trip wire waiting to snap. I had no objection to romance, except when it interfered with duty. I would have to have a little discussion with her on the topic when I returned. On the other hand, if she'd fallen in love with someone like Darl, then that was probably sufficient punishment in and of itself.
I hurried to the rest of Darl's group and found them by the stables where I-as Strahd-had told them to wait.
'What's that?' asked Kelab, instantly noticing the disk on Darl's forehead.
'A parting gift from Lord Strahd,' I said, playing the part of my puppet. 'He called it a good luck charm.'
'A charm, eh? He's not the sort to be free with gifts. Why the special treatment?'
'He thinks rewards like this will induce a stronger loyalty from me.'
'Your loyalty's in your money pouch.'
'Exactly. Hence his generosity now. This is an important raid, probably the most important we'll ever do; he wanted to make sure I understood that. He's prepared to throw in a bonus if we finish the job before an hour's gone.'
'An hour!' said Ag'n, astonished. 'How can we ride in that fast?'
'We're not using horses.'
'Oh, and how are we supposed to get there, flap our arms?' This came from Alvi.
'Not quite, but Lord Strahd has entrusted me with a most useful shortcut.'
Kelab, checking the set of his sword, paused. 'What kind of shortcut?'
I swung the pouch from my shoulder to the ground and dropped on one knee to open it. 'Everything we need is in this. He showed me what to do. Take only what you are willing to carry and need for the next hour-and get those armbands off. Put these on instead.' I passed out the neck kerchiefs bearing Aza-lin's colors.
'But what's the shortcut?'
'Something to do with Strahd's magic. I don't know how it works, but each of you gets one of these.' From the pouch I passed out five plain brass bracelets to them and slipped the sixth on myself. 'Whatever you do, don't take them off or you won't be able to get back.'
'Magic?' Alvi was obviously uneasy at the idea and hesitated.
'Just put it on; it won't bite you.'
They reluctantly did so and gathered their gear together. I told them to stand around me in a close circle. This was met with more questioning, which was very annoying. I was too used to having people instantly jumping to my word and was hard pressed to hold to my impersonation. I snapped at them to obey.
'Who died and made you Strahd?' grumbled Alvi, giving Darl an irked look, but he fell in with the rest.
From the pouch I drew forth a scroll similar to those I'd presented to the other raiding parties. Since Darl lacked magical talent I had to read it in the same way as any other non-scholar. I spoke the words of power and felt the bracelet suddenly turn cold against my skin. An intense buzzing seemed to fill my consciousness as the barracks faded around us. When next Darl's eyes focused I saw that we had accurately appeared in the place I'd long scouted with my crystal, a patch of concealing trees. We were about two miles from the border, not far from the Krezk pass. In Darkon.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
I felt a strong wave of disorientation that had nothing to do with the traveling spell and more with the fact that Darl was now outside of Barovia. My view of things shimmered, and for a few bad seconds I was more sharply aware of being miles away in the commander's office than in complete control of my puppet. I fought the shifting, holding hard to my crystal and keeping my focus tight. Though his will was stronger and more stubborn than most ordinary men-the reason why I had chosen him-they were qualities that I had to successfully subjugate for my later plan to work.
The disk on his brow felt hot right through the leather strip and dragged heavily. His head bowed from the weight of it. He was fighting me, but it was no more than the frantic trembling of the bird's wing beneath the paw of the cat. After a moment he gave up and I assumed control once more.
The others had been too busy reacting sharply to the sudden change of location to notice Darl's problems. By the time I'd straightened him up for a look around, they were nearly recovered and sensibly silent except for one.
Alvi whimpered, but Ag'n swiftly clamped a hand over his mouth. 'This is not the time to panic.'
Alvi shook him off, annoyed. 'Then let me know when. I shouldn't like to be late for it.'
'Shut up,' I snarled.
'Where are we?'
'Inside General Vychen's camp.'
'Are you sure?'
From my hours of study with the crystal I knew the layout by heart. 'Absolutely certain. We have to work fast, though.'
Azalin would have been aware of our intrusion into his land, the same as I was aware when anyone entered Barovia. He would be ignorant of specifics and of our plans and too busy to investigate, but there was no way of calculating how long that would last.
'Vychen's tent is over there,' I said, pointing. 'Cylla, Nanje, which of you wants to be bait?'
'Nanje's better at tempting men,' said Cylla. 'I'm better at killing them.'
'That depends on what you use for a weapon,' her friend put in good-naturedly. 'Help me do something with my hair, would you?'
By the time they'd finished, Nanje's blond locks were flowing long over her shoulders. She slipped out of her full sleeved tunic and covered her torso with a low cut, tightly laced leather bodice. It brought her best assets to bear in an impressive display of creamy smooth flesh. How fortunate for her that I was really very much elsewhere.
'Think he'll notice me?' she asked, turning. Her leather trousers fit her like another skin.
'He'd have to be dead not to,' said Kelab.
I wisely kept my superior knowledge about Vychen's true condition to myself. 'Just beware of noticing him,' I warned. 'Strahd said Vychen also has skill with magic, and he'll try to enspell you with it. Whatever you do, do not look him directly in the eyes.'
She bit her lip, but it was to bring out the color, not from nervousness.
'Rings?' I asked.
They nodded and everyone but Nanje slipped on the special rings I'd made for them. They had used them on past missions, but Nanje still gave a start. 'Are you all right? Talk to me.'
'We're still here,' Cylla invisibly assured her. 'You go on ahead and we'll stay with you the whole time.'
'Easy for you to say,' Alvi put in. 'I can't see my feet.'
'Just don't trip over mine,' said Kelab wearily. 'And if you must, then be quiet about it. That goes for everyone. From this point on, not one word.'
Nanje emerged from the trees, close followed by her five unseen companions, and made her way toward the general's tent.
Vychen's vast army sprawled over a wide area with the confident insolence of greater numbers, less than an hour's march from Barovia. Inner security was good, but not outstanding, which accounted for our being able to magically penetrate it. What spell casters the power-jealous Azalin allowed to practice in Darkon weren't capable of putting up the kind of protections needed to keep someone like me out.
The present risk was getting Nanje close enough to Vychen's tent so that she could catch his eye. Whether he chose to take her or not was less important than the few moments of distraction she would provide for the rest of us. His awareness was much greater than that of an ordinary mortal, and he just might be able to see us if he was particularly perceptive. As for hearing and even smelling us, the rings had that added protection incorporated into their magic. They could not hide all sound or scent, but should adequately dampen them enough for us to accomplish our task. We were fairly safe, so long as we remained quiet.
The limits of Darl's frail body caused me to appreciate anew my own enhanced senses, which I could not use here. He seemed wrapped about with a thick muffling fabric that blunted hearing and dimmed sight. A decided
