Shadow Chaser

by Alexey Pehov

  “You mean Rolio? Yes, he’s in the house.”

  “Remember, Player gave him the job of getting rid of a certain person, didn’t he?”

  “That’s absolutely right.”

  “Then let him do so immediately. If necessary, with the help of your army. The Key is resisting me, it senses the person who is bound to it. Let your man remove this obstacle, and then I will try again.”

  “I will give orders at once—”

  “Wait! Help me get to my room.… The artifact has taken all my strength.…”

  “Your hand, milady.”

  “I asked you not to call me that!” she hissed icily. “But I beg your pardon. I am simply too tired to be polite.”

  I listened as their footsteps retreated, and then waited for a few more minutes to be quite sure there was no more trouble in the offing.

  As quiet as the grave.

  I crawled out from under the bed, released the string of my crossbow, and put it back behind my shoulder. I had been lucky so far that night, but I had to hurry; Lafresa could come back at any moment. And they had let Paleface off the leash.…

  The candle standing on the table had burned halfway down, and the casket was closed. Lafresa’s shamanism may have exhausted her, but the Master’s maidservant had remembered to slam down the lid, and probably thrown in a bit of extra magic as well.

  The chances of the casket being sealed with the magic of humans and light elves were negligible, but I wasn’t going to take any risks, and decided to check things first.

  I opened the window of the bedroom and looked out. There was no movement in the bushes under the window, so I could only hope that Kli-Kli was still hiding in there somewhere.

  The light wind immediately blew out the candle. Well, to the darkness with it! The moon was shining so brightly that it was still quite light in the room anyway. I took the vial I needed out of my bag, and poured a drop of liquid onto the lid of the casket. It spread out and stopped moving. There was absolutely no human magic here at all, otherwise the drop would have disappeared. There was either shamanism, or nothing.… I would have to put my trust in Kli-Kli’s medallion.

  I licked my dry lips and reached out for the casket. It was terrifying, like picking up red-hot coals or a poisonous snake.… What if the goblin’s medallion didn’t protect me against any shamanic spells that were on it?

  Nothing. No effect. No thunder, no lightning, no voices of the gods. The casket seemed absolutely normal, with no magic at all. Could I really have been wrong about Lafresa?

  I couldn’t see any keyhole, but the lid stubbornly refused to budge. This little trinket had a secret, I could fiddle with it like this until the end of time—it would be better to take it with me. I tried to lift it and gasped in amazement.

  It was heavy!

  So heavy that I could hardly even lift it off the table.

  Trying to drag a weight like that all the way through the house could cost me my life. I felt all the projections and surfaces, hoping to find a concealed spring, but the lid remained immovable.

  I recalled that when the count opened the casket, there had been several clicks. Did that mean that it was activated by two or three springs at once?

  Very probably it did.

  I changed my approach, pressing the figure of the half bird, half bear with one finger, and the skull at the feet of that creature with another, and trying to pry the lid open with my nail. Useless …

  Hmm … and what had made the music before Balistan Pargaid opened the lock, if I might ask?

  I had to examine the metal box very closely again. There it was—a harp stamped into the lid, and the half bird, half bear had a reed pipe in its mouth. Right, let’s give it a try.… That’s it!

  The pipe and the harp both shifted inward at the same time, the casket gave a quiet musical jingle, and the lid opened, inviting me to feast my eyes on what it was guarding.

  The Key lay on black velvet. Slim, woven out of crystal cobweb gossamer and icy dreams, it looked as if a single hot breath would be enough to break it. But that was not so; the dragon’s tears that it was made of could only be carved with magic and diamond cutters, which had to act together and be guided skillfully.

  I reached my hand out for the artifact, and Kil-Kli’s medallion immediately seared my skin with cold fire. A yellowish haze sprang up around the Key and immediately disappeared again, leaving colored rings in front of my eyes from the sudden flash. Thank you to the goblin’s trinket—if Kli-Kli hadn’t found it, I don’t like to think what might have happened to me.

