“I exiled myself from Mittlegard in 632,” said Loki impatiently. “The Roman Empire had fallen, Christians were all over Europe, Byzantium ruled the East, of course I know about the Semitic gods. I studied in Egypt, I had all the gospels, I had the ancient Coptic lore. What do you think I want to teach this boy?”

“How should we know?” said Marion. “If we knew it, we would have taught him ourselves.”

“Teaching you is the most dangerous thing that I can do,” said Loki, “because once you know it, if the Belgod captures you then all is lost and Westil is undone.”

“Don’t teach me, then,” said Danny.

“But only you have the power to stand against him. Look at me! Think what I did! If I had the power to stand against him, do you think I would have eaten all the gates and run away?”

“I have no more power than you,” said Danny.

“You have a thousand times my power,” said Loki, “and that is what it’s going to take. My knowledge and your power. But you have to trust me, and I don’t know how to win your trust, because you know better than anyone what liars we gatemages always are.”

“I don’t always lie,” said Danny.

“Only when you speak,” said Loki.

“I’m not just like every other gatemage,” said Danny. “I made the choice not to lie.”

“Too bad,” said Loki. “Because unless you can lie, with the expertise at lying that comes from long practice, you will lose against the Belgod, because he is the father of lies, and yet you must deceive him or you are doomed.”

“Do the job yourself!” cried Danny.

“I couldn’t do it even if you gave me back my gates!” Loki answered him. “Even if I ate this Wild Gate, as long as you are alive in the world, he’ll lay his traps for you until he has you and then you can make a thousand gates to let him through, and he’ll use your millions of gates to rule both worlds and none will ever stand against him, not in a thousand years, not in ten thousand, not in a billion years.”

Danny didn’t know whether to believe him or laugh. So he made a joke. “Well, there is the heat death of the universe.”

“I have no idea what that means,” said Loki.

“The ultimate result of entropy,” said Danny.

Loki looked at him blankly.

“The end of everything.”

“Fool,” said Loki. “There is no ‘end of everything.’ What you call dying or ending is nothing but changes in the shapes of things. Who told you such nonsense? Only Belgod benefits from telling such a lie.”