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387 lines
18 KiB
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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
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<head>
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<title>The Shadowmaster - Chapter 17</title>
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<h1>17</h1>
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<p>
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Kerry ran for his life.
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</p>
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<p>
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The roar of rushing water filled the passageway. In another second he'd be slammed forward, then swallowed. He forced one last huge effort from his legs.
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<p>
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And ten paces ahead, the passage came to a sudden dead end.
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<p>
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The voice in his head ordered him to <em>leap.</em>
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<p>
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A desperate cry escaped him as he instinctively obeyed, before an enormous weight hit him square in the back and threw him straight at the blank wall.
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</p>
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<p>
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He was flying, rolling, tumbling. Helpless.
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</p>
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<p>
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An deafening screech like ripping metal pierced the roar of water. A blinding light seared his eyes and all his breath was punched out of him again. He
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kept rolling and the light flashed in pulses as he went and he knew that this must be what it is like at the very end. Just a flickering light and no pain.
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</p>
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<p>
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He tumbled on warm softness until his momentum slowed and he lay, face down. He closed his eyes, feeling gentle heat on his back and for a moment he
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thought: <em>That wasn't too bad.</em>
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</p>
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<p>
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All around him, the sweet scent of flowers filled still air. Somewhere close, a little stream burbled over pebbles. Small birds sang clear musical notes.
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</p>
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<p>
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Kerry lay still, giving himself to the warmth. He opened his eyes and saw vivid green all around him until it began to fade in a constellation of little
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stars that sparked and winked in his vision.
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</p>
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<p>
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Then his lungs kicked back to life in a powerful lurch that rolled him onto his back and he whooped in a huge breath of clean fresh air. The little stars
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vanished and the green returned. Overhead, a bright sun beamed down on him and an iridescent dragonfly slowly buzzed past his face.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Heaven," he mumbled, getting slowly to his knees. "Has to be."
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</p>
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<p>
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He'd never really thought about heaven before. But if this is what it felt like, then it wasn't too bad at all. He patted himself down, surprised that he
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was unhurt and unbroken, and further surprised that he still wore his tunic and the short-sword in its scabbard. He was on a low slope covered in rich
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grass that smelt of lush growth<em>. </em>Further down, a crystal stream sang its watery notes as it licked around the roots of small trees.
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</p>
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<p>
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Kerry made his way there and eased down beside the clear water. His throat was dry and he lowered his face to drink.
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</p>
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<p>
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Before his lips reached the surface, the water rippled as if stirred by an invisible hand, and to his amazement, a little fountain frothed up to meet him,
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just as it had done when they entered the <em>Geasan </em>circle. He let the cool water cleanse his throat, drinking deep until his thirst was completely
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slaked.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Thanks," he whispered, pushing back to squat on the bank. Fat, silver trout lazed in a pool dappled by bright sun. Beside his head, an overhanging branch
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bore small fruits and as he reached for one, it swelled into a golden globe the size of an apple. It almost fell into his hand and when he bit into it,
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sweet juice spurted on his tongue with such intensity that he felt as if he was tasting it with his whole body.
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</p>
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<p>
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He ate it in a few bites, feeling strength and well-being flow through him, then sat back, deliciously replete.
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</p>
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<p>
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Overhead, a little breeze shivered the leaves and their rustling sounded so much like a whispered voice that he could almost make out the words.
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</p>
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<p>
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Something moved in the corner of his eye, a little shimmer of motion that made him turn quickly, but when he did, there was nothing to see.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Big trout and a nice stream," he spoke aloud. "Could be worse."
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</p>
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<p>
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Another motion on the far bank snagged his attention, and when he looked, all he could see was a flight of lacewings catching sunbeams.
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</p>
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<p>
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But there <em>had</em> been something. He could sense it, and what was more, he could feel eyes upon him.
