Marc Chadbourn - The Devil in green

When the cathedral compound was finally deserted, Mallory and Sophie felt as if they had awoken from a strange dream. She looked into his face, her smile wiping away the strain and worry. 'You did it,' she said, brushing the hair from his forehead. 'Not bad for a man with a penis substitute.'

He tried to lever himself up, but the flaring pain in his side sent him crashing back down. 'Broken rib,' he said weakly.

'Don't worry — we can sort that out. A few herbs, something really foul and disgusting to drink… back on your feet in no time.'

He rolled his head to see Miller, who lay like death next to them. 'How is he?' he asked. The guilt rose in him again; he knew he would never be able to forgive himself for this.

Sophie felt the pulse in Miller's neck. 'Nearly gone, I think,' she said sadly. 'I liked him. He was decent.'

They were disturbed by a strange, melodic fluting. It drifted through the thick vegetation that now covered the compound, haunting and oddly unearthly. They eventually located the source: sitting amongst a copse of young trees, almost lost against the pattern of leaves and branches, was the Green Man, trilling gently on a set of pan-pipes.

Mallory and Sophie listened to his music for five minutes, strangely comforted, but then he stopped and said, 'You have redeemed your people.'

'They're not my people,' Mallory said.

'No. But you have redeemed them.' The Green Man rose and walked towards them, shoots wriggling through the snow wherever his feet fell. 'This was my place, long before the Church came,' he said. 7 can share it, for its power should be available to all.' The implication in his words was clear.

'You've won,' Mallory said.

'There is no victory here, only grief, and pain, and destruction.' His voice sounded like the wind through the trees, and despite the cold of the morning, Mallory and Sophie felt as though they were basking in the warmth of a summer's day. 'Now is the time for new shoots,' he continued, 'for hope and growth, for all living things to thrive as they are infused with the mysteries of Existence.'

'The creature… the creature that was Hipgrave…'Mallory couldn't find the voice to continue; the pain had put him on the edge of blacking out.

'There are things beyond this place that occasionally pay an interest in your world. It is best not to discuss them.' He stared towards the dawn, his eyes reflecting the morning light. 'But something has stirred beyond the lip of the universe and it has noticed you… something so terrible that even the Golden Ones fear it.' He looked to Mallory and Sophie sombrely. 'And it is coming this way.'

Sophie shivered. 'That thing-'

'It is an outrider, a scout, the merest thing compared to what it serves… lying here since this place was newly formed. In recent times, it was awakened.' A robin alighted on his shoulder; he watched it askance with a touching warmth. 'It was mindless, easily manipulated. It could not be allowed to abide, and so-'

'You used it,' Sophie said, 'controlled it. And now-'

'Now it will be destroyed. But that is not the end of it.' He waved his hand as if to wipe away all talk of dark things. 'The darkest time of year has passed. Now we look to the light.' He stooped down and plucked the box from where Mallory had dropped it. He smiled as the blue light flooded out and the tiny Fabulous Beast wriggled into the palm of his hand. 'Is it not wonderful?' he said. 'Is this not something that should be raised up to bring warmth into all hearts?'

'It's dying,' Mallory managed.

The Green Man squatted down next to them. 'It is beyond that. It is life. It is a part of Existence itself.' He looked from Mallory to Sophie and in his vegetative face they saw something powerful and moving. 'Hope, Brother and Sister of Dragons. Hope and life.'

He pressed his face close to the Fabulous Beast, then leaned over and threw the blankets off Miller before carefully laying the creature on the still form's belly. Mallory and Sophie watched in puzzlement. The brilliant blue glow began to pulse, gradually at first but then with increasing speed, growing brighter all the time until they had to shield their eyes. When it reached a peak, the tiny black shape at the heart of the glare appeared to be melting. A few seconds later, Mallory realised that this was not the case: it looked as if it was sinking into Miller's belly. When the last of the dark smudge disappeared, the light winked out and all was as it had been. There was no sign of the Fabulous Beast.

The Green Man had retreated to the nearest copse, and when he spoke his voice was rich and florid; he was smiling warmly. 'We shall meet again when there are five of you. And then, once again, the Brothers and Sisters of Dragons shall stand shoulder to shoulder with the Golden Ones in the name of Existence.' And then he was gone, swallowed up by the vegetation as if he had simply allowed his essence to dissipate amongst it.

Mallory and Sophie were transfixed until the sound of rustling disturbed them. Miller was sitting up, puzzling as to why he had been lying in the snow. His cheeks were full, his skin pink with the flush of contentment.

He looked from one to the other, then said, even more puzzled, 'Why are you crying?'

The Christmas bells rang out across Salisbury, lying sedate and gleaming beneath a thick covering of snow. The sky was a brilliant blue and the sun shone brightly. In the cathedral, the brothers gathered to give praise to their saviour. Many were too weak to stand, but after Mallory had arranged for rations to be brought in from the city, they had at least pulled back from the brink.

Compared with the massed ranks that had greeted Mallory and Miller on their arrival, the congregation was small. Some had died; many had simply wandered away, their faith broken. But the biggest departure had been the followers of Stefan, who had gone off to maintain their strict creed elsewhere, away from the corruption of sinners.

The mysterious buildings that had sprawled out from the cathedral were gone; indeed, no one seemed to remember that they had been there, apart from Mallory and Sophie. But there was much marvelling at the mass of vegetation and mature trees that now grew all around the grand old building.

Miller had little remembrance of his suffering during the last few days. He was flushed with a new sense of vitality that manifested as unbounded joy, bringing a smile to everyone who met him. He confessed his crime to anyone who would listen, and professed his desire for salvation; he was forgiven by all.

But the biggest change was only noticed later, just before noon. A ripple of excitement ran out from one of the old wooden shacks where the brothers lived. Mallory was drawn, wheezing in pain from his heavily bandaged ribs, to find Miller slumped in a chair and several brothers gabbling excitedly over a scrawny man who lay weakly on one of the rough beds.

'What's up?' Mallory asked, wondering what stupidity Miller had offended them with now.

'He cured him!' one of the brothers proclaimed, hands raised to the air.

'Get a grip,' Mallory snapped.

'No, really.' The brother motioned to the man in the bed. 'He was one of the last to come here before the gates were sealed. In the last few days, he developed some kind of plague. He was sealed up in here…' He lowered his eyes in shame before the excitement gripped him again. 'Miller came in to care for him this morning and-'

'I cured him.' Miller sounded tremendously weak, but he was grinning like an idiot. 'He was covered with the marks of the plague. But when I touched him, this blue light came out of my hands in a flash. It blinded me, I tell you. But when my eyes cleared, he was…'He nodded to the man on the bed, who looked remarkably healthy, if exhausted. 'Though I couldn't do it again in a hurry, I reckon. I'm knackered.'