The Stranger's Shadow Page 8

  I gulped and swallowed both the saliva in my mouth and the objections in my head. If Sir Juffin thinks I can easily deal with a whole army of Lonely Shadows, he probably knows what he’s talking about, I thought.

  The boss gave me a look of genuine compassion.

  “I can see you’re somewhat surprised, but one of your Lethal Spheres might be more than enough to take care of them,” said Juffin. “The critical part is to launch it in the right direction, and you’re usually good at that. Our main problem is that Glenke Taval exists in the World and on the Dark Side simultaneously. An unsurpassed and rare skill. I have always been fond of his talents.”

  “Too fond, I might add,” said Kofa. “If you hadn’t bargained for his life with Nuflin, we wouldn’t have this problem now.”

  “That is true, Kofa. But back then I was obsessed with the idea that the life of every person chosen by Xumgat was a precious gift that no one had the right to take away unless it was absolutely necessary. I still hold to this idea, partially.”

  “Well, you are the boss,” said Kofa. “By the way, under what conditions was he granted his life and freedom?”

  “The usual,” said Juffin. “Glenke was never to set foot in Uguland, meet with other members of his Order, have students, and so on and so forth. Besides, when I talked to him personally, he swore he’d limit the area of his explorations to True Magic. I have to hand it to him, though, he has honestly kept his word. According to the Lonely Shadow that I captured, he still sits quietly in his mansion somewhere around the Great Lake Munto and leaves it only to take a walk on the Dark Side. There is also no Apparent Magic that I can detect in what he does. Nominally, he’s clean—with one small exception, however. That madman brought us to the brink of an abyss when he began taming Lonely Shadows. I could almost cry from despair: if only some sweet person like Lieutenant Apurra Blookey or Sir Rogro were naturally endowed with his talents. But no!”

  “You seem to be too upset about it,” said Kofa. “Is he really worth it?”

  “It’s easier for you,” said Juffin. “You couldn’t stand him from the outset, although I never quite knew why. Glenke and I used to be good friends, very good friends. I can’t say that the fact that we need to kill him makes me happy.”

  “You should have gotten used to it by now,” said Kofa. “You’ve always specialized in killing your former friends. Go for it, I say. It’s a good job, and it puts bread on the table.”

  Their exchange seemed to be growing rather tense when all of a sudden Juffin made a hopeless gesture, laughed, and said, “Thanks, Kofa. You can always improve my mood. Such a shame, though. An imposing, elderly gentleman, yet so immoral.”

  “You should discuss this with Magician Nuflin, who is a much more elderly and imposing gentleman. He will tell you that morality is an invention of sated, powerful, and very shrewd people so that all the rest would spend their free time trying to sort out who among them was right and who was wrong. And so that no one would bother the sated ones, and they could just keep eating.”

  “Spoken like a true former police general,” said Juffin, smiling. “And you, boys, are going to Landaland in the company of this old cynic, looking for my old friend Glenke Taval. I don’t envy you.”

  “Hold on a second,” I said. “You haven’t even begun to explain anything.”

  “Ah, it is clear that you haven’t been with the Investigative Force long enough,” said Melifaro. “This is a classic business meeting here: Sir Juffin and Sir Kofa bicker until midnight, while the others make bets on when they’re going to fight. At the end, Sir Juffin says that we should improvise and take action according to situation, and then he goes home. Am I right, sir?”

  “You’re close,” said Juffin. “But just for the benefit of Sir Max’s pretty eyes and frayed nerves, I will deviate from tradition. Kofa and I can cut down on our bickering and stop right now.”

  “Thank you,” I said. “So we go to Landaland and combine our efforts to bite off the head of your friend Sir Glenke Taval, right?”

  “Brilliant thinking,” said Juffin. “Now here’s something you should know about killing Glenke. You will have to kill him in the World and on the Dark Side at the same time. Otherwise he’ll slip out of our clutches and we’ll never see him until the end of time. That’s why I’m sending all three of you. You, Kofa, will kill him in this World—I’m sure you will derive a great deal of pleasure out of it. Max will work on the Dark Side. And you, young man, you—”

  “I’ll be hanging around on the border, like I always do,” said Melifaro.

