Chapter 057: Into The Wrong Hands
"Imagine
a place
Where
it all began
They
gathered from across the land
To
work in the secrecy of the desert sand
All
of the brightest boys
To
play with the biggest toys -
More
than they bargained for..."
Manhattan
Project - Rush
When we located Melusine and Martin they were still fighting, although
I'm happy to say that they hadn't resorted to any more physical violence.
Verbally speaking the sparks were still flying, though, and it was with a
certain risk to my own well-being that I positioned myself between them in order
to draw their attention.
"Maybe you ought to continue this later," I suggested calmly
when the shouting had died down, "for we seem to be due for another attack
of those white howlers." Both of them cursed and they started hurrying
towards the stairs that led up to the roof. "Hold it, hold it!" I
called after them. "Before we go and try to hold off this siege, I'd kind
of like to hear some reason for doing this."
"We'll explain later," Martin said, while Melusine hurried on
ahead, "when we have the time."
"Well, go ahead," I replied laconically,
"I have plenty of time right now."
"Later," Martin insisted. "If they
manage to take this castle, we won't have to explain anything at all, so let's
first make sure that they don't."
"Well, good luck then." I smiled
encouragingly, but showed no inclination of following them upstairs.
"You're in for quite a hard time up there, you know," I said.
"The three of us barely managed to hold them off the last time. But I'm
sure you'll manage." Martin gave me an exasperated look, sighed and said:
"Alright, walk along and I'll tell you what I know." Still smiling I
stepped in line, noticing Rinaldo doing the same, attentive expression and all.
"I have heard rumours," Martin told us, "that there is
something very important hidden in this castle, which must not fall into the
wrong hands. You know about the Circle and the Watchers, don't you?"
"Murlas did tell me a few things, yes, but
apart from that I don't know very much about this place."
"Well, this is nothing more than just another playground,"
Martin snorted, "for everyone to add just another dimension to all of their
quarrels. The Circle and the Watchers are but two of the parties that operate on
this level. I want to have nothing to do with their business, but still, you
know how it is... Sometimes you hear certain things that you just have to look
into..." He cast a quick glance in Rinaldo's direction, just fast enough
for him not to notice it. Why, oh why, did I get the feeling that Martin didn't
entirely trust our red-headed cousin? Did he perhaps know whose castle this had
been originally? It wouldn't surprise me one bit.
"I would like to hear a bit more, if you don't mind," Rinaldo
piped up.
"I don't know all that much myself,"
Martin said curtly, "only that it is all very important."
"This thing you're looking for," I said,
"can you tell us what it is?"
"I'm not sure," Martin said. "There
may be several places in this castle where it may have been hidden. I'll know it
when I see it, though." Now he clearly was holding out on us, but there
wasn't any time left to argue. I could only hope that he would tell me more
after the battle.
Just before we reached the top of the stairs I felt a slight tap on my
shoulder from Rinaldo, indicating that he too wanted a word in private. Sigh.
Why did they all trust me, when they so clearly didn't trust one another? Oh
well, I'd try to sort it all out one way or another, and if I felt that things
had gone far enough I'd force the lot of them to cooperate; either that or they
could all go on playing their little games without me.
Up on the roof Melusine had already organized the defending robots, and
just in time, for the first attackers were already reaching the top of the
walls. Martin and Rinaldo drew their swords and stepped forward, but I held back
for the moment. There was something I wanted to try before resorting to purely
physical violence, something that my brush with Melusine's mother had suggested
to me. From my safe position by the door I started to concentrate, shaping my
own mental powers in a similar way that the lady with the silver hair had done
to forge her web. Instead of a restraining web, however, I opted for a more
aggressive approach: short, violent bursts of power aimed at the attacking
creatures in the form of balls of fire. And it worked! This was much more
effective than just hacking at them with a blade. Perhaps this Overshadow wasn't
as bad as I had thought after all.
For quite some time I was busy cheerfully roasting everything that
clambered up to the top, then suddenly one of the fireballs stopped in mid air,
hung there for a fraction of a second, and then headed back towards me full
speed. Damn! I rushed to regain control over my creation before it would reduce
me to ashes and briefly I sensed the other mind that had redirected the missile.
Faced with the choice of either dispelling the fireball or duelling with this
other mind for control over it, I chose the former. The fiery explosion that
consumed the missile spread a momentary fiery glow over my features, though
luckily I wasn't hit by any of the fallout.
