strike, the Book told us how to hatch the nest of copper phoenixes.” He held his arm out to Catesby, who swooped down in a blaze of copper feathers and perched on his wrist. They grinned at each other.
Lavender added, “But the fabled beasts of this land do not keep the Book to themselves. Our brothers and sisters journey from all over our world to seek the Book’s advice.
“Like when the sphinx sent a delegation from the desert, after she lost the answers to her riddles in a sandstorm. The Book advised her to close her eyes and let travellers through until she had woven new riddles.
“Or those English fairies whose nieces were turning their backs on the old magic and wishing to work only with rainbows. The Book said they would grow out of it, eventually.”
Yann broke in, “But the Master has never sent to ask just one question at a Solstice Gathering. He does not want one answer, he wants many.”
Helen frowned. “But what questions could he ask, that would have such terrible answers?”
Yann bent and stretched his bandaged leg. “He could ask for the potions to grow weasels the size of wolves and rats the size of cattle.”
Rona added, “He could ask for charms to force the elders of the tribes to do his bidding rather than the best for their people.”
Lavender whispered, “He could ask for the words to break through the magic protecting our sacred places.”
Catesby squawked a comment that caused Rona to gasp and Sapphire to send out a sudden hiccup of orange flame. Helen didn’t ask for a translation.
Yann continued, “If the Master of the Maze has all the answers and follows none of the rules, and if no one else can ask the Book for help, he will soon have unlimited power over the fabled beasts. And he will not stop there.” Yann came closer to Helen, and spoke quietly. “Soon he will look at your world and start using questions and answers to get round your magic too.”
Helen shook her head. “We don’t have magic.”
“Yes, you do, you just call it science.” Yann turned away and spoke into the emptiness of the cave. “The one question to which the Master craves the answer is: how can I rule this world?”
There was a cold dark silence.
Helen put her arm round Rona. She felt so warm and real. Helen had only just started truly believing in these people and their world, and now it might be destroyed.
“Alright then,” Helen said firmly, “We’d better solve the riddle as fast as possible. Let’s have another look.
I come from a gap-toothed grin in the ground,
with no beginning and no end.
“But the Book didn’t come from a gap-toothed grin in the ground, did it?” she asked again.
“No,” agreed Rona, “It is made of thick paper, ancient bark and sea pearls. From woods and water, not earth.”
“So who is saying, ‘I came from a gap-toothed grin in the ground’ then?”
They all thought. Yann tapped a hoof. Catesby preened his tail. Rona hummed a short melody over and over. Lavender went round the cave brightening up some balls of light. Sapphire rocked the stone back and forth with her clawed foot.
Helen watched them all. She watched the words on the stone, and the moving shadows the stone cast on the bumpy floor.
“The stone!” she cried out. “The stone is saying: ‘I came from a gap-toothed grin in the ground.’ It’s a place where stones make a shape without beginning or end!”
She closed her eyes, seeing shapes and patterns made out of stones in her head. Towers and cliffs, sheepfolds and cairns, harbours and mazes. But they all had beginnings and ends. They all had tops, bottoms, doors and corners. None of them seemed to answer the riddle. Suddenly, she thought of a shape that had no beginning nor end, that just kept going round and round and round …
“A circle! A stone circle! That’s a shape without end. And standing stones in a circle … you know, those huge ancient stones poking up out of the earth … they look just like teeth in an open
Lavender added, “But the fabled beasts of this land do not keep the Book to themselves. Our brothers and sisters journey from all over our world to seek the Book’s advice.
“Like when the sphinx sent a delegation from the desert, after she lost the answers to her riddles in a sandstorm. The Book advised her to close her eyes and let travellers through until she had woven new riddles.
“Or those English fairies whose nieces were turning their backs on the old magic and wishing to work only with rainbows. The Book said they would grow out of it, eventually.”
Yann broke in, “But the Master has never sent to ask just one question at a Solstice Gathering. He does not want one answer, he wants many.”
Helen frowned. “But what questions could he ask, that would have such terrible answers?”
Yann bent and stretched his bandaged leg. “He could ask for the potions to grow weasels the size of wolves and rats the size of cattle.”
Rona added, “He could ask for charms to force the elders of the tribes to do his bidding rather than the best for their people.”
Lavender whispered, “He could ask for the words to break through the magic protecting our sacred places.”
Catesby squawked a comment that caused Rona to gasp and Sapphire to send out a sudden hiccup of orange flame. Helen didn’t ask for a translation.
Yann continued, “If the Master of the Maze has all the answers and follows none of the rules, and if no one else can ask the Book for help, he will soon have unlimited power over the fabled beasts. And he will not stop there.” Yann came closer to Helen, and spoke quietly. “Soon he will look at your world and start using questions and answers to get round your magic too.”
Helen shook her head. “We don’t have magic.”
“Yes, you do, you just call it science.” Yann turned away and spoke into the emptiness of the cave. “The one question to which the Master craves the answer is: how can I rule this world?”
There was a cold dark silence.
Helen put her arm round Rona. She felt so warm and real. Helen had only just started truly believing in these people and their world, and now it might be destroyed.
“Alright then,” Helen said firmly, “We’d better solve the riddle as fast as possible. Let’s have another look.
I come from a gap-toothed grin in the ground,
with no beginning and no end.
“But the Book didn’t come from a gap-toothed grin in the ground, did it?” she asked again.
“No,” agreed Rona, “It is made of thick paper, ancient bark and sea pearls. From woods and water, not earth.”
“So who is saying, ‘I came from a gap-toothed grin in the ground’ then?”
They all thought. Yann tapped a hoof. Catesby preened his tail. Rona hummed a short melody over and over. Lavender went round the cave brightening up some balls of light. Sapphire rocked the stone back and forth with her clawed foot.
Helen watched them all. She watched the words on the stone, and the moving shadows the stone cast on the bumpy floor.
“The stone!” she cried out. “The stone is saying: ‘I came from a gap-toothed grin in the ground.’ It’s a place where stones make a shape without beginning or end!”
She closed her eyes, seeing shapes and patterns made out of stones in her head. Towers and cliffs, sheepfolds and cairns, harbours and mazes. But they all had beginnings and ends. They all had tops, bottoms, doors and corners. None of them seemed to answer the riddle. Suddenly, she thought of a shape that had no beginning nor end, that just kept going round and round and round …
“A circle! A stone circle! That’s a shape without end. And standing stones in a circle … you know, those huge ancient stones poking up out of the earth … they look just like teeth in an open
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