  “Precisely.”

  “When do we leave?” said Kofa.

  “The sooner, the better. You can leave right now.”

  “Oh, no. That won’t do. I don’t know about you, boys, but I need to pack,” said Kofa.

  “Everybody needs to pack,” said Melifaro, almost falling off the armchair, overwhelmed with emotion. “And I need to say goodbye to a certain beautiful lady.”

  “When you first started working here, I gave you a piece of advice,” said Juffin. He was smiling, but his eyes were as cold as water under a crust of ice. “I told you that our job was full of perils, and that each time you come to the House by the Bridge, you should always say goodbye to those you hold dear as though you’re leaving forever. Remember?”

  “Yes, I do,” said Melifaro. He was serious. “That was exactly what I was going to do, originally, but I don’t yet know how to say goodbye to someone forever with baloney sticking out from under my turban.”

  “You don’t particularly like that advice, do you?” said Juffin, turning to me. “And yet it pertains to you, too. Keep it in mind in the future.” He paused and then addressed us all. “All right, guys, you can leave tomorrow morning or at noon. Whenever you wake up, in other words. With Max behind the levers, it doesn’t really matter. You’ll get to Glenke much faster than I dare hope.”

  “At noon, then. Please?” I said.

  “Fine,” said Juffin with equanimity. “As I said, it’s up to you.”

  “It’s been a while since I had the chance to get away from Echo for a long time,” said Kofa. “It’s hard to believe that I’m getting such an opportunity. I’m even beginning to warm up to Glenke. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have a vacation at all.”

  “I have been telling you to go somewhere and get a good rest for years,” said Juffin. “You wouldn’t hear of it.”

  “You know I hate wasting time on such trifles. But a business trip to Landaland, now, is just what I need.”

  “Good, then. At least someone is happy about the mission.” Juffin yawned one of his contagious yawns and extended his hand toward a half-empty pitcher of kamra. Then he waved off his impulse and got up from his armchair in one resolute swing. “I’ll see you tomorrow, gentlemen. I intend to abuse my position as your boss and go home. And I wouldn’t envy the reckless hero who dared stand between me and my bed now.”

  The boss winked at me, then suddenly grabbed himself by the collar and threw himself out the window in one fell swoop. He disappeared before he hit the ground. I saw only a small cloud of pale mist left hanging in the air outside. I stared at it, blinking, as it took the shape of a large question mark and then evaporated.

  Sir Kofa shook his head. “He’s come up with a new one. All right, boys, I think I’m going to do some work before we leave tomorrow. Don’t worry, Max, I’ll replace you right after midnight. It’s in my own interest. The last thing I want is to travel to the ends of the earth in the company of a sleepy driver who’s pumped himself to the brim with Elixir of Kaxar.”

  “When did I pump myself to the brim with it?” I said. “I’m an extremely moderate, if a tad wearisome, guy. I don’t have bad habits. Only harmless quirks.”

  “Extremely young is what you are, and all your so-called habits are not worth a crown,” said Kofa, laughing. “A habit is only worthy of mention when it’s at least a couple hundred years old. Good night, boys.”

  Melifaro and
I were alone in the office now. Thank goodness he wasn’t in any hurry to leave.

  “Some trip we’re going on, huh?” he said after a courier brought another tray with food from the Glutton. Melifaro’s voice was gloomy and lifeless.

  “You mean that mysterious, disgraceful task we’re supposed to perform on the Dark Side?” I said in a no less gloomy and lifeless tone.

  “To Magicians with the Dark Side. We’ll manage that somehow. What’s bothering me is that we’ll be in the company of our Master Eavesdropper-Gobbler. I wish you and I were going alone instead. That would be fun.”

  “What’s wrong with Kofa?” I said, surprised. “He’s a pleasure to work with. I have plenty of evidence of that.”

  “Of course. That was in Echo, right?”

  “Sure. What difference does it make?”

