Fred and Uncas were still reluctant to leave Tummeler, but Samaranth assured them that he would not leave his friend alone. “Where he went, I’ll soon follow,” the angel said. “He is not alone.”
“That’s all I needed to hear,” Fred said, wiping the tears from his face. “Let’s go.”
With one last farewell to the two angels, the reunited friends standing in the doorway at the inn on the shores of heaven, the companions stepped through the trump just as the last grain of sand circled the neck of the hourglass and fell.
♦ ♦ ♦
“All right, what now?” Rose asked.
“Now,” a voice said from above, “we are going to change history.”
The companions all spun about as the Indigo Dragon rose up behind them. Mr. Kirke was at the wheel and held the reins.
“Curse it all!” Charles spat. “With the airship, they have the high ground!”
“Not all of it!” Laura Glue exclaimed as she spread her wings and leaped into the air. No one was surprised by the Valkyrie taking to the air—but all of them were surprised when Madoc beat his wings and rose into the air next to her.
“That won’t help you,” Kirke shouted over the din of the waterfall. “I still have the advantage.”
“That’s what you think,” said Fred. He stuck his paws in his mouth and whistled shrilly, twice, then again. “Coraline! Elly Mae!” he shouted. “To the moon!”
Instantly both goats shot straight up into the air, pulling the airship with them.
“Good girls!” Fred shouted. “Left rudder! Right rudder!”
At the commands, the goats spun about and flew in opposite directions, flipping the airship upside down and releasing their harnesses at the same time.
“Oh, hell,” said Mr. Kirke.
The airship crashed to the ground and exploded into shards of wood and metal, which sent the companions flying for cover and threw Kirke and Bangs into the rocks at the edge of the island.
Instantly Dee’s henchmen were on their feet and rushing at the companions, who were still regaining their composure after the crash of the Indigo Dragon.
Kirke ran first to Rose and grabbed Caliburn out of the scabbard. He circled the others warily, holding the sword menacingly in front of him.
“You’re outnumbered,” Madoc warned him, “and if you try to use that sword, it will break on you. I promise you that.”
“Not if I’m worthy,” said Kirke as Bangs circled around in the other direction. “And a part of me must be, or I wouldn’t be holding it now.”
“Who are you?” Rose asked, eyes narrowing.
“My friend, Mr. Bangs, was a tulpa,” Kirke said. “The first Dee ever created, from a shadow of a whisper of the last words spoken by the first Imago, who was murdered by his elder brother.”
“Abel,” Jack whispered. “Dee made a tulpa out of Abel.”
“Indeed,” Kirke said. “But he was imperfect. I, however, am not. And I intend to claim my due, and inherit the earth.”
“You’re a tulpa too, aren’t you?” asked Rose. “So who are you, really?”
“You should know,” Kirke said, looking at Charles. “As should you,” he added, looking now at Jack. “Having any headaches lately?”
“Oh, dear Lord in heaven,” Charles exclaimed, growing pale. “Why do I have to be in the middle of every awful thing that happens in the Archipelago?”
“Who is it?” Jack asked.
Kirke took off his glasses, and suddenly they all recognized him.
“You, Jack,” he said, smiling. “I’m you.”
♦ ♦ ♦
Before the companions could react, Kirke leaped out at Rose, but it was only a feint—one he had been taught by Laura Glue and Hawthorne. Madoc immediately leaped to protect her, and Kirke cut a vicious stroke across one of his wings, dropping the Dragon to the ground in agony.
“I know everything you know, Jack,” Kirke said, still smiling, “and I know all your moves before you make them.”
Suddenly Bangs jumped forward and struck Laura Glue a terrible blow on the head, and she fell unconscious. Edmund let out a cry and swung a fist at Bangs, who countered it easily and then pinned the young Cartographer to the ground.
“One by one, you are losing allies, Jack,” Kirke said menacingly, “and with every second that passes, I grow stronger while you grow weaker. You’ve lost,” he continued, his voice triumphant. “You’ve lost everything now. All that remains is for you to kneel at my feet and acknowledge the truth of things—that this world belongs now and forever to the Echthroi.”