PRINCE OF CHAOS (28 page)

So I made the only decision I could make.
 
They were, after all, only Pattern ghosts.
 
The real Benedict and Gerard were somewhere else at this moment and would in no way be harmed by anything I did to their doubles here.
 
Eric and Caine were, of course, long dead, Caine being the fratricidal hero of the Patternfall war and subject of a recent statue on the Grand Concourse, on the occasion of Luke’s assassinating him for killing his father.
 
And Eric, of course, had found a hero’s death on the slopes of Kolvir, saving him, I suppose, from dying at the hands of my father.
 
The bloody history of my family swam through my head as I raised the spikard to add a footnote to it, calling again for the wave of incineration that had taken out two of my Hendrake kin.

My arm felt as if someone had struck it with a baseball bat.
 
A wisp of smoke rose from the spikard.
 
For a moment, my four upright uncles stood unmoving.
 
And my fifth remained supine.

Then, slowly, Eric raised his weapon.
 
And he continued to raise it, as Benedict, Caine, and Gerard drew theirs.
 
He straightened as he held it before his face.
 
The others did the same.
 
It looked strangely like a salute; and Eric’s eyes met mine.

“I know you,” he said.

Then they all completed the gesture, and faded, faded, turned to smoke, and blew away.

Dalt bled, my arm ached, and I figured out what was going on just moments before Luke gasped and said, “Over there.”

My line of fire had gone out some time ago, but beyond the mark it had left, where my faded kinsmen had just been standing, the air began to shimmer.

“That will be the Pattern,” I said to Luke, “come calling.”

A moment later the Sign of the Pattern hovered before us.

“Merlin,” it said, “you certainly move around a lot.”

“My life has become very busy of late,” I said.

“You took my advice and left the Courts.”

“Yes, that seemed prudent.”

“But I do not understand your purposes here.”

“What’s to understand?”

“You took the lady Coral away from the agents of the Logrus.”

“That’s right.”

“But then you attempted to keep her from my agents as well.”

“That, too, is correct.”

“You must realize by now that she bears something that contributes to our balance of power.”

“Yes.”

“So one of us must have her.
 
Yet you would deny us both.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“It’s her whom I care about.
 
She has rights and feelings.
 
You’re treating her like a game piece.”

“True.
 
I recognize her personhood, but unfortunately she is become both.”

“Then I would deny her to both of you.
 
Nothing would be changed, in that neither of you has her now, anyway.
 
But I would take her out of the game.”

“Merlin, you are a more important piece than she is, but you are still only a piece and you may not dictate to me.
 
Do you understand?”

“I understand my value to you,” I said.

“I think not,” it responded.

I was wondering just then how strong it really was in this place.
 
It seemed obvious that in terms of energy expenditure, it had been necessary for it to release its four ghosts to be able to manifest itself here.
 
Dared I oppose it with every channel on the spikard opened? I had never tried accessing every Shadow source it controlled simultaneously.
 
If I did this, and if I were to move very quickly, could I get us all out of here before the Pattern reacted? If I couldn’t, could I punch through whatever it raised up to stop us? And if I succeeded-either way-to what place should we flee?

Finally, how might this affect the Pattern’s attitude toward me?

( ...
 
if you are not eaten by something bigger, come tell me your story one night.)

What the hell, I decided.
 
It is a good day to be listed a la carte.

I opened all the channels.

It felt as if I had been jogging along at a good clip and a brick wall had suddenly appeared six inches before me.

I felt the smash and I went away.

I lay upon a smooth, cool stone surface.
 
There was a terrible rushing of energies in my mind and body.
 
I reached into their source and took control of them, dampening them to something that didn’t threaten to take the top of my head off.
 
Then I opened one eye, slightly.

The sky was very blue.
 
I saw a pair of boots, standing a few feet off, faced away from me.
 
I recognized them as Nayda’s, and turning my head slightly, I saw that she wore them.
 
I also saw then that Dalt lay sprawled several yards off to my left.

Nayda was breathing heavily, and my Logrus vision showed a pale red light about her vibrating hands, menacing.

Propping myself upon my left elbow and peering about her, I saw that she stood between me and the Sign of the Pattern that hovered in the air perhaps ten feet away.

When it spoke again it was the first time I’d heard it express anything like amusement: “You would protect him, against me?”

“Yes,” she replied.

“Why?”

“I did it for so long that it would be a shame to fail him when he really needs it.”

“Creature of the Pit, do you know where you stand?” it asked.

“No,” she said.

I looked beyond them both at a perfectly clear blue sky.
 
The surface upon which I lay was a level area of rock, perhaps oval in shape, opening onto nothing.
 
A quick turning of my head showed that it seemed bitten out of a mountainside, however, several dark recesses to the rear indicating the possibility of caves.
 
I saw, too, that Coral lay behind me.
 
Our stony shelf was several hundred meters wide.
 
And there was movement beyond Nayda and the Sign of the Pattern.
 
Luke had just hauled himself up into a kneeling position.

I could have answered the question put to Nayda, but there was no percentage in my doing so.
 
