Shan, Darren - Cirque Du Freak 11 - Lord of the Shadows

Mr Tall trailed off into silence. Vancha, Harkat, Debbie, Alice and I watched, awed, as his face twitched and glowed a light red colour. The owner of the Cirque Du Freak seemed to stop breathing and the temperature of the air dropped several degrees. For five minutes he held that pose, face glowing and twitching, lips sealed. Then he breathed out, the glow faded, his eyes opened and the temperature returned to normal.

"I have looked," he said, his expression unreadable.

"And?" I croaked.

"I did not find you there."

I smiled bitterly. "I knew it. If the clan falls, it will fall because ofme . I'm the doomed one in the future where we lose."

"Not necessarily," Mr Tall said. "I looked fifty or sixty years ahead, long after the fall of the vampires. You might have died after all of the others had been killed."

"Then bring it forward," I demanded. "Look twenty or thirty years ahead."

"No," Mr Tall said stiffly. "I have already seen more than I wished. I don't want to suffer any further tonight."

"What are you talking about?" I huffed. "What have you suffered?"

"Grief," Mr Tall said. He paused, then glanced at Vancha. "I know you told me not to look for you, old friend, but I couldn't help myself."

Vancha cursed, then braced himself. "Go on. Since this fool's opened the can of worms, we might as well watch them wriggle. Hit me with the bad news."

"I looked into both futures," Mr Tall said hollowly. "I did not mean to, but I cannot control these things. I looked into the future where the vampaneze won the War of the Scars, and also into the future where the vampires won — and although I found Darren in the latter future, I found you in neither." He locked gazes with Vancha and muttered gloomily, "You were killed by the Lord of the Shadows in both."

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

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Vancha blinked slowly. "You're saying I'll die whether we win or lose?" His voice was surprisingly steady.

"The Lord of the Shadows is destined to destroy you," Mr Tall replied. "I cannot say when or how it happens, but it will."

"Who's this Lord of the Shadows?" Harkat asked. I was the only person who'd been told about him. Evanna had warned me not to speak of it to anybody else.

"He's the cruel leader who will ruin the world after the War of the Scars," Mr Tall said.

"I don't get it," Harkat grumbled. "If we kill Steve, then there won't be a… Lord of the bloody Shadows."

"Oh, but there will," Mr Tall said. "The world is set to produce a monster of unimaginable power and fury. His coming is unavoidable. Only his identity is yet to be determined — and that will be decided shortly."

"The wasteworld," Harkat said sickly. "You mean, even if we kill Steve, that's what… the future will be? The desolate land where Darren and I found… out the truth about me — that's what lies… in store?"

Mr Tall hesitated, then nodded. "I could not tell you before. I have never spoken of matters such as this in the past. But we are at the time where no harm can come of revealing it, since nothing can be done to avert it. The Lord of the Shadows is upon us — within twenty-four hours he will be born, and all the world will tremble at his coming."

There was a long, stunned silence. Vancha, Harkat, Debbie and Alice were filled with confusion, especially the latter pair, who knew nothing of the wasteworld of the future.I was filled with fear. This was confirmation of all my worst nightmares. The Lord of the Shadows would rise regardless of what happened in the War of the Scars. And not only could I not prevent his coming — in one of the futures, I wouldbe him. Which meant, if we won the war, at some stage in the next fifty or sixty years, along with all the other lives I'd ruin, I would kill Vancha too. It seemed impossible. It sounded like a sick joke. But Evanna and Mr Tall both had the gift of reading the future — and both had told me the same thing.

"Let me get this straight," Vancha growled, breaking the silence and disrupting my train of thought. "No matter what happens between us and Steve Leonard — or in the war with the vampaneze — a Lord of the Shadows is going to come along and destroy the world?"

"Yes," Mr Tall said. "Humans are soon to lose control of this planet. The reins of power will be handed over. This is written. What remains to be seen is whether the reins pass to a vampaneze or… to a vampire." He didn't look at me when he said that. It might have been my imagination, but I got the feeling he had deliberately avoided making eye contact with me.

"But regardless of who wins, I'm for the chop?" Vancha pressed.

"Yes." Mr Tall smiled. "But do not fear death, Vancha, for it comes for us all." His smile dimmed. "For some of us, it comes very soon."

"What are you talking about?" Vancha snapped. "You're not part of this. No vampire or vampaneze would raise a hand against you."

"That might be true," Mr Tall chuckled, "but there are others in this world who do not hold me in such high esteem." He cocked his head sideways and his expression mellowed. "And to prove my point…"