There was a time for everything.
A time to grow, a time to die.
With slow strides, humming a tune, the master headed for the exit while chaos consumed the world around him. He loved chaos—it was his elixir of life.
For all things that exist deserve to perish, and would not be missed.
Everything would fall into place—if not today, then in the near future.
Up in the sky, concealed by thick plumes of smoke, three birds followed him.
The wagon sped toward Bamberg groaning and creaking. Johann whipped the horse like a man possessed, and the animal raced along the road at a wild gallop. Several times the carriage almost toppled rounding the sharp corners; Little Satan followed them, his tongue hanging from the side of his mouth. Johann knew they didn’t have long. Even if Viktor von Lahnstein had died following the dog’s attack, there were still Hagen and the bishop of Bamberg. By now, half an army could be close at their heels. If they caught him, Johann dreaded to imagine what punishment they might expect.
In spite of their desperate situation, he couldn’t help but grin. The show they’d put on had been truly worthy of Doctor Faustus. An invocation of the beast of the apocalypse of John—and in front of all delegates, the bishop of Bamberg, and the papal nuncio. The tale of tonight’s events would spread through the empire like wildfire.
And then we won’t be safe anywhere in the empire.
When they reached the foot of the hill, they continued on a little longer, the axle groaning awfully. Eventually Johann allowed the horse to stop. The gray’s fur was saturated and the animal gasped dreadfully; Johann guessed it wouldn’t have made it much farther.
“What’s your plan?” asked Karl, who had been sitting next to his master, chalk-faced and silent. Greta, cowering behind them, also looked nervous. Something in her eyes irritated Johann—he had expected her to handle the situation more confidently, or at least better than Karl. Or was there something else on her mind?
“Help me get the horse and the wagon into the woods,” ordered Johann briskly. “We must get off the road.”
Together they dragged the exhausted horse and the wagon through the hawthorn bushes at the edge of the forest. On the other side, they paused beneath the sparsely leafed canopy of the autumnal oaks. It wasn’t long before they heard the rumble of many galloping horses from the road. All three of them held their breath, but the sound soon faded. The soldiers had ridden past them.
“I’ll tell you what we’re going to do,” said Johann quietly but decisively. “We will only take what we absolutely need. If we walk north from here, we’ll come to Hallstadt, a town just a few miles away. If we’re lucky, none of the soldiers will have been there yet and we’ll get fresh horses at the inn. And then we can get a good amount of distance in a short amount of time between us and Bamberg.”
“And what about the wagon?” asked Greta.
“Stays here, just like the old horse.”
“But . . . but my backdrops!” said Karl. “The theater, my notebooks, the scientific research—”
“Everyone only packs one bag,” said Johann. “Not more—” He winced as the sword wound Hagen had given him stung, though thankfully it was just a superficial injury. “Our most valuable belongings are in the tower of Altenburg Castle, anyhow. The stargazing tube and most of my wonderful books.” He sighed as he pulled out a handful of tattered leather-bound volumes from under his coat. “At least I managed to take Leonardo’s Figura Umana and a few of my own notes. And I have enough money.”
He had sewn as many gold ducats into his coat as he could manage, but all his books apart from Figura Umana had remained in the tower room with the larger part of his fortune; he had lost almost everything. Johann gave the others a look of determination. What he had to say next pained him, but he knew there was no way back.
“Listen, you don’t have to come with me. From now on I’m a wanted man from one end of the empire to the other. The power of the Bamberg prince-bishop reaches far, not to mention that of the papal representative. If Lahnstein is still alive, he and the entire Roman curia are going to be looking for me—most of all that giant of a bodyguard. I’m afraid our happy times as a troupe of jugglers are over, once and for all. We have fallen a long way, and I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to rise back up again.” Johann paused before saying quietly: “Perhaps this is the moment we should go our separate ways.”
In truth, he had been considering leaving Karl and Greta for a while. As long as his daughter was by his side, she was in danger. He had wanted to protect her, but instead he had dragged her further and further down with him. During the previous night Johann had seen clearly that he needed to go this path alone, at least the last part. This here was between him and Tonio. His former master had sent him this disease. That much Johann had figured out by now.
And there was only one person who could help him in his battle against Tonio.
Karl and Greta gazed at him for a long while before Karl said, “I will not abandon you, Doctor. I stayed with you back in Nuremberg, down in the underground passages, and I’m going to stay with you today. You . . . you’re my mentor, now and always.”
“Thank you.” Johann swallowed. “You know I have nothing to give but blood, sweat, and tears.”
Karl smiled. “That’s more than my own father and the professors at Leipzig ever had for
