The Crooked Letter (58 page)

‘It sounds lonely,’ said Ellis.

‘Perhaps that would be the case,’ said Meg with a smile, ‘if one lived on average an isolated life, avoiding contact with others. But humans are not by nature hermetic. Their lives are like trees in a forest; their branches and roots overlap in all directions. The same individuals come and go at many different times down many different paths. In the Third Realm, those individuals — or their absence — are more apparent than ever.’

‘Some might think it sounds boring, too.’ Ana pre-empted Seth’s own thought. ‘Where’s the excitement in looking at a static picture, even one of near infinite complexity? Won’t one grow tired of it eventually? The truth is that one might, if humans had but time to endure it. Life is a cycle for such transitory creatures. Problems of matter — disease, accident, violence — kill in the First Realm. Problems of will — disorientation, despair, predation — kill in the Second Realm. Death comes to the Third Realm via problems of choice and memory, although that must seem difficult to conceive of now, in this realm. How can indecision be a sickness? How can forgetfulness cause someone to die? They both can, and when the end comes, there is ever too much left to explore.’

‘Okay,’ said Seth, ‘this is all well and good. Choice is
choice
in the Third Realm. But what does it mean? What do you have to offer? How can the Third Realm help me?’

‘Ah, well.’ Meg smiled with more amusement than he thought the question warranted. ‘Here’s where it gets interesting. Be patient, though. This is not a simple question to answer.’

‘We stand on the cusp between the Second and Third Realms.’ Ana reached out to cup the Flame again. Its brilliance made her fingers appear to shiver, as though seen through the exhaust of a tiny jet engine. ‘Here, at the centre of a mighty space shaped by will, we, the Sisters of the Flame, have the power to alter someone’s destiny within their lifetime. We can give them a glimpse of the options surrounding them and enable them to jump from one to another. We can, in effect, change their lives.’

‘We can also,’ said Meg, ‘on a whim or in service of the realms, take from someone the ability to choose, so they are trapped along the branches of destiny that brought them here. Such people are unable to change what awaits them; the equivalent of souls without flesh in the First Realm or will in the Second. They are ghosts, confined forever to one path.’

Ana removed her hand from the Flame and waved to encompass the interior of the sphere. It cleared, revealing a sea of faces. ‘Until then, they wait here for the end of time to come, when the barriers between all the realms will fall and the doors of their prison are opened.’

Seth stared, appalled by the empty eyes of the ghosts arrayed before him. There were thousands of them, of all shapes, sizes and ages: men, women and children, their life-trees pruned back to a single skinny branch, with none of the complexity and richness of a normal existence. Individually, their eyes were empty, yet en masse they exerted a terrible pressure that wasn’t hope, exactly, but expectation. They were waiting, as Ana had said, for their bonds to fall away. They could only watch, passively, until that day came.

‘That’s foul,’ said Ellis. ‘What sort of people are you?’

‘We’re not “people”,’ said Meg, her height sufficient to loom over all of them, even Agatha. ‘Never mistake us for that. We are the Sisters of the Flame. Our fate is bound to it and it to us. As long as the Flame exists, so do we.’

‘And we are not cruel,’ said Ana with a smile. “We are perfectly impartial. We hear every case that comes before us. We do not judge on personalities or for favours. It is impossible to influence us.’

‘Even when the Second Realm itself is at stake?’ asked Seth. ‘If Yod succeeds and the Cataclysm goes ahead?’

‘Even then,’ Meg replied. ‘The Flame exists simply to facilitate choice: yours to petition us, and ours to decide what to do in response. By coming to us, you implicitly placed your life in our hands. There is no possible way for you to avoid our decision when we have made it. We will not reconsider.’

Seth hesitated for a moment at that revelation. The blank, desperate stares of the ghosts were silent witness to the peril inherent in making that choice. ‘Is there no other way to get back to the First Realm than though you?’

‘Well, you could die and pass through the Third Realm,’ said Ana.

‘If I did that, the Cataclysm would just get worse.’

‘Perhaps. Attempts to merge the First and Third Realms are rare. Chusor was the last, wasn’t he, sister?’

‘Chusor and Baal. A lot of good it did them, too. I doubt people will ever sort out the fossil record as a result.’

‘How does it work?’ he asked before they could get sidetracked. ‘What would I have to do?’

