Entering the Weave

Spokes clambered up the gnarled Tree trying to get a better view of the vast horde across the river. Michael was perched on a branch that looked too slender to hold him, but he sat as quiet and steady as an owl amongst the rustling leaves.

“What are you doing up here, Michael?”

He looked down at her and she saw tears glistening in his shining eyes. “This is the end Spokes. The corruption across the river is too great for us to resist. It is hopeless.”

Spokes hauled herself onto a branch beneath him, balancing herself with both hands and looked out over the plane. The army in the distance swarmed over the ground for as far as she could see. She looked down at the frightened recruits milling around at the base of the Tree and she knew that Michael was right.

“We must fight.” She said firmly.

“Yes. We have no choice.” His resigned tone brought home the futility of the situation and Spokes suddenly felt weak and nearly lost her grip on the branch that was keeping her balance.

“Is there anything we can do?”

“The Gazetteer is more powerful than we are, Spokes. And wiser. All we can do is fight as bravely as we can.”

Spokes nodded and, gazing out over the vast army, she resolved to make herself count for at least twenty of their number.

Michael unexpectedly slipped off his branch and landed lightly on the bough next to her.

“I sense something. Something I have not felt since… Stay here and tell the old man that I must go for a time. I will be back.”

“Where are you going? Can I help?”

“No, you must stay and help the old man. He needs support now. We will not win this battle without him. Please do as I ask, Francine.”

Spokes frowned at the use of her real name, but somehow it convinced her that Michael knew a lot more about these things than she did. She nodded. “Good luck.”

A sudden cacophony of baying and crashing made her look up. Something had excited the beasts and warriors of the army across the river. Spokes wondered what new monstrosity they would be faced with now. Surely there was nothing more terrible than what was already there.

But something had changed, and it took Spokes a few seconds to realise what it was. She looked up and saw what appeared to be a bright star shining in the sky.

“What is it?”

Michael was staring at the bright new arrival. “I do not know. Whatever it is I know not what it signifies.”

The black army had not stopped its howling. “They seem to be pleased to see it.” Spokes said glumly.

“I must go. This is a sign for something. Perhaps it is the beginning of the battle. Take care of the old man.”

Spokes nodded and watched Michael gallop down the hill and away from black horde. She suddenly felt very alone and trapped.

The bright light in the sky grew steadily to outshine the sun and the creatures over the river continued their hooting and wailing, whipping themselves up into a frenzy as the enormous fiery ball got brighter and nearer. As it grew Spokes squinted at it, sure that she could see a writhing face peering from within the fire, looking down onto the battlefield.

“It comes.” The Gazetteer had roused himself and stood at Spokes’ shoulder. “If only I had seen it sooner.” Spokes looked at the old man and saw real emotion where she had never seen it before. He suddenly seemed human now, perhaps because his infallibility was now so sorely threatened.

“What is it?”

“The humans call it Geigerzalion.”

“But he helped Josh expel the Doge from Vienopolis.”

“No.” He shook his head sadly. “He deceived us all. He fooled even me. We thought we were luring him out, but he’s just been waiting for this moment. How could I have been so blind?” The old man rubbed his eyes. “I should never have allowed Josh to be approached so early. Reckless human plan.”

“Josh? What’s he got to do with it?”

“Everything. And yet he doesn’t know it. N’rinde’s plan was to step aside and let Geigerzalion show his true colours before he was ready to face our full might. It seems, however, that he has always been ready.”

“But it’s not Josh’s fault.”

“Oh no. Of course not. He’s innocent and he’s not the only one. Every one of those poor souls out there has been corrupted by Geigerzalion. They were helpless to resist.”

Spokes looked out over the frenzied horde dancing around in the light of the blazing fireball.

“You’re quite the inspirational leader. First you tell me that it’s hopeless and you’re rubbish. And then you try to make me feel sorry for our enemies. That’s really helpful.”

The old man looked sharply at her and for an instant she thought that she had overstepped an arcane line, but then his face crumpled into a genuine smile. “Humour! Ha. Nothing sets you humans apart from your fellow animals more completely.”

