“Why?”

“It is not good to know what awaits you after death. Thomas knows-and it is a burden to him. Thomas wishes to come here. Far away from cruel and greedy people. Far away from human evil and human good. It is so sweet…to live in a world of Others…”

“Live?”

“Live, young magician… Here even vampires have no need of blood. Here everything is different, otherwise. Everything is the way it should be. Here is the real world…on the fifth and sixth levels, and the seventh-the very greatest. Here the towers of wise men studying the world of creation soar up to the heavens; cities full of Light and Dark seethe with vital life; unicorns roam through virgin forests and dragons guard their mountain caves. We shall come here…I sooner, and you later…and our friends will come out to greet us. I shall also be glad to greet you, young magician…”

A gigantic arm hugged me around the shoulders as if I were a child. Foma heaved a deep, heavy sigh and continued, “But it is not yet time. Not yet time. If I had been able to reach the seventh level…I would not have come back. But my Power is not sufficient for that. And yours will not be either, young magician…”

“I’m in no hurry for the time being,” I muttered. “I have…”

What did I have? A wife and daughter? They were Others, Higher Others. We could all depart together. For the cities of Light and Dark…where our fallen friends were happy together, where no one remembered about those stupid little human people…

I shuddered. Was I dreaming, or had I become taller too? Or had Lermont started to shrink?

“Foma, let’s get going!”

“Wait. Look at this!”

A white light had started dancing above our heads. Foma reached out his hand and pointed to a slab of transparent red stone hidden in the grass under our feet. What was this, a ruby the size of a large tea tray?

I squatted down, ran my hand across the smooth surface, and looked at the lines and dashes of Celtic runes.

“What’s written here, Foma?”

“Merlin wrote that,” Lermont said with a thoughtful note in his voice. “Merlin wrote that it is the keyhole and the final key, both at the same time. It says here in Coelbren”-he paused-“if we say it in high style…then…”

“Say it in any style!” I exclaimed, feeling the time slipping away.

The Crown of All Things is here concealed. Only one step is left.

But this is a legacy for the strong or the wise-

Foma spoke in a strange voice, one that was higher and more tuneful. And at the first words he spoke, the letters carved in the stone started to glow, as if someone had lit up a powerful lamp underneath it. One after another the letters were transformed into slim columns of light, shooting up into the sky.

You shall receive all and nothing, when you are able to take it.

Proceed, if you are as strong as I;

Or go back, if you are as wise as I.

Beginning and end, head and tail, all is fused in one

In the Crown of All Things. Thus are life and death inseparable.

The final letter flared into white brilliance just as Lermont spoke the final word.

“I hate karaoke,” I said. “What does all this mean?”

“Thomas knows no more than you do, young magician,” said the giant, clutching me in his arms. “And now, let’s be leaving!”

I thought Lermont was going to step straight into the real world. But no, he went to the fifth level first and waved to Semyon and the black guy.

“Leave!” he shouted.

They didn’t have to be asked twice. Then Lermont winked at me, leaned down over the golem, and jerked Merlin’s Rune out of the snake’s body.

The beast’s eyes flashed in fury, its trunk swirled up into the air, and both of its mouths opened wide in unison.

But we were already out of the Guard’s reach. In the ordinary human world. In a room full of dead bodies.

The once-more overweight, aging Lermont put me down and collapsed on the floor. His face was covered with sweat. There were even beads of it hanging on the ends of his mustache.

We were surrounded by a familiar bustle-Light Others were taking prints of auras, studying the bodies, collecting small pieces of flesh and drops of blood for analysis. When I arrived, and Semyon arrived straight after me, we were immediately met with wary glances, and I felt the probes of spells slipping over my body. When they discovered that we were Light Ones, and high-ranking, the watchmen withdrew their probes in embarrassment.

I saw Bruce off to one side. The Master of vampires no longer looked like a walking corpse, the rosy bloom having returned to his cheeks. He was squatting in the corner, drinking something from a glass. I didn’t try to see exactly what it was.

“Well, I never!” said Semyon, shaking his head. He looked absolutely happy. “I never even imagined I’d see the fifth level someday, like the Great Gesar or Thomas the Rhymer. Oh…now I can die happy!”

He winked at me.

“I’ll sew your mouth shut,” Lermont declared in a very familiar tone of voice. “The fifth level of the Twilight is no subject for idle talk.”

“Aha,” Semyon agreed quickly. “It’s just my stupid way of nattering.”

“Foma…” I reached out one hand to help the magician up. “Thank you…for coming back. And for showing me-Thank you for that.”

“Let’s go,” said Foma, walking quickly through to the next room and the mooring, where the metal boat was swaying on the dark water. I followed him. Lermont hung an umbrella of silence over us and the noise immediately died away. “Did you want to ask something?”

“Yes. Who are they?”

“I don’t know.” Foma took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat off his face. “Several attempts have already been made to reach the legacy of Merlin. But I’m not certain it was these Others who tried. The last attempt was more than a century ago. And in particular, no one has ever made such wide use of humans before… This is all very serious, Anton. But we’ve been lucky-Merlin has puzzled everybody with the third key.”

“What does that poem mean?”

“It’s a riddle. In those days they were very fond of riddles, Anton. It was considered good form to give your opponent a chance to beat you. Even if it was only the bare ghost of a chance.”

“One thing is clear: Apart from simply going head-on, trying to break through into the seventh level, there’s an alternative route,” I said.

“It looks that way. But I don’t know what to say to you about that. And if I did, I wouldn’t say it.”

“Are you going to guard Merlin’s hiding place until the end of time?”

“For as long as I can,” said Lermont, turning the Rune of Merlin over in his hands. He sighed. “At least now the Guard is watching over the fifth level again. Next time the enemy will have to subdue it.”

“Destroy the Rune, Foma!”

He shook his head. “There aren’t any simple answers, Anton. If the Rune is destroyed, the Guard will disappear too. I’ll hide it as securely as I can. You don’t need to know how. And…thank you for your help.”

“Meaning, ‘Now get lost’?” I asked, smiling.

“Meaning, ‘Thank you for your help.’ The more outsiders there are here, the more fuss there will be over everything that has happened. I’m grateful to you, and to Semyon. Your plane tickets will be delivered to your hotel.”

“Fair enough. And thank you, Foma.” I bowed. “May you walk with the Light!”

“Wait,” Lermont said in a gentle voice. He walked up to me and embraced me. “I mean it: Thank you. Don’t take offense. We’re going to have a lot of problems here, and a lot of visitors from the Inquisition. Do you really want to get stuck here for a month?”

“Guard the Crown well, Foma,” I said after a pause.

“Think about what you’ve seen, Anton. I’m sure that one of your compatriots is involved in what has happened. Approach the mystery from your side-and we’ll meet again.”

“If I find whoever it is from our side, I’ll tear his legs off and stick them in his ears. Good-bye, Thomas the Rhymer!”