The Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko, Sergei Luk'ianenko Page B
Authors: Sergei Lukyanenko, Sergei Luk'ianenko
Tags: Fiction, General, Fantasy, Thrillers, Vampires, Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945), General & Literary Fiction, Occult, Fantasy fiction; Russian, Science fiction; Russian
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right now, kid. Take a look around, listen. All the colors have turned gray. The sounds have faded away. The second hand on the clock is barely creeping along. You entered the Twilight world… you wanted to see the danger and you crossed the boundary between worlds. Time moves more slowly here, everything is different here. This is the world of the Others."
"I don't believe it." Egor glanced around quickly, then looked back at me. "Then why's Gray here?" Page 64
"The cat?" I smiled. "Animals follow their own laws, Egor. Cats live in all the dimensions at once; for them there is no difference."
"I don't believe you." His voice was trembling. "It's all a dream, I know! When the light fades like that…
I'm asleep. It's happened to me before."
"So you've had dreams about turning on the light and the bulb not lighting up?" I already knew the answer, and anyway I could read it in the boy's eyes. "Or it lights up, but only very, very faintly, like a candle? And you're walking along with the Darkness swaying all around you, and you hold out your hand and you can't even make out your own fingers?"
He didn't answer.
"That happens to all of us, Egor. Every Other has dreams like that. It's the Twilight world creeping into us, calling us, reminding us about itself. You are an Other. Still a young one, but you are. And you're the only one…"
I didn't realize immediately that his eyes were closed and his head was slumped to one side.
"You idiot," Olga hissed from my shoulder. "This is the first time he's entered the Twilight independently!
He hasn't got the strength for this! Pull him out quickly, or he'll stay here forever!" Twilight coma is a novice's problem. I'd almost forgotten about it, because I'd never worked with young Others.
"Egor!" I leapt across and shook him, grabbing him under the shoulders. He was light, very light—it's not only the movement of time that changes in the Twilight world. "Wake up!" The boy didn't respond. He'd already done what it takes others months of training to do—entered the Twilight on his own. And the Twilight world just loves to suck the strength out of you.
"Pull him out!" said Olga, taking command of the situation. "He won't wake up himself." I'd done the emergency rescue courses, but I'd never had to drag anyone out of the Twilight for real.
"Egor, snap out of it!" I slapped him on the cheeks. Gently at first, then I started putting real force into it.
"Come on, kid. You're slipping away into the Twilight world! Wake up!" He was getting lighter and lighter, melting away in my arms. The Twilight was drinking his life, sucking out his final ounces of strength. The Twilight was changing his body, claiming it as permanent resident. What had I done?
"Seal yourself off!" Olga's sharp voice focused my mind. "Seal yourself off, and him too…" It always used to take me more than a minute to form a sphere. This time I did it in five seconds flat. I felt a stab of pain—as if a small shell had exploded inside my head. I threw back my head when the sphere of exclusion emerged from my body, shrouding me like a shimmering soap bubble. The bubble expanded, reluctantly enveloping me and the boy.
"That's it; now hold it there. I can't do anything to help you, Anton. Hold that sphere!" Page 65
Olga was wrong. She'd already helped me, with her advice. I'd probably have realized that I ought to form a sphere, but I could have lost precious seconds in the process.
It started getting lighter. The Twilight was still draining our strength—mine with an effort, the boy's with ease—but now it only had a few cubic meters of space to operate with. The ordinary laws of physics don't apply here, but there are parallels. A balance was being established between our living bodies and the Twilight.
Either the Twilight would dissolve and release its prey or the boy would remain an inhabitant of the Twilight world. Forever. It's what happens to magicians who have pushed themselves beyond the limit, either
"I don't believe it." Egor glanced around quickly, then looked back at me. "Then why's Gray here?" Page 64
"The cat?" I smiled. "Animals follow their own laws, Egor. Cats live in all the dimensions at once; for them there is no difference."
"I don't believe you." His voice was trembling. "It's all a dream, I know! When the light fades like that…
I'm asleep. It's happened to me before."
"So you've had dreams about turning on the light and the bulb not lighting up?" I already knew the answer, and anyway I could read it in the boy's eyes. "Or it lights up, but only very, very faintly, like a candle? And you're walking along with the Darkness swaying all around you, and you hold out your hand and you can't even make out your own fingers?"
He didn't answer.
"That happens to all of us, Egor. Every Other has dreams like that. It's the Twilight world creeping into us, calling us, reminding us about itself. You are an Other. Still a young one, but you are. And you're the only one…"
I didn't realize immediately that his eyes were closed and his head was slumped to one side.
"You idiot," Olga hissed from my shoulder. "This is the first time he's entered the Twilight independently!
He hasn't got the strength for this! Pull him out quickly, or he'll stay here forever!" Twilight coma is a novice's problem. I'd almost forgotten about it, because I'd never worked with young Others.
"Egor!" I leapt across and shook him, grabbing him under the shoulders. He was light, very light—it's not only the movement of time that changes in the Twilight world. "Wake up!" The boy didn't respond. He'd already done what it takes others months of training to do—entered the Twilight on his own. And the Twilight world just loves to suck the strength out of you.
"Pull him out!" said Olga, taking command of the situation. "He won't wake up himself." I'd done the emergency rescue courses, but I'd never had to drag anyone out of the Twilight for real.
"Egor, snap out of it!" I slapped him on the cheeks. Gently at first, then I started putting real force into it.
"Come on, kid. You're slipping away into the Twilight world! Wake up!" He was getting lighter and lighter, melting away in my arms. The Twilight was drinking his life, sucking out his final ounces of strength. The Twilight was changing his body, claiming it as permanent resident. What had I done?
"Seal yourself off!" Olga's sharp voice focused my mind. "Seal yourself off, and him too…" It always used to take me more than a minute to form a sphere. This time I did it in five seconds flat. I felt a stab of pain—as if a small shell had exploded inside my head. I threw back my head when the sphere of exclusion emerged from my body, shrouding me like a shimmering soap bubble. The bubble expanded, reluctantly enveloping me and the boy.
"That's it; now hold it there. I can't do anything to help you, Anton. Hold that sphere!" Page 65
Olga was wrong. She'd already helped me, with her advice. I'd probably have realized that I ought to form a sphere, but I could have lost precious seconds in the process.
It started getting lighter. The Twilight was still draining our strength—mine with an effort, the boy's with ease—but now it only had a few cubic meters of space to operate with. The ordinary laws of physics don't apply here, but there are parallels. A balance was being established between our living bodies and the Twilight.
Either the Twilight would dissolve and release its prey or the boy would remain an inhabitant of the Twilight world. Forever. It's what happens to magicians who have pushed themselves beyond the limit, either
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