

Samuel was about to respond when Balten vanished. Samuel could not see the after-effect, but he could feel magic energy tearing in after him, into the hole in the ether that Balten had made, until it sealed itself shut and the chamber was still again.

There was nothing else to do and so Samuel prepared himself to leave. He wouldjourney away and hope that Balten’s plan to somehow disrupt Starfall was successful. If not, he would probably never feel the difference.

He squatted once more by the body of the woman he had loved, and touched the side of her cheek with his finger. Everyone he knew had died and,for the second time, he had lost the one he had cherished most. This time, it was almost too much to bear, and he considered just sitting down and waiting for it all for end. Perhaps he could find peace in that endless quiet after death took him? But something stirring inside him would not let him. She had charged him with finding and saving their son, and so he could not give up. He never would, as long as there was some strength left in him.

He left the underground chamber and found his way through the narrow passages of the temple and out into the rocky Valley of the Ancients. It was late morning now, but the Star of Osirah seemed to be larger than ever, directly above. Its tail had gone, leaving just a circle of silver fire in the sky, like a tiny angry moon. A tiny flicker appeared across it and then the white-hot circle separated and broke into a dozen smaller pieces that began to spread silently across the sky, surrounded by countless tiny specks that flashed and faded from view. Some of the remaining pieces tumbled about and disappeared altogether, but the others began to trail fire as they moved apart.

‘He’s done it!’ a voice said and Samuel turned to see Cang come struggling from the temple mouth. He reached the stairs, but came tumbling down them like a rag doll, rolling to a juddering halt at Samuel’s feet. He struggled several times to sit up, but Samuel would not help him. In the end, he seemed content to lie face down upon the sand.

‘Cang, you demon. I thought you were dead,’ Samuel told him.

‘Nearly. In truth, this body has not felt life for quite some time. Another few moments and we will die together. I could not bear to miss it.’

The heavens crackled as the first tiny fragments broke the sky. In a few more heartbeats, the larger pieces would turn the Paatin Desertinto a sea of fire.

‘No,’ Samuel said. ‘I have much to do. You can die alone,’ and he opened up a Journey spell and surrounded himself with it.

‘Take me, too,’ Cang implored him. ‘I can help you to find your son. All is not lost.’

‘I have had as much help as I need from you.’

‘I know what can be done!’ he pleaded with Samuel, like a talking marionette with cut strings, from his place on the dirt. ‘What would you have me do? I think I know who would want your son more than me-Poltamir, the Third Ancient. For some reason I cannot fathom he has something in mind for his king. Perhaps he seeks to pervert the course of Lin’s upbringing, or somehow plans to siphon his power-I do not know. I will just tell you this — give up your foolish flirtation with the dark arts. You must become stronger if you are to defeat the Ancient Ones now that their power has returned, but black magic is not the way. I feel there is still potential in you, Samuel, but you need a worthy teacher. There is only one stronger than me. His name is Salu.’

‘The brother of Anthem,’ Samuel said.

‘Yes,he is the one. It will not be easy but,if he still exists, perhaps he will help. I’m sure he knows what to do.’

‘I will find him. Tell me, before you die-what was her name?’

‘Who? The woman? I don’t know. Why would I bother to learn such a thing when I can simply make it up?’ said Cang,and he bared his terrible teeth. ‘Now, will you take me with you?’

‘No,’ Samuel said assuredly, and he vanished.

Cang strained to turn his head, for there was a flash of light directly above him and the wispy clouds seemed to shudder and part, blown to the horizons in the blink of an eye. His plan had been flawless,its execution perfect. Everything has gone exactly as he wished, until that blasted magician had double-crossed him. It seemed surreal that all his plans, drawn across centuries, had come to this abysmal failure. The master of deceit has been deceived by his apprentice.

That was his last thought, for he and everything around him ceased to exist.

The world simply shifted for Samuel. One moment, he was beside the temple;the next,he was standing on a great shattered stump, high on a hillside, with a beautiful valley vista spread out below him. He knew at once where he was, although it was certainly not Cintar,as he had intended. Perhaps his mind had grasped onto this place instead as he had willed himself away from the desert. It was, after all, the place that founded his childhood dreams-the source of his fondest memories, from a time when the world was perfect.

Here, it was only early morning and the sun was still just making its presence known between the mountains. The ground was steep and it angled away directly beside him into a narrow gorge that he had once called Bear Valley. A tiny stream ran through that gorge and joined the river, glimmering silver and snaking away in the valley below him. The cascading hills in the distance looked like waves of green rising from an endless ocean of trees, with each successive swell fadingbehind an additional coat of pale mist, like layers of an illustration cut and slatted into place. The clouds and the earth seemed to meet so very far away in the gap between the hills, with the grey haze wedged between them indicating rain upon the lowlands.

The smoking chimneys of Stable Waterford spotted the vale just below him, and tiny scratches of roads joined them together, peeking through the trees. A wild orchard lay closest at the bottom of the hill, but it seemed as if someone had taken to rebuilding it. There were already figures hard at work, hammering and sawing in a clearing amongst the apple trees, working on the beginnings of a new house. It seemed much larger than the house Samuel had been born in, burnt down long ago on that very same spot. He listened carefully, and he could hear children at play, running between the trees and laughing while the others worked.

In the village, people were busypreparingfor the day’s market and there were several new buildings here and there that he did not remember. It seemed the little village was growing, perhaps from those hoping to escape the warring and worries of the lowlands. It was obvious that such troubles had not yet come to such a remote place. With Alahativa slain, perhaps the Paatin would recede and the village would remain untouched. It would only be a brief respite, however, for with Lin reborn into the world, it seemed there would be nowhere that was safe from harm.

A sound that could have been distant thunder drummed from far away and,moments later,the birds and insects all hushed at once. Some of the trees began to hiss and sway, although there was no wind, and Samuel could feel a vibration at his feet. It lasted only the space of a few heartbeats and,as the trees settled to quiet once more, the natural noises began again and dogs in the village began barking.

He turned and surveyed the solemn peaks above him. They had not changed in the slightest over the years, still frowning down at the village with frosty clouds crowning their heads. It was reassuring to see something unchanged, when so much else had changed in the world.

Samuel, complicit in the destruction that was now unfolding around the world, who had sired a demon that would eventually devour humanity, took a moment to take in the sights all around him. For some reason, it helped to burn away some of the horror and the sorrow that had built up inside him. Not entirely, but still, it helped.

Stepping down, he beganto walk alongthe overgrown path that led down Miller’s Hill. It had been many years since he had walked this way, yet he still knew each and every step by heart. He could have leapt to Cintar in the blink of an eye, but somehow it felt appropriate that his own two feet should lead the way. Here, his journey would begin.