Tomas drew back his golden blade, then plunged it deep between two of the crimson bands, almost to the hilt, piercing whatever served as Jakan’s heart. The demon’s black eyes widened, and blood began to flow from his mouth and nose. Tomas yanked loose his sword.
Pug dropped one hand and suddenly the room was still as the demon vanished.
They all stood in silence a moment, then Miranda said, ‘Where is it?’
‘Gone,’ said Pug. ‘We couldn’t kill it, but I knew some place it couldn’t survive.’
Nakor said, ‘Where?’
‘I transported it to the bottom of the ocean, between here and Novindus. It’s a trench more than three miles straight down.’ Pug suddenly felt tired and sat down on the stone floor. ‘I found it doing some random searches of the planet years ago, and remembered what your father said at the end.’ He looked at Miranda.
‘He said, “They are creatures of fire.” ‘ She laughed in nervous exhaustion. ‘Now I remember. I wondered what he meant.’
Nakor sat down next to Pug and said, ‘That’s wonderful. I hadn’t thought of that.’ He shook his head. ‘It’s obvious.’
‘What’s obvious?’ said Tomas, putting away his sword and coming to join them.
Nakor said, ‘Even the biggest demon is little more than a fire elemental at heart.’
Pug said, ‘Once I fought some air elementals near Stardock and by forcing them into contact with the water, destroyed them.’ He pointed to the space the demon had occupied and said, ‘A dunking won’t kill Jakan, but trying to swim upward through three miles of seawater, with Miranda’s bands around him and Tomas’s wound to his heart, will.’
Nakor said, ‘That’s wonderful. Now it’s over.’
‘No,’ said Pug. He pointed to Calis.
Calis now sat unaided, and again had his eyes focused upon the heart of the Iifestone, which was now less than a fifth its original size. Already the wounds on his face and hands were fading as if they had not existed.
‘He will be done soon, I think,’ said Nakor. ‘We can wait.’
Tomas said, ‘Men are losing their lives while we wait.’
Nakor said, ‘It is a sad thing. But this is more important.’
Dominic and Sho Pi came from their hiding place, and Dominic said, ‘He’s right. This may be the most important thing ever done by a mortal on this world. Now the strangled life of this world is set right, and the order of things will begin to return.’
‘Begin?’ asked Miranda.
Dominic nodded. ‘You don’t correct damage on this scale quickly. It’s been centuries, millennia, in the making. But now the healing will begin. The way is open for the return of the gods, now, where before the Nameless One blocked their return.’
‘How long do we have to wait?’ asked Miranda.
Nakor laughed. ‘Several thousand years, but’ - he stood up - ‘each day things will be a little better than the day before, and eventually the old gods will return, and then this planet will become as it was supposed to be.’
Pug said, ‘Do you think we’ll ever find out what drove the Nameless One mad?’
Dominic said, ‘Some mysteries never are solved. And even if we found the answer, we might never understand it.’
Nakor reached deep into his bag and pulled out the Codex. He handed it to Dominic. ‘You take this. I think now you can do some good with it.’
‘What about you?’ asked Pug. ‘As long as I’ve known you, I’ve judged you the most curious individual on the planet. Don’t you want to continue to decipher that thing?’
Nakor shrugged. ‘I’ve been playing with it for more than two hundred years. I’m bored. Besides, Sho Pi and I have work to do.’
‘What sort of work?’ asked Miranda.
Nakor grinned. ‘We have to found a religion.’
Pug laughed. ‘A new scam?’
‘No, I’m serious,’ said Nakor, attempting to look injured, and failing. He grinned. ‘I’m the new patriarch of the Order of Arch-Indar, and this is my first disciple.’
Dominic looked aghast, and Tomas laughed. Pug said, ‘Why?’
Nakor said, ‘If these old men can bring back the Matrix, someone still has to bring back the Good Goddess, to offset the Nameless One. Else Ishap will have nothing to balance the Nameless One with.’
Dominic said, ‘A . . . worthy ambition, but . . .’
Miranda finished for him, ‘Ambitious?’
Dominic could only nod slightly. ‘Very ambitious.’
Pug slapped Nakor on the shoulder. ‘Well, if anyone can do it, it’s our friend here.’
Calis said, ‘It’s over.’
They turned to look at him, and as he spoke, he put his hands under the tiny remnants of the Iifestone and with a gentle motion, tossed it into the air like a thousand emerald butterflies, the last of the life energy trapped for centuries flew, and then the room was again dark. The servants of the Oracle relit torches that had been allowed to go out during the battle, returning a gentle yellow glow to the huge chamber. The jeweled dragon slept, undisturbed.
Calis rose, steadily. His clothing was still damaged from the demon’s blood, but he appeared unharmed. He crossed to his father, and the two embraced.
Tomas said, ‘You were incredible. You -’