Mark Chadbourn - The Hounds of Avalon

‘So you’re going to attack them head on?’ Sophie said.

‘We fear a slaughter,’ Ceridwen said. ‘Many of my people would be destroyed. That is not our way.’

‘It’s the only way,’ Caitlin said. ‘It’s a waste of time trying to talk peace when the other side is determined to wipe you off the face of the land. And you know they won’t settle for anything less.’

Her words clearly rang true with both Lugh and Ceridwen, but the weight of their traditions and culture kept them ambivalent.

‘The battle will come when it will. We know that. We have always known it, but have been unable to face up to what was coming.’ Lugh’s handsome face was filled with a deep melancholy. ‘I regret that you have been caught up in our familial strife, Sister of Dragons.’ Lugh addressed Sophie directly; Caitlin flinched. ‘You should not be here. You are needed elsewhere.’

Sophie noticed a concern in their body language that she had missed before. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘The final days have come. The Fixed Lands are being consumed by the Void, whose true name is the Devourer of All Things. The Far Lands will follow, and all the lands beyond,’ Lugh said.

‘Then it’s started,’ Caitlin whispered.

‘What has?’ Sophie looked from Caitlin to the gods and back.

Seeing Sophie’s mounting concern, Ceridwen stepped forward. ‘The arrival of the Devourer of All Things has always been foretold by my people. It was one of the stories we brought with us when we left the four great cities of our glorious homeland to become wanderers, cut off from the source. “The Devourer of All Things shall come and consume the light.” That story is the sadness at the end of our own tale of dissolution.’

‘You knew about this?’ Sophie asked Caitlin.

‘I knew that the Void had sent outriders to prepare the way, but it could have taken weeks or millennia to turn up.’

‘What are we talking about here? Some kind of monster?’ Sophie asked.

‘The Devourer of All Things is the underside of Existence, bound to it even while constantly opposing it,’ Lugh answered. He held out his arms to indicate the wider world. ‘Existence is everything. All time, all space, all lands. What, then, is the Devourer of All Things, which is the dark reflection of Existence? A monster? No. It is immeasurable, incomprehensible. It is everything, too.’

Sophie and Caitlin stood quietly for a moment while they attempted to understand what Lugh was telling them. Finally Sophie said incredulously, ‘If it’s what you say it is, why aren’t you doing something? What’s the point in being wrapped up in this civil war if everything is coming to an end?’

Lugh smiled, a father explaining the ways of the world to a child. ‘How can you fight everything?’

‘There are two conflicting stories the filid sing on the nights when we reflect on our beginnings,’ Ceridwen said. ‘One is that all we see and feel is the construction of a just and right Existence, and that we are all part of that. The other is that all we see and feel is flawed and corrupted, a prison created by a dark force to separate us from the true glory of Existence. The Court of the Final Word has long sought the truth, and evidence exists supporting both stories. But consider this: what if both are true? What if Existence has two faces, continually turning, and when one looks upon us, the other is alerted and attempts to seize control?’

‘So you’re just going to sit back and let it happen?’ Sophie said.

‘The only way to stop the Devourer of All Things would be to use the Extinction Shears,’ Lugh said, ‘and none know where they now lie-’

‘I don’t care about any of this,’ Caitlin said furiously. ‘If you’re saying that the world’s under some kind of threat, we need to be there, doing what we can.’

‘I understand your desire,’ Ceridwen said, ‘for this is the reason the Brothers and Sisters of Dragons exist-’

‘Is that what this is all about?’ Sophie interrupted. She grabbed Caitlin’s arm. ‘We’ve got to get back. They need us.’

‘They need you,’ Caitlin replied. ‘I’m the one who spoiled it all, remember? If there aren’t five of us, we’re weakened.’

‘We will do what we can, Sister of Dragons, but there is no path back to the Fixed Lands from the Court of Soul’s Ease,’ Lugh said. ‘The war council will continue its debate, and I will make your case for decisive action. But in the meantime there is nothing we can do.’

Outside the great hall, Caitlin grabbed Sophie by the shoulders and said passionately, ‘I want the Pendragon Spirit back. I’ll do anything.’

‘Nobody can bring it back — it’s a gift. You know that,’ Sophie said sympathetically.

‘We can petition Higher Powers. It must come from something, right? These gods, they keep talking about Existence as though it’s alive. We could ask it. You use the Craft. You could try.’

‘I wouldn’t even know how to start. It’s too big, Caitlin. Trying to make that kind of contact would be beyond any mere human.’

‘There are people here who could help.’ Caitlin’s face was filled with desperation. ‘Will you at least try?’

Sophie couldn’t refuse her. ‘All right, I’ll do what I can. But there could be risks. There’s always a price to pay, and the more you’re after, the bigger the price.’

‘I’ll do anything,’ Caitlin said. ‘I’ll pay any price.’

Sophie hoped those words wouldn’t come back to haunt Caitlin.

During her stay in the Court of Soul’s Ease, Caitlin had kept her ears open to the whispers that washed back and forth through the city like a tide. She had learned of the many wonders that existed there, some obvious, some hidden behind the scenes, suggested but never discussed. One such was the Tower of the Four Winds.

Night had fallen by the time they located the mysterious tower in the section of the court that resembled the Moorish quarter of a Spanish city: white stone, minarets, ornate awnings and fragrant smoke blowing in the warm breeze. It lay high up the hillside, and when Sophie turned to look back over the court spread out below her, the sight took her breath away. Tiny white lights had sprung up everywhere, like fireflies in the dark; there were candles in windows and lanterns hanging over shops along the streets, tiny suns holding back the night. It was magical. If the circumstances had been different, Sophie knew she could have whiled away many days in a place of so many wonders, large and small.

The tower stood in a walled garden filled with palms and orange trees and small, spiky shrubs. A white-stone path wound through the vegetation. More lanterns hung from the trees, attracting moths in clouds. The gate was unlocked.

Caitlin caught Sophie’s arm. ‘Let’s go carefully.’

‘Why? Guard dogs?’

‘I’ve heard some strange things. The one who lives here might be dangerous. There are stories about him…’ She caught herself. ‘Let’s just be careful.’

‘Do you want me to go first?’

‘I’m not a complete invalid,’ Caitlin snapped, instantly regretting her tone. ‘I’m sorry. All this… I’m on edge.’

‘Don’t worry.’ Sophie smiled, but she was growing increasingly concerned about Caitlin’s desire to make amends for her perceived mistakes.

The tower was constructed from ivory, glass and gold, each element merging into the other with a delicate architectural sensibility that instilled a quiet wonder. The path led to a mahogany door covered with iron studs. A bell-pull hung beside it. Caitlin hesitated and then grabbed the pull to announce their presence.

For a long minute there was no reply. Then, gradually, a rhythmic hissing rose up from the vegetation on either side of the path. As Sophie and Caitlin waited with thumping hearts, snakes slithered on to the path and headed towards them. The serpents glowed so brightly that the women couldn’t be sure if they really existed or if they were constructed of green and red light.