Spokes smiled back relieved and after a moment they were both laughing under Geigerzalion’s descending fireball. She looked up at it and could now clearly see the tormented face within it. She followed its fall through the sky and realised that it was going to impact somewhere within the monstrous army. Then it crashed into the ground, heaving up earth and bodies alike and sending out shuddering ripples of impact.

The battlefield fell eerily silent.

An alabaster-white figure hauled itself out of the crater the fireball had made. It stood three times as tall as the tallest creature within the fell army and shone out like a beacon against the evil blackness that surrounded it, intensifying its terrifying presence.

It had horns like a bull and folded hooked wings on its back. It suddenly threw back its great head and let forth a thunderous roar that split the air like thunder. Quickly the dark army trumpeted its response and the battleground was once more filled with raucous sound.

“So it begins.” The Gazetteer said as the first lines of creatures started to splash through the river towards them. “Are you ready Francine?”

Spokes had drawn herself to her full height and stood with her hands ablaze with blue fire. “I am ready.”

The first wave of attackers ploughed into the Gazetteer’s unprepared army like a wrecking ball. Most of the defenders didn’t know what was going on and allowed themselves to be mown down without a fight, others tried to flee and were caught and dragged down quickly. A desperate few fought bravely, but in the face of that terrible onslaught there were just not enough of them.

Spokes was fighting on the frontline and a knot of hardy resistance had built up around her spurred on by her fearsome skill. She was like a dervish, defending her comrades as well as striking down some of the more formidable of the attacking horde. Her blazing hands shone out brightly in the chaos of the battle.

The Gazetteer, too, managed to create some small pockets of defiance. His powerful arms crashed through his enemies and more of the small army began to be inspired by his ferocious example.

For every bestial warrior she struck down, however, two more would crowd in to replace it and whenever one of her compatriots fell, there was no one to take his or her place. Occasionally she would drag her attention away from the battle for a second, hoping to see Michael returning, but he was never there.

The battle started to take the form of swelling music playing faster towards a climax. The dark army would attack only to be frantically repelled by the dwindling defenders, with each wave crashing nearer the Tree. Spokes understood this rhythm from the thousands of games and simulations she had played online. She knew that this type of onslaught could not be opposed forever. For all the lunatic wildness of the enemy there was a perfect order to their tactics.

Spokes braced herself for the next wave when a heavy hand fell on her shoulder.

“You shouldn’t have come here alone.” DoomLord towered above her. “We can help out in this type of situation.” He swung his great axe around his head. Bandicoot was crouching by his side with a grin balanced unsteadily on his lips.

“You shouldn’t have come.” She scolded the monkey.

“You need us.” Bandicoot said simply and pointed out at the black sea of warriors that swarmed beyond the river. “And this is no game, is it?”

Spokes shook her head. “It’s good to see both of you. Prepare your strength. We need to hold out as long as we can.” She saw their resolve stiffen and couldn’t stop herself from smiling.

DoomLord and Bandicoot forged forward to begin with, only to be overrun by sheer weight of numbers. They were battered back and Spokes could feel fatigue slowing her reactions and dulling her strength. They were defending an ever shrinking island around the Tree, within the sea of the dark army.

Spokes gave up hoping for Michael to return. After the arrival of DoomLord and Bandicoot, a few other exotic individuals had arrived which had boosted their strength for a time. She had fought next to a being seemingly comprised solely of crawling insects and a mound of moss was still shambling about the battlefield dealing out damp death. She had used her anger and desperation to spur her on for a time, but those feelings were quickly being replaced by hopelessness and fear.

A jagged sword swung around towards DoomLord’s back as Spokes tried to fend off a growling dogman. She span around trying to knock the blade off course, but only managed to divert it a fraction. It bit into the armoured warrior’s back.

DoomLord fell forward trying to reach the sword that now protruded from his back. He dropped to his knees and then keeled over onto his face into the battle-churned mud. Spokes wanted to help him, but knew that it was too late. She knew that this was the final straw of the battle.

