Chapter 027: A Fair Fight
"If
you want to know what's behind the show
You
ride my carousel and enter life's jail cell
Love
and blood begin to melt
You've
lost the self that you once held
Merry
go round your head
Awake,
asleep, alive or dead."
Carousel
- Mr. Bungle
It rained and it rained and it rained. Dorian told himself that never in
all his time in Shadow, and that was goodness knows how long - three years, was
it, or four? - never had he seen so much rain. Hours and hours and hours.
Yes, that would be a good way to tell it to my
children, if it ever came to that. We had agreed that Murlas should do the
shifting on this little trip, since he had a better impression of Lisa, having
run into her once or twice when investigating the Black Unicorn business. My own
impression of the lady in question was that of a long haired girl emptying a
machine gun in my general direction. It was more than Rhiane knew about her and
it was not something I'd be likely to forget, but at the same time it wasn't
enough to base a Hellride on.
So, Murlas was in the lead and he had apparently
decided to do without all the niceties of Shadow. If it hadn't been so wet I
would have said that he took off like a bat out of hell. The rain slowed us down
considerably and it only seemed to be getting worse and worse. I had some
difficulty making out Murlas's hooded shape through the thick veils of rain in
front of me. I just hoped that he knew what he was doing here.
Just when I was starting to get used to being wet
and miserable the temperature began to plummet, turning the rain into sleet
which hampered our journey even further. Somehow we had ended up on a tiny
little mountain trail with only barely enough room for our horses. With the rain
hiding most of the surroundings from my eyes I had no idea how high up
we were, but knowing Murlas's luck it would probably be a long drop for
the unfortunate one whose horse would lose its footing. The incessant sleet and
the fact that the trail was getting smaller by the minute didn't help to really
put me at ease.
Suddenly my horse stopped. I looked up and saw that
Murlas had come to the end of the trail. Ahead of him a cave mouth loomed up,
dark and ominous. There was no room on the trail to turn our horses around, so
it seemed that we would have to explore this cave whether we liked it or not. It
was very dark inside, a darkness that none of us could dispell, for nobody had
thought about bringing any torches. My horse whinnied nervously and the others
appeared restless too; there was something here that they didn't like. I
muttered a little under my breath and started concentrating. There, in the
dungeons of Amber, one torch, and then up to the kitchens to light it. I felt
like a bit of a magician, conjuring up the torch from under my cloak as if it
were a white rabbit or a dove. I glanced at my companions, expecting all kinds
of questions, but they didn't seem to be very curious. Perhaps they thought that
I had brought one along after all. In the flickering light we could see a few
white and blue, snake-like creatures slither away. Probably those were what had
scared the horses.
Satisfied that there was enough light to travel by, Murlas directed his
horse deeper into the cave. We followed close behind of course, and after a
while the walls began to change to a more fluorescent substance, thus making our
progress a lot easier. I soon noticed, however, that the walls weren't the only
things that were changing: the ground slowly became more level, its rough rock
surface replaced by smooth white tiles. Murlas must still be shifting, I guess.
A couple of minutes later I could extinguish my torch, since the corridor/tunnel
we we travelling in was now brightly lit by evenly spaced electric lamps.
Clearly a high-tech Shadow. It reminded me a bit of the time we had come to
Angel City.
There was a strangely familiar recurring noise
ahead of us: a sudden rush, quickly building up to a crescendo, which then
slowly dwindled away. Only when we came to the end of the corridor did I realize
what I had been hearing: we were in an underground station. While we stood there
taking in our surroundings a train pulled into the station and when the doors
opened a man stepped out. He looked around and as he caught sight of us he
smiled and started walking towards us. Uh oh, I had seen that expression before:
I didn't know who this guy was, but it was clear that he had been expecting to
see us here. He was blond haired and rather broad shouldered and he wore a long
raincoat. I glanced at the others, but like me they were just waiting to see
what was going to happen.
"Well, Murlas," the stranger said when he
had got close enough, "it's been a while, hasn't it?" What? Did Murlas
know this guy? A quick glance in his direction revealed nothing; Murlas's
expression could have been that of a very good poker player.
"Indeed it has," he replied. "I
assume that this meeting is not altogether coincidental, is it?" Mr. X
smiled.
"One can safely assume that, I guess. If you
would be so kind to introduce me to this delightful young lady and this nice
young man."
