Seer?' Laura prompted. 'Or is it more of your weird sex fantasies?'
'I am thinking that this has ruined Church's motto for his T-shirts. No happy endings, he said. And here we are. This…' he gestured expansively '… is more than I could ever have hoped for. The best of friends, a family, even. We faced death, we faced heartache, and we moved beyond them, together, by relying on each other. And we built bonds that have enriched us all. I am very, very happy.'
Nobody spoke for a while as they reflected on Shavi's words and realised the depths of those bonds. But then Laura glimpsed Tom's face in the firelight. In it were fears and doubts she recognised.
'Don't think you're getting away, you old bastard,' she said.
Tom flashed a suspicious glare her way.
'You're one of us. If I haven't got you, who am I going to torment?'
'I am not a Brother of Dragons,' Tom said.
'No, you are our guide, our wisdom, our conscience,' Shavi responded. 'Jiminy Cricket! We need you.'
'That'll teach you, old man,' Laura said. 'You're going to have to spend an eternity listening to Shavi ramble on about the philosophic connections between the fluff in his belly button and the way a bumblebee dances. We can all wallow in our misery together.'
Laura saw the relief on Tom's face as his fear of loneliness drained away, and she felt a sense of satisfaction that she had secretly helped him. They were more alike than either of them would have cared to admit.
'Then I will accept my miserable responsibility and attempt to drill some sense into all of you,' he grumbled. 'Have pity. My life is over.' He took out his tin and carefully constructed a roll-up from his dwindling supplies, a smile playing on his lips.
Laura stood up, stretched like a cat and took Hunter's hand.
'Sex?' he said.
'Like you stand a chance with me. It's only been charity, didn't you realise that?'
She hauled him away from the light, enjoying the feel of his hand in hers. 'You're not inviting your friend over for a drink?' Laura indicated the silhouette of the hooded giant away in the desert.
'He's not a great socialiser.'
'He going to be joining us in the Great Beyond?'
'It'll be like having children without going through the whole childbirth thing.'
'That's how I always wanted children.'
In the shadow of a dune, they held each other, and kissed.
'I've got a question,' Hunter said after a while. 'What's your name?'
'You know my name.'
'Not that DuSantiago bollocks. That's for the idiots you wrap around your little finger. This is me.'
'Privileged information. I've never trusted anyone enough to tell them that. Once someone knows your real name they have power over you. Don't you listen to any of Church's crazy ramblings?'
He waited.
'Smith.' She sighed. 'Laura Smith.'
'You see, the reverse is actually true,' he said. 'Now you have power over me.'
They kissed again, and it felt as if it would go on for ever.
2
Hand in hand, Church and Ruth walked out of the Warp Zone into a misty morning just before dawn. Familiar, comforting smells of exhaust fumes, damp vegetation and the heavy, deep aromas of the river reached them. They breathed deeply, soothed by the silky sensation of the mist on their faces. The city breathed slow and easy too. It dreamed good dreams.
'Where are we?' Ruth looked from the hazy street lamp to the parked cars covered in dew.
'Don't you recognise it? Come on.'
As they walked along the road, the trees eventually revealed the lights of Albert Bridge, and Ruth smiled. 'London. Where we met,' she said with a smile. 'God, that seems so long ago. We were different people then.'
'If we knew what lay ahead, do you think we'd have carried on down that road?'
'You're joking, aren't you?' They walked to the railings and looked down at the slow-moving river. 'Miss that chance to peel back the boring, real world and see the magic that lies behind it? I remember…'
A Fabulous Beast swooping out of the night over the lights of the motorway. Stone circles, still and peaceful under the stars. Hidden doors in crumbling castles. Secrets encoded in the landscape thousands of years ago. Old knowledge shining new light on life. The Craft. Flying. Magic swords. A boat that sails between worlds. A Welsh night and a being as old as time, eyes burning in a face made of leaves, ushering her into a new life with a brand on her hand. Friendship. Love. And the Blue Fire burning just beneath the surface of the land, and in the stones, and in hearts.
'The world is better than it seems. And so are people,' she said. 'We've been allowed a glimpse into the biggest mystery of all. The knowledge that there's so much more… I wouldn't trade that for anything.'
'The Void's influence is still here. It's going to take people a while to open their eyes and pull themselves out from under the effects of the Mundane Spell. But once they have, there'll be no going back. This is the start of something big and new, and-'
A fox trotted out of the mist and paused when it saw them. In its eyes was a light Church hadn't noticed before; it was filled with secrets. The fox looked them over as if greeting fellow travellers and then moved on. In that moment was a strange magic that neither could explain.
'Why have you brought me here?' Ruth asked.
'I wanted to remind myself what was important, before…' He looked around at the trees and the lights and the still, dark houses. 'Whatever lies ahead.'
He was interrupted by a splash in the river below them. Glowing with a dull golden light, a low, long boat drifted slowly in the flow, and aboard it were the Seelie Court, returning once again to the land they loved. Each mysterious member looked around in awe at the scenery, but the queen caught sight of Church and gave a slight, enigmatic bow.
Once they had passed, Ruth slipped her arm around Church's waist and rested her head on his shoulder. 'Since we met here, things got so complex. We've been through cynicism, darkness, we've become more troubled. But in the end, innocence wins out,' she said. 'That was always the message.'
In the circle of misty light beneath a lamp, Tom waited. 'It's time,' he said.
'It was always going to be you, wasn't it?' Church said.
'Of course. I'm your guide.'
'Can Ruth come?'
After a moment's hesitation, Tom nodded. 'She's the one who kept you on the path.'
Looking around one final time, Church glanced up and thought he glimpsed a brief light somewhere through the layers of fog, so high, so fleeting, it would have been easy to miss it. A burst of fire.
3
'I've been here before,' Church said.
'Of course you have. We all have at some time,' Tom replied. 'We leave here and we return here.'
A cavern, a space deep in the earth, the smell of damp and the chill of the dark. A blue light guided the three of them forwards until they encountered Hal holding the Wayfinder aloft.
'I am the Caretaker,' Hal said. 'I keep a light burning in the darkest night. I serve all who come to me, whether their hearts are filled with hope or tainted by despair.'
Church recognised the words, and now understood that it was a ritual greeting.
Beyond Hal lay a cave where a cauldron bubbled over a small fire. Poised over it was a man with wild grey