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</p>
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<p>
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He breathed in slowly, savouring the clean air, then cupped his face in his hands, opening his fingers just enough to let light in. He waited like that for
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five minutes, not moving.
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</p>
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<p>
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Then he saw it.
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</p>
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<p>
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The air beside the fruit-bush wavered like a mirage on a hot road. Behind it the leaves seemed to tremble and dance, and then a small form slowly began to
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take shape. Between his fingers, he strained to see what it was. There was a shape, but it was translucent and he could make out the leaves and flowers
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directly behind it. He kept his head down, and very slowly, as if from the sparkling air itself, a form condensed, becoming more opaque.
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</p>
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<p>
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And there she was, a small figure sitting on a smooth stone, bare feet at the edge of the water. She had hair the colour of summer corn and wide, lustrous
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brown eyes, an elfin face. Her elbows rested on her knees and her chin was cupped in both hands.
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</p>
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<p>
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At first Kerry thought the reflections in the stream were catching her eyes, but then he saw that the lustrous brown was flecked with gold highlights that
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sparkled magically as she regarded him.
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</p>
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<p>
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Very slowly, so as not to scare her away, he lowered his fingers and their eyes met. A little jolt that he couldn't quite explain ran through him.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Hello!" It was all he could think of saying.
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</p>
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<p>
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She started at him silently, with those incredible eyes holding him.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Are you an angel?" Kerry began. She shook her head.
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</p>
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<p>
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"A fairy? Something like that?"
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</p>
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<p>
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Now she smiled and the eyes sparkled even brighter.
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</p>
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<p>
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"I am Rionna. This is <em>my</em> place."
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</p>
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<p>
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"Hi Rionna. I'm Kerry. At least I was Kerry. I don't know what I am now. Is this like heaven? Or limbo?"
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</p>
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<p>
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"It's my place," she said, still smiling. "I brought you here."
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</p>
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<p>
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She stood up, a slender little thing, barefoot and wearing a simple green shift, hair in long twin braids. She walked across the shallows towards him,
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making neither sound nor splash, and knelt in front of him.
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</p>
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<p>
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"You were in…danger," she said. "I felt your fear. Here there is no fear."
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</p>
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<p>
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Very tentatively she reached a delicate hand and touched his.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Welcome Kerry. Safe in Rionna's haven."
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</p>
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<p>
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"I don't know how you did it…but thanks. I'm sort of scared of water. I can't swim."
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</p>
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<p>
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She came closer, examining his face. Her free hand touched him on the side of his nose.
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</p>
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<p>
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"What are these things? These marks?"
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</p>
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<p>
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At first he was taken aback and touched his skin where she did. Their fingers met and another strange little jolt made him shiver.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Oh, these? They're freckles. I get them all the time, being Irish. You want to see me in summer. I'm like a freakin' leopard."
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</p>
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<p>
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She held his hand, her fingers warm yet gripping strongly.
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</p>
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<p>
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"I knew you would come. I never saw a Kerry before."
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</p>
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<p>
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"Oh, no. I'm just a boy."
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</p>
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<p>
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She frowned, puzzled. "A boy?"
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</p>
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<p>
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"Yes. Just a kid. Well, a bit more than a kid. But not a man. Not yet."
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</p>
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<p>
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He grinned. "You mean to say you never met a boy before?"
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</p>
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<p>
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She shook her head. "I never met <em>anyone</em> before."
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</p>
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<p>
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"Well, just wait until you meet my friends."
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</p>
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<p>
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Rionna leaned closer until they were almost nose to nose. She smelt of apple-blossom.
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</p>
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<p>
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"What is a <em>friend</em>?"
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</p>
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<p class="break">
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<em>***</em>
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</p>
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<p>
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<em>Oh Bodron, what have you done?</em>
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</p>
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<p>
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Megrin fixed her eyes on him, standing motionless, while her mind roamed along dark corridors and narrow passages, through halls and rooms until, at last,
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she found a place high in Bodron's Keep that her mind could not perceive. It was wreathed in a miasma of night.