A whooshing noise from the sky momentarily froze the battle. Spokes looked up, trying to make out what was within the broiling clouds. What new terror could there be? The enemy didn’t need any more help.

Toby stood in the snow staring at the mountains surrounding them, trying to find a pass through to somewhere else, but cliffs rose up almost vertically without breach around the entire valley. Rose was sitting on a snow covered rock meditating.

Occasionally the Vrealm would lurch sickeningly and Toby thought each one was the end. So far, after a couple of seconds of disorientating randomness the world around them would reform into the same freezing valley.

A shining figure appeared from behind Rose’s rock. Toby was so surprised he fell over and felt the snow soak instantly through his trousers.

“Michael? How…”

“You’re not safe here Toby. We must leave now.”

“Yes, we know. We’re trapped.”

Michael only then seemed to notice Rose. He stared at her for a few seconds and Toby felt a tangible tension develop in the air. He tried to look beneath the visuals, but could not see anything other than the cold valley.

“She’s my friend Michael.”

The tension dissipated immediately. “Very well. That is enough.”

Rose slid off the rock. Her eyes betrayed the silent struggle that she just been involved in. “I just tried to see how his avatar was constructed. I didn’t mean any harm.” She whispered.

Michael touched their elbows and suddenly the world juddered into chaos. Toby wasn’t sure whether it was Michael’s method of transportation or if the world had finally collapsed. He felt a surge of heat envelope him.

They reappeared in a sleek control room, populated by surprised looking military personnel. Toby and Rose didn’t have time to move before they were looking down the barrels of a host of futuristic weapons. Michael was quicker though and with a nonchalant flick of his wrist the guns dissolved into smoke.

“What in the name of Sam Hill is going on here?” An overweight officer blustered. “What do you think you’re doing on my base?”

Rose now made a complicated gesture with her hands and time seemed to stop as all the people and blinking lights suddenly froze.

“This is Moonbase Delta.” Rose looked about wonderingly. “My first online game. Wow. I didn’t think this was still going.”

“Then you must be Rose Cormack. I apologise for my rudeness before. I thought you were intruding into my person. You are powerful.”

“Oh that’s alright. But how come you were there to rescue us?”

“That Vrealm was my miserable home for many years. I knew it was about to collapse and I sensed you there. I owe Toby my freedom.”

“Well we’re even now, Michael.” Toby grinned, but Michael did not return even a smile.

“Forgive me Toby, but I must leave. You will be safe here.”

“Where are you going?”

“There is a battle about to commence. I cannot leave my friends to fight it alone.”

“We’ll help.” Toby and Rose said together and then Michael did smile.

“You would make little difference and it would render my rescue pointless.”

“Well, what about these guys?” Toby said indicating the frozen officer and his men. “Can’t we take these players to this Vigrid Plane? I bet they’d love to help.”

Michael stared at Toby and a luminous smile broke out on his face.

“We will need to convince them to come and then open a connection to Vigrid Plane. I think with Rose’s skill and my power we should be capable of doing it, but I am not sure whether we will be able to recruit them.”

“Are you kidding?” Toby burst out. “These guys’ll jump at the chance. But this is too small. Can you take us to Shiver?”

Without a word Michael laid a gentle hand on their shoulders and with a shudder that made Toby’s stomach lurch they were standing atop the highest turret of a castle surrounded by a dark forest. Below them fast moving shapes darted along the battlements zapping each other with powerful oversized weapons.

Rose raised her arms above her head and closed her eyes. Michael still had his hand on her shoulder and Toby could sense him lending her his strength.

The Vrealm stuttered. Primitive triangles exploded from the reality around them and cascaded into the distance leaving nothing but the players suspended in white nothingness.

“Hey!”

“OMG.”

“Has it crashed?”

Distance voices replaced the sounds of battle.

Rose slumped to the ground, exhausted by the effort of destroying a world.

“Do not log out.” Rose’s voice was crystal clear. “You have reached the ultimate level of Shiver.”

“What?”