It didn't seem a good idea to summon up any more fireballs, not until I
had determined who the person had been who had decided to interfere with my
experiments in creative barbecuing. The sensation had been quite brief, but
there had been something strangely familiar about that presence. Could it be
that it was Melusine's mother, back for some new scheme, or was it another of my
relatives? Could be. Just how many of us Amberites were active on this plane
anyway? Whoever it was that had tried to fry me would probably also be connected
in some way to the army of howlers I figured. They were rather pathetic
creatures, really, showing no signs of any intelligence beyond a basic animal
cunning, so someone or several someones had to be in charge of them. My fiery
efforts had at least helped to slow the howlers' advance, and as it seemed that
the black and silver robots would be able to hold them off without my help for a
short while, I started concentrating on detecting any traces of that other
mind's influence around the attacking army. From their aura it was easy to see
that they were indeed being forced to attack this place by someone else, and
this person had to be pretty close to oversee the proceedings. There was no
direct link to this mystery person that I could find, though, so I began to
focus on locating mental power sources in and around the castle.
The auras of my three companions were easily detectable, with Melusine's
curiously being the strongest. Of course she was the one who was shielding the
rest of us from the adverse effects of the Overshadow and she seemed to be
tapping into the powers of the castle itself to do so, using it as a sort of
psychic magnifying glass to focus and amplify her own mental prowess. Although
she managed to keep the lot of us safe, I felt that she wasn't employing the
castle's abilities to their fullest potential, from which I inferred that she
wasn't all that experienced either.
Rinaldo had apparently kept half an eye on my antics while having fun
with our attackers and he had managed to pick up on what I was doing. He too
started using his mental energies to fight the howlers, but almost immediately
he was opposed by the same force that had thwarted me. Good, if they were
keeping my cousin busy, I could meanwhile try to locate them.
Outside the castle there appeared to be several powerful entities, one of
them close to the wall where I was standing, but it was impossibe to determine
who they were or, even more importantly, whose side they were on. One of them,
however, appeared to be more powerful (or simply more active) than the others,
and since it might well be our enemy it was my intention to take a closer look.
I realised that I would need to shape some kind of extension of my own senses to
serve as a spying apparatus; it was too dangerous to try and travel to that spot
myself.
Just as I began to work on this I felt the stirrings of what might have
been a Trump contact, but only very faintly, as if the person who was holding my
card was merely considering whether or not to call me. I ignored it and after a
second or two it went away.
Without any more interruptions I finished my spying device, or rather
spying creature, for I had given it the form of small falcon. Fast, fierce and
far-sighted, just the thing for this kind of job. With a quick fluttering of
wings it took to the air, taking my awareness with it. Actually, a small part of
me remained behind in my body, just to make sure that nothing happened to me. My
experience with the uses of the Pattern as a spying device came in handy here,
for I did't suffer from any sense of disorientation. Quickly my falcon flew
towards the spot where I had sensed the most powerful individual source,
scanning the landscape below as it passed.
Suddenly I noticed two figures moving in the same direction as my falcon.
Instinctively I made it circle back towards them and swoop down to get a better
look. Whoever they were, their identity might give me clue as to who the hell
was our opponent here. One of the figures turned out to be a large black
panther, but the other I recognised as Boadice. What was she doing here? She
sure had a way of turning up in unexpected places. I didn't have any time to
wonder about that, though, for as my falcon completed its dive and started
climbing again a powerful bolt of mental energy shot out at it from the
direction of the panther, clearly with the intention of bringing it down. This
little bird hadn't been destined to be kitty food, however: with as much speed
as possible I sent the falcon racing back towards the castle. Trying to fight a
direct mental battle through an extension was simply too dangerous.
Once out of danger I made the falcon turn around again and with a slight
detour to avoid meeting the panther a second time I sent it towards its original
goal, which it reached without any more trouble. From a cautious distance (no
more swooping this time) I spied a rather short woman standing on a small
outcrop that provided an excellent view of the castle. The woman's hair was
short and red and her eyes were a bright green. I had never seen her before, but
then as I have said before that didn't mean all that much here on the
Overshadow. For al I knew that panther might actually be another relative of
ours. The woman's attention was entirely focused on the siege, so she didn't
detect my presence there right away. After a moment I decided to return to the
castle and try to find some way of dealing with this lady from over there. After
all, there wasn't too much that my falcon could do over here.