"Of course," Murlas said, and proceeded
to give Mr. X the whole official rollcall, you know, with titles and such. Mr. X
was simply introduced to us as Monias. No titles, no pedigree, nothing. I
wondered just where Murlas had met this fellow before. Knowing him, however,
asking it outright would be no use. If Murlas would tell it to me, he would do
so when he saw fit. Monias kissed Rhiane's hand, nodded politely to me, and then
resumed the conversation.
"I understand that the three of you are
looking for someone," he said.
"That is correct," Murlas said.
"Well, maybe I can be of assistance."
"Why?" Murlas asked. Yes, I thought, why
would you, a total stranger, want to help us find Lisa? Or in other words,
what's in it for you?
"Don't you trust me?" Monias asked with
an innocent smile. Then his expression turned more serious. "It's not for
your sake that I offer you my help, but for another party's. I think it simply
would be better for her if you were to find the lady."
"What party are we talking about here?" I
asked. If only these people would speak more plainly.
"Why, Melusine of course." I looked
non-comprehendingly. "I believe you know her under the name Lisa," he
added. "That's what she calls herself most of the time."
"We had already got the idea that finding her
would be for her own good," Murlas said, "but what is your involvement
in all this?"
"I don't want her to get harmed," Monias
explained, "but I'm not in any position to offer her asylum. Amber, on the
other hand, is in that position..." He reached into his inside pocket and
produced a Trump which he offered to Murlas. "This is a Trump of
Quendor," he said. "I have reason to believe that you will find her
there."
For once that was a familiar name. Quendor was a
Shadow which lay more or less on the border between Amber and Chaos. It was
considered to be neutral territory, and as such it had begun to flourish in the
first few years after the War. That was before all the latest trouble, though,
so I didn't know what the current circumstances would be like over there.
Quendor was a bit of a strange Shadow, in that its technology was roughly at the
same level of say Shadow Earth, but besides that it also featured some rather
high magical activity. All in all it sounded like a logical hideout for someone
like Lisa.
Monias glanced at his watch. "Well," he
said, "I must be going. Hope you will be successful." Shortly after
that another train entered the station and after a short goodbye he boarded and
left. Rhiane looked a bit puzzled at the sight of the train; I guess she had
never been in a high-tech Shadow before. I quickly told her a few things she
ought to know, with the unforseen result that she got really excited about
riding on a train. I said that we didn't have the time for such things right
now, but I promised her that I would take her to Earth, some time when we
weren't so busy. This wasn't a holiday trip we were on, though.
"It appears we have a choice," Murlas
said, "whether to use this Trump or not."
"How well do you know this Monias?" I
asked him.
"Let us say that I know him only as one of
Galoran's servants. And no, I will not vouch for him." Galoran again. It
seemed that he was everywhere lately.
"Do you think the Trump might be
trapped?" Rhiane asked.
"We will not know until we try," Murlas
said. "Perhaps it would be best if one of us were to use it and then Trump
back to us. Unfortunately I do not know all that much about Trumps." I
sighed. What he really meant was that he was not going to be the one to try it.
This kind of behaviour would get us nowhere.
"Give me that Trump," I said. He shrugged
and gave it to me.
"Oh," he said, "which reminds me,
Dorian..."
"Yes, yes," I grumbled and gave him the
Black Trump too. I know I had promised him earlier, but still. He hadn't found
it on his own, had he?
My Pattern vision told me that the Quendor Trump
was akin to both the Black Trump and Algo's Trumps: no Pattern, but lots of
Nexus. I couldn't detect any traps, so I decided just to chance it. Contact came
rather easily: the Trump was focused on a spot just outside of the city proper.
The weather seemed to be quite fine over there; a great improvement considering
what we had just gone through.
"It all seems quite safe," I said to the
others.
"Then we might as well go and take a
look," Murlas replied. I nodded, but then I realised that there was a
slight problem: the horses. We couldn't really take them with us, since Quendor
was sufficiently high-tech for people to have things like cars an such, but on
the other hand we couldn't leave them here either, since the head groom had
started muttering something about wanting some kind of pawn, like for instance a
deck of Trumps, from the people who never brought back their specially trained
steeds. The solution was simple, of course: we had to Trump our horses back to
Amber. I said as much to the others and Rhiane immediately said that she wasn't
coming, not back to Amber. Sigh! I forgot about her `personal problems'. Soon
she and Murlas were arguing back and forth.
