“It’s time,” the dead archmagician suddenly said. “Throw it!”
I flung the gray sphere as hard as I could. It flew almost the entire length of the hall and landed behind Artsivus. The Master of the Order was too busy with his spell to notice anything.
The sphere burst without a sound and disappeared.
“Forward! Grab the Horn!” Valder ordered. “Free me!”
I hesitated before running into the hall, and the archmagician immediately took control of my body. I dashed toward the brightly glowing artifact, hoping that Artsivus wouldn’t see me too soon! He mustn’t see me!
Meanwhile a new character had joined the scene in the hall—a hefty demon. There was no way the Master of the Order could fail to see this lad. Artsivus broke off his incantation in mid-word, and one of his palms started glowing with a turquoise blue light.
“Vukhdjaaz is clever,” the gray demon announced, and made a dash for the magician.
The turquoise flame went darting from the magician’s palm and struck Vukhdjaaz in the chest.
Nothing happened. Battle magic doesn’t work on demons.
Artsivus shouted out a few hasty words. The Shadow Horse flared up and the monstrous demon howled as it was flung aside. When it came to battling the denizens of the darkness, the Doralissians’ artifact was obviously much more effective than any hocus-pocus.
Vukhdjaaz cursed and reached his clawed hand out toward the Shadow Horse, clearly intending to grab the bauble that he desired so badly. My sheep-headed friend must have forgotten that a demon could only take the Shadow Horse if a human being or a Doralissian put it in his hands of their own free will. The Shadow Horse spat sparks at the impertinent demon and Vukhdjaaz howled like a thousand sinners and staggered back, shaking his burnt hand, which was charred black in places.
All of the above took no longer than three seconds, just long enough for me to cover most of the distance to the Horn. I think Artsivus had noticed me, but he didn’t allow himself to be distracted, and he pointed one finger at Vukhdjaaz and started reciting a spell.
The demon didn’t seem at all keen on the idea. He cursed again, dodged to one side, smashed his head through the glass of one of the tall pointed windows, and left in a hurry.
Artsivus turned all his attention to me. The Rainbow Horn was close enough now for me to reach out and touch it. So I reached out.
The glow scorched my skin even through my gloves, and when I touched the Horn I felt like I’d been struck by lightning.
“I’m free!” Valder gasped.
Artsivus babbled something, and I was tossed away. I tried to get up, but I was too dizzy, and I had to lie there on the floor and watch as the entirely real Valder fought a duel of magic with the Player.
My friend showered down magical blows on the Master of the Order, giving Artsivus no time to wonder how this stranger who was so skilled in the art of magic could have appeared in the Council Chamber.
The Player struck, Valder parried, and then the old magician had to defend himself. The tower shuddered and I spat out the blood in my mouth, thinking that this was the end. It was going to collapse.
But the duel continued. Valder just barely managed to fend off a crimson sphere, sending it soaring up toward the ceiling, and the glass dome of the Tower of the Order burst with a deafening crash. Myriads of sharp fragments came showering down on us. Both magicians immediately protected themselves against the deadly rain with glowing canopies. And Valder had to protect me, too.
The duel was renewed and the magicians whirled round the Council Chamber, exchanging magical blows. Every one of them set the tower shaking like an earthquake. The very air seemed to be wailing with magic, but neither opponent could get the upper hand.
With an immense effort, I got up on my hands and knees and started gently creeping toward the Rainbow Horn. I wondered what it was that Artsivus had hit me with, and how I’d managed to survive. They didn’t seem to be taking any notice of me. I spat blood yet again and starting crawling a bit faster.
At that moment Valder shouted out some phrase and pushed Artsivus away from him as hard as he could. The old magician staggered backward, his back touched the black cloud, and he disappeared with a scream.
“Close the portal, Harold!” Valder yelled. “Take the Horn and close the portal! Close it before it’s too late!”
He flung himself after Artsivus.
I kept crawling.
The tower was shuddering. The Scales of the Balance were swaying. The world held its breath in anticipation.
I kept crawling.
The tower was shaking violently now. I even thought the magical mirror had cracked. The Horn was very close.
This time the effect of the rainbow radiance was pain. I screamed out loud and tears spurted from my eyes, but I grabbed hold of the artifact and flung it as far away as I could. The Rainbow Horn flew beyond the edge of the magical mirror and its glow instantly disappeared. The portal snapped shut with a deafening crash.
There was a rumble and a flash. Cold flooded through my entire body. I opened my mouth in a silent scream and the night swallowed me up.
Epilogue
Little Bee recognized me and snorted happily, reaching her muzzle forward for a treat. I gave her the apple I had ready and patted her on the neck. I was glad to see her, too. It turned out that when Honeycomb left Cuckoo to come to Avendoom, he had taken my horse, and there was no way I could thank the Wild Heart enough. The groom had already saddled Little Bee and all I had to do was put the saddlebags on and set off.
After what happened in the Tower of the Order, I’d been confined to bed until the middle of spring. I didn’t know what it was that saved me on that terrible night, Valder’s power or good luck, but the magicians who came dashing to the “fire” were rather surprised to find a man lying beside the ruined tower, clutching the Rainbow Horn in his hands.
I was surrounded with care and attention all the time I lay unconscious. And then when I came round in early spring, the magicians who were there beside the bed asked me what had happened and how I was feeling. In that order.
Sagot be praised, Kli-Kli had told the members of the Order almost everything she knew, and they didn’t pester me too much. The magicians were too busy trying to restore the reputation of the Order and restore the tower to waste time on interrogating a thief. So they almost believed my suggestion that the magical explosion happened because Artsivus made a mistake in one of his spells. As for the Horn, I really had no idea how I happened to be holding it in my hands. I definitely remembered throwing it away before I blacked out.
So they left me alone. For the time being, at least.
Lying in bed was incredibly boring. And I wasn’t exactly spoiled for visitors. At first Kli-Kli never left my bedside, but then she almost completely stopped coming to see me, because of some commotion at court. And when she did come, she just dropped in for a minute and went away again, without even telling me all the news.
“So you’ve definitely decided?”
I swung round. Kli-Kli had somehow appeared in the stable, and she was leaning against the wall, nibbling on a carrot. Invincible was ensconced on her shoulder.
“Yeah,” I said, embarrassed. “It’s time. I can’t put it off any longer.”
“So you were going to clear out of town without even saying good-bye?” she asked with a frown.
“I did try to find you.”
It was true. I had tried, but they wouldn’t let me into the palace, and I hadn’t been able to get any news to the gobliness for a week. It was as if she’d vanished into thin air.
“I know,” she sighed. “I’m sorry, I was snowed under. We have a new king, have you heard?”
“The whole city’s talking about it,” I laughed.