  “You’ll see,” said Melifaro. “I’ll just say this: There is the Sir Kofa Yox you know here—a well-fed wiseman, a gourmand, a ladies’ man, and an all-around sweet person. But as that venerable gentleman gets farther away from the Heart of the World, he turns into an unbearable person. Even his appearance changes. I once had the misfortune of accompanying him on a trip to the ends of Uryuland and back. I still can’t fathom how I managed not to lose all my marbles.”

  “Oh, I wouldn’t say that. You’ve lost them, all right,” I said.

  “Yeah, yeah, make fun of me all you want. You’ll be singing a different tune tomorrow evening. You’ll beg me to let you run away to the Dark Side before it’s time, but I won’t let you, buddy. Mark my words.”

  “Speaking of which,” I said. “I’d be eternally grateful to you if you explained to me in plain words the fundamental principles of our further interactions.”

  “Oh, that’s easy,” said Melifaro, laughing. “I’ll be going out with your wife, you’ll be trying to smash my face, and I’ll be resorting to self-defense to the best of my abilities. Neat, huh?”

  “I wasn’t talking about my wife. I was asking how I’m supposed to behave in the presence of a Sentry. In other words, how am I supposed to use you?”

  “‘Use me’?” said Melifaro. “Well, you are a monster! How dare you speak to a Sentry in that manner?” He made a feeble show of indignation, but his mouth broke into a broad smile despite his efforts to resist it. “‘Use me,’ eh?” he repeated and laughed again.

  “Of course,” I said. “If you came with a manual, I would just glance over it and call it a day. But since you came ‘as is’ . . .”

  “All right, all right, stop making fun of me, already. There’s really nothing you need to know. When the time comes, I’ll take you to the Dark Side and then bring you back. You can call me any time in between, too, and I’ll come and rescue you like an overprotective mother. That’s all. I hope this doesn’t overtax your diminished mental capacities.”

  “It does, but I’ll persevere. Let’s consider this briefing over.”

  We never touched upon the subject again. Of course, I wanted to ask Melifaro about his mysterious double, but somehow I couldn’t muster up enough courage to do that.

  He left a couple of hours later. When Juffin has the presence of mind to put me in his armchair, skipping out on work becomes too easy. My colleagues had gotten used to the fact that they didn’t have to ask my permission. All they had to say was “good night,” then boldly go wherever their whims took them.

  Before I could allow myself to enjoy my solitude, I ordered that the remains of my tête-à-tête with Melifaro be cleared from the table. Then I ordered myself another pitcher of kamra, put my feet on the desk, lit up a cigarette, and gave Kurush an expectant stare.

  “Tell me about this Sir Glenke Taval,” I said. “Only drop the official tone. Make it sound like a fairy tale.”

  “The story of Grand Magician Glenke Taval cannot be made to sound like a fairy tale,” said Kurush. “Even if his life were full of spectacular and amazing events, they would forever remain the personal secrets of Magician Glenke Taval.”

  “Fine, then. Tell it however you can.”

  “Glenke Taval was born in Landaland to a family that was on close terms with the Order of the Sleeping Butterfly, allegedly between the years 2740 and 2760 of the Epoch of Orders. It is known that he became an apprentice to the Order in 2832, when he was still very young. There is virtually no information about that early period in his life. In a unanimous vote cast at a meeting of Senior Magicians on the third day of the year 3008, Glenke Taval was made Grand Magician of the Order of the Sleeping Butterfly, immediately after the sudden disappearance of former Grand Magician of the Order Avves Tirak. I have information that there were many rumors regarding his disappearance, but I am not familiar with them. It is commonly held that it was the policy introduced by Magician Glenke Taval that made the Order of the Sleeping Butterfly one of the most powerful Orders in the Unified Kingdom. It is worthy of note that he had virtually no interaction with the World outside, almost never left the Order’s Residence, and had almost no enemies, which is unusual, considering the customs and morals of the Epoch of Orders.”

  “I’m sorry for interrupting you, Kurush, but I was just wondering, what were you doing during the Epoch of Orders?” I said.

