24The cold, sour smelling air hit my face as the starshape faded out. It was daylight this time, but it didn't help make the place look any more inviting. Fog covered the ground and the air was heavy with rain. I could only barely make out the large hut in the misty distance.
"Let me go this time," Ryder said, walking towards the hut and the guards with their crossed spears.
Milon opened his mouth, then apparently changed his mind and only watched with an uncomfortable look on his face as Ryder approached the guard on our left. The guard was even taller than Ryder and he looked down on him with cold indifference.
"I want to see her," Ryder told the guard.
He was obviously used to getting what he wanted, but the guard made no move to let him in.
"Pitch..." Milon said.
"So, are you going to let me in or not?" Ryder asked the guard.
The huge man did not reply, but drew a long, ornately decorated knife from his belt.
"I don't think they talk," Milon said, "you have to offer proof of good intentions."
"And how do I do that?"
"Blood. I They can tell if your honest by the taste of your blood."
So, that's why the guard had bitten Milon. He still had a pink mark on his neck, although it was healing at a fantastic rate. Ryder looked disgusted but rolled up his sleeve and held out his arm toward the guard. The guard pulled his arm up and I got a glimpse of a set of razor sharp fangs before he re-sheathed his knife and sunk his teeth into Ryder's wrist.
The let go of Ryder's arm and looked from him to Milon and back. He was probably wondering why the change of visitor all of a sudden. It was almost like he wanted to give us the hint that it would be better if Milon went inside, but eventually, the guards uncrossed their spears and allowed Ryder to open the door to the hut.
He was inside for about five minutes, while we waited outside. Milon looked very nervous, stepping from foot to foot and glancing anxiously toward the door.
Suddenly, the door burst open and Ryder ran out, stumbling. He had a haunted look on his face, and his eyes were red rimmed, like he had been crying. Milon watched him with silent understanding.
"What happened?" I asked him, but he only shook his head and kept walking away from us.
"What happened?" I called after him.
Milon put his hand on my arm.
"Leave it," he said, "I'll go."
He walked up to the guards, who crossed their spears in front of the door.
"Let me through," Milon said, but the guards didn't move.
Milon turned and looked me in the eyes, then blinked hard. I got the message. I squeezed my eyes shut and covered my face with my hands. I could still see red light through my hands and eyelids, but it was gone in a heartbeat. When I looked up, one of the guards was already on the ground, and the other one was teetering on his feet. Milon pushed him over and pulled the door open. It had not taken five seconds for him to get past them.
I probably should have left it, I shouldn't have followed him, but I was curious. I wanted to see what this "Infinity" woman was like, and what she could possibly have done to reduce a man like Ryder to tears. I ran for the door and caught it before it closed.
The inside of the hut looked larger than the outside. The walls were covered with vines and climbing flowers. They seemed to grow in an uneven spiral pattern towards the centre of the room. I'm not sure what I had expected Infinity to look like, I just know this wasn't it. She looked like something from the stone-age. Crouched down on all fours like an animal. Wild, straggly hair that must never have been brushed, and animal hides for clothes. She looked positively feral as she stared at Milon, who was walking towards her with his knife at the ready.
"I know what you're doing!" Milon said, "and I have to stop you! People's lives might not seem significant compared to the size of the universe but you can't play around with them like this!"
The wild woman didn't look like she could understand him. She crawled towards him, grabbing at his clothes. He pushed her away.
"No!" he said, "I don't need to see anything more. I just need you to stop interfering. Give me the crystal."
Infinity didn't seem to get the message. She sprung off the ground, lunging at Milon, knocking him over. From the ferocity of the attack, I thought she was going to bite him or try to hurt him, but the way she was moving on top of him made me realise she had a totally different idea.
"Get off!"
Milon pushed her off him violently. From the disgusted look on his face, and her apparent enjoyment, I could only guess as to what had been going on here.
In the centre of the room, there was a sort of shallow depression in the ground, and something sparkling in the muted green light. As Infinity leapt at Milon again, I stepped around them and picked up the sparkling item. It must be the crystal Milon had been talking about. It was the size of my fist, multifacetted and clear. I held it up and Infinity froze in her place. She stared at the crystal in my hand, coiling up, like a cat ready to pounce.
Milon quickly took it from my hand and threw it at an exposed bit of rock in the corner. The crystal shattered into fine dust. Infinity threw her head back and howled like a wolf in pain.
"What was it?" I asked.
"Her window into the other worlds. But she was abusing it, turning the lives and deaths of people into some kind of entertainment. I hate it when people do that!"
If that comment was a joke, it was lost on me. Infinity looked like a dog that had just got a good whipping. Her head was hanging down, the matte, straggly hair obscuring her face. She crawled on her hands and knees to Milon's feet, leaning her head against him.
Suddenly, the door burst open and Ryder strode in, clutching the long ceremonial-looking knife that the main guard had carried. He looked like he had revenge on his mind. He brushed Milon out of the way like he was a curtain and grabbed the defeated Infinity by the throat, hauling her to her feet. She squirmed in his grip but could not break free.
"You have played with me for the last time!" he said, "So, I miss people, who doesn't? You want my tears? Let's see your own!"
He raised the knife in front of her face. She started kicking more wildly, but Ryder's grip was unbreakable. When he spoke again, it was in that ice-cold tone that always gave me goosepimples.
"Whatever you least want to give me, isn't that how it goes? You like watching... how about I take your eyes?"
The howl that rose from Infinity's throat was even more heartbreaking than the one she had let out when Milon broke her crystal. She started thrashing wildy in Ryder's grip, shrieking like a terrified child.
"Pitch, don't," Milon said, "The crystal is gone. She can't do anymore damage. Let her go."
"And you call yourself the angel of vengeance..."
"No. I don't. That's the whole point. We have Sophie back, we've destroyed Dr. Milton's files and equipment. We've disabled Infinity's spyglass. Let's just go home."
Ryder turned his face away from the hysterical cave woman and looked at Milon. There was a strange little smile on his face.
"How many times?"
"How many times what?"
"How many times are you going to try and act my conscience?"
Milon shrugged his shoulders.
"I guess as many as it takes. Can we go now? Please?"
Ryder shook his head, then let go of his grip around Infinity's neck. The wild woman scrabbled away from him on the floor, crouching against a wall, looking lost.
"And what about you, Kennedy," Ryder said, "Where are you going to go after this?"
I really had no idea. The lack of purpose was dizzying. Then I looked at Milon. He had nowhere to go either. From what I had seen in Sean's memories, Milon had been locked up in a mental home until he decided to go off and find Sophie. He couldn't have a home to go to anymore than me. Maybe finding one for us would be enough of a challenge.
"I don't know," I answered the question, "I guess I'll have to find somewhere that'll have me. I don't have a family."
Milon looked up at me, like I had known that he would. Ryder had said that it would be hard psychological labour, bringing Milon around to the idea of a relationship again, but the way he looked right now, I thought it might just be worth it. See if I could make the snowman melt. Hey, it was a kind of a mission.