[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Is it, Harry? Is it? And you're the expert, are you? Ah, but of course -
certainly you would understand such things -for
I've heard it that you have a son, too . . .
Harry was silent; he had no answer; perhaps he would destroy his son if he
could, or at least change him. But hadn't he also tried to change the Lady
Karen?
Faethor took his silence as something else: a sign that perhaps he went too
far. Now he was quick to change his tone.
But there, the circumstances are different. And anyway, you are a man and I am
Wamphyri. There can be no meeting point except in our dual purpose. So let's
make an end of criticisms and accusations and such, for there's work to be
done.
Harry was pleased to change the subject. 'These are the simple facts,' he
said. 'We both want Janos put down again, permanently. Neither one of us can
do it on his own. For you it is absolutely impossible. Likewise for me,
without my gift of deadspeak. You say you can return that talent to me; that
since it was taken from me by a vampire, only a vampire can return it. Very
well, I believe you. What will it entail?'
Faethor sighed and seemed to slump down a little where he sat. He turned his
red-glowing eyes away and looked out over the plain of mist. And:
We are come to that part from which I
know you will shy most violently. And yet it is unavoidable.
'Say it,' said Harry.
The trouble lies in your head. A creature other than yourself has visited the
labyrinth caves of your mind and wrought certain changes there. Let us say
that within your house the furniture has been rearranged. Now another must go
in and put the place in order.
file:///G|/rah/Brian%20Lumley/Brian%20Lumley%20-%20Necroscope%204%20-%20Deadsp
eak%20V1.0%20(html).htm (124 of 239) [2/13/2004 10:16:36 PM]
Gasping his shock
'You want me to let you into my mind?'
You must invite me in, said Faethor, and I must enter of my own free will.
Harry recalled to mind all he knew about vampires, and said, 'When Thibor
entered Dragosani's mind, he tried to steer it his way. He interfered in
Dragosani's affairs. When he touched the living foetus which would become
Yulian Bodescu, that was sufficient to alter the child entirely and turn him
into a monster. And again Thibor was in Yulian's mind, able to communicate
Page 144
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
with him and guide - or direct him - even over great distances. At this very
moment a friend of mine on the island of Rhodes has a vampire, your bloodson
Janos, in his mind, or at least controlling it. And my friend exists in a hell
of terror and torment. And you want me to let you into my mind?'
/
said you would shy from it.
'If I let it happen this once, how may I be sure it won't happen when I don't
want it?'
/
would remind you: distance removed Dragosani from danger. Even if what you
suggest were possible, do you intend to stay here in Romania forever? No, for
you have your own way to go, which will put you far beyond my reach. I would
further remind you: Thibor was an undead thing in the ground  he was real,
solid, intact in all his parts - while I am but a wraith, dead and gone
forever. A ghost, aye: empty, immaterial, incorporeal, and of no consequence
whatsoever.
'Except to a Necroscope.'
Except to you, Faethor's shade nodded its agreement, the man who talks to and
befriends the dead. Or used to.
'So how do we go about it?' Harry asked. 'I'm no telepath, with a mind like a
book to be read.'
But in a way you are, Faethor told him.
Is it not a form of telepathy, to be able to talk to the dead? Also, when you
too were without body, did you not speak to the living?
'That was a strange time,' Harry agreed. 'It was my deadspeak. It worked in
reverse. Being incorporeal, I had no voice, and so I could talk to the living
- to those who had body - in the same way I talked to the dead!'
Again Faethor's nod.
There's more to your mind than even you suspect, Harry Keogh. And I say I can
be into it even as Thibor was into Dragosani's! - but without the
complications.
Harry sensed Faethor's eagerness. He was far too eager. But there was no way
round it. 'What do I have to do?'
Nothing. Simply relax. Sleep a dreamless sleep. And I shall visit within your
mind.
Harry felt Faethor's beguilement - his hypnotism -working on him and resisted
it. 'Wait! Three things I want. And if your mind-tricks work, perhaps a
fourth, later.'
Name them.
'First, that you undo the mischief done to my mind and return my deadspeak, as
agreed. Second, that you give me some sort of defence against Janos's
telepathy, for I've seen what he can do to minds such as mine. Third, that you
look and see if there's any way I can regain access to the Möbius Continuum.
It's the ultimate weapon against Janos and would surely tilt the odds in my
favour.'
And the fourth?
'When - if - I have my deadspeak back, I'll be able to find you again no
matter where I am. And then, hopefully for the last time, I may ask for your
help again. To free the mind of my friend Trevor Jordan, which Janos holds
enthralled.'
As for this last thing, the vampire answered, if it can be done, then it shall
be done in due course. But alas, access to this device of yours -
teleportation? - we shall see what we shall see.
file:///G|/rah/Brian%20Lumley/Brian%20Lumley%20-%20Necroscope%204%20-%20Deadsp
eak%20V1.0%20(html).htm (125 of 239) [2/13/2004 10:16:36 PM]
Gasping his shock
However, I doubt it. It was not an art of mine; I know nothing of it; how may
I unriddle something in a language I cannot speak? The language of mathematics
Page 145
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
is a stranger to me. On the other hand, your deadspeak is something I can
surely put back to rights, for I understand it. Even when they were dead many
hundred years, still my Szgany answered my call and got up from their graves!
Lastly, you ask for some sort of defence against Janos's mindspells. Well,
that is no simple thing; it's not any sort of gift I can will or bestow upon
you. But later I shall describe to you how to fight fire with fire. Which may
help . . . if you can stand the heat of it.
'Faethor,' Harry was almost completely resigned to his fate now, 'I wonder,
will I thank you for this when it's done? Will there ever be thanks enough? Or
will I curse you for all eternity, and will there ever be curses enough? Even
now you could be plotting to destroy me, as you've destroyed everything else
you ever touched. And yet . . . it seems I've no choice.'
These things are not entirely true, Harry, Faethor answered.
Destroyed things? Aye, I've done that - and brought a few into being, too. Nor
are you without choice. Indeed it seems to me the very simplest matter. Trust
me now as an ally tried and true, or begone from here and wait for Janos to
seek you out - and when the time is come go up against him like a child, naked
and innocent of all his ways and wiles.
'We've talked enough,' said Harry. 'And we both know there's only one course
open to me. Let's waste no more time.'
And:
Sleep, said Faethor, his mental voice deep and dark as a bottomless pool of
blood.
Sleep a dreamless sleep, Harry Keogh, leaving all the doors of your mind
standing open to me.
Sleep, and let me see inside. Ah, but even though you may will it freely,
still I shall find certain doors closed to me - and closed to you! These are
the ones which I must unlock. For beyond them lie all your talents, which your
son has hidden from you.
Sleep, Harry. We are the betrayed, you and I, by our own flesh and blood. We
have this much in common, at least. Nay, more than this, for we've both been
powers in our time. And you shall be ... a power . . . again . . . Haaarry
Keeooogh!
The mist on the plain swirled as Faethor flowed to his feet and approached
Harry where he slumped on the broken wall. The long dead vampire reached out a
hand towards Harry's face .
. . and the hand was white and skeletal, projecting from the fretted sleeve of
his robe like a bundle of thin sticks. The bony fingers touched Harry's pale
brow, and melted into his skull. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]