I saw Bruce off to one side. The Master of Vampires no longer looked like a walking corpse, the rosy bloom had even returned to his cheeks. He was squatting in the corner, drinking something from a glass. I didn’t try to see exactly what it was.
‘Well, I never!’ said Semyon, shaking his head. He looked absolutely happy. ‘I never even imagined I’d see the fifth level some day, like the Great Geser or Thomas the Rhymer. Oh … now I can die happy …’
He winked at me.
‘I’ll sew your mouth shut,’ Lermont declared in a very familiar tone of voice. ‘The fifth level of the Twilight is no subject for idle talk.’
‘Aha,’ Semyon agreed quickly. ‘It’s just my stupid way of nattering.’
‘Foma …’ I reached out one hand to help the magician up. ‘Thank you … for coming back. And for showing me – thank you for that.’
‘Let’s go,’ said Foma, walking quickly through to the next room and the ‘mooring’, where the metal boat was swaying on the dark water. I followed him. Lermont hung an umbrella of silence over us and the noise immediately died away. ‘Did you want to ask something?’
‘Yes. Who are they?’
‘I don’t know.’ Foma took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat off his face. ‘Several attempts have already been made to reach the legacy of Merlin. But I’m not certain it was these Others who tried … the last attempt was more than a century ago. And in particular, no one has ever made such wide use of people before … This is all very serious, Anton. But we’ve been lucky – Merlin has puzzled everybody with the third key.’
‘What does that poem mean?’
‘It’s a riddle. In those days they were very fond of riddles, Anton. It was considered good form to give your opponent a chance to beat you. Even if it was only the bare ghost of a chance.’
‘One thing is clear: apart from simply going head-on trying to break through into the seventh level, there’s an alternative route,’ I said.
‘It looks that way. But I don’t know what to say to you about that. And if I did, I wouldn’t say it.’
‘Are you going to guard Merlin’s hiding place until the end of time?’
‘For as long as I can,’ said Lermont, turning the Rune of Merlin over in his hands. He sighed. ‘At least now the Guard is watching over the fifth level again. Next time the enemy will have to subdue it again.’
‘Destroy the Rune, Foma!’
He shook his head.
‘There aren’t any simple answers, Anton. If the Rune is destroyed, the Guard will disappear too. I’ll hide it as securely as I can. You don’t need to know how. And … thank you for your help …’
‘Meaning “Now get lost”?’ I asked, smiling.
‘Meaning “Thank you for your help.” The more outsiders there are here, the more fuss there will be over everything that has happened. I’m grateful to you, and to Semyon. Your tickets will be delivered to your hotel.’
‘Fair enough. And thank you, Foma.’ I bowed. ‘May the Light be with you!’
‘Wait,’ Thomas said in a gentle voice. He walked up to me and embraced me. ‘I mean “Thank you.” Don’t take offence. We’re going to have a lot of problems here, and a lot of visitors from the Inquisition. Do you really want to get stuck here for a month?’
‘Guard the Crown well, Foma,’ I said after a pause.
‘Think about what you’ve seen, Anton. I’m sure that one of your compatriots is involved in what has happened. Approach the mystery from your side – and we’ll meet again.’
‘If I find whoever it is from our side, I’ll tear his legs off and stick them in his ears. Goodbye, Thomas the Rhymer!’
When I had already reached the door, I added:
‘Oh yes, by the way, we’re used to flying first class!’
‘Be grateful if I don’t send you as baggage,’ Foma replied in the same tone of voice. Then he turned and walked back to his colleagues.
EPILOGUE
‘YOU KNOW, THAT’S a really bad sign, to tell someone you fought side by side with that you’ll meet again later,’ Semyon declared sombrely. ‘He hasn’t got a single free moment to see me. And we’re flying back home, like real ninnies. If we had just a week … we could have gone to the lochs, done a bit of fishing …’
‘Semyon, the Inquisition will arrive any minute – we’d be stuck here for a month.’
‘So what’s wrong with that?’
‘I’m a family man.’
‘Oh, that’s right…’ Semyon said with a sigh. ‘With a little daughter … Is she walking yet?’
‘Semyon, stop playing the fool!’
We stopped in front of the hotel entrance. Semyon chuckled and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
‘Er … how much time have we got?’
‘Five or six hours. If there are tickets for the evening flight.’
‘I’ll just drop into a shop and buy a few souvenirs. Shall I get some for you?’
‘What, exactly?’
‘What sort of question’s that? Whisky and scarves. Whisky for the men and scarves for the women. I usually get five of each.’
‘Go on, then,’ I said, waving him away. ‘Only get me a child’s scarf too, if you see one. Something bright and cheerful.’
‘Definitely.’
I walked into the vestibule. The receptionist was not at his desk, but there was an envelope lying there with the name ‘Anton Gorodetsky’ written on it in large letters. Inside there were three first-class tickets – for me, Semyon and Galya Dobronravova. Foma had acted with incredible efficiency, and he hadn’t even forgotten about the wolf-girl.
I knocked on the door of the Dark suite on the fourth floor. No response. I listened, and heard the sound of water flowing somewhere inside. I took Galya’s ticket out of the envelope and pushed it under the door.
I found the key in my pocket went into my own suite.
‘Slowly-slowly-go-over-to-the-armchair-and-sit-down,’ gabbled the young red-haired guy who had introduced himself to me as Jean in the Dungeons of Scotland.
He had positioned himself perfectly. At the window, with the blinding sunlight pouring in through it. My shadow was behind me – there was no way I could plunge into it.
‘Start-moving-towards-the-armchair-slowly-slowly,’ the young guy rattled off.
He was accelerated, enveloped in the green glow emanating from the amulet on his arm: it looked like an ordinary woven bead trinket, the kind that hippies make. His reflexes now were many times faster than those of a normal human being. And since he was holding an Uzi automatic rifle and its magazine of charmed bullets was glowing bright red, it would have been unwise to object.
‘Speak more clearly,’ I said, walking to the chair and sitting in it. ‘Since you didn’t kill me straight away, there must be something to talk about.’
‘You’re-wrong-wizard,’ the young guy said, and I noted that funny, childish ‘wizard’. ‘I-was-ordered-to-kill-you-but-there’s-something-I-want-to-ask-you.’
‘Ask away.
I needed my shadow. I needed to turn my head, see my shadow and dive into the Twilight. I would be faster than him there.
‘Don’t-turn-your-head! If-you-look-at-your-shadow-I’ll-shoot-straight-away How-many-of-you-are-there?’
‘What?’
‘How-many-brutes-like-you-are-there-walking-the-earth?’