The Hand Of Oberon

«Yes,» he said. «It would have to be borne the entire distance through the Pattern, reinscribing the original design in the places where it has been broken. This could only be done by one who is attuned to the Jewel, though.»

«I am attuned to the Jewel,» I said.

«How?» he asked, halting.

Wixer made a cackling noise behind us, and we resumed walking.

«I followed your written instructions - and Eric's verbal ones,» I said. «I took it with me to the center of the Pattern and projected myself through it.»

«I see,» he said. «How did you obtain it?»

«From Eric, on his deathbed.»

We entered the cave.

«You have it now?»

«I was forced to cache it in a place off in Shadow.»

«I would suggest you retrieve it quickly and bring it here or take it back to the palace. It is best kept near the center of things.»

«Why is that?»

«It tends to have a distorting effect on shadows if it lies too long among them.»

«Distorting? In what fashion?»

«There is no way to tell, in advance. It depends entirely upon the locale.»

We rounded a corner, continued on back through the gloom.

«What does it mean,» I said, «when you are wearing the Jewel and everything begins to slow down about you? Fiona warned me that this was dangerous, but she was not certain why.»

«It means that you have reached the bounds of your own existence, that your energies will shortly be exhausted, that you will die unless you do something quickly.»

«What is that?»

«Begin to draw power from the Pattern itself - the primal Pattern within the Jewel.»

«How is this achieved?»

«You must surrender to it, release yourself, blot out your identity, erase the bounds which separate you from everything else.»

«It sounds easier said than done.»

«But it can be done, and it is the only way.»

I shook my head. We moved on, coming at last to the big door. Dworkin extinguished the staff and leaned it against the wall. We entered and he secured the door. Wixer had stationed himself just outside.

«You will have to leave now,» Dworkin said.

«But there are many more things that I must ask you, and some that I would like to tell you.»

«My thoughts grow meaningless, and your words would be wasted. Tomorrow night, or the next, or the next. Hurry! Go!»

«Why the rush?»

«I may harm you when the change comes over me. I am holding it back by main will now. Depart!»

«I do not know how. I know how to get here, but -»

«There are all manner of special Trumps in the desk in the next room. Take the light! Go anywhere! Get out of here!»

I was about to protest that I hardly feared any physical violence he could muster, when his features began to flow like melting wax and he somehow seemed much larger and longer-limbed than he had been. Seizing the light, I fled the room, a sudden chill upon me.

…To the desk. I tore open the drawer and snatched at some Trumps which lay scattered within it. I heard footsteps then, of something entering the room behind me, coming from the chamber I had just departed. They did not seem like the footsteps of a man. I did not look back. Instead, I raised the cards before me and regarded the one on top. It was an unfamiliar scene, but I opened my mind immediately and reached for it. A mountain crag, something indistinct beyond it, a strangely stippled sky, a scattering of stars to the left

…The card was alternately hot and cold to my touch, and a heavy wind seemed to come blowing through it as I stared, somehow rearranging the prospect.

From right behind me then, the heavily altered but still recognizable voice of Dworkin spoke: «Fool! You have chosen the land of your doom!»

A great clawlike hand - black, leathery, gnarled - reached over my shoulder, as if to snatch the card away. But the vision seemed ready, and I rushed forward into it, turning the card from me as soon as I realized I had made my escape. Then I halted and stood stockstill, to let my senses adjust to the new locale.

I knew. From snatches of legend, bits of family gossip, and from a general feeling which came over me, I knew the place to which I had come. It was with full certainty as to identity that I raised my eyes to look upon the Courts of Chaos.

CHAPTER 6