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</p>
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<p>
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This must where he kept the Copperplates. A secret place swathed in a hiding-spell.
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</p>
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<p>
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She would have to find it, find the ancient Copperplates and then work out a way to reverse what Bodron had done.
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</p>
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<p>
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And she had to find out what Bodron had done to Jack Flint, or what he planned for him. That plan, she knew, must involve the Journeyman's heartstone.
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Bodron meant to have it, and if he could corrupt its power as he had done with the Copperplates, who knew what might be unleashed?
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</p>
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<p>
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"Begone…<em>witch.</em>" Bodron raised his staff again and orange snakes of weird light coursed around it.
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</p>
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<p>
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Without warning Megrin was slammed backwards by a force so powerful it felt as if all her bones would shatter, but in a split second she had recovered d
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her wits and held her own staff upright.
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</p>
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<p>
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<em>Stop!</em>
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</p>
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<p>
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One word of command and all motion ceased.
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</p>
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<p>
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The cowled figure turned and was striding away from her. Blue fire licked around the carved head of her staff and she sent it outwards in a searing bolt.
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It wrapped itself around Bodron's receding form. He halted in mid-stride and she felt his enormous power as he fought against her. For a brief moment she
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was connected to the evil within him and felt utter revulsion and the strain of holding the binding-spell was so enormous she cried out. He turned to face
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her.
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</p>
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<p>
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"You think your puny tricks can hold me?"
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</p>
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<p>
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Under his hood, she saw a sly and hungry grin.
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</p>
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<p>
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He lowered his head and began to chant. "Raging fire and bubbling stone…" Megrin heard those words clearly.
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</p>
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<p>
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Bodron stamped one foot…and the whole chamber shook. Where his heel came down, a fissure opened in the stone floor, zig-zagging towards her. Yellow
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smoke hissed up and oozed gouts of molten stone flowed across the floor, trapping her against the wall.
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</p>
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<p>
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"River water, cool and clear." Megrin sang aloud as she cast her own spell.
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</p>
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<p>
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Her staff writhed in her hands. Bolts of blue light arced between its head and the stone wall and where they touched, cold water jetted from a dozen holes,
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cascading on to the molten rock in an eruption of sound and steam.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Enough, Bodron," Megrin cried. "Give up what you have stolen from Uaine."
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</p>
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<p>
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He laughed a high cackle and spun on his heel.
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</p>
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<p>
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The walls around her buckled and heaved, splitting the masonry apart. From the holes in the stonework, misshapen things began to crawl out, yellow-eyed and
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scaled. Some spread leathery wings and took flight. Others crawled to the floor like spiders. Some had curved beaks, others had gaping mouths lined with
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teeth, each of them a vision from hell.
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</p>
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<p>
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Megrin quenched the fear that flared within her. These things were not real, not alive, yet within Bodron's domain, even the unreal could take shape and
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substance.
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</p>
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<p>
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She shook the sleeves of her long coat. Two white cats suddenly appeared on their feet beside her, her familiars, big as bobcats, purring with
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anticipation.
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</p>
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<p>
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The nightmares of Bodron's creation surged forward.
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</p>
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<p>
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Megrin raised her staff.
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</p>
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<p>
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Beaks and mouths gaped, talons opened as the apparitions attacked.
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</p>
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<p>
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Megrin's familiars leapt, their own claws unsheathed. They met the onslaught in a flurry of motion, ripping and rending as the attacking horde hooked and
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stabbed, trying to reach Megrin.
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</p>
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<p>
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Bodron turned away, his demonic laughter still booming over the screeching of the abominable creations as they were torn to pieces by the familiars and
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blasted from the air by the shafts from Megrin's staff.
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</p>
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<p>
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She was too busy battling in the corner to stop him from leaving.
