The Burning Man

7

Veitch made his way down Karl Johans Gate, dodging the artists lining Oslo’s main street. It was late morning and the bars, cafes and restaurants along the route were already beginning to fill.

There was a bright optimism to the city that dovetailed with his own mood. It was a strange feeling. The only other time in his life when he’d felt even vaguely hopeful was when he had discovered his heritage as a Brother of Dragons alongside Church, Ruth, Shavi and Laura. Good people striving to be better. It had given him a sense of purpose that had always been missing.

But then he had been manipulated by higher powers, forced to betray the only people in the world he cared about, and his reason for living was exposed as the sham it truly was. He blamed the gods, he blamed Church. But in his darker moments he knew the truth: he was a loser who had brought it all on himself. When the Void had originally brought him back into the world, he had considered suicide; there was no way to fill the emptiness inside him.

But now things were different.

On the edge of Vigeland Park, he paused and took a deep breath of the cold, crystal air. He thought he could smell juniper berries and a hint of the fjord beyond. So many experiences since he had returned, so many new sights and thoughts that it was difficult to process it all. He remembered Church telling him once that every new experience turned you into a new person. So who was he now? That was the question.

The park was a vast, green sprawl of trees, lawns and duck ponds interspersed with life-size statues by the sculptor Gustav Vigeland. Veitch found his target in the dead centre, near the most impressive piece, a forty-six-foot-high sculpture of a mass of writhing bodies called The Monolith.

Standing next to the sculpture was a man in his mid-twenties with a sickly appearance, pale skin and lank brown hair. Every now and then someone would come up to him — an elderly person with frailty etched in their features, or a mother with a child swaddled tightly. With a kind expression, the man would exchange a few words with them, then take the person’s hand lightly. After a moment the visitor would try to press money upon him, and he would politely refuse.

Having seen enough, Veitch strode up to him. The man greeted Veitch cheerily in Norwegian.

‘Sorry, mate. Don’t speak the lingo.’

The man’s face brightened. ‘You’re British.’

‘London born and bred.’

‘Every time I hear the accent, I always get homesick.’ He took Veitch’s hand tentatively. ‘Jez Miller. From Swindon.’

‘Somebody has to be. Ryan Veitch.’

‘Are you here for help?’

‘What kind of help?’

Miller shifted uncomfortably. ‘People come to me … y’know, when they get sick.’

‘And you heal them?’

‘It’s a gift,’ Miller said bashfully. ‘I have to use it to help.’

‘Yeah, you’re the one I’m looking for all right. Come on, walk with me.’

Miller was taken aback, but did exactly what Veitch said. ‘You’ve been looking for me? But no one knows I’m here. I’ve lost touch with my family, and …’ His brow furrowed.

‘You can’t even remember why you’re here, right?’

‘Things have been a bit fuzzy for a while. I’ve been going to the doctor, but the medication isn’t working.’

‘You are so off the radar, mate, you don’t know it. Not even the big evil bastard running the universe could find you. But I did.’

‘I don’t understand.’ Miller looked troubled, as though he was half-remembering something long-forgotten. ‘How did you find me?’

Veitch held up an amber stone that glowed with a dull, warm light. ‘Picked this up in the Temple of the Dead in the Grim Lands. They’ve got all sorts of weird stuff stashed away there. It’s called a Trace-Stone. Locates missing objects. Or people.’

Miller tried to evaluate how sane Veitch was. ‘Why did you want to find me?’

‘Because you’re one of the two Keys.’

‘To what?’

‘To a whole load of trouble. Success or failure. My future.’ Veitch smiled tightly. ‘You got anyone here? Wife, girlfriend, kids? Boyfriend?’

Miller shook his head.

‘All right, here’s the deal. You come with me and I’ll show you everything you need to know. Why your memory’s so screwed up. The whole reason you’re here. Who wouldn’t want to know that?’

The hope in Miller’s face was evident. ‘You’re lying. How could you know something like that? Who are you?’

‘If you don’t come with me, you’ll never know.’

Miller dropped onto a bench and thrust his head into his hands. ‘I’d be crazy to go with a complete stranger. You might be someone who kills people.’

‘Yeah. I might.’

Miller looked deep into Veitch’s eyes. ‘Whatever I’ve got inside me, it makes me a good judge of character. I can see, deep inside you, there’s something good.’

‘Now you’re talking bollocks,’ Veitch snapped. He caught himself. ‘And just to prove you wrong, I’ll give you a choice. Come with me of your own free will, ’cause I reckon you’re a nice bloke and I’d really like you to think good things about me. Or I’ll make you come with me.’

Once again Miller tried to read Veitch. ‘Well … okay,’ he said hesitantly. ‘But I’ll yell if you try something.’

‘Like a girl, I bet. All right, shut the fuck up and follow me.’

Veitch marched along the network of paths with Miller constantly asking hesitant questions that got no answers. In the car park, Veitch motioned for Miller to get in the front of a four-by-four, while he went to the rear and checked all around before opening the boot.

Ruth lay inside, hands and feet tied together, tape across her mouth. She glared at Veitch hatefully.

‘How you doin’, darlin’?’ he said chirpily. ‘I hate treating you like this, but I needed to get our man in the bag before we sat down and had our little heart-to-heart. Won’t be much longer now.’

Just as the boot swung shut, Veitch had the vague impression that Ruth was mouthing something behind the insulating tape. He shrugged. She had a lot of fire in her, and he expected a broadside when they finally did sit down and talk.

As he climbed into the driver’s seat and pulled away, he didn’t notice a couple of stones in the car park begin to roll slowly of their own accord. They came together, then another, and another.