Shadow Blizzard

by Alexey Pehov

  “Leave the crossbow. And the bag, too. We won’t need all that,” said Valder. “Good. And now forward, my friend!”

  I darted out into the corridor, clutching the sphere in my hands, and ran toward the stairs.

  “How do we set him free?” I asked Valder as I ran.

  “It’s a magical prison. I sense that the power swirling about up there is so great, we only have to take the sphere close, and it will fall to pieces! Trust me.”

  I did trust him. There was nothing else I could do.

  The tower was trembling continually now. Fine tremors shook the stairs and the walls, and I was beginning to feel afraid that—Sagot forbid—the whole building might collapse.

  The door into the Council Chamber was standing wide open, so it only took me a moment to understand what was going on. I think I was watching everything through Valder’s eyes.

  The mirror floor reflected constellations never seen in Siala, and there were flaming purple auroras in its depths. The Rainbow Horn and the Shadow Horse were lying five yards apart.

  The Horn was already surrounded by a glow that constantly changed color. Every now and then a shower of purple sparks came flying out of the Horse, soared up toward the transparent ceiling, and faded away in the air. Thick tentacles of Power were reaching out toward the artifacts and there was a black cloud expanding inexorably between the two magical objects. Artsivus was standing absolutely still, with his hands raised toward the ceiling. The puny archmagician had his back to us, and I immediately regretted that I’d left the crossbow downstairs.

  “Don’t worry about that,” Valder told me. “Ordinary weapons are absolutely useless now.”

  “And now what do we do?”

  “Wait. It’s not time yet.”

  Artsivus chanted his spells in a harsh-sounding language, and from time to time the tower shuddered. The purple flame in the mirror blazed brighter and brighter. The black cloud directly in front of the Player was already the size of a decent carriage. But it was only black round the edge; its center was transparent. And through it I could see a strange world, a completely different world.

  The world of a different Master.

  It looked as if Artsivus was opening up a passage for his new lord. The Rainbow Horn was shining with a brilliance that was too painful to look at, and the sparks were streaming up toward the glass dome from the Shadow Horse.

  Surely the archmagicians and ordinary magicians of the capital ought to sense what was going on?

  The archmagician’s chanting soared even higher and I felt the Scales of the Balance tremble. Just a little longer, and Artsivus’s magic would annihilate everything for tens of leagues around, not to mention the fact that the Scales of the Balance would be overturned completely.

  Ah darkness! That was Valder thinking for me again!

  “It’s time,” the dead archmagician suddenly said. “Throw it!”

  I flung the gray sphere as hard as I could. It flew almost the entire length of the hall and landed behind Artsivus. The Master of the Order was too busy with his spell to notice anything.

  The sphere burst without a sound and disappeared.

  “Forward! Grab the Horn!” Valder ordered. “Free me!”

  I hesitated before running into the hall, and the archmagician immediately took control of my body. I dashed toward the brightly glowing artifact, hoping that Artsivus wouldn’t see me too soon! He mustn’t see me!

  Meanwhile a new character had joined the scene in the hall—a hefty demon. There was no way the Master of the Order could fail to see this lad. Artsivus broke off his incantation in mid-word, and one of his palms started glowing with a turquoise blue light.

  “Vukhdjaaz is clever,” the gray demon announced, and made a dash for the magician.

  The turquoise flame went darting from the magician’s palm and struck Vukhdjaaz in the chest.

  Nothing happened. Battle magic doesn’t work on demons.

  Artsivus shouted out a few hasty words. The Shadow Horse flared up and the monstrous demon howled as it was flung aside. When it came to battling the denizens of the darkness, the Doralissians’ artifact was obviously much more effective than any hocus-pocus.

  Vukhdjaaz cursed and reached his clawed hand out toward the Shadow Horse, clearly intending to grab the bauble that he desired so badly. My sheep-headed friend must have forgotten that a demon could only take the Shadow Horse if a human being or a Doralissian put it in his hands of their own free will. The Shadow Horse spat sparks at the impertinent demon and Vukhdjaaz howled like a thousand sinners and staggered back, shaking his burnt hand, which was charred black in places.