  I took the Key and clenched it in my fist.

  “Our bonds are strong,” it whispered to me happily one last time and fell silent.

  That was it. Now it was time to be leaving the count’s hospitable home!

  I heard a menacing growl behind me. Trying not to make any sudden movements, I turned round to face the door in order to get a look at the newcomer.

  A dog.

  A big dog.

  Very big.

  A huge imperial dog. It was bigger than any dog I’d ever seen in my life—massive paws, a huge great head, a docked tail like the branch of a tree, ears that stuck out, a short smooth coat and … teeth.…

  The hound was yellowish red, with a black face and paws. As taut as a loaded crossbow. The hair on the beast’s mane was standing up on end, and there was a menacing gurgling sound coming from his throat. A dog like that wouldn’t bark and call his master—he would finish the job without help.

  I looked at him, he looked at me. Still trying not to make any sudden movements, I moved back to the window, but there were bars on it. The only way I could get out was through the door. I had to kill the dog, otherwise I would never get out.

  I reached for the crossbow. The dog exploded into a hurricane of fangs and furiously flashing eyes, and in a split second the beast had covered the yards between us and frozen just one inch away from Harold’s most precious possessions.

  The dog raised its upper lip, displaying his impressive collection of teeth. Don’t be so boastful, you dumb brute.

  “All right, all right!” I chirped, showing the dog my empty hands. “I’m not armed! I just got an itch on my back!”

  Oh, sure! I believe you all right! said the dog’s piercing eyes

  He gave another threatening snarl, snapped his teeth together, and backed off a yard.

  “And now what?”

  You tell me. I swear to Sagot, that’s what he thought!

  “Listen, I got in here by accident. I’ll be going now, okay?” I felt like a total idiot, talking to a dog.

  The beast leaned its head to one side, gave me a searching look. A pink tongue lolled out of his mouth.

  I’m not that stupid.

  I decided to try a different approach.

  “Goo-ood boy! What a fine, handsome fellow!”

  The massive beast put his tongue away, narrowed his eyes, and gave me a suspicious look, sensing a trick. Then he lay down on the floor and lowered his head onto his front paws: Let’s see what else this two-legs has to say.…

  “Ah, what a handsome dog,” I coaxed. The dog’s eyes glazed over with boredom. “Let me go, eh?”

  The dog snorted. He wasn’t going to tear me to pieces, even though that would be no problem for him. The beast had decided to wait until his master came into the room and I was caught red-handed.

  So where does that get us? Nowhere. I couldn’t reach for my crossbow, this hound cursed by the darkness had been trained. If I tried to grab my knife, he’d probably snip off some part of my body.

  So what did that leave? I had a few battle spells in my bag, in case of an absolute emergency. It was worth a try.

  The beast responded to my attempt to reach into the bag with a menacing snarl. I jerked my hand away in a hurry.

  “Listen, what do you want me for? Why don’t I just bring you a bone?”

  The hound only yawned at that. I pressed my back against the windowsill and hissed through the wi
ndow.

  “Kli-Kli! Kli-Kli!”

  “Yes!” said a squeaky voice below me. “What’s taking so long?”

  “I’ve got problems!”

  “Oh!” said the voice. “What kind?”

  “A dog.”

  “I thought dogs were man’s best friend.”

  Was he trying to be funny?

  “Well, he doesn’t know that!”

  “Then get rid of him!”

  The dog listened curiously to the squeaky sounds coming from the window, turning his head this way and that.

  “I can’t even raise my hands! Find the elves, maybe they can help!”

  “Where am I going to find them now? All right, don’t go away! I’ll only be a moment.”

  What was that he said? “Don’t go away”? Yes, I think I’ll take his invaluable advice.

  The jester was gone for a long time. A very long time. The dog was clearly bored, waiting for someone to come and praise him for cornering his quarry. I was quietly oozing sweat. When a short figure wrapped from head to toe in a black cloak appeared in the doorway, my heart dropped into my boots. I thought the guards had arrived.