‘Ah, yes.
This
is how we can help you,’ said Meg. ‘Choose a moment. Any moment at all will do. We then show you your life as it turns around that moment — how past and future choices cause various world-lines to converge upon and then diverge from it. Through us, you can choose a new path to follow. We will facilitate it, if we agree that doing so is for the best.’

‘What happens to this path afterwards?’

‘It is forgotten.’

‘Truncated,’ added Ana. ‘Pruned. Severed.’

‘Either you’ll have moved on to your new path, or we’ll have trimmed all your future lives back to just one: with us and the Flame,’ said Meg.

‘Does that clarify the situation?’ asked Ana.

‘I guess so.’

‘What moment would you choose?’ asked Meg with a provocative look in her eye.

He was cautious not to commit himself to anything. The decision, though, was easy. ‘Were I to choose right now, the moment before my death would be the best point. That’s when everything changed.’

‘Obvious and fitting.’ Meg smiled.

‘Shall we put it to the test?’ asked Ana.

‘Wait just a second.’

At the sound of Kybele’s voice, Sheol shook. The gaze of the ghosts turned outward. Seth was reminded that the centre of the Second Realm was under attack from the outside — a fact easy to forget in the bright stillness of the Flame.

‘I wish to point out to you, Sisters,’ said Kybele, unperturbed by the disturbance, ‘that there are many who do not want this world-line ended. We would be unhappy to see such a thing come to pass without at least being consulted.’

‘You have your own life-trees,’ said Ana. ‘You will not cease to exist.’

‘Everything I’ve worked toward in this world-line depends on Seth and Hadrian. If they are allowed to avoid the Cataclysm, all my efforts will have been in vain. I think I should have the chance to argue against that, before being
truncated.’’

‘We understand your role in this conflict,’ said Meg.

‘You might think you do. Yes, I allied myself with Yod for a time, but I am not a malicious creature. I’m motivated by more than just personal advancement. I do only that which is necessary — especially when killing is required. One could not be a psychopath and remain the dei of cities for long.’

Kybele was at the centre of a ring of hostile stares.

‘If you’re here to plead Yod’s case,’ Seth said, ‘I don’t think you’re going to find much support.’

‘Not Yod’s case, but mine and, indirectly, humanity’s. Consider it from my point of view. Yod was coming whether I sided with it or not. It was looking for minions to do its bidding, and every minor dei nursing a resentment about the splitting of the realms was putting up its hand. I stepped in because I knew it was the only way to minimise the damage. As it stood, we couldn’t fight Yod; the separation of the realms has given this invader too powerful an advantage, on both sides of Bardo. The only possible solution is to fight from within, on the far side of the Cataclysm. With the power of the Second Realm, the deii of the First Realm can resist this incursion. Similarly, the deii of the Second Realm can use the First in order to resist its deadly regime here. This is our chance to take Yod’s initiative and turn it to our advantage. When the realms merge, we can arise together to fight back the invader.’

‘You helped Yod engineer the Cataclysm in order to use magic against it?’ said Agatha, her lips thin with anger. ‘Is that what you’re telling us?’

‘Yes.’

‘That was your sole motivation?’

‘I’m not saying that. Not even remotely. I
want
the Cataclysm; I
want
the realms united. I just don’t want Yod on the throne when it happens.’

‘You’d put yourself in charge instead, I suppose,’ said Seth.

‘The Sisters, the Eight, the handsome king. Anyone but Yod would make me happy.’ Her gaze swept over them all as though looking for support. ‘Don’t you see? We should all work together in order to make that happen!’

‘Very inspiring,’ said Agatha as Sheol shook around them again. ‘I’m sure the dead and devoured would thank you for your charity.’

‘It’s not them I’m thinking of,’ Kybele snapped. ‘They would have died anyway; Yod’s plan was far too advanced to save them. Those who remain alive and free are the ones who matter; they have a chance of remaining that way, with our help. After the Cataclysm, we can fight back as we have never been able to before — Baal and all the deii of the First Realm alongside Barbelo and her allies in the Second. Together we can remove the shadow that has fallen across our worlds and be free again.’

Synett looked up at the mention of his mistress. ‘Barbelo does not share your goal,’ he said. ‘She wishes to rule again from Elvidner, as she did before Yod arrived. She is not interested in sharing power.’

‘Then she will die with the rest of us.’