I had only just dispelled the falcon and returned to my own body, when to
my surprise the attack was suddenly called off. Or rather, there was no call or
signal, but the howlers simply stopped fighting and crawled back into their
holes in the ground. Whether this was only a short reprieve or whether it marked
the end to all hostilities was unclear, but either way we had better use all the
time we had been given.
"I
think," I said, walking over to Martin, "that we'd better go and find
whatever it is that you're looking for and then get out of here while we still
have the chance."
"You're right," he said. He shot a glance at Rinaldo who was a
few paces off, getting rid of some of the final corpses.
"Listen," he whispered to me, "we
have to make sure that it doesn't fall into his hands. This castle is almost
certainly one of Brand's old haunts." That much I already knew, but I
feigned some surprise and concern, just for Martin's sake. The concern was quite
genuine, though. If I had had any doubts about Rinaldo's claim that this had
been his dad's castle, Martin giving me the same infolike that had dispelled
them all.
"What are
we here to find exactly?" I whispered back.
"Come," he said and led me a few paces into the castle, away
from all the inquisitive ears. "I gather you witnessed the confrontation
between Melusine and her mother, didn't you? Good. Brand used to be known around
here as the Hermit and he used to be a member of the Circle, just like
Melusine's mom. She's been keeping rather busy on the Overshadow lately, working
on several projects, getting things going. Melusine used to assist her with
that, but now she doesn't want to do so anymore.
"Anyway,
Filigree - that's what Melusine's mom is called in this place - and Melusine
have searched this castle before and they never found anything of importance,
but I have recently obtained information from a reliable source that there might
be something here after all. And before you ask, I have sworn not to reveal my
source's identity, so I can't help you there. Still, you must understand that I
don't actually know myself what we're looking for. The important part is not to
let Filigree lay her hands on whatever it is, or anyone like her for that
matter.
"It took me
quite a bit of trouble to convince Melusine to become directly involved, and it
still isn't easy. Yet she has a certain degree of control over this place, as
you have undoubtedly noticed. I simply cannot survive here on my own, and
although she isn't happy about it I need her here to help me find the
stuff."
"You really
have no idea what it is that we may find?" I asked.
"Notes, papers, artifacts. It may be anything really. It could
actually be several things. Up till now we haven't found anything, all the rooms
we went through were empty. As soon as you come across one that isn't, you'll be
certain to have found something of value. On the Overshadow other rules apply
than in our reality: only things of real substance remain intact in this place,
other stuff just dwindles away.
"There's
one other thing," he said with a grave expression, "and the thought
may already have cropped up with you too. If Brand is really dead, then why is
this place still around? I really would like an answer to that question, but I
guess you understand." His face became quite grim when he talked about
Brand and I felt that I wouldn't want to come between them if my uncle would in
fact turn up.
"I don't
trust any of the major parties on this level," Martin continued,
"neither the Circle nor the Watchers." He turned to face me.
"Look, I know you've been drawn into this against your will and we could of
course try to send you back to Amber, but I ask you to reconsider. I really
could use all the help I could get. I know I have no right to ask this of you,
but still... You have to make your own choices, though."
"Yeah,
yeah, we'll talk about all of that later. Let's go and search while we still
have time." Since I had already become involved, I might as well stay and
do my bit. And after all, if this place was indeed Brand's and if there was
indeed some stuff of his still lying around, I had to make sure that they didn't
fall into the wrong hands as everyone kept telling me. Of course I had my own
definitions of what constituted right and wrong in cases like these, but so did
everyone else too.
Suddenly I felt
the cold sensation of a Trump contact. For a while I tried to stall it, trying
to make up my mind whether or not to accept. In the end I decided against it:
the chances that it would give more of those `wrong hands' access to the castle
were just too great. I persevered and a few moments later it stopped. Then I saw
Martin frown.
"Trump
call?" I asked quietly. He nodded. "Just had one too. I didn't
answer." He nodded again and continued to fend it off till it had gone. I
was slightly worried by the fact that they had tried to call us in immediate
succession, just as if they knew that we were here together. It might mean that
we had less time than we had believed we had.