“Cooooooool!”

“Who’s that?”

“I am Rose Cormack and I have a bonus level for you all. A hidden Easter egg within Shiver that only you will ever play.”

The players who were left were gradually floating nearer. More and more appeared as the people already online rang their friends and told them about this strange new development in the world of Shiver.

“There is a battle raging in a place called Vigrid Plane between the forces of good and evil. The ravening horde of evil outnumbers the besieged army of goodness by a thousand to one. They need your help.”

“Can we fight for evil?”

“Sounds a bit boring.”

“Bring back Shiver.”

Toby saw some of the players winking out of the game. He was a gamer and he knew that Rose was not telling them what they wanted to hear. He stepped forward.

“This is your only chance to play this. You’ll be the only people on the planet to play the secret game that Rose has been working on for five years. The gameplay’s unbelievable, and the graphics are so good you’ll think you’re really there.” He hoped he didn’t sound too pleading.

“Is it Vienopolis?” Someone ventured.

Rose started to shake her head, but Toby quickly elbowed her in her ethereal ribs. “Er…yes.” She said uncertainly, but then warmed to her subject. “Yes. I have spent five years developing this project and I can tell you that you won’t be disappointed with your experiences. However, we’re wasting time. If you want to come follow my friend.”

As soon as Rose affirmed the rumour about Vienopolis, the mutterings and murmuring took on a reverential tone, followed by an excited chatter when the means of access was revealed.

Rose winked at Toby. “Well done. I get a bit carried away by the blurb writers sometimes.”

Toby grimaced apologetically. “Yeah, I know. Your games are always brilliant, but the storylines are sometimes a bit weak.”

Rose laughed. “Well, I bet you can’t evaluate Runge-Kutta Fourth Order equations in your head!”

Toby didn’t respond. He was watching Michael opening a rift in the fabric of nothingness around them. He could see nothing beyond the darkness, but the first warrior avatars leapt through without hesitation.

And so Toby, Rose and Michael hopped between other online games recruiting Samurai, space marines, pirates and all manner of other warriors.

Eventually, after Toby and Rose had exhausted their list of appropriate games and convinced Michael that they needed to fight too, they set off for Vigrid Plane themselves. Toby found himself spinning through a multicoloured vortex of swirling light. He gave up trying to keep himself upright and just let himself get buffeted along. Rose glided along next to him, occasionally glancing excitedly at him.

A haze appeared before them for a second and then suddenly they flew out into the air. Below them stretching for as far as the eye could see was a gargantuan army made up of beasts and creatures from nightmare.

Gravity pulled Toby downwards until he remembered that he had some control over his environment and he slowed his descent.

An enormous tree grew at the top of a small rise where he could see tiny figures battling against the terrible army. He steered himself into their midst like a parachutist. Rose spiralled down with him and they landed lightly within defender’s circle of protection.

Most of the other floating troops were not so lucky. They fell amongst the ravening horde and were quickly overpowered and dragged down under the seething mass of bodies.

Toby stared in horror as the army he and Rose had mustered was scattered and destroyed throughout the battlefield. He didn’t have time to dwell on it though as a monstrous bear stomped past a line of the defenders and swung a huge paw at him. He dodged quickly, trying to concentrate on moving smoothly and simply. The bear belied its bulk and changed direction gracefully and trapped Toby in its enormous forearms.

Hairy arms appeared around the bear’s neck and it roared with anger, letting Toby go and trying to dislodge its new assailant. Toby staggered back and saw a huge monkey perched on the bear’s back.

“Bandicoot!” He cried over the noise.

Suddenly howls of rage and confusion erupted from the areas where the new arrivals had landed and the battle entered new levels of chaos. It seemed that every time one of the warriors from Shiver was killed, it respawned somewhere else on the battlefield.

A blood soaked warrior appeared in blaze of green light just in front of Toby. “You were right. This is amazing.” He grinned and dived full length at the bear.

Toby clambered up the slope of the hill to the tree to get a better view of what was going on. He looked out over the battle and saw everywhere that the dark army was being beaten back by the nimble fingered gamers. They had managed to group together into small clans, and were busy trying to fight their way to each other.

