***
As the Hunter bent towards him, Morgan closed his eyes for the last time.
“STOP.”
Neither the word nor the voice were loud, but they filled everything. Even through his closed eyelids, Morgan could sense light of extraordinary intensity.
He heard the Hunter snarl and the pressure on his arm and chest was removed as he backed away.
A figure of flame and light stood near him, so impossibly bright that he could make nothing of it but a vaguely human shape. Before it the Lords cringed, hiding their eyes. The figure raised an arm and the Hunter’s knife flew from his hand and burst into flame.
“GO” said the voice. “YOU WILL NOT TROUBLE THESE WORLDS AGAIN. YOUR POWER HERE IS ENDED.
GO INTO THE VOID.”
The Queen snarled. “If you battle us the power you release will blow the Worlds apart and Chaos will take them.”
“YOU UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER IN ME. I DO NOT NEED TO BATTLE YOU, ONLY TO COMMAND YOU. GO!”
With a despairing shriek, the Lords of Chaos wavered and frayed and shattered like glass and were gone.
***
Kate, David and Ben clung together at the foot of the stairs, waiting for the end of the world they knew.
“I’m glad you’re with me,” shouted David. “It would have been terrible to be alone.”
“Oh, David, it’s all going, isn’t it? Goodbye… Don’t worry, Ben, it’ll be over soon.”
There was a noise so loud it was like silence and a shock wave threw them to the floor. The grandfather clock burst apart in a shower of wood and glass and metal, then there was silence.
***
As Morgan watched, his vision beginning to blur now, the brightness around the figure faded and it diminished and became Erda. She walked to where he lay and knelt down beside him, her eyes fixed on his.
“Why did you come back?”
“The power would not be contained any longer. If I had tried to escape it would have destroyed the Worlds; and besides, I understood at last.”
“Understood what?”
“Your love for the Worlds and what you would do to save them. And what you would not do. But you have trapped me anyway, for you have taught me to love the Worlds too.
“I do not desire to return to the void and to what I was before, myself and always alone. I will walk into the Heart of the Earth and dream the Worlds until the ages end.”
It was becoming hard to breathe now. He looked at her, saw the fire only just concealed behind her human form. She was crying.
“With all the power I have, there is one thing I cannot do, and that is to give back life. I cannot save you.”
“It doesn’t …”
“Sssh. Hear me. I cannot save you, but I can give you strength for a few minutes more. Walk into the fire with me Morgan. Walk into the Heart of the Earth. We will become part of everything, together we will dream the Worlds and maybe some small part of each of us will remain. Walk into the fire with me, Morgan. I do not want to dream alone through all the ages of the Worlds.”
He lifted a hand to wipe a tear from her face. “I will go into the flames with you.”
She bent and put her hand over his wound. He felt warmth flow from it throughout his body and felt some strength return. After a moment Erda took her hand away, but the warmth remained. She helped him to his feet and they stood together looking at the world around them: the wood below, drenched in birdsong, the reflection of the sun on the river, the scent of water and of green things growing.
“We should go now,” she said and looking at her he could see that the power could barely be contained by her human form any more. He looked his last on the Wildwood and turned to walk with her into the cave.
The Heart of the Earth burned with heatless light, its fire reflected and redoubled by the walls. The air was cool and fresh.
Morgan looked at Erda, translucent with power. Perhaps this was not an end, but a beginning.
Hand in hand, they walked into the fire and the flames rose about them and they were gone.
***
Kate and David crept to the front door and looked through the spy hole and into the garden. They stared at each other for a second and bolted for the stairs, Ben trailing in their wake. All the way to the top they ran and pulled open the shutters and found Edinburgh all around them, as it should be, no trace of the battle that had raged moments earlier.
“Did we win? We won the game, didn’t we? Didn’t we Kate? We won.”
“Yes, Ben, we won.”
David said quietly, “But how? I wonder what happened.”
“Morgan will tell us.”
They waited for a long time that day and for many other days, but Morgan did not come.
***
The Heart of the Earth burned strong and steady but now there were two pinpoints of golden light suspended in it.
Morgan?
Erda?
Yes.
Copyright
Kelpies is an imprint of Floris Books
Published in 2004 by Floris Books
This second edition published in 2013
Copyright © 2004 Gill Arbuthnott
Gill Arbuthnott has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the Author of this Work
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without the prior permission of Floris Books, 15 Harrison Gardens, Edinburgh
www.florisbooks.co.uk
British Library CIP Data available
ISBN 978–086315–990–9
Chaos Quest Page 15