  “I was not doing anything,” Kurush said with dignity. “I left my egg on the sixteenth year of the Code Epoch. Are you still interested in Magician Glenke Taval? I’m afraid I don’t have the information you’re looking for. Nothing that resembles a fairy tale, only the names of his assistants, the date of the official declaration of the Order of the Sleeping Butterfly on its nonsubmission to the Royal Decree calling for its disbandment, the date of Sir Glenke Taval’s arrest, the date and conditions of his exile, and so on. If my notion of you is anywhere close to reality, your area of interest lies elsewhere. Why don’t you talk to Juffin? As far as I can tell from today’s conversation, he has a great deal more of the kind of information about Glenke Taval that you are interested in. People are normally inclined to express their views on the lives of their friends.”

  “Oh, you are the wisest creature in the World, Kurush!” I said. “I think I’m going to go ahead and risk spoiling Juffin’s R and R.”

  Without hesitation, I fulfilled my threat and sent him a call.

  You’re not asleep yet, are you? I began cautiously.

  Believe it or not, no. I should have gone straight to the Street of Old Coins. I would have been watching a movie now, happy and content. Instead, I’m lying in bed, trying to find familiar words in one fascinating book. So far I’ve found a dozen or so. Let me guess, you’re going to squeeze more information about my old friend Glenke out of me? Frankly, I’m not sure I want to divulge the story of his life to you.

  How come? You’ve already told me so many secrets. What difference will another one make?

  Secrets have nothing to do with it. Glenke, the way I remember him, was an amazing fellow. I think you might even get along with him. But since you’re going to kill him—

  I’m not supposed to develop empathy toward him? Is that what you’re trying to say?

  Precisely. Put it out of your head. Ordinary people can change, sometimes drastically. Let alone powerful Magicians.

  Okay, I’ll try to put it out of my head. But could you at least tell me something that might help me defeat him?

  The most important thing to keep in mind is that Glenke Taval is a powerful adversary. At the same time, he’s almost helpless. It’s very easy to kill him. At least it’s not going to be a problem for you. He never really learned to kill others or to defend himself. His strength lies elsewhere. He’s almost at home on the Dark Side.

  And how am I supposed to catch him, in that case?

  Unlike Glenke, you are at home on the Dark Side. You’ll be surprised to see how easy it is for you to be there. There’s something else you should never forget, even for a second: while on the Dark Side, your words have a special power. So don’t you dare start shooting off your mouth there. Your garrulousness is the only true danger for y
ou on the Dark Side. Who knows what you might blurt out? Remember what happened between you and the Tipfinger?

  I’ll never forget it! Thanks for warning me, Juffin. I always talk nonsense when I’m nervous. Now I have good reason to keep my chatterbox shut.

  Well, good, then. Good night, Max. And don’t be upset about Glenke. I’ve had all kinds of acquaintances throughout my life: some good, some not so good.

  Good night, Juffin.

  I poured myself some kamra, stroked Kurush’s feathers, and suddenly realized that now I could carry on living. A heavy load that had been sitting on my chest was lifted. It had disappeared while I was chatting with Juffin, although he hadn’t said anything soothing or particularly reassuring to me. If anything, the contrary was true. Hmm, I thought, I can’t say the situation is altogether unfamiliar.

  Sir Kofa came right after midnight as he had promised.

  “Go home, Max,” he said. “I can get the two hours of sleep that will transform me from a useless wreck into a human being again right here in this armchair.”

  “I still envy you,” I said. “You need so little sleep. You’re good to go twenty-two hours a day.”

  “Wait a minute, boy,” said Kofa, surprised, “why twenty-two? I do need two hours of sleep after all.”

  “That’s what I’m saying. Out of the twenty-four hours of the day, you sleep for two. Hence, the twenty-two hours of activity. No?”

  “You’ve got your basic arithmetic right,” said Kofa, “except that there are twenty-two hours in a day. Didn’t you know that?”

  “A hole in the heavens above me!” I was stunned by the sudden revelation. “I never thought of that. So that’s why I never have enough time for anything!”

  “Did you never bother to take a close look at a clock? Well, don’t fret. It’s not the end of the world.”