The First Dragon(55)

“That word will do,” said Enoch. “Look—they are there, above.”

For the first time, the companions actually took their eyes off the entrancing scenery and looked to the sky—and they realized what it was that was creating such an ethereal glow over the landscape.

The Archons were immense personages, less giants than men and women seen through a lens of majesty. Five beings, floating high in the air, were sitting cross-legged in the center of impossible geometries of light. They were drawing in the air as Enoch had been, but where he was simply making shapes and figures, they were weaving tapestries that moved and flowed with life. It was creation itself painted in the air above them.

“Astonishing,” Charles murmured. “And you can commune with them?”

Enoch looked surprised. “Of course,” he said. “I am one of them. I simply wore this body to make it easier to commune with you.”

As if on cue, the Archons turned their heads, noticing for the first time that they were being observed. The light around them brightened—and when it faded again, five men and women had joined Enoch.

“These are the other Makers,” Enoch said by way of introduction, “at least, all of us save for one. This is Abraxas and Eidolon, and Sophia and Lilith, and this—” he gestured to the last man—“is Seth. My father.”

“Seth,” said Charles. “You are—you are a son of the Adam, then?”

The Archon nodded. “One of them, at least.” He gestured at Rose. “Is that my father’s box?” Seth asked. He was pointing at the Serendipity Box in Rose’s bag.

“I believe it is,” she answered, handing it to him. “Would you like to have it back?”

“I would,” he answered, “if you have no further use for it.”

“A shame,” Laura Glue said. “I never actually got to use it.”

“You should,” said Seth, proffering the box to the Valkyrie. “The one mistake people always make with the box is waiting until the need is both mortal and immediate before deciding to open it—and ofttimes, that’s the moment when they realize it’s already too late.”

Laura Glue grinned and flipped open the lid. Inside was a space far larger than the box could have contained—an endlessly vast void.

“Ah,” Seth said, nodding in approval. “A larger gift. Those are always interesting.”

“Is that good or bad?” asked Fred.

“Neither,” Seth replied. “It’s merely interesting.”

The young Valkyrie reached into the box to her shoulder. “I can just feel it,” she said, screwing up her face with effort. “It’s . . . just . . . out . . . of . . . my . . . Aha! Got it!”

Triumphantly she pulled out a tall, narrow hourglass. It appeared to have been made from bone, and had a valve in the center, where the glass was narrowest between the globes. The upper sphere was empty, but the lower was half-filled with a very fine alabaster-colored sand that seemed to glow in the waning light.

“Hmm,” she said, frowning. “It’s just an hourglass.”

“Not just any hourglass,” Seth said, reaching out to examine the device, “and not filled with any ordinary sand. These particles of dust were gathered on the shores of the ocean that reaches to heaven, and can forestall death itself for a full hour. If it’s carried on a vessel, all who travel aboard it will be immune from the call of death until the last of the sand runs out.”

“Holy cats!” Fred exclaimed. “That’s like the best thing ever!”

“Except for lemon curd,” said Uncas. “But yes, all things considered, it’s pretty keen.”

Laura Glue handed back the box, and Seth held it to his ear. “Hmm,” he said. “It sounds as if there is one gift left to it.” He handed it back to Rose. “You’d better keep it, just in case. Father would be happy to know it’s been so thoroughly put to use over the centuries.”

“You’ve given us great gifts,” Madoc said as the Archons and companions seated themselves in a circle around the clearing. He looked up at Archie soaring happily around the treetops, and at the Valkyrie’s hourglass and the Serendipity Box. “We have very little to offer you in return.”

“I have a broken sword,” Rose answered wryly. “It was a great weapon, once.”

At Enoch’s urging, she removed the shattered pieces of Caliburn from her bag and handed them to the Archon.

“It is great still,” Enoch said. “It is Named—and it still has great power. It needs only to be repaired. Would you like one of us to do so? It is easily arranged.”