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</p>
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<p class="break">
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***
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</p>
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<p>
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High above Jack, the steps cascaded down, knocking more and more free as they came, dislodging the stones that held them in place. He forced himself flat
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against the wall despite the certainty that it could not shield him from the cascading debris.
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</p>
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<p>
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He back on his fear and held the heartstone to his eyes. Again through its crystal, he could see Corriwen running in the mist.
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</p>
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<p>
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Behind her, Jack could see a grey, powerful shape in pursuit. Its back was ridged with horny scales and its mouth opened to show rows of red teeth. He
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didn't know what it was, didn't need to know.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Run, Corriwen." He cried. "<em>Run</em>!"
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</p>
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<p>
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He saw her cock her head as if she'd heard his shout.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Jack? <em>Jack?</em>" her voice was muffled.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Run Corrie. <em>Run to my voice!</em>"
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</p>
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<p>
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Jack couldn't hear himself above the thunder of the collapsing stairway, but he knew Corriwen had heard him.
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</p>
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<p>
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"Where are you Jack? I can't see you."
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</p>
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<p>
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Behind her the beast snorted and wheeled around on thick legs. Jack saw scarlet eyes as it swung its head in Corriwen's direction, and then it suddenly
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accelerated its pace, heading directly for her.
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</p>
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<p>
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"To my voice, Corrie. Come on!"
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</p>
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<p>
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She didn't turn to look behind. She simply ran, ran like the wind, clasping her knives tightly on either side, her cape billowing behind her.
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</p>
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<p>
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He could see her more clearly now, face pale, red hair whipped back, mouth agape as she gasped for breath.
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|
</p>
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<p>
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The monster was closer now now, fifteen yards behind. Ten yards. Jack kept calling, to give her a direction.
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</p>
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<p>
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She put on a last spurt of speed, racing directly towards Jack, while above him, ton after ton of splintering wood and crumbling masonry smashed into the
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|
stairs, almost throwing him off balance.
|
||
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|
</p>
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||
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|
<p>
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Corriwen was yelling his name, high and desperate.
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||
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|
</p>
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||
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|
<p>
|
||
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|
Jack urged her on, willed her towards him. He pressed hard against the cold stone wall.
|
||
|
|
</p>
|
||
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|
<p>
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||
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|
Without warning, it gave under the pressure. His arms sank into it and he stumbled forward as the stone simply dissolved<em>.</em>
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||
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|
</p>
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|
<p>
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||
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|
And suiddenly Corriwen was there in front of him, yelling for him. Behind her the monster bunched ropy muscles, ready to pounce. Corriwen slammed into him
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|
with such force he was thrown backwards.
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||
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|
</p>
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||
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|
<p>
|
||
|
|
He felt himself pass through a filmy surface. Claws ripped through it with a horrendous tearing sound, making great grooves.
|
||
|
|
</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>
|
||
|
|
They were out of the mist and back on the other side of the wall. An avalanche of timber and masonry came crashing down towards them as they tumbled over
|
||
|
|
and over and over. Jack saw one massive block whirl in the air, cannoning from wall to wall, expanding in his vision as it bulleted towards them. He
|
||
|
|
managed to twist, getting himself between the plummeting rock and Corriwen's fragile frame, even as he realised this would make no difference at all.
|
||
|
|
</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>
|
||
|
|
A huge weight clubbed him. He thought he heard his bones breaking like thin sticks and a searing orange light exploded behind his eyes.
|
||
|
|
</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>
|
||
|
|
And then Jack and Corriwen were bouncing along on damp grass. When they finally stopped they lay there together, panting like hunted animals.
|
||
|
|
</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>
|
||
|
|
Jack groggily raised himself to his elbows, trying to get his sight to focus. His head began to clear and he saw, a short distance away, the dim light of a
|
||
|
|
candle glowing behind the window-pane in Megrin's woodland cottage.
|
||
|
|
</p>
|
||
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</div>
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||
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</div>
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</body>
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</html>
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