“Where are you?”
“I don’t know. The boca took away my life body, and now I am lost.”
The word “lost” filled Niall with a wholly unexpected sense of compassion. It conjured up emptiness and loneliness.
“What can I do?”
“Ask Typhon to perform the ceremony to lay me to rest.”
“Does he know what to do?”
“Yes. He did it for my father.”
Niall said: “I promise I will give him your message.”
“Tell him twenty-one days. It must be within twenty-one days, or I shall die the second death.”
Then Niall woke up. The room was full of moonlight, for it was the night before the full Moon. Outside, the city was so silent that he could hear the loud ticking of the new town clock on the other side of the square.
Ever since the events of two days ago, Niall had thought about the death of the Magician, and his own part in it, with a certain satisfaction. That was quite simply because he thought of him as a monster who deserved to be punished for his ruthlessness.
But now, suddenly, he could see that being in a state of eternal forgetfulness was not punishment, since the Magician would have no idea why he was being punished.
No longer sleepy, Niall lay on his back and thought about the dream. Was it really a plea for help? Or was it inspired by all their talk about the karvasid just before Niall had said good night and come to bed?
Twenty-one days. . . What if Typhon did not want to return within twenty-one days? He certainly seemed to be enjoying himself.
Then Niall noticed that the Magician’s crystal globe was now lying on the carpet. When he had climbed into bed, it had been on the circular table by the open window. Yet there was not even the faintest breeze.
At that point, Niall decided that a promise, even one made to a ghost in a dream, should be honored, and resolved to tell Typhon about his dream over breakfast.
He immediately experienced a curious sense of peace, and sank into a dreamless sleep.
About the Author
Colin Wilson is the author of more than eighty books, including The Outsider and From Atlantis to the Sphinx. His work ranges from existential philosophy, psychology, and criminology to the paranormal, fiction, and plays. He resides in Cornwall, England, with his wife, Joy.
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