Knight of Shadows

«I will assist you also,» Mandor stated, rising to his feet and coming to stand to my right.

Jasra came over and stood to my left. I held the Trump so that we all had a clear view.

«Let us begin,» I said, and I moved forward with my mind.

III

A patch of light I had taken to be a stray sunbeam drifted from its position on the floor to a spot beside my coffee cup. It was ring-shaped, and I decided not to remark upon it since neither of the others seemed to take note of it.

I reached after Coral and found nothing. I felt Jasra and Mandor reaching also, and I tried again, joining forces with them. Harder.

Something? Something… I recalled wondering what Vialle felt when she used the Trumps. It had to be something other than the visual cues with which the rest of us were familiar. It might be something like this.

Something. What I felt was a sense of Coral's presence. I regarded her form upon the card, but it would not come alive. The card itself had grown perceptibly cooler, but it was not the same ice-edged chill I normally felt on achieving communication with one of the others. I tried harder. I felt Mandor and Jasra increasing their efforts also.

Then Coral's image on the card faded, but nothing came to replace it. I sensed her presence, however, as I regarded the void. The feeling came closest to that of attempting to make contact with someone who was asleep.

«I cannot tell whether it's simply a difficult place to reach,» Mandor began, «or-»

«I believe she is under a spell,» Jasra announced.

«That could account for a part of it,» Mandor said.

«But only part,» came a soft, familiar voice from near at hand. «There are awesome powers holding her, Dad. I've never seen anything like this before.»

«The Ghostwheel is right,» Mandor said. «I'm beginning to feel it.»

«Yes,» Jasra began, «there is something…»

And suddenly the veil was pierced, and I beheld the slumped form of Coral, apparently unconscious, lying upon a dark surface in a very dark place, the only illumination coming from what seemed a circle of fire drawn about her. She couldn't have brought me through if she wanted to, and-

«Ghost, can you take me to her?» I asked.

Her image faded before he could reply, and I felt a cold draft. It was several seconds before I realized that it seemed to be blowing upon me from the now-icy card.

«I don't think so, I wouldn't want to, and it may be that there is no need,» he answered. «The force that holds her has become aware of your interest and even now is reaching toward you. Is there some way you can turn off that Trump?»

I passed my hand across its face, which is usually sufficient. Nothing happened. The cold breeze even seemed to increase in intensity. I repeated the gesture along with a mental order. I began to feel whatever it was, focusing upon me.

Then the Sign of the Logrus fell upon the Trump, and the card was torn from my hand as I was cast backward, striking my shoulder against the edge of the door. Mandor lurched to his right as this occurred, catching hold of the table to steady himself. In my Logrus vision I had seen wild lines of light flash outward from the card before it fell away.

«Did that do the trick?» I called out.

«It broke the connection,» Ghost replied.

«Thanks, Mandor,» I said.

«But the power that was reaching for you through the Trump knows where you are now,» Ghost said.

«What makes you privy to its awareness?» I inquired.

«It is a surmise, based upon the fact that it's still reaching for you. It is coming the long way roundacross space though. It could take as long as a quarter of a minute before it reaches you.»

«Your use of the pronoun is a little indefinite,» Jasra said. «Is it just Merlin that it wants? Or is it coming for all of us?»

«Uncertain. Merlin is the focus. I've no idea what it will do to you.»

I lurched forward during this exchange and retrieved Coral's Trump.

«Can you protect us?» she asked.

«I've already begun transferring Merlin to a distant place. Shall I do this for you also?»

As I looked up from pocketing the Trump, I noted that the chamber had become something less than substantial - translucent, as if everything were made of colored glass.

«Please,» the cathedral-window form of Jasra said softly.

«Yes,» came my fading brother's faint echo.

Then I was passed through a fiery hoop into a place of darkness. I stumbled against a stone wall, felt my way along it. A quarter turn, a lighter area before me dotted with bright points…

«Ghost?» I asked.

No answer.

«I don't appreciate these interrupted conversations,» I continued.

I moved forward until I came to what was obviously a cave mouth. A clear night sky hung before me, and when I stepped outside a cold wind rubbed up against me. I retreated several paces, shivering.