Dreaming in the Dark

18

When the shore was empty, the dryad unbowed the limbs of the oak so the girls could climb down. The herald hopped on Jo's shoulder.

"I'm sorry for all the difficulty." He said.

"No worries." Jo smiled.

"I apologize also," the dryad said, "for attempting to remove your hearts."

"We've got bigger problems." Ange said. "Dez, what happened to you?"

"It's hazy." Dez shook her head. "I was working with Wizard, and then he was gone. The Butcher came, and his sword ate everything. I think he still has the rest of my heart."

"Why didn't he kill you?"

"I think he wanted me to find you and eat you myself."

"He could be following you." Ange said.

"But how did you find us?" Jo asked.

In answer, Edgar nipped her toes.

"Oh!" She jumped.

"You led her to us, didn't you?" Jo picked up the kit, who was growing quite large, and hugged him to her chest.

"Who's this Butcher?" The herald asked, hopping to Dez's shoulder to avoid the fox.

"It's a thing in armor like a knight," she said, "and it carries an invisible sword. The blade devours anything it touches, turning it to ash. It even eats light, so the edge is outlined in the blackest black."

The herald looked grave. "My lady," he called, "have we not heard of a being such as this?"

The leaves of the oak shivered, though there was no wind. "Yes," the fae retreated against the bark. "it has the taste of Ahriman, the devouring toad."

"A toad?" Jo said. "That isn't it at all."

"He can appear in many guises. What matters is that he leaves behind a wake of ash. Like you did, dark eyes."

Dez turned away. "That wasn't me."

"But it was." The dryad said. "That is the nature of Ahriman, to exploit others as his hands. It is likely that this Butcher you describe was once a man whose own soul was taken by darkness."

"Oh!" Jo dropped Edgar in her surprise, covering her mouth with her hands. The fox barked and slipped behind Dez. "Do you think it was the knight? The man Folly told us about?"

"What knight?" Dez asked.

"It doesn't matter," Ange said. Her eyes stung at the mention of Folly. "Wherever he came from, he is what he is. How do we stop him?"

"There is only one thing powerful enough to overcome Ahriman." The dryad said.

"What is it?" Jo said.

"The Maker." The herald blew a high, short not on his horn." He is the only one."

"I thought he was locked away." Dez said.

"He is." The herald said, "alone in his castle since the beginning of time. Of course it isn't true."

"But Kioku said it was." Jo frowned.

"That is the official history, which is all the official memory allows. Hold me up, please."

Dez allowed him to hop on her palm, and she held him up between them. Lucifer began to wave his hands, and shades of light swam away from his fingers to create a story in the air.

"The Maker locked himself away when all the making was done, in a tower in a castle in the ship called Eternity. And all the ages that we've known have passed by during the course of his self imposed imprisonment." The castle was not like the one they had visited in the Kingdom, it was a structure that was a part of the ship itself. They saw Eternity travelling through the stars, the constellations wheeling and changing with the passing of light years. "But during that time, there were those who did not believe the Maker would leave his children without guidance. How could a just and loving Maker, creator of all that is beauty, allow the existence of pure darkness like Ahriman?" Dez felt tempted to answer. Though she knew the question was rhetorical, it was one that promised many engaging derivations. Above the castle, the image of a black toad brewed, it opened its mouth and began to drink the stars.