“You appear to be on a mission, Merlin. Be about it then,” Benedict said.
The point of Borel’s blade flicked into a position about ten inches from my throat. “You are going nowhere,” he stated, “not with that jewel.”
There was no sound as Benedict’s blade was drawn and moved to beat Borel’s off its line.
“As I said; be on your way, Merlin,” Benedict told me.
I got to my feet, moved quickly out of range, passed them both cautiously.
“If you kill him,” Jurt said, “he can rematerialize after a period of time.”
“How interesting,” Benedict remarked, flicking off an attack and retreating slightly “How long a time?”
“Several hours.”
“And how much time will you need to complete whatever you’re about?”
Jurt looked at me.
“I’m not certain,” I answered.
Benedict executed an odd little parry, followed by a strange shuffling step and a brief slashing attack. A button flew from Borel’s shirt front.
“In that case I’ll make this last for a time,” Benedict said. “Good luck, lad.”
He gave me a quick salute with the weapon, at which moment Borel attacked. Benedict used an Italianate sixte which threw both their points off to the side, advancing as he did so. He reached forward quickly then with his left hand and pulled the other’s nose. Then he pushed him away, stepped back a pace, and smiled.
“What do you usually charge for lessons?” I overheard him asking as Jurt and I hurried down the path.
“I wonder how long it does take for one of the Powers to materialize a ghost,” Jurt said as we jogged toward the mountainous mass the trail entered.
“Several hours for Borel alone,” I said, “and if the Logrus wants the Jewel as badly as I’d guess, I’d think it would have summoned an army of ghosts if it could. I’m certain now that this place is very difficult for both Powers to reach. I get the feeling they can only manifest via the barest trickles of energy. If that weren’t the case, I’d never have gotten this far.”
Jurt reached out as if to touch the Jewel, apparently thought better of it, withdrew his hand.
“It seems you’ve definitely aligned yourself with the Pattern now,” he observed.
“Looks as if you have, too. Unless you’re planning on stabbing me in the back at the last moment,” I said.
He chuckled. Then, “Not funny,” he said. “I’ve got to be on your side. I can see that the Logrus just created me as a disposable tool. I’d wind up on the scrap heap when the job’s done. I’ve a feeling I might have dissipated already had it not been for the transfusion. So I’m with you, like it or not, and your back is safe.”
We ran on along the now-straight way, its terminus finally grown near. Jurt finally asked, “What is the significance of that pendant? The Logrus seems to want it badly.”
“lt’s called the Jewel of Judgment,” I answered. “It is said to be older than the Pattern itself and to have been instrumental in its creation.”
“Why do you think you were led to it and obtained it with such ease?”
“I have no idea whatsoever,” I said. “If you get one before I do, I’ll be glad to hear it.”
Soon we reached the place where the trail plunged into the greater darkness. We halted and regarded it.
“No signs posted,” I said, checking above and to either side of that entranceway.
Jurt gave me an odd look.
“You’ve always had a weird sense of humor, Merlin “ he said. “Who’d put up a sign in a place like this?”
“Someone else with a weird sense of humor,” I replied.
“Might as well go on,” he said, turning back toward the entrance.
A bright red exit sign had appeared above the opening. Jurt stared for a moment, then shook his head slowly. We entered.
We took our way down a wandering tunnel-a thing which puzzled me a bit. The artificial quality of most of the rest of this place had led me to expect a ruler-straight trail through a smooth-walled shaft, geometrically precise in all its features. Instead, it seemed as if we were traversing a series of natural caverns-stalactites, stalagmites, pillars, and pools displayed at either hand.