At Martin's
insistence the four of us split up again to cover more ground. Apparently he
figured that with me and Melusine on his side he had a three to one chance of
actually finding something before Rinaldo did. Rinaldo, meanwhile, lingered a
bit behind, and when the other two had gone off he approached me, eager to know
what Martin had told me.
"He is
clearly looking for something," I said, "but I think that he's not
altogether sure of what it is supposed to be either. He wants to make sure,
though, that Melusine's mother doesn't get her hands on it." Well, that was
at least one possible set of wrong hands I guess.
"That would
be sensible," Rinaldo said. "She didn't seem like a very friendly
lady, did she? But that's the story he told you?" I nodded. "I wonder
who the hell send him here," he mused. I shrugged.
"He claims
that he belongs to neither of the groups that operate here on the
Overshadow," I said. For a moment there was just a slight frown on
Rinaldo's face, betraying that he wasn't all that knowledgeable about Overshadow
business, but then the friendly, open, smiling mask was back.
"We'd
better get going," he said, "and hope that we find it before they
do."
"Good thinking," I commented and watched him as he chose a
corridor to search. As soon as he was out of sight, I hurried down the stairs,
through the corridor, back to the room with the crystal globe. If Martin was
right about objects of power staying intact in this place, then the globe had to
be one of them. However, since it could not be removed from its pedestal and
since the siege of the castle would almost certainly end in our defeat, I
reasoned that it would be better for all concerned if I were to try to destroy
the globe. I hadn't told Rinaldo about my plan because he might object to it and
try to find some way of taking it with us after all. Better to be safe than
sorry, I figured, so the crystal had to go.
If only there
had been some simple way of breaking it. I tried to smash the thing with the
pommel of my sword, but it didn't appear to work. There wasn't even a dent or
scratch on the damned thing! Perhaps I ought to tell Rinaldo after all and let
him have a go at it with that powerful sword of his. No, better try something
else first. I started concentrating on the globe, just as I had done before, but
this time I was more intent on finding out how it was connected to its pedestal.
If I could somehow sever the connection...
Suddenly there
was a knock at the door, immediately followed by a brief mental signal addressed
to me by name. I could have recognized that mind among thousands: it was Murlas!
How the hell had he ended up here? Still, he was more at home on the Overshadow
than I was, so I shouldn't be too surprised at him showing up.
"Come
in," I called, placing mysef between the globe and the door. It opened and
in stepped Boadice and the black panther I had seen with her before. What the..?
Oh, now I got it. Apparently Murlas had acquired the trick of changing his
appearance on the Overshadow to suit the games that were being played here. Come
to think of it, it shouldn't really be too hard to do, considering all the
things I had done during the last attack. So it had been him that had nearly
snatched my falcon out of the sky. Hmm, I wondered whether he had known that
that had been me.
"Dorian,"
Boadice said, "what are you doing here?"
"I could very well ask you the same thing," I replied curtly. I
wasn't too happy to see her here, especially considering all the trouble she and
I had been through lately. She was a bit too much of a wild card, frankly.
Murlas on the other hand might just come in handy here. At least he had more
Overshadow experience to go for him.
"Oh, I
ended up coming here quite by accident," Boa replied seriously. Sigh. Ask a
silly question. The black panther shot me a quick `why me' look. Apparently she
wasn't really his perfect choice for a companion either.
"I take it
that you are who I think that you are?" I said to him.
"Yes," the beast said in a voice that was vaguely like Murlas',
"but around here I am called Panther." What an original name. "We
do not have any time to waste," Panther added. "You may not have
noticed it, but there is an army outside, and they are quite keen on destroying
this castle."
"Are you
sure of that?" I asked.
"That is what we were told," he replied cautiously, but Boa
interjected with some enthusiasm: "A lady called Grenade told us, a member
of the Circle. She let us pass through the lines if we would convey this message
to you. She did mention there were supposed to be more people in here,
though." I ignored that for the moment; everything strictly on a need to
know basis. These two might well be in league with this Grenade person, who was
in all likelihood the red-headed woman I had spied on outside, so I'd better not
tell them too much yet. First I'd better find out how much they already knew.
"The
Circle, eh?" I said. "You do know to whom this castle belongs, or
rather used to belong, don't you?"
"The Hermit, as far as we had gathered," Panther said.
