The Steward and the Sorcerer by James Peart (small books to read .TXT) 📗

want to go back to where he came from, or he might want to confront the powers that be in the Northern Earth, which may or may not involve attacking those creatures outside.”

“We’ll have to talk to him first to discover a thing like that.”

“You’re right.  First things first.”

The route back to the Druid study seemed to take no time at all.  Simon’s attention was immediately drawn to the trap door leading down to the dungeon-like basement and saw that the lock had been broken, the hinges on the door ripped from their moorings.  The heavy door itself had been thrown against the window and had cracked two of the panes, suggesting that whatever had burst into the room carried great physical strength.

He turned to Christopher, putting an arm on his shoulder.  “Don’t worry.  He’s not likely to come back.  He’s somewhere in the keep looking for us and his every step is taking him away from this room.  Here, help me search for the plans.  We’re looking for rolled up pieces of paper, scrolls, maybe parchments.”

They swept through the chamber, raking the shelves with their fingers, knocking aside large bound volumes and smaller books alike, opening the bigger tomes in the hope that the blueprints had been inserted between their oversized pages.  When that proved fruitless they started opening cupboard drawers and wooden cabinets, ejecting their contents onto the chamber floor.  They turned the room inside out and found nothing.

Simon turned to Christopher, putting his hand through his hair.  “That’s it.  Maybe there’s another study somewhere, we just have to go and find it.”

“Meanwhile that thing is walking around inside, hunting us.”

“I don’t know, Christopher, he won’t hear us easily, at least we have that comfort.”

“And we won’t hear him.  We could stumble on him in the dark where we wouldn’t recognise a statue from a living soul and it’d be curtains for us.  Let’s look again.  There must be a secret drawer somewhere.”

“I pressed the back of every damned shelf in here.  There’s no secret compartment, trust me.”

Simon bent forward in reflection.  After a moment he said “There’s a landing just outside this study.  I noticed it on our return.  It connects two flights of stairs and overlooks a hall of some kind.  I don’t think the steps lead down to the hall- it was dark and hard to see, but if I’m right...”

Before he could say anything further the door to the study crashed open.  Standing in the entryway was the Raja Iridis, his eyes brimming with a mirthless shine.

He was draped and hooded in a broad cloak similar to the one Daaynan wore, its colour so dark blue it appeared almost black.  His eyes- somehow normalised from the time he had first encountered the Druid in the world of the red sun- were only a faint yellow.  They danced slowly from one Englishman to the other, a terrible focus evident in their gaze.

Christopher acted first, reaching over to Simon and grabbing the Drey torch from his pocket.  He held the two severed pieces, one in each hand, and brought them together until they were nearly touching.  A fiery crown exploded about its ends.  Inside the green flame stood an image of the temple as before.  Christopher held it there, controlling the burst of light, and walked toward the King.

“You see this?  This will send you back to where we came from, that in-between place.  When you’re there you can look around for your world but I doubt you’ll find it- that place is a maze.”

Simon walked toward Iridis, careful to step clear of the flame.  “My friend’s right.  Look at the image, don’t you recognise the temple?”

“A trick,” the other said.  “You are both sorcerers like the Druid.”

Christopher shook his head.  “We aren’t.  But this is real, believe us.”

The King stared at it and at the two Englishmen.  His expression was one of disbelief; disbelief and contempt.  But he stayed where he was.

“I have a plan,” Simon said, “and it’s really very basic.  There is a group of people outside this castle.  They mean to do us harm.  They’ll come through you to get to us and they won’t be stopped by conventional weaponry.”

“I know about them.  I shall make them swear their undying loyalty to me before I kill them.”

“Are you going to listen to my plan?”

“Let’s have it then.”

“These people, creatures really, can’t be put out of harm’s way by the Druid’s fire.  He told me as much after he encountered one like them.  However, your magic comes from another age, like theirs, and it might be a match for theirs.  There’s no guarantee that this is the case, however...”

“There is that guarantee, halfling.  No one can stand against me.  Kings, Queens, Titans and Emperors, they have all fallen with a single touch.”

“Well, that’s what I was hoping, your majesty,” he said, avoiding a cautionary look from his friend, “but you still need to get close to them for your magic to work.  My idea is this: we draw them into the keep, have them chase us to a point outside this room.  Once we have them where we want them, you can step out from a place of hiding and render them harmless, just like you did with Daaynan.”

The Raja appeared to consider this statement, assessing the parameters of its logic, looking at Simon in a gauging way that turned his blood cold.  Finally, he nodded his assent.  “Why do we need to lead them to this chamber?  Surely I can confront them in the hall beyond the entrance?”

“I- I didn’t know there was a hall there.”  Simon gestured to the study door.  “There are two staircases outside on a landing that lead down to a sub-ground level.  It’s dark and difficult to find the stairs from there.  Christopher and I- after I’ve lead them here- will be safe on the landing.”

The other nodded.  “I understand.  You are concerned for your fellow halfling.  But there are things you do not understand about those