‘You are not in a position to issue threats,’ Agatha spat. ‘You have destroyed our world and forced us into a cage. Now you offer us a key and tell us to be grateful! I would undo your treachery, were it my choice to make. I would not hesitate for an instant.’

‘It’s
not
your choice, Agatha,’ said Meg sternly. ‘You aren’t human; the Third Realm holds no promise for you. The same goes for you, Kybele, and the Holy Immortals, and the kaia.’

Agatha shot Kybele a hate-filled stare, but backed down. ‘You are right. I’m sorry. The decision is Seth’s.’

‘And ours,’ said Ana.

‘What about me?’ asked Ellis with a scowl. ‘Don’t I get a chance to put in my two cents’ worth?’

‘Of course.’ Meg smiled and held out her arms. ‘You will have much more than that.’

Another strong jolt rocked Sheol. Seth staggered, and felt Xol’s familiar hand steadying him.

‘Aren’t there more immediate things to worry about?’ he asked. ‘If whoever’s out there gets in here, this entire discussion is moot.’

‘They will not enter,’ said Ana, turning to him. ‘The boundary is closed while we decide on this matter. The outside holds no threat to us.’

‘It certainly feels like a threat.’

‘What you feel is not an attack,’ said Meg. ‘It is the deformation of the realm as Yod makes its advance. Bardo has collapsed just enough for the Babel Towers to penetrate the First Realm. Yod has begun the crossing-over, the bridging of its will that will allow it to overtake its new domain. It has committed itself to the act and cannot turn back. Now is when it is most vulnerable.’

‘So we should do this quickly,’ said Seth, ‘if we’re going to do it at all.’

‘Yes,’ said Xol, ‘I am tired of this world-line. The sooner it’s closed, the better.’

‘No.’ The flat pronouncement came from an unexpected quarter. ‘There will be no such choice.’

Now what?
thought Seth as he turned to face the sole remaining kaia.

‘Do you wish to take up Kybele’s case, Spekoh?’ asked Ana.

‘Your arguments are irrelevant to us.’ The kaia spread its arms. Its slight body began to glow like coals, just as it had when Kybele attacked the one left behind by the Vaimnamne and when defending Seth from Quetzalcoatl. Seth felt its will sweep across him like the beam of a heat ray.

‘This world-line will remain open,’ it declared as a sphere of crimson fire engulfed Ana and Meg. ‘We are here to make certain of that fact.’

Seth reeled away from the sudden heat. The Sisters were visible only as frozen black silhouettes. Xol rushed forward, but the power of the kaia was too intense. The dimane fell back, hands covering his face.

‘Spekoh, no!’ Agatha stepped forward, reaching for the rings tucked into her clothing. ‘I won’t let you do this!’

‘We will attain our former glory,’ said the kaia, ‘when we stand again at Yod’s side. So it has been promised to us. None shall get in our way!’

At the heart of Sheol, the sphere of fire intensified, dimming even the bright mote of the Flame. The Sisters vanished into the fire. Seth couldn’t understand why the kaia was so hard to resist; there was only one of them. But then he remembered that the kaia were linked everywhere across the Second Realm. The one before him was merely the tip of the iceberg.

The betrayer will become known to you,
he thought with despair. Tatenen had been right. The kaia hadn’t at any point said anything that would constitute an outright lie; they had promised only to see them to the end of their quest. And it would end right now if the kaia had their way.

The outside holds no threat to us,
Ana had said. But she hadn’t mentioned the
inside.

Silver sparked from the tips of Agatha’s fingers as she gathered her will to strike.

‘Wait!’ Kybele lunged forward and took her arm. Fire painted their faces with fierce golden light.

‘Don’t be so hasty. The kaia are doing exactly what we need.’

‘They’re murdering the Sisters.’

‘They’re giving us a shot at self-determination!’

‘Let go of me.’ Agatha’s voice was frosty. ‘I will not countenance this crime.’

‘More fool you, then.’ Kybele did step back, but didn’t capitulate. Her hands came up wielding magic of their own: a black curved blade like shadow forged into metal. ‘I’ve tried using reason, so now I’ll argue from the heart. If the Sisters choose to trap Seth here, the Cataclysm will be permanent. What will happen to your precious realm then? To mine? They’ll be destroyed!’

‘I’m prepared to take that chance.’