"Yes, and he too was a member of the Circle, from what I've
heard."
"That corresponds with our information," Panther said with a
hint of a smile. Boadice rummaged around in the small backpack she was carrying
and came up with a hip-flask of brandy, which she passed around. I could see her
shivering a little bit, and I realised that it was indeed still rather cold
around here. Not that I had really noticed during the last hour or so; I had
been far too busy, and I guess I had somehow got used to the cold.
While Boa served
us drinks Panther and I exchanged a glance. I still could not be sure where the
two of them stood in the scheme of things, but I did know that it was him that I
had to reckon with far more than her. It might even be an advantage to have her
present, considering the way she had freely given me the info on Grenade. Yet
she also had a nasty habit of asking straight questions and expecting straight
answers, and keeping at it till she got them. We'd see how long I could manage
to put up with her nagging.
"So you
really think that it is this Grenade's intention to destroy the castle, do
you?" I said.
"Well, she said that it should never have existed in the first
place," Boa replied.
"Grenade seemed quite determined,"Panther
added laconically. "It was clear, however, that her primary aim is the
castle and not its current occupants."
"I see," I said.
"You do?" Panther did smile now. "Please explain."
"Well, she
was right as far as that there are indeed more people running around in here,
and everyone's common goal seems to be keeping certain things from falling into
the wrong hands."
"What things and what hands would that be, pray tell?"
"What
things? Nobody seems to be realy sure. I believe that anything that may still be
lying around here qualifies. And what hands? Well, that's where people's views
differ, of course." We all shared a smile at that. I guess they would at
least have divulged by now that the other people I had mentioned were in fact
relatives of ours. Or Chaosites. Or Galorians. Or whatever.
"I would really like to get some more information on something
called the Wolves," Boadice said to everyone in general and no one in
particular. "A something that is dangerous enough to threaten a
Monolith."
Her mentioning
of that name, the Wolves, all casual like that quite startled me. It eerily
reminded me of the vision I had had of my daughter Miri and her warning that the
wolves were running. Coincidence? I have too often said that I don't believe in
it, so then what? Should I tell them? No, it would not help them in any way I
could think of and would draw too much attention Miri, who at this point was
still only a little kid. Perhaps the vision hadn't been altogether correct,
mixing certain elements of truth, like the Wolves, with certain possibilities,
like the grown-up version of Miri who had an uncanny relationship with the
Unicorn. Maybe, maybe, maybe.
"Do you know who those other people are that are here in the
castle?" Panther asked, turning back to me.
"Rinaldo, Martin and Melusine," I said.
"They're all busy searching right now, in the hope of being the first to
find something." Boa nodded. She suddenly seemed a bit down. I wondered
whether it had been Panther's remark that had done that; if it was, then that
girl was still far too thin-skinned to take part in Family activities.
"I believe I might have an idea of what it is that they are looking
for," Panther said.
"You do?" I said. "Actually, I had
been given the impression that there might be several things worth finding in
here, which doesn't seem all that surprising considering its former owner."
"You know the true identity of this former
owner?" Boa asked. So they didn't? Interesting. Or were they merely faking
their ignorance to test the limits of my own knowledge? We'd soon find out.
"You mean to say that you don't know who the
Hermit really was?" I asked with fake surprise.
"We would like to hear it from you, if it is all the same,"
Panther said with a cunning smile. Sure you would. Still, I didn't know about
mentioning Brand's name just like that. One could never be too careful, and this
Overshadow had a lot of features that I was uncertain about. So instead of
simply telling them, I took out my Trump deck, found the right card and with an
added touch of drama showed it to them, meanwhile keeping a close eye on their
expressions to see whether they would betray any surprise or not (as far as I
could read the expression of a big, black feline, of course).
"Aha," Panther muttered, studying the card. Boadice simpy
regarded it without comment, but I noticed that she seemed to be getting more
depressed by the minute. What was wrong with her? A thought suddenly occurred to
me, and I didn't like it: as far as I was aware it still wasn't known who Boa's
real father was. What if it was Brand? Then her presence here might not be so
accidental as she would have me believe.
"I guess this also helps to exlain why everyone is so extra
suspicious of one another," I remarked nonchalantly, covering up my own
suspicions.
"Where exactly do you stand in all of
this?" Panther wanted to know.
