The First Dragon(82)
“That,” Jack said, suddenly calmer, “is the first mistake I’ve seen you make, ‘Mr. Kirke.’ ”
“Mistake?” Kirke said, momentarily confused. “What mistake?”
“You’re not Echthroi,” said Jack. “Not if you can wield Caliburn. And that means you are more like me than you think. And you may know how to beat all my friends, but I,” he said, feeling more confident with every passing second, “know how to defeat you.”
Kirke’s face drew into a rictus mask of anger. “Just try it, Caretaker,” he hissed. “I am going to rule this world.”
At this Jack stepped forward, and to the others’ astonishment, he was smiling. “That,” he said, rolling up his sleeves, “is never going to happen.”
Kirke frowned, and his eyes narrowed. “You have nothing left, no allies who can defeat me. It . . . is . . . over.”
“Over?” Jack snorted. “It’s never over until you win—and for you to do that, all we have to do is stop. Defeating you might just be impossible—but as long as we continue to fight, you can’t win. You’ll never win. And if it takes an eternity, I swear by all that’s holy on earth and in heaven, I will never stop. Never. Never. Never.”
“Jack, this is the moment!” Charles exclaimed. “The one written about in the Histories! The fate of the past, present, and future of the world is at stake! If he defeats you, you’ll die—and he will become Lord Winter in the future! This is the moment when the Echthroi take over! You can’t just—”
His friend cut him off with a calmly upraised hand. “It’s all right, old fellow,” Jack said as he moved to engage Kirke.
“I got this.”
♦ ♦ ♦
“We are the same,” Kirke said, stepping back but still brandishing the sword. “We share the same aiua, you and I—and I am growing stronger. Soon I will have it all, and you will be dead.”
“The headaches!” Rose exclaimed as she tended to the injured Madoc. “That’s why Jack has been getting sick! There have been two of him this whole time! One, the living, breathing Jack in Prime Time, who then became the portrait at Tamerlane, and the other, the tulpa that Charles made and Dr. Dee corrupted!”
“Exactly so,” said Kirke. “But I wasn’t corrupted, I’m who Jack really is. Your father saw that in me the first time we met, all those years ago.”
“You’re a part of me, yes,” Jack said. “A part, but not all.”
“This is reality, Jack!” Kirke exclaimed. “You cannot defeat me, because I am your opposite number. I am the player on the other side, and we are as evenly matched as any two men in history—except I am stronger.”
“No,” Jack said as a sudden realization flooded through him. “You aren’t.”
He put down his arms and simply looked at Kirke.
“We can never stop fighting against our own nature,” Jack said softly, “but we can accept it as a part of who we are, and embrace it. Look around you,” he continued. “Your masters have abandoned you. It is your allies who have been defeated, not mine. And the Archipelago is about to be restored to the world, in service of the Word.”
“Nnnnnaaaaghhhhh!!!” Kirke screamed. “I won’t permit it! You cannot do this, Jack! I . . .” He stopped, then dropped to his knees, and the cries of defiance turned to plaintive whimpers.
“I don’t want to go!” he exclaimed, almost pleading. “I want to live! I deserve to live!”
“Yes, you do,” Jack said, kneeling in front of the tulpa. “And you shall, as a part of me. The part I could not deny when I was young, and cannot deny now.”
“Mr. Bangs!” Kirke cried, more weakly now. “Help me!”
But the other tulpa had already stopped fighting and was simply standing apart from the others, watching.
“Don’t worry,” Jack said as he reached out to embrace the tulpa. “I know who you are, and I accept you, and you are not alone.”
The Caretaker wrapped his arms around his shadow-self and pulled him close. The tulpa resisted a moment more, and then gave up his resistance. Kirke started to fade, turning back into the smoke from which he was made, and in seconds, he was gone.
Jack stood up and brushed off his trousers, then walked to the edge of the waterfall and simply stood there, looking out into the abyss.
“That’s all well and good,” Fred said as he, Uncas, and Charles helped their injured friends, “but what’s to be done with Bangs there? I don’t think any of us is equipped t’ hug him into smoke.”