"Why don't you want to go back to Amber with
us?" Murlas wanted to know.
"Well, it's just temporarily not possible for
me," Rhiane answered.
"That does not answer my question,"
Murlas urged her on.
"Look," Rhiane exclaimed, "I just
have to stay away for a couple of days, alright?" Murlas shook his head.
"You are making rather a fuss about
this," he said. "I can only think of one reason why you should act
this way, and that is because you are in some kind of trouble with Random. I do
not like that."
"You've got it all wrong," Rhiane said.
"Things are not as bad as they seem. I just can't go back right now."
"I know it is none of my business,"
Murlas continued, "but running away from your problems usually does not
help solve them."
"Well, in this case it does," Rhiane
snapped angrily. I had patiently waited for them to come to some kind of
compromise, but I got the feeling that the debate was rapidly degenerating into
a common "did not/did so!" shouting match. With a sigh I thrust the
Quendor Trump back in Murlas's hands and took the reins of our three horses.
"Alright," I said, searching for my Amber
Trump, "you two wait here, while I return the horses." I didn't wait
for an answer, but just Trumped out. The guards in the main hall should by now
have got quite used to unusual appearances, but they were still surprised to see
me and the horses appear beside them. Before I could call for a servant,
however, I felt a Trump contact coming on. I opened up and there was Murlas.
"What is it?" I sighed.
"Well, it is just that we have been waiting
here for more than an hour now, and we were wondering how much longer you would
take." Oh, great, another fast time Shadow!
"Better get ready for some couple of hours of
sheer boredom then," I said.
"Is it that bad?" he asked.
"Even worse," I said. "I've only
just arrived here, you know. Of course, you could always Trump on ahead without
me..."
"I do not think that is such a good
idea," he said. "We do not know what we might be getting ourselves
into. It might still be trap. No, we will just wait for you to finish your
business." He broke contact and I immediately looked around. Yes, there was
one of the younger servants, probably on some kind of errant. Being royalty does
have its advantages, though: I called the boy and told him to bring the horses
to the stable, with the compliments of Lord Dorian. Then I Trumped Murlas again.
I hoped that he had behaved himself in my absence.
To my surprise he wasn't in the underground station
where I had left him. Instead I saw a room behind him that reminded me an awful
lot of a hospital room on Shadow Earth. To be even more specific, those Bobbies
in the background who were talking to that nurse made me think of London.
"What happened?" I said. "Where the
hell are you?"
"I am afraid to say that we were mugged,"
Murlas replied. "We are currently in London." See, I was right.
"I was slightly wounded and they were treating me here," Murlas
continued. "However, it might be a good idea to bring us through right
now." With that he glanced at the Bobbies who were both walking towards
Murlas and Rhiane with a typical " 'ello, 'ello, what's all this
then?" expression. I reached out and clasped Murlas's hand just as he
grabbed Rhiane. Then they were standing beside me in the hall, leaving the
Bobbies nothing but rainbows and a very interesting story for the tabloids.
Rhiane looked around her with a bit panicky expression. I saw one servant catch
sight of her and run off, probably to warn somebody, most probably uncle Gerard.
"Look, guys, we've got to get out of
here," Rhiane hissed at us. Murlas and I looked at each other and I
shrugged. It wasn't as if we had any reason to stay here. Murlas produced the
Trump for Quendor and a few seconds later we were standing near a turnpike at
the edge of town. The sun had almost disappeared behind the horizon, but
fortunately there wasn't too much traffic in the vicinity. Still, people around
here would probable be used to strange visitors, for I had heard that both
Chaosites and Amberites made a habit of frequenting this place.
With a bit of walking around and some Shadow
shifting I adapted my clothes to fit the Shadow: T-shirt, jeans and leather
jacket. Murlas looked like a real corporate suit: black suit, tie and
sunglasses. Meanwhile Rhiane looked at me a bit helplessly, clearly not knowing
what to do. I shifted her clothes to a prim lady's suit with high heels, but
apparently she didn't like it. She said it made her feel too constricted in her
movements, so I shifted her into something that was a a little bit easier to
move around in: moccasins, a pleated skirt, a blouse with a flowery motif and a
blazer. We made for quite a colourful trio.