The clans grew, joined by ninjas or Indians or even more exotic warriors from fantastical realms, until soon the area around the tree stretched all the way to the edge of the river.

Toby saw a great white demon stomping towards the front line, tossing its own troops out of its way with nonchalant ease.

It bellowed a challenge as it approached and instantly four clans attacked it. Its terrible claws ripped and slashed at these attackers cutting them to ribbons and even the most powerful of the blasting weapons from Shiver just seemed to bounce off the creature’s leathery hide.

There was a lull in the fighting as everyone watched to see the outcome of this encounter. Another couple of clans launched their own attacks on the demon and then it unleashed its lethal breath. A wide beam of bright gases shot out from its mouth and vaporised everything in its path.

Toby waited for them to respawn somewhere, but they did not return. The clans became more circumspect in their attacks, although there were always enough volunteers to tackle it as they all seemed determined to get the glory of killing the level boss.

None of those that attacked survived however and the tide of the battle began to change once more.

The black army swarmed back across the river.

Josh brought the spear up in front of him. It felt heavy and he couldn’t stop it from wavering in his trembling hands.

“You’re dead.”

The Doge looked down at his robed body and shook his head. “No. I’m very much alive thanks to you.”

Josh glanced down at the sea crashing against the rocks and edged forwards slightly. He had a spear, while the Doge, however terrifying he seemed, was unarmed.

“I saw you die.”

“Oh, no.” The Doge laughed sneeringly. “You set me free. That iron ball that I took from you was designed to take me out of that dreadfully dull simulation. Geigerzalion thought I would be much more useful in the real world.”

“The real world?” Josh said weakly.

“Oh yes, back to your precious real world. And it was all made possible by your idiot friend, the Gazetteer.” The Doge barked a ferocious laugh. “Oh you should see your face Joshua. You look quite simple.”

He could take it no longer. With all the strength he could muster he lunged forward, slashing the spear wildly. The Doge easily sidestepped this attack and tripped him over. Josh stumbled to the ground, across the spear with the tip almost poking him in the eye.

“Oh that would be just too perfect. Be careful of that blade, Joshua. It looks dangerous.”

“I’ll kill you.” Josh could feel the hate and frustration boiling up inside him. His anger overpowered his fear and he rolled himself around and onto his feet. He thought he saw a flicker of surprise play across the Doge’s taunting expression.

“No. You can’t kill me. But I will certainly kill you. And your father and your annoying little girlfriend.”

“What have they got to do with this?”

“You really still don’t know who I am do you? How you’ve helped me? Are you really that stupid?” And as he spoke his voice changed. Josh did not understand what was going on, but then the Doge changed his appearance and standing before him was the tall figure of Sir Trevor.

“Ta dah! Surprised?”

Josh said nothing; the sudden strength he had gained from his fury drained away.

“You’ve been very useful so far Joshua. We couldn’t have got this far without you.”

Josh felt sick. “What do you mean? I haven’t helped you.”

“Oh, but you have. And you know it. In fact you’re responsible for everything. You see, when your ‘all powerful’ Gazetteer found out that Tech-Tonic was conducting their abominable experiments on children he decided to punish Sir Trevor in the only direct way he could, by entering his mind.”

“So? He’s already told me that. You deserved it.” Josh spat bitterly.

“I’m not Sir Trevor, you stupid boy. Although I’ve been living in his odious body for the past few days. You enabled my transportation from Vienopolis directly into his broken mind. He’s still in here somewhere, although he’s not quite the razor sharp intellect he once was.”

“You’re the Doge.” Josh said flatly.

“Finally. The dimwit gets it.”

“But Geigerzalion…”

“Oh, I wouldn’t trust him, Josh. He’s behind all this. He’s been plotting against you and your cherished Trinity Vale for eons.”

“But why?”

“Because he hates it. Because it is the reason that he was left here for billions of years.”