  “Mmm, he’s a big one, all right,” Kli-Kli said warily, approaching the huge beast without hurrying.

  The beast jumped up, snarling menacingly, and backed off, trying to keep one eye on me and one on the goblin.

  “Where are Egrassa and Ell?”

  “I couldn’t find them. Nice little doggy!”

  The hound snarled even louder. He had obviously never been insulted like that in his life. Somehow the word “doggy” would never have occurred to me, let alone “nice.” No doubt about it, goblins are strange folk.

  “Do you want me dead? Don’t make him angry! Where have you been roaming all this time?”

  “I haven’t been roaming, I’ve been trying to get you out of trouble,” the jester said in an offended tone of voice. “Now we’ll fix him.”

  The hound pricked up his ears and showed us his teeth. Kli-Kli just smiled at him and brought out what he had been holding behind his back.

  A cat! A fat ginger cat, as sleek as a fattened hog! Where did the goblin manage to get hold of that?

  The goblin opened his fingers, and the cat flopped onto the floor. I don’t think he’d realized yet just what a crucial and unpleasant turning point had arrived in his catty life. The dog howled like an evil spirit that has just seen an exorcist and forgot all about us as he made a dash for his natural prey.

  The cat might not have grown up out on the street (he was too well fed and pampered for that) but he was no fool, that’s for sure! The ginger butterball pulled in his claws and took off like greased lightning—which was quite incredible with his figure. And the hound followed, just a few steps behind.

  “Where did you find him?” I gasped in amazement.

  The fool gave a cunning smile.

  “In the count’s kitchen, of course! You saw how well fed he was!”

  “Right,” I replied stupidly, still not believing that an idiotic trick thought up by Stalkon’s fool could have been so effective.

  “What do you mean, ‘Right’? Have you got the Key? Then in the name of darkness, why are you just standing there gaping? Do you want to wait for that crocodile to eat the cat and come back for our livers? Let’s get moving!”

  We slipped out into the corridor, galloped past the pictures, flew out into the hall, and then hurtled into the next corridor.

  “Shhhhh,” I said, putting one finger to my lips.

  Kli-Kli nodded and started moving along on tiptoe. We stopped beside the vases where I had hidden earlier.

  “Where to now, Harold?”

  I thought hard. The route I had followed on my own was no good for two. Especially since it led out onto the balcony through the countess’s room. Creeping through any of the other rooms was out of the question; we’d probably run into a ferocious baron with a sword who wouldn’t think twice before he ran us through.

  “Kli-Kli, how did you get into the house?” I asked with a sudden flash of insight.

  “Through the basement window.” The goblin made a wry face. “You’re too big to get through it. But I could cut you into pieces and stick you through.…”

  “Kli-Kli, this is no time for jokes.”

  “It’s exactly the right time. But if you can’t even manage a polite ‘ha-ha,’ then don’t bother! We can try to get through the kitchen.”

  “The kitchen?” I didn’t have a plan of the first floor, and I only had a vague idea of its layout.

  “That’s where they cook the food,” the little wretch explained. “It’s on the way to the basement.”

  “Lead on.”

  The door of the room where Paleface and his friend had been sitting was wide open. The room was empty, apart from a faint smell of charm-weed. Paleface had already received his orders to find Harold.…

  Kli-Kli led me to a stairway that went down to the first floor. It took us into the servants’ wing. The walls here were gray and not so looked-after as on the second floor. There were no rich furnishings here. No pictures, no carpets, no statues or vases in niches. Even the oil lamps had been replaced by smoky torches that left black trails on the walls.

  “Now where?”

  “Right.”

  Behind the kitchen door we could hear dishes clattering and voices talking.

  “There’s someone there,” I said, stating the absolutely obvious.

  “You think I don’t know that? How easy do you think it was to steal that cat from the fat cook?”

  Why hadn’t I realized that the kitchen would be working? The cooks in houses like this rarely went to bed. One kept the fire going in the hearth, another one decided what delicacies to prepare for Balistan Pargaid this fine morning, and another cooked for the guests.… With all this fuss and bother, I’d completely forgotten about that.