Rhiane's big sword Oscar was fitted with a special
violin case, so it wouldn't draw too much attention. To my surprise Oscar could
talk and he made quite an argument about being locked up in such a small, dusty
case. Now I knew what I didn't like about talking swords: they talk back.
Fortunately, Murlas's weapon was silent, like my own. He hid his in his
Samsonite suitcase, but sadly I had no such hiding place for my sword. I left it
lying behind a few bushes. Ah well, I hadn't really figured on using it anyway.
While we were walking towards the centre of town,
looking for a hotel or some other place to stay, I overheard Murlas and Rhiane
talking about the mugging that had taken place while I had been away. Although
part of me didn't really care what had happened, another part was really
curious, so I pricked up my ears a little.
"Rhiane," Murlas began, "I wanted a
word about that fight with those muggers. How do you feel about the way things
went for us?"
"Well, things turned out a bit awkward in your
case," she replied.
"That is not what I meant. Fighting is supposed to be your forte,
isn't it?"
"Well, they're dead, aren't they?" she
retorted.
"Two of them are, as you say, dead, one has
fled and I was left wounded." You couldn't mistake the accusatory note in
Murlas's voice. Apparently he had figured that Rhiane would keep him safe, which
she had failed to do.
"But there were three of them," Rhiane
exclaimed as if to defend herself.
"Three Shadow dwellers," Murlas
persisted.
"Okay, it didn't all go that well," she
admitted.
"I assumed that I can rely on you in that kind
of situations."
"I did protect you, didn't I?"
"Not really, no. If I had not done it myself,
I would have ended up with a bullet in my brain."
"As if you yourself were totally on your guard
when it happened," Rhiane muttered and turned away. The rest of the hike
they didn't exchange as much as a word. I felt both a bit ill at ease, somehow
feeling I was caught in the middle of their little squabble, and at the same
time I was a bit amused by their tiff. Sometimes being a mere spectator can be
real fun.
After about half an hour's walk we came upon a
suitably posh hotel, complete with five stars, sauna, swimmingpool,
tennis-court, and lots of other interesting accomodations, some of which I was
totally unfamiliar with. We booked ahead for five nights, not really knowing how
much time we would be spending here. It's easier, though, when money's not
really a problem. We convened a few minutes later in my suite.
"Alright," I said, "how are we going
to do this thing? I know that it's possible to look for things within a Shadow
that are not of that Shadow, but seeing as how this is a bit of a Shadow
crossroad so to speak, we could be picking up all kinds of things, never knowing
whether it is Lisa or not."
"We do not want to draw too much attention to
ourselves," Murlas remarked. "Still, we do need to be certain that we
are on the right trail. It would be very awkward if it turned out that Lisa
wasn't here after all. Rhiane, do you have some kind of suggestions to
add?"
"If I understand you correctly," she
said, "we can't shift any further, because that would draw too much
attention."
"Well, assuming that Monias was telling the
truth, the trail leads to this place," Murlas said. "But as I said
before, I fear that we will have to verify whether this Shadow is the right one
or not."
"Why do you say fear?" Rhiane asked.
"This latest development tends to complicate
matters," he said.
"What, because somebody offered us some
help?"
"In one way or the other Galoran is involved
in all of this," Murlas said with a grim expression. "I don't like
that." We were silent for a moment, considering his words. After a while
Rhiane resumed the conversation.
"Do you know anything about Lisa that might
tell us where to look for her?" she asked Murlas.
"Not really," he replied. "I do not
expect to see her in some slum, but aside from that it is anybody's guess. She
was reputedly in danger, so she could be hiding out anywhere in this city."
"So we just have to go around and look for
information," Rhiane concluded.
"There is one other problem," Murlas
said, "we want to find Lisa, but we do not want to find her pursuers."
"So we don't want to stand out," Rhiane
added.
"Of course it would be best if Lisa was to
contact us before we found her," Murlas mused.
"Does she know that we are looking for
her?" Rhiane asked.
"No," Murlas replied, "but a few
names dropped in the right places might help us out." I didn't like it; it
was all too cumbersome. That way we would waste too much time. No, I'd better
start looking in my own way. Who knows, it might even work.