Not when she was doing such a fine job of holding our captor’s attention and providing a crucial respite.

To my left, I saw gold-pink swirls within the stone, and though I had never been here I recalled the description from my father’s story and knew this to be the place of the primal Pattern, the deeper level of reality that underlay Amber itself.

I rolled onto all fours then, and crawled a few steps, seaward, Patternward.

“You are at the other end of the universe, ty’iga, in the place of my greatest power.”

Dalt groaned and rolled over, sat up, massaged his eyes with the palms of his hands.

I could feel something like a vibration just at the edge of hearing coming from Nayda now, and her entire form had taken on that reddish glow.
 
I knew that she would die if she attacked the Sign, and I realized that I would attack it myself if it killed her.

I heard a moan from Coral.

“You will not hurt my friends,” Nayda said.

I wondered then at its slapping me down before I could use the spikard, and transporting us immediately to its stronghold.
 
Did this mean I might actually have had a chance against it, out there in Logrus territory where it was weakened?

“Creature of the Pit,” it told her, “such a doomed, pathetic gesture as yours verges on the heroic.
 
I feel a certain fondness for you.
 
Would that I had such a friend.
 
No, I will not harm your companions.
 
But I must detain Coral and Merlin here as power counters, and the rest of you for political reasons, until this dispute with my adversary is settled.”

“Detain?” she said.
 
“Here?”

“There are comfortable quarters within the rock,” it said.

I rose carefully to my feet, fumbling at my belt for my dagger.

Luke got up and walked over to Coral, knelt beside her.

“Are you awake?” he asked.

“Sort of,” she answered.

“Can you stand?”

“Maybe.”

“Let me help you.”

Dalt rose while Luke was assisting her.
 
I continued to sidle toward the design.
 
Where was Dworkin when I really needed him?

“You may enter the caves behind you and inspect your quarters,” the Sign said.
 
“But first you must remove that ring, Merlin.”

“No, now’s hardly a time to be unpacking and getting comfortable,” I answered, slashing my left palm with the dagger and taking a final step.
 
“We won’t be staying long.”

A sound like a small thunderclap emerged from the Sign of the Pattern, but there was no lightning, nor did I think there would be.
 
Not when it realized what I was holding in my hand, and where I was holding it.

“A thing I learned from Luke’s father,” I explained.
 
“Let’s talk.”

“Yes,” said the Sign of the Pattern, “like the reasonable beings that we are.
 
Would you care for some cushions?”

Immediately, three such objects appeared nearby.

“Thanks,” I said, drawing up a green one.
 
“I could sure use an iced tea.”

“Do you take sugar?”

Seated upon a cushion, dagger at my side, I held my left hand out over the Pattern, cupped palm filled with my blood.
 
The Sign of the Pattern hovered in the air before me, seeming, of a sudden, to have forgotten Coral, Nayda, Dalt, and Luke.
 
I sipped from the frosted glass in my right hand, a sprig of fresh mint visible amid the ice.

“Prince Merlin,” inquired the Sign, “tell me what it is that you desire, and let us resolve this matter quickly.
 
Are you sure I mightn’t fetch you a napkin to place at the danger point? It would not minimize your bargaining ability, if you stop to think of it.
 
But it would serve to prevent accidents.”

“No, that’s okay,” I said, half-gesturing with the blood-filled hand, so that its contents were stirred, a small line of red trickling up my wrist.
 
“Thanks, anyhow.”

The Sign of the Pattern vibrated, grew still.

“Prince Merlin, you have made your point,” it said.
 
“But I do not think you realize the full implications of your threat.
 
A few drops of your blood upon my physical design could disturb the functioning of the universe.”

I nodded.

“I know,” I said.

“Very well,” it answered.
 
“State your demands.”

“Our freedom,” I said.
 
“Let us go, and you remain intact.”

“You give me small choice, but the same applies to your friends.”

“What do you mean?”

“You may send Dalt whenever you wish,” it said.
 
“As for the demon lady, I relinquish her with regret, as I feel she would have provided good company-“

Luke regarded Nayda.

“What is this ‘creature of the Pit,’ ‘demon lady’ business, anyway?” he asked.

“Well, there are a few things you don’t know about me ...” she responded.

“Is it a long story?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Am I an assignment? Or do you really like me?”

“You’re not an assignment, and I really like you.”

“Then we’ll hear the story later,” he said.

“As I said, send her,” it went on.
 
“And Dalt.
 
And Luke.
 
I will be happy to send the three of them wherever you wish.
 
But does it occur to you that you and Coral are probably safer here than anywhere else?”

“Maybe.
 
Maybe not,” I answered.
 
“Coral, how do you feel about it?”

“Get me out of here,” she said.

“So much for that notion,” I told it.
 
“Now-“

“Wait.
 
You want to be fair to your friends, don’t you?”

“Sure I do.”

“Then let me point some things out to them which they may not have considered.”

“Go ahead.”

“Lady,” it said, “they want your eye in the Courts of Chaos.
 
Your feelings on the matter are immaterial.
 
If this can only be achieved by making you a prisoner, then it will be done.”