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hands with One-Eye and Goblin.
They made magic.
Treasure, table, and stone began to shed a golden glow.
Our archfoe was a dead man. Half the world would try to collect this bounty.
It was too big to resist. His own people would turn on him.
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I saw one slim chance for him. He could steal the treasure himself. Tough job,
though. No Rebel Prophet could out-magic one of the Taken.
They completed their spell-casting. "Somebody test it," One-Eye said-There was
a vicious crackle when Raven's daggertip pricked the plane of the tablelegs.
He cursed, scowled at his weapon. Elmo thrust with his sword. Crackle! The tip
of his blade glowed white.
"Excellent," Soulcatcher said. "Take the wagon away."
Elmo detailed a man. The rest of us fled to the room Goblin had rented.
At first we crowded the window, willing something to happen. That palled fast.
Roses did not discover the doom we had set for Raker till sunrise.
Cautious entrepreneurs found a hundred ways to go after that money. Crowds
came just to see. One enterprising band started tearing up the street to dig
under. Police ran them off.
Soulcatcher took a seat beside the window and never
moved. Once he told me, "Have to modify the spells. I didn't anticipate this
much ingenuity,"
Surprised at my own audacity, I asked, "What's the Lady like?" I had just
finished one of my fantasy sketches.
He turned slowly, stared briefly. "Something that will bite steel." His voice
was female and catty. An odd answer. Then, "Have to keep them from using
tools."
So much for getting an eyewitness report. I should have known better. We
mortals are mere objects to the Taken. Our curiosities are of supreme
indifference. I retreated to my secret kingdom and its spectrum of imaginary
Ladies.
Soulcatcher modified the ward sorceries that night. Next morning there were
corpses in the square.
One-Eye wakened me the third night. "Got a customer."
"Hunh?"
"A guy with a head." He was pleased.
I stumbled to the window. Goblin and Raven were there already. We crowded one
side. Nobody wanted to get too close to Soulcatcher.
A man stole across the square below. A head dangled from his left hand. He
carried it by its hair. I said, "I wondered how long it would be before this
started."
"Silence," Soulcatcher hissed. "He's out there."
"Who?"
He was patient. Remarkably patient. Another of the Taken would have struck me
down. "Raker. Don't give us away."
I do not know how he knew. Maybe I would not want to find out. Those things
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scare me.
"A sneak visit was in the scenario," Goblin whispered, squeaking. How can he
squeak when he whispers? "Raker has to find out what he's up against. He can't
do that from anywhere else." The fat little man seemed proud.
The Captain calls human nature our sharpest blade. Curiosity and a will to
survive drew Raker into our cauldron.
Maybe he would turn it on us. We have a lot of handles sticking out ourselves.
Weeks passed. Raker came again and again, apparently content to observe.
Soulcatcher told us to let him be, no matter how easy a target he made of
himself.
Our mentor might be considerate of us, but he has his cruel streak. It seemed
he wanted to torment Raker with the uncertainty of his fate.
"This berg is going bounty-crazy," Goblin squealed. He danced one of his jigs.
"You ought to get out more, Croaker. They're turning Raker into an industry."
He beckoned me into the corner farthest from Soulcatcher, opened a wallet.
"Look here," he whispered.
He had a double fistful of coins. Some were gold. I observed, "You're going to
be walking tilted to one side."
He grinned. Goblin grinning is a sight to behold. "Made this selling tips on
where to find Raker," he whispered. With a glance toward Soulcatcher, "Bogus
tips." He put a hand on my shoulder. He had to stretch up to do it. "You can
get rich out there."
"I didn't know we were in this to get rich." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]