"I'll see what I can find," I said to the
others and I started concentrating. Slowly I let my mind move outward, in a
ever-widening spiral, away from the hotel suite. I could see everything around
me, just as if I were there in the flesh. I got the feeling that this might
indeed be the Shadow where Lisa was to be found, but I couldn't be sure, for
there was a lot of magical interference. I decided to look for traces of power,
knowing that Lisa at least held some control over the Nexus. A few moments later
I found a slight trace of something. Very carefully I started following it. I
noticed, though, that I encountered a lot of violence on this trail: some
doctors were loading a heavily wounded man into an ambulance, while a little bit
further on I came upon another body, dead, though still bleeding from several
cuts and gashes. I thought it better to be a bit more on my guard. Somehow I had
the feeling that it wasn't Lisa whose trail I had found.
A few minutes later I came upon a man dressed in a
tight black bodysuit, a bit reminiscent of a ninja suit. His hair was long and a
bit greyish white, his face was narrow and menacing. I immediately saw that he
was armed and I realized with a shock that he was the one who had killed those
people I had seen earlier. Suddenly the man turned around and looked straight at
me, a chilling expression on his face. I immediately dropped my Pattern; if he
could see me, he probably could hurt me as well.
With a sigh I leaned back in my chair. Rhiane and
Murlas were looking at me with curious expressions and I realized that I was
clammy with sweat. While I poured myself a drink I told them what I had seen.
"That was not the one we were looking
for," Murlas remarked a bit superfluously.
"No," I said and sat down for yet another
try. This time I tried to ignore the trail of the man in black. After a couple
of minutes I managed to find another trail, but when I started following it I
noticed that it was almost immediately joined by the first trail. Well, of
course it fit: that man had to be one of Lisa's pursuers. Carefully I went ahead
until I found the ninja again. I moved around him and speeded ahead, following
what I believed to be Lisa's trail.
As I came to an office block I felt yet another
thing join the fray. It was akin to the thing I had felt from the ninja figure:
another person with the same intentions. Fortunately I saw him before I got too
close. It was another man dressed in black, but this one had long black hair. I
stayed away from him as much as I could and followed the main trail into the
building, where I found that it began to fade away. Lisa had probably been here,
but there was no telling where she would be now. On the second floor I
encountered the first ninja again; he was busy "interrogating" a
doorman, who was simply scared to death by the sinister figure pinning him to
the wall. The ninja said something in a strange language and then slashed the
doorman's throat without so much as showing even the tiniest bit of emotion.
Nice guy. I watched him take the lift downstairs.
Much as I tried, I didn't manage to pick up Lisa's
trail again. It was as if she had deliberately tried to hide her tracks. Smart
girl. I simply began searching once more in the widening spiral pattern. Near
the building I found yet another ninja, this one with short dark hair.
Apparently he had been waiting for ninja number one, who came running just as I
was about to continue my search. I watched them talk to each other, then they
ran off together. Had they found a trail that I had overlooked? Better follow
them and find out.
As I mentally jogged along I noticed for the first
time that both men were each wearing some kind of dark ring which eminated a bit
of power. It seemed that the rings supplied them with a sort of a link with
their target, so they always knew which way to go. A sort of inter-Shadow
bloodhounds, so to speak.
The two ninjas led me to a closed fairground. One
of them stopped outside, while the other one ran off to the left. Probably their
prey was somewhere inside and they were trying to surround it, or rather her. I
tried focusing in on the fair itself, trying to see if I couldn't find a trace
of Lisa in that way, but most of the attractions were magically powered,
throwing up a huge distortion field which my Pattern vision just couldn't
penetrate. Okay, so that was out, but Lisa just had to be there. The only way to
find her, though, was to go to that place in person. Not a fun thing to do with
those three ninjas running around, but hey, it's a way of life. You'll love
it...
I dropped my Pattern and quickly told the others
what I had found out. They each grabbed their weapons and made ready to rush out
of the room, but fortunately I was fast enough to stop them from leaving. That
fair had been at the other side of town; to get there by car or on foot would
simply take too much time, time we didn't have. I concentrated once again and
transported the three of us to a spot just outside the fair. They both looked a
bit surprised, but they quickly forgot about it in the face of other needs. So
what now?
"Perhaps it would be a good idea to take out
these ninjas as you call them one at a time," Murlas suggested. Good idea!
