the faintest sound from outside. His mind
pulsed a command and the door banged open. A skeletal human entered
on hands and knees, eyes averted from its master. The Crazed One
considered the wretched specimen. It had been newly caught last
time he’d seen it, plump and polished. How long did it take humans
to sink to this condition? He quested beyond the door and found
three bodies: one had been nibbled at.
He stared at the thing
almost prostrate before him in disgust. To eat the flesh of one’s
own kind stirred an ancient contempt deep, deep in his shattered
mind. He snarled. The human whimpered but squirmed closer to the
monstrous creature propped against the wall. Tusks and claws
flashed and the whimpering ceased abruptly.
The Crazed One flung
the corpse back out through the door and a single thought blistered
all the corpses to oblivion. He felt amazingly calm at this
instant, the shambles of his mind pushed into a shadowed distance.
He leaned his head back, feeling the ridges running down the black
wall against his skull.
Always there was this
strange period of peaceful emptiness when he first woke after one
of his bad times. But he never remembered each separate episode,
and he could no longer maintain his hold on this quiet, nearly sane
interval. He let his chin sink to rest on his deformed chest. It
hurt, and slowly the other pains from his constantly tormented
bones crept into his awareness. And with the pain, his madness
began to flicker into existence once more.
It had been a nerve
wracking day and night for those sealed inside the building at the
side of Blue Mirror. Nothing whatsoever had happened, no attack, no
shaking of the ground, no more thunder or rain. The sun rose in a
clear sky and most of those within were peering out when the door
slammed inwards, its hinges groaning as it banged repeatedly
against the wall. A raucous cackle announced Hag’s appearance. The
great Raven stood in the entrance, scanning the room, beak agape in
silent amusement. Then she spotted Tika and strutted purposefully
in her direction.
‘Why are you all shut
in here?’ she enquired.
Almost boneless with
relief, Tika sank onto a chair.
‘I wish you wouldn’t do
that Hag. It’s very – alarming.’
Hag tilted her head to
one side and a black shining eye rimmed with gold regarded Tika
closely. Hag hopped closer then bounced up onto the table on which
Tika was leaning an elbow.
‘I’m sorry. My
dear.’
Tika heard someone
snort, guessed it was Shea, and sent a glare in her general
direction.
‘The ground shook
yesterday. Then there was a very bad storm around midday. It came
out of nowhere. When the weather cleared, the air felt tainted,
unfit to breathe.’
Tika rubbed her chest,
which still felt sore despite the disgusting potions Konya had
forced her to drink. Hag strutted the length of the table and back,
stooping to peer into Tika’s face.
‘I can taste no magic
here,’ she said. ‘The bad air was probably just because of the
ground shaking.’
Tika stared at the
bird. Hag ruffled her feathers and adjusted one in a wing which
looked very much as if it had been chewed.
‘You said the ground
shook? Gases sometimes escape when that happens. The water out
there is very unsettled, at the far end,’ Hag’s voice was
soothing.
‘Gases?’ Tika
repeated.
Hag marched down the
table again. ‘Bad air. Smells like – like bad eggs.’
‘That’s what it smelled
like,’ Essa chimed in. ‘Exactly like that. You are a clever old
bird.’
Hag swivelled her head
to fix Essa with a hard black eye and decided that Essa was merely
being honest. Hag drew herself to her full height.
‘Well, my dears, Hag’s
solved that for you. What are you doing next?’
‘We can’t seem to find
any hint of the two we thought might be causing the disruption
here. And now we have three others to consider as suspects. Why are
you here anyway?’
Hag’s huge beak gaped
wide again. ‘I wanted to be sure you were well;
pulsed a command and the door banged open. A skeletal human entered
on hands and knees, eyes averted from its master. The Crazed One
considered the wretched specimen. It had been newly caught last
time he’d seen it, plump and polished. How long did it take humans
to sink to this condition? He quested beyond the door and found
three bodies: one had been nibbled at.
He stared at the thing
almost prostrate before him in disgust. To eat the flesh of one’s
own kind stirred an ancient contempt deep, deep in his shattered
mind. He snarled. The human whimpered but squirmed closer to the
monstrous creature propped against the wall. Tusks and claws
flashed and the whimpering ceased abruptly.
The Crazed One flung
the corpse back out through the door and a single thought blistered
all the corpses to oblivion. He felt amazingly calm at this
instant, the shambles of his mind pushed into a shadowed distance.
He leaned his head back, feeling the ridges running down the black
wall against his skull.
Always there was this
strange period of peaceful emptiness when he first woke after one
of his bad times. But he never remembered each separate episode,
and he could no longer maintain his hold on this quiet, nearly sane
interval. He let his chin sink to rest on his deformed chest. It
hurt, and slowly the other pains from his constantly tormented
bones crept into his awareness. And with the pain, his madness
began to flicker into existence once more.
It had been a nerve
wracking day and night for those sealed inside the building at the
side of Blue Mirror. Nothing whatsoever had happened, no attack, no
shaking of the ground, no more thunder or rain. The sun rose in a
clear sky and most of those within were peering out when the door
slammed inwards, its hinges groaning as it banged repeatedly
against the wall. A raucous cackle announced Hag’s appearance. The
great Raven stood in the entrance, scanning the room, beak agape in
silent amusement. Then she spotted Tika and strutted purposefully
in her direction.
‘Why are you all shut
in here?’ she enquired.
Almost boneless with
relief, Tika sank onto a chair.
‘I wish you wouldn’t do
that Hag. It’s very – alarming.’
Hag tilted her head to
one side and a black shining eye rimmed with gold regarded Tika
closely. Hag hopped closer then bounced up onto the table on which
Tika was leaning an elbow.
‘I’m sorry. My
dear.’
Tika heard someone
snort, guessed it was Shea, and sent a glare in her general
direction.
‘The ground shook
yesterday. Then there was a very bad storm around midday. It came
out of nowhere. When the weather cleared, the air felt tainted,
unfit to breathe.’
Tika rubbed her chest,
which still felt sore despite the disgusting potions Konya had
forced her to drink. Hag strutted the length of the table and back,
stooping to peer into Tika’s face.
‘I can taste no magic
here,’ she said. ‘The bad air was probably just because of the
ground shaking.’
Tika stared at the
bird. Hag ruffled her feathers and adjusted one in a wing which
looked very much as if it had been chewed.
‘You said the ground
shook? Gases sometimes escape when that happens. The water out
there is very unsettled, at the far end,’ Hag’s voice was
soothing.
‘Gases?’ Tika
repeated.
Hag marched down the
table again. ‘Bad air. Smells like – like bad eggs.’
‘That’s what it smelled
like,’ Essa chimed in. ‘Exactly like that. You are a clever old
bird.’
Hag swivelled her head
to fix Essa with a hard black eye and decided that Essa was merely
being honest. Hag drew herself to her full height.
‘Well, my dears, Hag’s
solved that for you. What are you doing next?’
‘We can’t seem to find
any hint of the two we thought might be causing the disruption
here. And now we have three others to consider as suspects. Why are
you here anyway?’
Hag’s huge beak gaped
wide again. ‘I wanted to be sure you were well;
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