"I think the idea of keeping this castle and
anything that might be in it safe is a sound one. That's why I was trying to
smash this globe here just before you came in," I said indicating the
crystal behind me. "The damned thing is stuck, so we can't take it with us,
and keeping the army out is a losing battle."
"But how did you end up here?" Panther insisted. I looked at
him squarely.
"I was Trumped by Melusine."
"From this place to our own reality?"
Boadice asked. I nodded. "Quite a feat," she remarked. Hmm, I wouldn't
know about that. Yet Melusine had said that that I had been the first one she
had been able to get through to. Perhaps she had been telling the truth after
all. Weird, though.
"Interesting," Panther mused. "So
the others were already here?"
"Rinaldo came up with me through the
contact," I admitted.
"Martin and Melusine... Yes, that fits."
Panther looked smugly knowedgeable. "I shall also tell you how we came to
be here," he said, "as you are undoubtedly curious to hear it. You are
aware of the fact that I am a member of the Watchers, are you not?"
"That doesn't really surprise me," I replied calmly.
"Well, they arranged a mission for me, as a
kind of an initiation ritual. I have to find out for them what happened to a
certain Malachie. Who this Malachie is I do not really know myself, but he is
supposed to be a very powerful individual, in the same league as someone like
Dworkin or Galoran. He mainly keeps himself busy with the Dreamworld and writes
down the visions he has. Unfortunately his cabin was in quite a mess when I
found it, with traces of that same darkness that we encountered the time when
Vincent went missing."
"The Black Cloud, you mean?" I asked, suppressing a shiver.
"That black nothing, yes," he replied
tightly. Of course his memories of that encounter had to be even worse than
mine: that thing had cost him his right hand at the time. "There were also
signs that the cabin had been searched, and some members of the Circle turned up
who were very interested in the thing that others had apparently found there. I
was given a hint by Violet that I had better go and see some of Malachie's
friends, of whom she mentioned the Hermit by name. Which explains our presence
here." Boadice looked a bit oddly at Panther when he mentioned Violet, but
she refrained from commenting.
"Hmm," I said, "did Violet talk about the Hermit as if he
were still supposed to be alive?" Boa nodded, looking even less happy than
before. She too could add up two and two and come up with four. "Of course
it is Violet we are talking of here," I added quickly, "and I had been
given to understand that her perceptions of reality are somewhat odd. Still,
Martin also said something about this which we'd better keep in mind: if the
Hermit is indeed dead, then why is his castle still here?" Boa's mood sunk
to an all-time low at this, and she passed the brandy around again, taking a
hefty slug of it herself. I only took a sip, as did Panther.
"Just a moment ago you said that you knew what to look for, didn't
you?" I said to him. "Do you also know where you can find it? I mean,
it is a rather large castle, and time is running out." He let out a short
laugh.
"Originally I did not even know that it would
be in this castle at all," he confessed. Boa shot him an impatient look.
"There are several people who already know
what we're looking for," she said, "so surely you can tell him as
well?" Panther turned his annoyed gaze on her.
"Did you really think that I would keep it a secret, if I could
really use his help in trying to locate it?" he asked icily.
"Well, you still haven't told him," Boa
replied petulantly.
"Patience," he said. "Patience is a
virtue which apparently not all of us present here have fully mastered
yet."
"Look, I don't want to continue arguing over
this," Boa snapped and she turned back to me. "We're looking for a
list of names and places, names of friends of Malachie's in our own reality with
whom he used to discuss his prophecies."
"I think we should discuss one another's goals and see whether we
cannot make them run parallel instead of at odds with one another," Panther
quickly said, eager not to let control over the flow of the conversation fall to
Boadice. "Boadice's case is simple," he said, at which she pulled a
face, "she is here purely out of curiosity. Aren't you?" he asked,
mildly surprised at her shaking her head.
"I'll tell you about it later," she
muttered.
"Still," Panther said, "the question
is what you want to accomplish here."
"Like I said, I want more information on the
Wolves, and I guess a copy of that list would be nice too."
"What or who are those Wolves you keep referring to?" I asked.
And why was she so obsessed about them?
"I already told you all I know about
them," she admitted, "but perhaps the people on Malachie's list can
tell us more."