  All of the above took no longer than three seconds, just long enough for me to cover most of the distance to the Horn. I think Artsivus had noticed me, but he didn’t allow himself to be distracted, and he pointed one finger at Vukhdjaaz and started reciting a spell.

  The demon didn’t seem at all keen on the idea. He cursed again, dodged to one side, smashed his head through the glass of one of the tall pointed windows, and left in a hurry.

  Artsivus turned all his attention to me. The Rainbow Horn was close enough now for me to reach out and touch it. So I reached out.

  The glow scorched my skin even through my gloves, and when I touched the Horn I felt like I’d been struck by lightning.

  “I’m free!” Valder gasped.

  Artsivus babbled something, and I was tossed away. I tried to get up, but I was too dizzy, and I had to lie there on the floor and watch as the entirely real Valder fought a duel of magic with the Player.

  My friend showered down magical blows on the Master of the Order, giving Artsivus no time to wonder how this stranger who was so skilled in the art of magic could have appeared in the Council Chamber.

  The Player struck, Valder parried, and then the old magician had to defend himself. The tower shuddered and I spat out the blood in my mouth, thinking that this was the end. It was going to collapse.

  But the duel continued. Valder just barely managed to fend off a crimson sphere, sending it soaring up toward the ceiling, and the glass dome of the Tower of the Order burst with a deafening crash. Myriads of sharp fragments came showering down on us. Both magicians immediately protected themselves against the deadly rain with glowing canopies. And Valder had to protect me, too.

  The duel was renewed and the magicians whirled round the Council Chamber, exchanging magical blows. Every one of them set the tower shaking like an earthquake. The very air seemed to be wailing with magic, but neither opponent could get the upper hand.

  With an immense effort, I got up on my hands and knees and started gently creeping toward the Rainbow Horn. I wondered what it was that Artsivus had hit me with, and how I’d managed to survive. They didn’t seem to be taking any notice of me. I spat blood yet again and starting crawling a bit faster.

  At that moment Valder shouted out some phrase and pushed Artsivus away from him as hard as he could. The old magician staggered backward, his back touched the black cloud, and he disappeared with a scream.

  “Close the portal, Harold!” Valder yelled. “Take the Horn and close the portal! Close it before it’s too late!”

  He flung himself after Artsivus.

  I kept crawling.

  The tower was shuddering. The Scales of the Balance were swaying. The world held its breath in anticipation.

  I kept crawling.

  The tower was shaking violently now. I even thought the magical mirror had cracked. The Horn was very close.

  This time the effect of the rainbow radiance was pain. I screamed out loud and tears spurted from my eyes, but I grabbed hold of the artifact and flung it as far away as I could. The Rainbow Horn flew beyond the edge of the magical mirror and its glow instantly disappeared. The portal snapped shut with a deafening crash.

  There was a rumble and a flash. Cold flooded through my entire body. I opened my mouth in a silent scream and the night swallowed me up.

  Epilogue

  Little B
ee recognized me and snorted happily, reaching her muzzle forward for a treat. I gave her the apple I had ready and patted her on the neck. I was glad to see her, too. It turned out that when Honeycomb left Cuckoo to come to Avendoom, he had taken my horse, and there was no way I could thank the Wild Heart enough. The groom had already saddled Little Bee and all I had to do was put the saddlebags on and set off.

  After what happened in the Tower of the Order, I’d been confined to bed until the middle of spring. I didn’t know what it was that saved me on that terrible night, Valder’s power or good luck, but the magicians who came dashing to the “fire” were rather surprised to find a man lying beside the ruined tower, clutching the Rainbow Horn in his hands.

  I was surrounded with care and attention all the time I lay unconscious. And then when I came round in early spring, the magicians who were there beside the bed asked me what had happened and how I was feeling. In that order.

