that. The other is that all we see and feel is flawed and corrupted, a prison created by a dark force to separate us from the true glory of Existence. The Court of the Final Word has long sought the truth, and evidence exists supporting both stories. But consider this: what if both are true? What if Existence has two faces, continually turning, and when one looks upon us, the other is alerted and attempts to seize control?’
‘So you’re just going to sit back and let it happen?’ Sophie said.
‘The only way to stop the Devourer of All Things would be to use the Extinction Shears,’ Lugh said, ‘and none know where they now lie-’
‘I don’t care about any of this,’ Caitlin said furiously. ‘If you’re saying that the world’s under some kind of threat, we need to be there, doing what we can.’
‘I understand your desire,’ Ceridwen said, ‘for this is the reason the Brothers and Sisters of Dragons exist-’
‘Is that what this is all about?’ Sophie interrupted. She grabbed Caitlin’s arm. ‘We’ve got to get back. They need us.’
‘They need you,’ Caitlin replied. ‘I’m the one who spoiled it all, remember? If there aren’t five of us, we’re weakened.’
‘We will do what we can, Sister of Dragons, but there is no path back to the Fixed Lands from the Court of Soul’s Ease,’ Lugh said. ‘The war council will continue its debate, and I will make your case for decisive action. But in the meantime there is nothing we can do.’
Outside the great hall, Caitlin grabbed Sophie by the shoulders and said passionately, ‘I want the Pendragon Spirit back. I’ll do anything.’
‘Nobody can bring it back — it’s a gift. You know that,’ Sophie said sympathetically.
‘We can petition Higher Powers. It must come from something, right? These gods, they keep talking about Existence as though it’s alive. We could ask it. You use the Craft. You could try.’
‘I wouldn’t even know how to start. It’s too big, Caitlin. Trying to make that kind of contact would be beyond any mere human.’
‘There are people here who could help.’ Caitlin’s face was filled with desperation. ‘Will you at least try?’
Sophie couldn’t refuse her. ‘All right, I’ll do what I can. But there could be risks. There’s always a price to pay, and the more you’re after, the bigger the price.’
‘I’ll do anything,’ Caitlin said. ‘I’ll pay any price.’
Sophie hoped those words wouldn’t come back to haunt Caitlin.
During her stay in the Court of Soul’s Ease, Caitlin had kept her ears open to the whispers that washed back and forth through the city like a tide. She had learned of the many wonders that existed there, some obvious, some hidden behind the scenes, suggested but never discussed. One such was the Tower of the Four Winds.
Night had fallen by the time they located the mysterious tower in the section of the court that resembled the Moorish quarter of a Spanish city: white stone, minarets, ornate awnings and fragrant smoke blowing in the warm breeze. It lay high up the hillside, and when Sophie turned to look back over the court spread out below her, the sight took her breath away. Tiny white lights had sprung up everywhere, like fireflies in the dark; there were candles in windows and lanterns hanging over shops along the streets, tiny suns holding back the night. It was magical. If the circumstances had been different, Sophie knew she could have whiled away many days in a place of so many wonders, large and small.
The tower stood in a walled garden filled with palms and orange trees and small, spiky shrubs. A white-stone path wound through the vegetation. More lanterns hung from the trees, attracting moths in clouds. The gate was unlocked.
Caitlin caught Sophie’s arm. ‘Let’s go carefully.’
‘Why? Guard dogs?’
‘I’ve heard some strange things. The one who lives here might be dangerous. There are stories about him…’ She caught herself. ‘Let’s just be careful.’
‘Do you want me to go first?’
‘I’m not a complete invalid,’ Caitlin snapped, instantly regretting her tone. ‘I’m sorry. All this… I’m on edge.’
‘Don’t worry.’ Sophie smiled, but she was growing increasingly concerned about Caitlin’s desire to make amends for her perceived mistakes.
The tower was constructed from ivory, glass and gold, each element merging into the other with a delicate architectural sensibility that instilled a quiet wonder. The path led to a mahogany door covered with iron studs. A bell-pull hung beside it. Caitlin hesitated and then grabbed the pull to announce their presence.
For a long minute there was no reply. Then, gradually, a rhythmic hissing rose up from the vegetation on either side of the path. As Sophie and Caitlin waited with thumping hearts, snakes slithered on to the path and headed towards them. The serpents glowed so brightly that the women couldn’t be sure if they really existed or if they were constructed of green and red light.
Sophie removed her spear from the harness on her back, though she wasn’t at all sure it would have much effect on the snakes if it came to it.
The snakes moved quickly along the path and then split into two groups, curving around on either side of Caitlin and Sophie. They continued up the sheer, slick walls of the tower and came together over the top of the door, where they began to crawl into each other’s mouths. The serpents merged, becoming larger, until finally one huge snake undulated down to bring its eyes on a level with Caitlin and Sophie’s. They glittered red with a disturbing intelligence.
‘Speak your business,’ the snake said with a soft sibilance.
‘A Sister of Dragons and a Fragile Creature are seeking the wisdom of Math,’ Caitlin said.
There was a brief pause before the serpent replied, ‘That name has not been heard since the days of the tribes.’
‘But it still holds, does it not?’ Caitlin persisted. ‘Math, great magician, brother of the goddess Don. He was a friend to Fragile Creatures in times past.’
‘There are no times past,’ the snake hissed. Another pause. Then: ‘Enter, and prove yourself worthy to stand before the Seer of the Seven Worlds.’
With a fizz, the snake dissolved into tiny balls of light that drifted away on the breeze. A second later, the studded door swung open, releasing a heady aroma of incense.
‘I don’t like the sound of that,’ Sophie whispered.
‘Nor me. When they’re not being pompous, these gods are more than a little sneaky.’
Caitlin stepped over the threshold and made her way to a staircase that wound upwards around the inside of the walls. It was lit intermittently by tiny lanterns, but there were still many troubling pools of shadows. The silence that filled the tower was not peaceful; it felt as if some loud bell was just about to toll.
Caitlin and Sophie moved hesitantly up the stairs, each trailing a hand along the cool wall for support. When they had reached what they guessed was the halfway mark, the atmosphere became oppressive.
‘Can you feel it?’ Sophie asked. ‘Something’s coming.’
A sound like the wind through leaves echoed softly at first from further up the tower, drawing closer. Caitlin and Sophie waited with mounting apprehension, until the first signs of something approaching were indicated by undulating shadows cast by the flickering lanterns.
‘More snakes,’ Caitlin said. ‘Lots of them.’
As they rounded the next bend in the stairway, Caitlin and Sophie saw that these weren’t the light-snakes they had encountered at the foot of the tower, but hard-scaled, sharp-fanged serpents that were undoubtedly real. Yet they had an otherworldly ambience that made them even more menacing. Several were as broad as Sophie’s body, their tails lost in the dim recesses of the upper tower, but the majority ranged from the width of an arm to barely larger than a finger, shimmering greens and scarlets and golds, with strange black patterns along their skin that resembled runes. There were so many snakes that they filled the stairway up to Sophie’s waist, a slow-moving tidal wave that would easily engulf the two women.
Sophie grabbed Caitlin’s arm. ‘Come on. We have to go down.’
‘We can’t,’ Caitlin said desperately. ‘This is our one chance. If we go down, he’ll never let us back up again.’ She turned to Sophie, her face hard and determined. ‘You go. You don’t have to do this.’
‘You’re insane! Look at them.’
