Epilogue

Lirael stared at the giant bell.

A year since it had rang – and here it remained. In this open-temple, exposed to the winds of the Old Kingdom, forever a reminder of what had been. The last bell of the seven. Quietly, Lirael sat facing the charter-marked marble altar on which Yrael, the eighth bell was placed, cushioned in navy velvet. As if pondering something, Lirael tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear.

A wet nose brushed her cheek and Lirael turned to stroke the dark fur of her best friend the world had ever gifted her with.

Lirael smiled as a warm breeze blew in from the East, a wind full of the spicy promise that autumn neared them all.

'Do you think they're all gone, Dog?' she whispered. 'All the dead? The bell... when I rang it... it felt like it would never stop until it found every one. It rested all it found. I know that now.'

The Dog sniffed and woofed as her mistress scratched her ears. 'I'm not entirely sure.' The Dog said gently. 'To my knowledge there will always be dead... death and such in the Old Kingdom. It would seem so strange not to.'

Lirael nodded. 'But I have not seen a single dead soul since last March. I really do think Yrael rested the most of them for good.'

The Dog sniffed, and nudged Lirael with her nose. 'Is it not something you wanted?' she enquired. 'Is it not a relief, to have the majority of your burdens removed?'

Lirael smiled, and her heart rose a little.

'So much has changed, Dog.' She whispered. 'I just don't know. I'm not sure of much any more. I just don't understand... I think... yes. If I'm not the Abhorsen-In-Waiting anymore or the Abhorsen – then... what am I?'

'You are Lirael Goldenhand.' The Dog replied, confidently. 'You are the aunt of the Queen and her brother. You are the lover of Nicholas Sayre and the mistress of me.'

Lirael smiled and kissed the dog's snout fondly.

'I know.' She said, and then sighed. 'I just wish Sabriel were...here. I wish I'd known her better.'

'She loved you.' The Dog assured gently, 'that is all you need to know. Mistress Sabriel would have always been the last Abhorsen... your mother saw it, long ago, so I was told. Your father told Sabriel this when the job first burdened her shoulders.'

'I think she knew,' said a new voice and Lirael turned to smile up at her nephew.

'Knew what?' she asked softly.

'I think that, all the while, she remembered what her father told her. Dad told me about the adventures they had when they first met... and there was a time when Kerrigor nearly killed her...and she thought it was her time. It wasn't. The Abhorsens of the past came to her and turned her back, telling her that the time of the Last Abhorsen was not then.'

Lirael's head drooped. 'It's so unfair,' she whispered, 'All her life she had the burden of the protection of the entirety of the Old Kingdom...'

'As did all other Abhorsens,' the Dog cut in. 'Don't waste your pity, Mistress Lirael, Sabriel did as all others before her did – she rested the dead. No other Abhorsen could have denied their blood-sent task. It was her Gift.'

'She's right, Lirael,' Sameth agreed, 'Mother never once regretted what she did. Never. Because she knew who she was – and she was happy.'

Sameth's re-assurance was strong, and Lirael nodded, suddenly satisfied.

She stood up, and he put his arms around her briefly. The Dog sniffed her fingers.

'How's Ellie?' She asked, watching as the sun melted into the sky – stretching her rays up to cast orange and crimson tides on the land around, the shadows lengthened, and the hills glowed with some ethereal blessing. Lirael cast her senses and was not surprised to find no dead nearby.

'She's fine.' Sameth whispered in her ear, and Lirael turned to rest her head on his shoulder. 'Good.' She smiled to herself. 'Mariias? Is she still arranging a date?'

'The Fourteenth.' Sameth murmured proudly.

Lirael smiled and went to Yrael's final gift to the family to which he was for so long tied to. Her hands found the charter marks and they glowed instantaneously. Lirael thought she heard a mew.

As the sun went down and Sameth went to find his fiancée, Lirael and the dog stood and watched the closing night sky, slowly, carefully, the blanket of star-embroided night was laid over the vast Old-Kingdom skies.

The Dog sat in between Lirael's legs and turned her head to look at her mistress. Lirael stroked her absently.

'Happy?' her dear friend asked, watching her with wide, dark eyes.

'Yes.' Lirael said with some surprise. 'I am.'

END

A/N: Ok, ok, I know that was a bit of a take from the Sabriel ending but I really couldn't resist – did you like it? I hope you're all satisfied about how I ended, and for all queries concerning the issue of Sabriel being the last Abhorsen: read the book! Hehe. I thought I'd end with a happy note: a dead-free Old kingdom. However that doesn't mean to say there isn't plenty of Free magic Beasties about! Who knows... I may return to this someday.

For now though,

'Does the Walker Choose The Path, Or The Path The Walker?'

Wild Blood Rose