Aces and Eights Page 17
Harvey Smith
"Oh?" He took on a more serious _expression.
"It involves an old enemy of yours; a sorcerer named Merequist."
"What?!"
"Yes, he still lives. I trailed the thieves who took your pendant for some time. Eventually, I ended up following one of them through Shadow to an odd tower. As it turned out, the thieves had been acting on this guy Merequist's orders, trying to set a trap for you. Only, I got caught instead."
"I see. Go on." His _expression was now deathly cold.
"While being watched over by a werewolf named Kyla�the same woman leading the shape-shifters who nearly did us both in on the night you first took me to Kashfa�I had the privilege of meeting Merequist. Later, I managed to escape. That was only moments ago. Now, I'm somewhere inside a large structure which I believe exists within several Shadows at once; this place may have been created expressly for the purpose of nailing you."
Luke appeared to consider for a time. Watching him, I wondered at what his course of action would be. It seemed likely that he would want to pull back to prepare some sort of long term strategy against this new/old enemy. His words then, when they came, surprised me.
"Bring me through." He extended his hand.
I reached forward, pulling him across the Shadows. In half a second, his image gained complete substantiality. He took in our surroundings and asked, "Any idea where the bastard is right now?"
"No. I only saw him for a brief time. As I told you, Kyla was my keeper. Chances are, though, even if Merequist isn't currently somewhere in this Shadow, she is. And I'm fairly sure she has his Trump."
"Finding her should work for starters then." He surveyed the corridor.
Gesturing, I said, "I was held back that way by some sort of magic wheel."
He turned and looked at me sharply. "Describe it."
"It was very potent�some sort of energy construct that manifests in the form of a large, pictographic circle. A wheel."
"Did it ever talk to you? Was it mobile?"
"No, it didn't seem sentient and it did not move�it was inscribed upon the floor." I watched as his _expression of concern faded to one of puzzlement. "I'm not familiar with a design like that, so it's probably something Merequist cooked up himself�a personalized power tool. It probably draws strength from the Sign of Chaos. I doubt if Merequist, being an initiate of the Logrus, would fool around with anything less."
I shrugged. "Whatever it is, it seems to be a fairly important aspect of this place. We might be able to find Kyla, or another of Merequist's allies there. Hell, for all I know, he might show up himself to check out all the damage I did there."
He fixed his eyes on me. "What did you do?"
"Well, I left the room in shambles, but I'm really not sure how much I might have affected the long-term operation of the thing."
"It looks like we get to find out," he said quietly. "Going there sounds like the best way to get to Merequist. Are you up for it?"
"Yes. I am uninjured."
"Great." He raised one fist above his head and I felt a slight tingle pass through me as he lowered it.
"What was that?"
"A cloak, of sorts. It will keep most anyone or anything from registering our approach on a psychic level. We can still be seen and heard, though, so we'll have to watch ourselves."
"This way, then." Together, we moved down the hall toward its elbow bend. Reaching it, I peered around the corner. "It looks clear," I said. Beyond lay several doors, and a stairway leading upwards.
Several minutes later, we were very near the entrance to the room in which I had been held hostage, at a point where a final twist in the passage would bring the archway into view. Oddly, though the air was still, I could hear the sounds of a strong wind blowing from ahead.
"That's strange," I said softly. "The wind tunnel sound effect is new; things were pretty quiet when I left this place."
"Let's go find out what's going on." He drew the curved blade that hung at his side. I too armed myself. We walked cautiously forward, turning into the remaining section of hallway. Ahead, through the archway leading into the room, I could see nothing but a swirling wall of gray-green mist.
"Things here have changed," I told him. "That curtain of fog wasn't here when I left." I concentrated briefly, probing the wall with tendrils from my ring. The wall did not react to my investigation, but it effectively blinded me to whatever might now lie beyond. While my awareness was shifted into a higher band on the mystical spectrum, I noted that an oval shape which could only be a representation of the great Pattern of Amber hung before Luke's face. He appeared to be conducting an inspection of his own.
Seconds later, he said, "Whatever it is, it doesn't appear to be a trap of any sort. The area beyond the mist is in a serious state of flux. Merequist is there, but he seems to be occupied. Before we go through, tell me exactly what it was that you did."
I explained my trick with the acorn.
"Hmm. Interesting." He seemed amused. Raising a flame-colored brow, he said, "What you did seems to have had an odd effect upon the wheel construct. I felt it there, but like I said, things in and around the area are changing rapidly. This might work to our advantage if Merequist has his hands full."
"Were you able to determine if he is alone?"
He shook his head. "He might have company. Either way, let's go check it out. I'll make a quick attempt to put him out of action, but if things get rough, don't hesitate to Trump us home."
I nodded.