“What’s the Storie?” he asked, soldiering on determinedly.
“Big book,” Eira said vaguely. “Our history. Greatest achievements, influential Viaggiatori, that sort of thing. Everybody wants to get a mention in there. Kind of pompous, really.”
“Do you want to get in there?”
“Of course. But it’s still pompous.”
There was quiet for a moment while Marcus digested this information. The Master closed her eyes and rested her head on bunched-up fists, swaying slightly to the faint tick-tock of the study’s clock. Fearing that she might fall asleep on him, Marcus picked up the conversation again. “The next one was of a place, Port-somewhere, melting. So Eustace said. I didn’t see it.”
“That’s simple,” Eira murmured. “Metaphor for the city’s current state of turmoil. This city is called Portruss, didn’t anybody mention that?”
“Maybe,” Marcus said. “There’s been a lot of other stuff going on. Like the next part, where the crazy dark thing descended from the sky amidst peals of manic laughter and blew us all to hell.”
“Ah,” Eira said, her head suddenly falling from its perch on her fists. “Yeah, that’s the big one.”
“ The big one?”
“Yes.” She sat back in her chair, and looked straight at Marcus. “That crazy dark thing, Marcus, is the reason that you are here.”
Marcus blinked. “ Was it Death, then?”
“What? No, no, far worse. That... was Keithus.”
Silence in the study again. Tick, tock.
“There’s something worse than Death, and its name is Keithus ?”
“ His name is Keithus.”
“And he’s what? Some kind of monster.. demon.. thing?”
“No no..” Eira ran a hand through her hair, where it promptly got stuck. “Remember, it was just a dream. It was mostly an exaggeration, but, well, in truth it was a fairly accurate representation of what he’s capable of, which is the complete and utter destruction of all things. But he is just a man.”
Marcus drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair. “How can one man have the capability to destroy everything ?”
“He’s a wizard,” Eira said simply. “Yeah, we have wizards. Wizards and magic. And I’m not talking about the kind of stuff we do, which is science. No, for wizards magic is dribbly candles and incantations and elemental spells and so on. Our craft can be learnt, but theirs.. you’re either born with it or you aren’t. The Wizarding Tower here in Portruss takes on those who are, and teaches them how to control it. Keithus was an apprentice there once, and now he’s an incredibly powerful wizard. Some say he’s the strongest there ever was, stronger even than the ancient mages whose magical duels reshaped half the world. The wizards worried about him, about all that power, but despite all that he was still their golden child.”
“Past tense?”
“Yes, because this is where the trouble starts. Up until a few months ago, Keithus was a renowned eccentric who more or less kept to himself. Then, one day, he came to us, and asked us to let him through the Mirrorline, to Earth.”
“Did you let him?” Marcus prompted, as Eira had closed her eyes again.
“No. How could we? Remember ,” she added, imitating the orientation video’s marvellous baritone, “ balance is key. We like to play with the Mirrorline, but our main thing as an organisation is preservation, not experimentation. That means making sure that things that are exclusive to one world or the other stay that way, which is bloody hard given that the Mirrorline is super volatile, all the time. Without us to manage it when it freaks out and swallows people or places and spits them out on the other side – or just straight up eats them – who knows what would happen? There is a balance, and though we barely understand it, our best reference tool being how happy the Mirrorline is on any given day, we try to maintain it. That’s why we couldn’t let an impossibly powerful wizard simply hop over
“Big book,” Eira said vaguely. “Our history. Greatest achievements, influential Viaggiatori, that sort of thing. Everybody wants to get a mention in there. Kind of pompous, really.”
“Do you want to get in there?”
“Of course. But it’s still pompous.”
There was quiet for a moment while Marcus digested this information. The Master closed her eyes and rested her head on bunched-up fists, swaying slightly to the faint tick-tock of the study’s clock. Fearing that she might fall asleep on him, Marcus picked up the conversation again. “The next one was of a place, Port-somewhere, melting. So Eustace said. I didn’t see it.”
“That’s simple,” Eira murmured. “Metaphor for the city’s current state of turmoil. This city is called Portruss, didn’t anybody mention that?”
“Maybe,” Marcus said. “There’s been a lot of other stuff going on. Like the next part, where the crazy dark thing descended from the sky amidst peals of manic laughter and blew us all to hell.”
“Ah,” Eira said, her head suddenly falling from its perch on her fists. “Yeah, that’s the big one.”
“ The big one?”
“Yes.” She sat back in her chair, and looked straight at Marcus. “That crazy dark thing, Marcus, is the reason that you are here.”
Marcus blinked. “ Was it Death, then?”
“What? No, no, far worse. That... was Keithus.”
Silence in the study again. Tick, tock.
“There’s something worse than Death, and its name is Keithus ?”
“ His name is Keithus.”
“And he’s what? Some kind of monster.. demon.. thing?”
“No no..” Eira ran a hand through her hair, where it promptly got stuck. “Remember, it was just a dream. It was mostly an exaggeration, but, well, in truth it was a fairly accurate representation of what he’s capable of, which is the complete and utter destruction of all things. But he is just a man.”
Marcus drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair. “How can one man have the capability to destroy everything ?”
“He’s a wizard,” Eira said simply. “Yeah, we have wizards. Wizards and magic. And I’m not talking about the kind of stuff we do, which is science. No, for wizards magic is dribbly candles and incantations and elemental spells and so on. Our craft can be learnt, but theirs.. you’re either born with it or you aren’t. The Wizarding Tower here in Portruss takes on those who are, and teaches them how to control it. Keithus was an apprentice there once, and now he’s an incredibly powerful wizard. Some say he’s the strongest there ever was, stronger even than the ancient mages whose magical duels reshaped half the world. The wizards worried about him, about all that power, but despite all that he was still their golden child.”
“Past tense?”
“Yes, because this is where the trouble starts. Up until a few months ago, Keithus was a renowned eccentric who more or less kept to himself. Then, one day, he came to us, and asked us to let him through the Mirrorline, to Earth.”
“Did you let him?” Marcus prompted, as Eira had closed her eyes again.
“No. How could we? Remember ,” she added, imitating the orientation video’s marvellous baritone, “ balance is key. We like to play with the Mirrorline, but our main thing as an organisation is preservation, not experimentation. That means making sure that things that are exclusive to one world or the other stay that way, which is bloody hard given that the Mirrorline is super volatile, all the time. Without us to manage it when it freaks out and swallows people or places and spits them out on the other side – or just straight up eats them – who knows what would happen? There is a balance, and though we barely understand it, our best reference tool being how happy the Mirrorline is on any given day, we try to maintain it. That’s why we couldn’t let an impossibly powerful wizard simply hop over
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