Hal thought it prudent to retreat to the safety of the buildings as quickly as possible, but was sickened to discover that his legs wouldn’t obey his thoughts. Yet despite the stranger’s foreboding appearance, Hal felt no sense of threat. Instead, it was almost as if he was in a dream, watching the scene through someone else’s eyes.

‘I have searched for you across the worlds, for time upon time upon time,’ the giant began, ‘and now I find myself summoned to the place where you stand. Existence weaves a pattern that none of us can see.’

‘Who are you?’ Hal asked. The taste of iron filings numbed his mouth.

‘I am the Caretaker. I am the lamplighter. In the darkest of the dark, I ensure that a single flame burns. In the midst of chaos, I ensure that the home is kept safe and secure.’

Something supernatural, Hal’s sluggish brain thought. One of the gods?

‘Are you causing all this?’ Hal gestured towards the shimmering phantom city that kept overlaying itself on the Oxford skyline.

‘No. But it is serendipitous.’

Slowly, the Caretaker’s words wormed their way into Hal’s consciousness. ‘You’re looking for me?’

‘I come with a warning of greatest import: something has noticed you.’

‘What?’ Hal’s mind fumbled for meaning.

The Caretaker raised one huge hand and pointed up to the sprinkling of stars. ‘Out there, on the edge of Existence. It has seen you… and it is coming.’

Hal stared dumbly into the deep black depths of space. ‘What’s coming?’

The blue haze began to fade and the true outline of Oxford started to emerge into sharp relief once more. When Hal looked back at the Caretaker, the giant had retreated several paces, though Hal had not been aware of him walking away.