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likely.
He thought of Gene and Linda again and wondered what they were doing, whether
they were okay. They could be in trouble. He was a bit worried. He grasped the
bars again and shook. The cage rattled, and the hairless soldier turned to
glare at him. Up your mud hole, Bare Butt. Give your dirty looks to someone
else.
No use. He sat and leaned his broad back against the far wall of the cage. His
thoughts returned again to his friends. He was convinced, somehow, that Gene
was in trouble. Linda he wasn t sure about. But he was certain that Gene
needed him. He had no idea how he knew that, but he knew it for sure.
He could almost see Gene. He closed his fierce yellow eyes. He could!
He could actually see his buddy now, and it was true, the little hairless guy
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was up against it.
He jumped to his feet. Gene! he called out. I m coming, pal!
Snowclaw could almost reach out and touch him. He didn t know what was
happening, but whatever it was, Snowy was all for it.
Melydia sprinkled more incense onto the glowing coals. Smoke rose from the
brazier.
She was not adept at visualizing spells, though her sense of them was keen.
But her perception of the enchantment cast around the Stone had become so
palpable that she saw, or thought she could see, an intricate network of
glowing filaments surrounding the Stone like a spider s web, each strand
pulled taut with extreme tension. As she recited the opening lines of the
Spell of Abrogation, the web shimmered and vibrated, emitting a sound like an
ethereal harp.
The beast in the cage made noises again, but it did not distract her. She
barely noticed it.
She finished the Greater Invocation. Soon, Incarnadine, soon. You will show
yourself, and you think you will have me, but you will be wrong. I am now far
more powerful than you than anyone one in this world. And once the demon is
loose, it will do my bidding. You will control it no longer.
She regarded the Stone again. Around it, glowing strands of red, green,
purple, and yellow entwined sinuously in a filigree of magic. She blinked her
eyes and it was gone. Then, slowly, it returned. Yes, it was really there. She
was not just imagining it.
She looked over her shoulder. The servants sat huddled as far away from her as
they dared. The young one looked frightened. She would try to prevent him from
dying immediately, so as not to upset the others. It would be difficult,
though, as the spell called for a great quantity of virgin s blood. She would
endeavor to put the least amount to good use. She cared nothing for the boy.
At one time, long ago, she would have balked at such an act.
In fact, it would have horrified her. But after years of delving into the
Recondite Arts
Your Ladyship.
She turned her head. It was the soldier.
What is it?
The beast. It is no longer in its cage. It is nowhere to be found.
Have you been watching it?
Yes, my lady, just as you said. But it & it disappeared. One moment I was
looking at it, and the next
No matter, she said. Do not bother to search for it. I doubt it will return
here. Return to your post and do not disturb me again.
Yes, Your Ladyship.
Sometimes she forgot that everyone in this castle was a magician to some
extent. Be that as it may.
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She began another incantation.
Elsewhere, And Back Again
file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry%20kruisw...hancie%20-%20Castle%200
1%20-%20Castle%20Perilous.htm (94 of 111)19-2-2006 3:47:05
file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry%20kruiswijk/Mijn%20do...ar/John%20
DeChancie%20-%20Castle%2001%20-%20Castle%20Perilous.htm
AT LAST I have you, Count Ciancia!
From the floor Gene looked up at a man who was dressed in something that
vaguely evoked
The Three
Musketeers and similar costume epics.
Gene said, Huh?
I know not by what thaumaturgy you have contrived to change your appearance,
or how this secret chamber was instantly revealed, but I know you, Count, for
the fiend you are.
Wait a minute, Gene said, struggling to his feet.
The man drew a rapier, whipped it about briefly, and fell into a fencing
stance. Be on your guard, sorcerer!
Hold it! Gene yelled, raising his hand. You ve got it all wrong. I m not
this Count whatever you call him.
You
More lies! the man hissed, anger flashing in his eyes. You spew them like
vomit from a drunkard!
That s getting personal. Gene glanced around. He couldn t figure what
happened after the floor had swallowed him. He d fallen, but not far, and had
wound up in darkness, briefly. Then the lights had come on, and & Was he still
in the castle?
Have at you! The man charged.
Gene barely had time to draw his sword. He sidestepped the middle-aged man s
lunge, ran out of the alcove in which he d found himself and into a spacious
seventeenth century drawing room. He instantly realized that he d just crossed
a portal.
His antagonist chased after him, still yelling but now quite unintelligibly.
On this side of the portal there d be no communication at all.
Gene backed away, brandishing his sword. The weapons were mismatched, of
course, broadsword against rapier, but Gene didn t know enough about weaponry
to guess who d have the advantage, if any.
He found out quick. His opponent was a passable swordsman, and the rapier s
tip nearly skewered Gene three times before he had time to back out of range,
parrying desperately. If Gene could bring the full force of the broadsword
against the thin steel of the rapier s blade, the rapier would break. But his
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opponent wasn t about to let him do it. The man stayed with feint-and-lunge
maneuvers that kept the rapier unpredictably darting about, avoiding contact
with Gene s heavy weapon.
The portal might close any second. He would somehow have to maneuver back
toward the far wall. But Gene was not in charge. His opponent would determine
who would go where. On the positive side, the man was no expert. Although he
couldn t fathom why, Gene had the feeling that he could hold his own with a
fencing sword too. This flashed through his mind when he saw the crossed épées
above the mantelpiece.
His back to the fireplace, he swung wildly with the broadsword and fended his
opponent off, then overturned a stuffed chair to block him. Taking advantage
of the momentary distraction, Gene reached back and fumbled with one of the
crossed swords it fell and rolled away. He reached again, grasped the
remaining épée by its cupped hilt, and ran off toward the alcove.
Coward! the man yelled when Gene had recrossed the boundary. He was in the
castle again he could tell by the distinctive purplish-gray stone but the
chamber was a cul-de-sac. He had nowhere to run.
Gene switched the épée to his right hand and put it up against the man s
thrusting attack, neatly parrying and delivering a riposte that the man had
trouble beating away.
The man s expression changed. He was a little less sure of himself.
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