“That’s not our fault. I thought he needed help.” Josh’s voice was quiet. A sickly sense of what he had done began to creep up his spine.

“He did need it to free me, but once I was controlling Sir Trevor’s body, you became expendable. I got us to Machu Picchu and reenergised the spaceship. The only reason you’re here is because Geigerzalion has left me the pleasure of destroying you.”

“Why doesn’t he do it himself?”

“Oh, he’s got far more important things to do than kill a silly little boy. As we speak his power is growing and he has taken to the field to destroy your puny Gazetteer and his hopeless rabble.”

Josh could feel his forearms burning with the effort of holding the spear up. He knew it was futile anyway, his last attack had ended with him sprawled on the ground, and so he began to let the weapon drop.

Instantly Sir Trevor leapt towards him and only a desperate lunge took Josh and the spear out of the reach of those grasping hands. He steadied himself and stared at his attacker.

He was almost unrecognisable now as Sir Trevor, as dark taloned claws had taken the place of hands and wiry spines replaced his hair. His eyes had become multifaceted and his skin stretched tauter and black across his bones. He ripped the cloth of his well tailored suit away to reveal smaller appendages growing from his torso. When the metamorphosis was complete it threw back its arms and screeched at the sky.

Josh staggered backwards and fell once more. He couldn’t take his eyes off the terrible beast that had appeared before him. It was the most frightening thing he had ever imagined: a humanoid-arachnid demon with blazing eyes from a dream long forgotten. His heart thumped wildly in his chest and he felt the spear drop from his hands.

The beast saw the opening and sprang forward again with blinding speed, hissing. Its mouth was still mostly human, but the teeth within were like needles. It grasped Josh’s shoulders and tossed him into the air like a doll.

“You are defeated, Joshua. You are weak.”

Josh landed heavily. His head cracked against the rocky floor and tears blurred his vision. The spider beast stooped to lift up the spear.

“Leave it. Just leave it alone.” Josh blurted out.

The creature scuttled around with the spear grasped in one of its smaller hands. “So there is still spirit within you. How delightful.” For all its terrible physical changes the monster still retained a human voice and this incongruity made the words seem even more sinister.

Josh fought against his fear and managed to regain his feet again. The monster backed away and brandished the spear.

“I’ll just borrow this if you don’t mind.”

Josh’s mind heaved. Suddenly the island around him came sharply into focus. He knew that in some way this place was his mind and everything in it had been conjured from his imagination. And the spider monster belonged there too.

“I know what you are.”

“Really? At long last, you’ve worked it all out? Well, it’s about time.”

“Yes. It’s the only way you could have known to transform into one of my nightmares.”

“You’re just predictable.”

“No. You know what I fear, because you are my fear.”

The monster looked uncertain and Josh pressed on. “And if I can beat my fear then I can overcome you.”

The thing that had been Sir Trevor chuckled throatily. “You’re right of course. I am your fear. And your anger and frustration. You created me after your mummy died. Do you remember throwing those emotions away? Exiling me?” The creature advanced on Josh now, his insectile face coming closer and closer. “You threw me into Trinity Vale where I was almost consumed. But I survived and escaped to Vienopolis where I bided my time.”

The creature half turned away and Josh felt a surge of confidence. All he had to do was master his fear and anger and he could defeat this monster.

“Give me the spear.” He said commandingly.

The monster cringed and turned back slightly.

“There is something else you should know.” It said humbly.

“What?” Josh felt strong.

“Yours are now not the only emotions that I am made of.” And the spider creature whirled around and grew. It slashed at Josh’s face and chest with its dreadful claws. Josh felt the tearing of his skin and flesh and dropped once more to the ground. He clutched his hands to his eyes, trying to squeeze the pain from his forehead. “Those pathetic Delphixians fed me their fear and simple anguish. And that’s how I’ve grown so big.”

He could sense the monster rearing up before him.

The pain was hideous now. Josh’s wounds burned like fire where the spider monster’s claws had raked his face and he could sense a poison starting to seep into his blood.

He was helpless. He was on his elbows and knees now, with his head resting on his hands, waiting for the final, fatal blow.

