Henry Kuttner by The Valley of the Flame

Author:The Valley of the Flame [Flame, The Valley of the]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2011-08-25T23:58:25+00:00

Her green eyes flashed. "Darum has left the castle, with a band of soldiers. I've learned that."

"Then he believed me! He went to get Craddock himself." Raft hesitated. No, he realized, the king had not taken his word for the substitution. Instead, Darum was investigating the possibility, cutting the Gordian knot of uncertainty by going directly to the source—Parror.

"Parror is resourceful," Janissa said. "I don't know s. ." She shook her head, the soft curls stirring with her movement

"Well, what am I supposed to do? Sit here waiting till Darum gets back?"

The girl pondered.

"Let me use the mirror again," she said at last. She took out the tiny lens, bending her head to stare intently into those cloudy depths. Raft saw her start

"What's wrong?"

"Wait." She held up a warning hand. "It is difficult to get through. There's a barrier ..."

She straightened, thrusting the mirror back into her dress.

"Craddock is tranced," she said. "Not the spell of the mirror, but a kind of hypnosis. Parror is taking him somewhere—I can't see where. But they have left the castle."

Raft bit at his lower lip. "Can't you communicate with Craddock at all?"

"I can catch only a few stray thoughts. Not much."

"Can you find out where they're going? Try again, Janissa, If we could discover that, it might help."

She took out the lens, bent above it in an agony of concentration. Raft saw diamonds of perspiration glittering on her forehead.

"It's hard. His mind is veiled."

"Try!"

She let the mirror drop, amazement in her eyes "No* Kharn—no! He'd never go there!"

Raft gripped the girl's slim arms. "Kharn? Is that where the Flame is?"

Janissa drew away, shivering.

"Oh, no. I thought he might take the unseen road, but to go to Kharn. He must have some method of protection I know nothing about. Or else it's suicide."

"What is Kharn? Where is it?"

"At the source of the great river," she said. "The river that flows here, under Doirada Castle. That is Kharn. But no man goes there."

"Why not?"

Janissa seemed to draw inward into herself.

"The Garden of Kharn has life which isn't like ours. There are beings in Kharn who are—I don't know what. I've never been in the Garden. But I've been near it, though. I've felt something reaching out to touch my mind, something cold and crawling and deadly."

Raft uttered a harsh laugh.

"I'd be willing to face any ghost if I had my rifle back."

"Kharn is unhealthy," the girl said quietly. "If Parror has found a way to protect himself against the Garden, he's wiser than I thought. But I fear for Craddock."

"Why? Parror will take mighty good care of Dan Craddock, till he gets the information he wants. Apparently this Kharn is taboo. Which is fine for Parror. He can take his time getting the information he wants."

A change had come over Janissa.

"This alters things, Brian. When Darum reaches Parror's castle, he'll find Parror gone. But if he knew his quarry goes to Kharn, he might intercept him, if he goes fast." She rose to her feet in a lithe, smooth motion.

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