I directed Rhiane to the spot where I had last seen ninja number one, but when
she had sneaked over she found nothing there but a hole cut in the fence.
Apparently the pursuers had already moved in on their prey.
With Rhiane in the lead, sword drawn, we followed
them inside. Although everything was closed I could recognize most of the
typical fairground attractions. The only difference with the fairs I had seen on
Shadow Earth was that these attractions were all powered by magic. The whole
terrain was only dimly lit and there were lots of convenient shadows for ninjas
to hide in, making me feel rather ill at ease. I had the feeling that these guys
were good.
Suddenly Rhiane made a quick gesture, pointing up
to the roof of one of the booths: she had spotted one of the ninjas up there. I
tried as I might, but I couldn't make him out myself. Rhiane stood a moment in
silence, considering her options, then she pointed to the merry-go-round. we
were halfway there when the night was torn by a shriek from the direction of the
haunted house. We didn't hesitate for a second, but immediately began running in
that direction. There wasn't anything to be see near the entrance, so we headed
inside in single file: first Rhiane, then me, and finally Murlas. We were only a
few paces inside when I heard the sounds of a battle... behind me. I turned and
saw Murlas desperately trying to keep one of those ninjas at bay. Rhiane sped
past me and somehow managed to relieve Murlas of his opponent. Well, hopefully
that would teach Murlas to be grateful for a little muscle on his side.
Coming from inside the haunted house I heard other
sounds of battle. I ran further inside with Murlas only just behind. Somebody
had switched on some of the ghosts and ghoulies, but they were a mere
distraction which we tried to ignore. Then we entered a larger room that was
completely pitch-dark. I couldn't see anything, but from the sound of it there
were at least two people, possibly more, fighting each other in this room,
somewhere off in the far corner. I could make out one person breathing rather
rapidly: probably Lisa, for the ninjas seemed to making almost no sounds at all.
Frustrated by my inability to see I tried to bring
up Pattern again, only in its most basic and crude form, so I wouldn't get too
much interference from the magic around me. At once three figures loomed up in
the darkness. Two of them I recognized as ninjas from the rings they were
wearing; the other, filled with some kind of power, had to be Lisa. The two
ninjas seemed to be very good indeed, but Lisa still managed to maneuvre them so
that they were in each other's way. As I stood watching the fight I cursed the
fact that I hadn't brought my sword after all. I glanced beside me at Murlas who
looked back at me.
"Shall we try the harpy trick?" he
ventured.
"We could always try," I said and right
away began channeling my mental power to one of the ninjas. I guess it was our
lucky night for we managed to make contact with our victim by means of his ring;
the very thing that had made him special was also his downfall. The ninja was
quite surprised by us entering his mind like that, although he had sensed that
we were in the room. Still, he proved to be remarkably strong, mentally
speaking. No match for our combined psyches, but nevertheless quite strong. As
we squeezed his mind to pulp, I also tried to do a bit of probing, trying to
find out more about these people. I felt that he was quite a fanatical man who
passionately believed in the fulfilment of his mission. There was something
about a Dark Lady, then nothing, darkness, death. While we had been busy
distracting him, Lisa had grabbed her chance and had run him through. Quickly we
did the same with the second ninja, whom Lisa beheaded with one fine stroke. She
was a bit too fast for us, though, and we got some feedback from the dying man.
Can you say "headache"?
Lisa's defensive posture hadn't changed after the death of the second
ninja. I also noticed that she was wounded. As Rhiane entered the room Murlas
called out to Lisa: "Lisa, in case you had not noticed, it is I, Murlas.
Martin has sent me to save you."
There was no immediate change in Lisa's posture.
She must be in some kind of a shock, I thought. Then she slowly lowered her
sword and indicated that we could come nearer.
"Maybe we'd better go outside," Rhiane said. I nodded my agreement, but first there was something I wanted to have, something I wanted to study. I knelt down beside one of the ninjas and removed his dark ring. Let's see what I could learn from this little trinket, shall we? And if I couldn't learn anything from it, then I could always ask Fiona. I saw Murlas remove the ring from the other ninja's hand and smiled. Although we weren't much alike, the two of us, in some ways we were; we were both curious as to the ways of power. I tucked the ring away and followed Lisa outside, wondering what kind of things she could tell us....