Marc Chadbourn - The Devil in green

Mallory considered this new information. What could have made the earth energy stronger, and how was it linked to everything else that was happening? At least it explained the ghosts from the ossuary that had been glimpsed around the cathedral. Yet he felt uncomfortable that the spirit-energy was powerful enough to call them back from what the Caretaker called the Grim Lands.

'But what caused the power to get stronger?' Miller echoed Mallory's thoughts. 'And why does it look like our cathedral? Only bigger. And scarier.'

The Caretaker didn't answer, but a notion came to Mallory as he pondered the question. 'That's just the way we see it, right?'

'We all build cathedrals for our aspirations, Brother of Dragons,' the Caretaker said enigmatically.

'And you're with it, wherever it's found,' Mallory said. 'Some kind of universal sacred place.'

'I am the Caretaker.'

'Then who's in charge?'

'I don't want to hear,' Miller said to Mallory. He looked queasy. 'This is doing my head in. I can't understand what it all means!'

'What it means,' Mallory said slowly, 'is that something happened at the cathedral that brought this place to us, and now it's affecting all of us.'

'Then it has nothing to do with the Devil?' Miller looked at the Caretaker. 'You don't work for the Devil?'

'He doesn't work for the Devil,' Mallory said.

'And he doesn't work for the killer?' Miller covered his face with his hands. At this, Mallory looked to the Caretaker; in his eyes there were stars, whole galaxies.

'You must look to your own kind,' the giant replied.

Miller raised his head to fix his attention on Mallory. 'One of us?' His voice was almost comical with disbelief. 'Not a demon? How could someone from the cathedral commit those… horrors?'

'You're a man who obviously knows everything,' Mallory said to the Caretaker. 'Care to tell us who we're looking for?'

'Since the Battle of London, my kind have sought to distance ourselves from you Fragile Creatures. Your affairs must remain your own.' The Caretaker stared into the fire in deep thought for a while before adding, 'Look to your hearts, Fragile Creatures.'

'So we're no closer,' Miller said dismally.

'Look to your hearts,' the Caretaker repeated. The imperative in his words prevented his comment from being seen as a throwaway line. A wheel began to turn in Mallory's mind, pulling notions out of the dark.

Despite the warmth of the fire and the calm atmosphere, the Caretaker put Mallory on edge; though the giant appeared human, an alien aspect lay just beneath the surface that made him unpredictable.

Mallory decided it was time to go. He rose, choosing his words carefully. 'Thank you for your hospitality, but we have to return to our own kind.' Miller jumped to his feet eagerly.

The Caretaker nodded slowly, watching Mallory so intently with those glimmering eyes that it felt as though he was seeing right into Mallory's head. 'I am not your enemy, Brother of Dragons,' he said. 'In other times we could stand together in this place and look into the infinite with open hearts.' His eyes narrowed as if he were squinting to see further. 'But there is something broken inside you and Existence will not open up until you mend yourself.'

Mallory shifted uncomfortably. 'Is there a way back so we don't have to go through the vault?'

'There is.' The Caretaker pulled himself to his full height. 'You must be careful if you venture into this place again. For the terrible crime that has been committed, there is a desire that you be punished fully. You will never be allowed to leave your refuge, I fear. Even here, powers circle to keep you contained.'

'We've done nothing wrong. Really,' Miller pleaded. 'There's no reason why we're being made to suffer.'

'There is always a reason,' the Caretaker replied, 'even if you cannot see it.'

'What is the crime?' Mallory asked.

'The crime is against Existence.'

For the first time the conversation brought some emotion to the Caretaker's face and it looked very much like distaste; Mallory did not pursue it further.

The Caretaker took them to the doorway through which he had entered. 'Follow this way. Do not deviate from the path,' he said, holding the tapestry back. 'It will return you to your home.'

They hurried away, but as the Caretaker faded from view, his voice floated after them. 'Cure yourself, Brother of Dragons. Existence and all its wonders await you.'

They emerged in the cloisters soon after. Snowflakes shimmered against the night sky, the stonework glittering with a coating of frost. When they glanced back, the doorway through which they had emerged was no longer there.

'So we know something happened in the cathedral to make the earth energy stronger, and that surge of power brought this place here,' Mallory mused. 'And I reckon it manifested so forcefully that it changed everyone who was here… made them think it had always been this way.'

'But because we weren't around, we weren't affected,' Miller said.

'You know what?' Mallory continued thoughtfully. 'I think all the new buildings that appeared are frightening and oppressive because they're reflecting the mood in the cathedral.' 'Because everyone's hungry and trapped?'

Mallory looked at the innocent hope in Miller's face and caught the words he was about to say. 'If everything was right here, maybe we'd see some kind of shining palace. The Jerusalem that everyone wanted to build on England's green and pleasant land.'

'That would be wonderful.'

'We all get what we wish for, maybe. So even our secret thoughts have repercussions.' That thought frightened him immensely.

They found Daniels and Gardener perched on pews in the nave looking weary and worried. 'We thought you were done for,' Gardener said.

'Where's Hipgrave?' Miller asked.

'He's lost it,' Gardener replied. He looked away uncomfortably.

'You saw what state he was in,' Daniels said. 'After we got him out of that vault he was nearly catatonic. Trying to get him through those tunnels…' He shook his head. 'Suddenly he came out of it like a wild man. Nearly tore my good eye out. It took both of us to pin him down. In the end, Gardener had to knock him flat.' He looked towards the altar. 'The things he was saying…'

'Where is he now?' Mallory asked.

'We got him to the infirmary. Warwick's given him a sedative, but I don't reckon it'll do much good. He's completely gone. There was nothing in his eyes at all. It must have got to him, everything we've seen…'

'He was never too stable anyway,' Mallory said. 'So Blaine's lost one of his captains. What's he going to do now?'

Daniels shrugged. 'We briefed him about what happened, but he wasn't really interested. Something else is going on, I think. I heard the Blues had to sort out some kind of fight in the kitchens. Some idiots trying to get food…'

'This place is ready to blow,' Mallory said. 'God knows what's going to happen when they find out about Julian.'

'So what happened to you two?' Gardener asked.

Miller told them excitedly about the Caretaker and what he had said about the new buildings.

'You don't want to be consorting with the Devil,' Gardener said disparagingly when Miller had finished.

Miller began to protest. 'He wasn't-'

'The Devil always lies.' Gardener's eyes were steely and uncompromising. 'The Bible doesn't have any room for things like that. So it's the work of the Devil.'

'You can't beat logic like that,' Mallory said sardonically.

There was a flash like a drawn blade in Gardener's face. 'You can stand there being smart, lad, but the way things are going there's only two sides and you'll have to be on one or the other. And I'm starting to have my doubts about you.'

'Oh, I'm wounded.'

Gardener held his eye for a moment, then began to clean the mud from his boots with a dagger.