  Sagot be praised, Kli-Kli had told the members of the Order almost everything she knew, and they didn’t pester me too much. The magicians were too busy trying to restore the reputation of the Order and restore the tower to waste time on interrogating a thief. So they almost believed my suggestion that the magical explosion happened because Artsivus made a mistake in one of his spells. As for the Horn, I really had no idea how I happened to be holding it in my hands. I definitely remembered throwing it away before I blacked out.

  So they left me alone. For the time being, at least.

  Lying in bed was incredibly boring. And I wasn’t exactly spoiled for visitors. At first Kli-Kli never left my bedside, but then she almost completely stopped coming to see me, because of some commotion at court. And when she did come, she just dropped in for a minute and went away again, without even telling me all the news.

  “So you’ve definitely decided?”

  I swung round. Kli-Kli had somehow appeared in the stable, and she was leaning against the wall, nibbling on a carrot. Invincible was ensconced on her shoulder.

  “Yeah,” I said, embarrassed. “It’s time. I can’t put it off any longer.”

  “So you were going to clear out of town without even saying good-bye?” she asked with a frown.

  “I did try to find you.”

  It was true. I had tried, but they wouldn’t let me into the palace, and I hadn’t been able to get any news to the gobliness for a week. It was as if she’d vanished into thin air.

  “I know,” she sighed. “I’m sorry, I was snowed under. We have a new king, have you heard?”

  “The whole city’s talking about it,” I laughed.

  Stalkon Deprived of the Crown had suddenly recovered his reason, and since he was the elder son of Stalkon the Ninth, he had more right to the throne than Stalkon of the Spring Jasmine.

  “What does Spring Jasmine think about it all?”

  “He’s never clung to power. He’d have been quite glad to let his elder brother have the crown. But his brother refused to take it. The elder son has been completely out of touch with the state of the kingdom for far too long in order to take power. You know, I think Artsivus was to blame for the prince losing his wits.”

  “The same idea occurred to me, Kli-Kli. The question is: Why did the Master of the Order do it?”

  “Who can understand the Player? But I think that somehow or other, the prince found out that Artsivus wasn’t really such a benign old gentleman after all. So the magician had to … He didn’t dare kill a prince of the royal blood, so he turned him into an idiot. And when Artsivus died, the spell was broken.”

  We said nothing for a while. I checked the bags, Kli-Kli gnawed on her carrot. Invincible twitched his little pink nose.

  “I see you’ve made friends with the ling.”

  “Uh-huh. Honeycomb decided the mouse would be better off dining at the king’s table. I don’t have anything against the little beast.”

  “Are you going to stay in Avendoom for long?”

  “I don’t know. For as long as I’m needed. In any case, I’ll stay until everything settles down. Then I’ll go back home. I have to help my grandfather.”

  “With his shamanism?” I chuckled.

  “Yes, with his shamanism,” she chuckled in reply. “Maybe you shouldn’t go away?”

  “Yes, I should,” I sighed. “There’s nothing to keep me in Avendoom. I’ve already put all my affairs in order, and the magicians … I should leave before they remember about me and the Rainbow Horn. The Master won this round of the Game, in spite of everything.”

  “There’ll be more rounds to come. If the magicians lose the Horn, Valiostr’s in for trouble in three hundred years’ time.”

  “I shan’t live that long. They can find some other fool to get the Horn for them,” I laughed.

  “You will live that long,” she said, giving me a serious look. “You’re a Dancer.”

  “And how are all our friends?”

  To my great regret, I hadn’t managed to see any of them.

  “Egrassa’s in Zagraba. He’s the head of the house now. I think our elf friend’s really got his hands full—the orcs gave the dark ones a really bad mauling. There’s talk of uniting all the dark houses. Egrassa could be top elf in the Black Forest before you know it!” She grunted delightedly. “The Wild Hearts have gone back to the Lonely Giant. They told me to say good-bye, they couldn’t just hang about here any longer. Before he left, Hallas palmed the h’san’kor horns off on the Order for a mountain of gold pieces. He bought an entire trade caravan of wine and a heap of other stuff, just like he was going to do with Deler. They’re already restoring the Lonely Giant, have you heard?”