“It is strange that you have caused such ripples in the consciousness of this world, Joshua. You are so weak.”

And then Josh heard it.

A whisper.

“I am here. Remember who you are.”

He clung to the voice that had nursed him to sleep as a baby and comforted him when he had hurt himself as a child; the voice he had missed for so long.

The pain and fear receded into a part of him that he could control. It was still there, but he knew now that he was not alone. He knew that somehow his mother was fighting for his survival.

He tried to open his eyes, but they were gummed together with blood. He was blind, but he pushed his hands down onto the stony ground and once more heaved himself to his feet.

“I am not afraid of you!”

“Oh stop it. Of course you’re afraid. You can’t see me and I can kill you any time I like.”

“Then do it.” Josh presented his chest as a target. “Kill me now. This isn’t real.”

“This is more real than anything else you know.” The monster seethed. “This is what drives the world. Thought is more powerful than any collection of molecules could ever be. Thought is the ultimate goal of matter. Don’t you understand?”

Josh didn’t know what to believe. He tried to distinguish between what he knew to be true and what was a lie, but he realised that without knowing something he could trust he would never be able to understand anything. He felt his strength seeping away from him and the fear growing stronger.

“Josh. I am here.” His mother’s voice was so far away.

With a flash of undoubted insight he knew what he could believe in. His mother loved him, and whether Trinity Vale was real or imaginary she had battled beyond death to help him in his moment of greatest need. That was truth.

And this was the trust he needed. It was the first step towards the leap of faith that was required to truly believe in himself. He remembered the sadness he felt when his mother died and knew that those feelings were real.

“Yes. I think I do understand.” Josh could sense his surroundings now. This island that he stood on existed within his mind and he didn’t require any imaginary eyes to see it. The spider monster stood before him with its claws raised ready to strike again, but Josh brushed him aside with a flicker of thought and as the hideous creature fell, it turned once more into a man.

Nothing could hurt him here now.

“Mum?”

A shimmering light approached him from the other side of the high plateau. It resolved itself into a woman’s shape and as she got closer, Josh could make out his mother’s pretty face. He ran to her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders and wept.

“Shhhh. I’m so proud of you, Josh.”

They stood in silence for a while, mother and son embracing atop a cliff overlooking an azure sea. Josh wanted to stay there forever.

His mother patted his back and gently pushed his shoulders away. She gazed intently into his eyes and smiled. “I’ll always be with you.” He could see that she was saying something more, but he didn’t want to understand, and so he just hugged her again.

“You have work to do now, Josh.”

He knew he was being selfish. He had lost her for so long, he didn’t want to let go again. He pulled away and nodded.

“I will see you again, won’t I?”

“Yes. I promise.” She knelt down and lifted N’rinde’s spear reverently. “You will need this.”

He took it and felt the power pulsing from it. He swung it experimentally to and fro, gauging its weight and reach. It had felt heavy and cumbersome before, but now it seemed like an extension of his arm.

He reached tentative fingers to his face and felt the congealed blood around his eyes. He wiped them, and somehow soothed away the clots that were obscuring his sight. His eyes opened.

Sir Trevor was cowering on the ground like a terrified animal. As Josh approached he tried to scramble away.

“Sir Trevor?”

The man jerked to a halt and stared at Josh quizzically. His features were recognisable, but there was someone else behind his frightened eyes. “Yes.” He stammered.

“Let me help you.”

“What’s happening?”

Josh could not begin to answer. “I will send you back.”

Quickly, so that he would not frighten the man more than he had to, he whipped his spear around and, with the flat side of it, struck him on the arm. The man yelped and tried to get out of Josh’s reach, but he was not hurt.

An eldritch light flowed out from the spear and encompassed the man. He thrashed about, trying to escape from his shining bonds, and then with a pop, he disappeared.

Josh felt exhilarated as if the exertion of power had fuelled his muscles.

“You must go now Josh. Help them.” His mother put a warm hand on his shoulder.

He smiled at her and disappeared.