"Try asking Dworkin the next time you see
him," Panther suggested with a straight face. "And as for the list, it
might very well prove to be quite dangerous. Of the sort that you would not want
to fall into anyone's hands." I couldn't suppress a smile. He was certainly
getting into the spirit of things.
"Of the sort that people would want to torture
you for if they even suspected that you knew about it?" Boa asked with a
grin.
"Oh no," Panther said reassuringly, "they are bound to use
much surer methods." It sounded like one scrap of paper that was a lot more
trouble than it was worth. "But to continue with our discussion of
goals," he said. "I am first and foremost here to find out what is
behind Malachie's sudden disappearance. Meanwhile I always consider it to be my
duty to thwart any Circle schemes, but that should be obvious. It would seem
that the list is a key element to all the parties involved."
"Alright," I said, "you've made your point: that list must
be found. But I'm still convinced that we must destroy this globe too."
"Why? Is it dangerous?" Panther asked.
"Only in the wrong hands," I said with a
tight grin.
"Well, what can I do to help?"
"Wait a minute," Boa piped up, "what
exactly does it do?"
"I found that you can use it to spy on people
who are elsewhere," I said.
"Can you send messages through it?" she
asked.
"I haven't tried, but it doesn't work like a
Trump contact."
"Can you also use it to look at things instead
of people?" Panther wanted to know.
"Again, I haven't tried."
"What if we first try to find the things we
are looking for with this globe, and try to destroy it afterwards?"
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to try," I said reluctantly. Panther
looked at me expectantly, clearly wanting a demonstration of some sort.
"Look, perhaps it's better if you try it," I said. "After all, I
think you have a clearer picture of the thing you're looking for and that might
help. It's very easy: first you make contact with te globe and then you start
concentrating on the thing you want to see. Nothing to it, really." Panther
seemed to consider this for a moment, then he stepped up to the pedestal and
began to stare into the depths of the globe.
"By the way," Boa said quietly to me, so as not to disturb our
cousin, "did you happen to see my sister while you were in Amber?"
"Yaslin? No. Actually, she hasn't been sighted
back home for quite some time now." Boa kept quiet after that, and I could
sense that she was more than a little bit worried. I guess I would be too, if it
were one of my closest relatives.
Meanwhile Panther had managed to make contact with the globe, as
indicated by the eerie glow that had begun to surround it. I kept half an eye on
him and half an eye on the door in case one of the others decided to show up
unexpectedly. Was it my imagination or was Panther slowly moving closer to the
globe? He did seem to have an awfully vacant expression on his face, but that
might just be from the concentration that the work required. I shivered. It was
seemed to be getting colder all of a sudden, and when I glanced around the room
I noticed that there seemed to be more shadows than there had been before.
Something was not going right here. Panther was indeed gradually edging closer
and closer to the globe, and he didn't even appear to be aware of doing so. I
concentrated a little myself and right away I felt that the globe was a lot more
powerful than it had been before. There seemed to be a purpose to its power too,
with Panther as its focal point. The image that flashed beore me was that of a
maelstrom, slowly sucking him in. Without a moment's hesitation I stepped
forward and grabbed Panther's shoulders, physicaly dragging him away from the
globe. He seemed to be completely senseless and fortunately he didn't struggle
in my grasp.
"Is something wrong?" Boadice asked, displaying once again her
uncanny grasp of the situation.
"It doesn't look good," I grunted, trying
to get Panther as far away from the globe as the room would allow. There in the
corner he seemed to come to his senses again: he threw his head down between his
paws with an expression of utter misery. We watched as he curled into a
miserable heap of feline fur, shaking his head as if to try to get rid of
something.
"Poor thing," Boa sighed. "It's so
tempting to reach out and scratch him behind the ears," she whispered,
"but I know that he simply hates that, so I won't."
"This is no time for fun and games," I said sternly.
"Something very nearly went wrong there." I knelt down to see whether
Pather was coming back to his own self again. He looked up at me with a snarling
expression, clearly indicating that he didn't want my help. Okay, fine. There's
gratitude for you.
"But what went wrong?" Boa whined.
"Ask Dorian," Panther growled through
gritted teeth. "He knows all about this globe."
"I must admit that I also would like to know
what happened," I said.
"Nothing," he said. "A black
nothing." He shrugged off the final aftereffects and and got to his feet
again, albeit a bit wobbly. "Come," he said, "we still have a lot
to do and there is but little time."