  “Yes. It’s a pity I didn’t get to say good-bye to them,” I said sadly.

  “It is. By the way, Eel asked me to give you this,” she said, holding out a long bundle.

  “What is it?”

  “How should I know? You don’t think I’d go rummaging in other people’s things, do you?”

  I politely ignored that and unwrapped the bundle. Just as I thought—it was Eel’s “brother” and “sister.”

  “The Garrakian told me you knew what to do with these.”

  “I do. How will he manage without them?”

  “The king gave them all new weapons. Much more beautiful than the old ones.”

  I wrapped the two blades in the cloth and set them beside the saddlebags.

  “If you see Eel, tell him I’ll do everything he asked.”

  “All right. Listen, about the Commission…”

  “Yes?”

  “You realize they’re not going to pay you fifty thousand gold pieces? The Commission was annulled.”

  “Don’t worry, Kli-Kli, I understand.”

  “But when the king found out what happened, he decided that wasn’t very fair.”

  “And?”

  “Well, here’s a royal pardon for you,” she said, handing me a charter rolled up into a tube. “The king pardons all your wrongdoings. Frago Lanten will be absolutely raging. And here’s some money for you. As much as they could manage…”

  “And how much could they manage?” I asked, taking the heavy bag from the gobliness.

  “You understand, after the war the treasury’s completely empty,” Kli-Kli began cautiously.

  “Listen, just tell me, will you?”

  “A hundred fifty gold pieces. It will be enough for a start.”

  “Well, now,” I said with a nod. “That’s not bad at all.”

  As I put the money away, I thought about the other two hundred gold pieces I’d taken from For’s secret hiding place. My old teacher had left the nest egg for me specially. So now I had quite a tidy sum.

  “And there’s something else. Egrassa asked me to give you this.”

  Kli-Kli laid a string of smoky yellow topazes in my hand. The same ones that Miralissa had worn at Balistan Pargaid’s reception. I breathed in sharply. These stones were valuable. Very valuable. But they had belonged to Miralissa … and that made them more valuable than any
amount of gold.

  “I’m afraid I’ll never bring myself to sell them, Kli-Kli.”

  “I know,” she said with a smile. “I think Egrassa knew, too. And by the way, he said the doors of the House of the Black Moon will always be open to you.”

  “It’s not likely I’ll ever be in Zagraba again. But thanks for the offer.”

  We stopped talking. We both realized it was time for me to leave.

  “Where will you go now?”

  “First to Isilia, then by ship to Garrak. I’ll visit For—he’s in Hozg now—and I have to deal with Eel’s business. And after that … We’ll see. Maybe to the Lowlands.”

  She gave a little nod.

  “Is it time?”

  “Yes.”

  “Lean down.”

  “What?”

  “Lean down, you blockhead!”

  I obediently leaned down and she kissed me on the cheek.

  “You can go now.”

  I climbed into the saddle.

  “Be seeing you, Kli-Kli.”

  “No,” she said, shaking her head sadly. “We’ll probably never meet again; I think you understand that as well as I do.”

  “Well, maybe sometime,” I said awkwardly.

  “‘Sometime’ and ‘never’ are very similar. The world’s too big for us to meet, and some day you’ll go to join the shadows. I know that. So good-bye forever, Dancer in the Shadows.”

  “Good-bye,” I sighed. “I’m going to miss you.”

  “Likewise.” She cleared her throat. “Only when you go, don’t look back until you reach the city gates. That’s a bad sign for goblins.”

  I nodded, looked at her one last time, and touched my heels to Little Bee’s sides. I kept my word and didn’t look back once. Although I wanted to very badly.

  * * *

  Although it was early morning, the Chicken Gates leading out of the city to the west were standing wide open. The guards were playing dice, and they took no notice of the solitary traveler leaving Avendoom at such an early hour. But then, our glorious servants of the law weren’t taking any notice of the beggar who was sitting right beside the gates with his clay cup for alms.