  “Then why in the name of darkness did you bring me here?”

  “You asked me to, so I did. And don’t you look at me like that, Dancer in the Shadows! As if I didn’t know you’ve got three little bottles of muck for putting people to sleep in that bag of yours! Or are you just too plain cheap to use them? You carry that stuff around for much longer, and it’ll go sour!”

  One of Kli-Kli’s little weaknesses is that he likes to rummage through other peoples’ things while the owner isn’t there. So it’s not surprising that the goblin knew all about the contents of my bag.

  I had to start clinking the bottles about, looking for the right one. Then I opened the door and flung the bottle in, catching a brief glimpse of the cooks’ startled faces before I slammed the door shut again. There was an ominous-sounding oomph!

  I’m afraid Count Balistan Pargaid will have to go without breakfast this morning.

  “And now what?”

  “We wait.”

  “Now accept it, Harold. Without my help you’d never have got out of here alive.”

  “Okay. And now shut up!”

  “Oh, how serious we are! And how fierce,” the goblin muttered to himself. “Listen, Harold,” he snapped after a short pause, “we can’t wait any longer. We really can’t.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because,” Kli-Kli grunted, and pointed behind me.

  My old friend the imperial dog stood at the far end of the corridor. His face looked a bit battered, somehow. The look he gave us wasn’t exactly beaming with benevolence, either.

  “It looks as if he didn’t catch the cat,” Kli-Kli said.

  The dog came dashing at us, taking huge bounds. The goblin squealed like a five-year-old girl who’d just found a live mouse on her plate.

  “Hold your breath!” I shouted.

  We tumbled into the kitchen and slammed the door shut right in the dog’s face. The beast responded to this dirty trick by barking deafeningly. Kli-Kli slammed home the bolt and ran along the line of tables and hot stoves, jumping over the bodies of the sleeping servants.

  The remains of the
sleepy fumes were still swirling around on the floor, and I tried not to breathe. Kli-Kli pushed open the door at the other end of the kitchen, and we found ourselves outside.

  “Well, he really went wild!” Kli-Kli exclaimed admiringly. “I wonder what’s going to happen to us if he manages to break out?”

  I could hear the barking even from there.

  “Someone’s bound to come to check why the count’s dog is making such a racket. We need to clear out as soon as possible. Move it!”

  We had to run across to the park in short bursts, hiding from the guards in the shadows and the bushes. Kli-Kli almost ran straight under the feet of one of the guards, and I just managed to save the goblin from disaster at the very last moment.

  The gentle whispers of the night welcomed us into the dark park, with its sleeping trees.

  “Where are the others?” Kli-Kli whispered, turning his head right and left.

  “Let’s get to the wall, we’ll figure things out there.”

  When the count found out the Key was missing, he’d be furious—and that’s putting it mildly. As for the way Lafresa will feel, I won’t even try to say—she let the Master down again, so now she would be in really hot water.

  Egrassa met us halfway to the wall.

  “Is the job done?”

  “Yes.”

  The elf gave a call like a night bird. There was an answer from somewhere beyond the trees.

  “Let’s pull out.”

  When we reached the wall, Arnkh and Alistan had already clambered over it, and Ell was waiting for us with his bow at the ready.

  “The goblin first.”

  Egrassa jumped up onto the wall. I tossed the goblin up, and the elf caught him and passed him into the arms of the men standing on the other side. Then it was my turn. I jumped, and Egrassa and Ell pulled me up. When Little Bee saw me, she whinnied in greeting. I took the Key out and tossed it to Alistan. He caught it and nodded.

  “Well done, thief.”

  Oho! That was the first time I’d ever heard a note of approval in his voice.

  “We have to get clear of Ranneng tonight,” the count said, striking his horse with his heels to set it moving.

  I offered up thanks to Sagot. In the few days we had spent in this city, I had learned to hate it with all my heart.