ceremony-'
'No more Doors, all right? Get with the decade.'
Tom slowly raised his eyes to the glittering stars. Beyond the cairn they could hear the wind shuffling through the trees. 'Old stories.'
'What?'
'Myths and legends are our way of glimpsing the true language of existence. In them we can see the archetypes. The real meaning of numbers and words and symbols. Those talismans you fought so hard for-they are not simply a Sword, a Spear, a Stone and a Cauldron. The Sword is the elemental power of air and represents intellect. The Spear is fire, the spirit. The Cauldron is water, compassion. The Stone is earth, existence. We just have to be clever. Ignore the worldview imposed on us by the Age of Reason. We have to go back to sensing the mystery at the heart of life. That is the only way forward.'
'So we tell each other stories?'
'All of human society is based on stories, Ryan. They're not just words, they're alive; powerful. There's a theory about things called memes. In essence, they're ideas that act like viruses. You put an idea out into the world-tell it to a friend, get him to pass it on-and soon the idea filters out into society and everyone begins to alter their way of behaving to take the new idea on board. The idea-one person's idea-has actually changed the shape of society. That's the modern way of explaining it. Stories are memes, very powerful ones, because they speak directly to the subconscious using archetypes.' He watched Witch's face intently, still surprised the Londoner could maintain his concentration; perhaps he truly was changing. 'Stories shape lives. People pick up little lessons from them, believe a certain way to act is the correct way, grow more like their heroes. If you have stories riddled with cynicism, the world will grow more like them, over time. Our myths today are Hollywood movies and TV. In America, in the eighties, there was a crime series called Hill Street Blues. The police who saw it started to mimic the way the characters acted, altered the way they went about their business on the streets. An entire culture was changed by one story. In ancient Sumeria the citizens took on board the worldview expressed by their archetypal hero Gilgamesh. He defined them.'
Veitch coughed and spluttered as the smoke burned his lungs. 'I get it. Down in Deptford I knew some villains-small-time wankers, you know-they saw that film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and started dressing and talking like the geezers in it.'
'Exactly. Stories are our dreams, Ryan, and we dream our society and our reality. If we dream hard enough, we can make it what we want. If we dream hard enough.'
'Shavi said something to me like that.'
'Oh?'
'Not the same, really. But like it. He said if I dreamed myself as a hero I would be. If I saw myself as a sad loser, that's the way I'd stay.'
'Everything is fluid, Ryan. Nothing is fixed.'
Veitch rubbed his eyes as Tom appeared to grow hazy; he didn't know if it was a trick of the drugs or if it was really happening. His attention moved to the dark rocks of the cairn walls. Occasionally ripples of blue light flickered amongst them. In that place it felt like anything could happen. He steeled himself. Tom's quiet, lilting voice was like a magical spell, weaving an atmosphere of change around him.
'I know what you're talking about,' Veitch heard himself saying. 'You want us to dream up some of those old stories to show us what to do. Arky-what?'
'Archetypes. Symbols that take the shape of something we can understand. Things that speak with power.'
'Listen!' Veitch started. 'Did you hear that?' It had sounded to him like a hunting horn, echoing mournfully along the glen.
Tom was watching him like a raptor. 'What are you dreaming up, Ryan?' he asked softly.
'I don't know.' Had he really heard it? An image of the Wild Hunt intruded roughly on his mind and he began to panic.
Tom placed a calming hand on his knee. 'Something is rising from your subconscious-'
'Can this place do that?' The drug gave an edge of anxiety to Veitch's thoughts.
'The Blue Fire is the base stuff of everything, Ryan. It's there to be shaped and controlled, and this place was designed to focus that ability.'
'Things are happening.' Veitch chewed on a knuckle. He felt he could hear something moving through the deeply wooded slopes of the glen away near Loch Ness, although it was obviously too far for any sound to truly travel. 'I was thinking of Robin Hood. When you were talking about stories… It was something my dad read to me once…'
'The slightest thought, if focused enough, would be all it takes, Ryan.'
'But Robin Hood, like… I remember what Ruth said. That was one of the names for-'
'Cernunnos, yes. The gods are archetypes given form, but the archetypes are bigger than them.' He paused. 'I'm not making any sense, am I?' He took another drag on the joint, as if determined to make it worse. 'But perhaps that is the right archetype for this moment, Ryan. You may think the thought surfaced randomly, but there is no coincidence in this world.'
'Robin Hood.' Veitch's voice was heavy with anticipation; the atmosphere in the cairn was charged. The blue light had grown stronger, unwavering now, casting a sapphire tint over everything. He took the joint back and drew on it deeply. The sharpness of the rocks faded into the background and the light took on greater depth.
'Robin Hood,' Tom mused. 'The hunter in the deep, dark forest of the night. The rebellious force against the oppressive control of rigid authority. Wild creativity opposing the structured thought of the Age of Reason.'
The words washed over Veitch, whatever meaning they held seeping into him on some level beyond hearing. Another blast of the hunting horn, not too far away. Now Veitch could tell it was different from the sound of the Wild Hunt's horn; not so menacing, almost hopeful.
'But be careful.' Tom's warning sounded as if it came from the depths of a well. 'If you lose control of the archetype, its power can overwhelm you, tear you apart.'
'I wish you hadn't said that,' Veitch snapped. 'It's a bleedin' meme, isn't it? It's in my bleedin' head now.'
'At least you were paying attention.' Tom took several calming breaths; Witch realised the hippie felt anxious too. 'My warning will focus your mind. You won't lose control.'
'Yeah. Keep telling me that.'
Feet rattled the stones on the road beyond the gate of the cairn compound. Rhythmic breathing that could have been a man's but was more like an animal's filled the air.
'He's here,' Tom said, redundantly.
Veitch felt his muscles clench with tension, barely able to believe it was something he had done, and with such little effort; but that tiny, out-of-the-way place felt so supercharged he was convinced he could do anything here.
'Speak to him,' Tom whispered.
'Me?' More panic; that wasn't one of his strengths, but then he thought how well Shavi would have done in the situation and that gave him the courage to continue. 'Hello.' His voice sounded too fragile. He tried again, stronger this time.
The sound of scrabbling echoed as something moved up the side of the cairn, seeking footholds amongst the tightly packed stones. A silhouette appeared over the rim, looking down at them.
'Hello,' he repeated once more.
The figure squatted on the roof's edge, watching them both sitting crosslegged on the stone flags. As it shifted, Veitch caught sight of a face filled with wisdom and kindliness, but also righteous defiance. There was certainly a beard, but while he saw the features, they were forgotten in an instant after his eyes lighted on them; this was all faces, all humanity boiled down. The indefinable, tight-fitting clothes were of the Lincoln Green he had anticipated from his storybook of old, but at times they appeared to be vegetation rather than fabric or leather; and growing out of the figure itself. Strapped across his back was a bow of gnarled wood that also seemed oddly organic.
'I heard your call.' His voice, which came from everywhere at once, was comforting and fatherly; the tension eased in Witch's shoulders immediately.
