Nightwatch by Robin Wayne Bailey

Author:Robin Wayne Bailey [Bailey, Robin Wayne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-8803-8914-3
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Publishing
Published: 1990-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

Wearing only a loose white robe of thin material, Garett climbed the stairs to his apartment and went inside. His hair still dripped rivulets of water, and his face felt raw from the close scraping he had given it. At least he felt clean again. Now all he wanted was some sleep.

He opened the shutters on his windows. On such a gray day the sunlight would not keep him awake. He welcomed the gentle breeze, though. Later, when the revelers spread away from the High Market Square and the Processional into the River Quarter, the noise might wake him. On the other hand, he thought he had a fifty-fifty chance of sleeping through anything.

He pulled the soft robe over his head, carefully folded it, and placed it on the table next to the coin purse and sword he’d put there earlier. Naked, he fell face down onto the cool sheets of his bed and scrunched the pillow under his head. The light wind whispered upon his bare flesh, a soothing sensation that relaxed him. As an afterthought, he drew a corner of the sheet over his body, remembering that he’d left Almi with instructions to wake him at dusk.

He wasn’t sure how long he lay there. It surprised him that he didn’t fall asleep at once. Outside, the birds continued their incessant screeching, though it sounded a bit farther off. A pair of women walked by in the street below, giggling like giddy virgins. A fly set up a steady drone as it explored the apartment. The door to Almi’s tavern slammed. Garett closed his eyes. Please, he begged, straining toward sleep. His body ached so, and a heaviness weighed down his thoughts. In the street below, someone laughed. At last, though, sleep did claim him.

An odd light penetrating his lids woke Garett. Wearily he cracked open one eye. A soft violet light filled the room. All his senses snapped alert, though he kept perfectly still. It was no natural illumination, he knew. With careful deliberation, Garett rolled over onto his right side. Silently he cursed himself. His sword was not where it should be at the head of his bed. He had left it on the table across the room, out of reach. He slowly sat up and turned toward the source of the strange purple illumination.

The five amethyst octahedrons hung in the air, burning with a steady glow as they spun in a circle, like jewels on an invisible ring, on the far side of the room. They had been in his coin purse, but some force had freed them and set them dancing. The same force, he assumed, had closed and sealed the window shutters.

He rose cautiously, crept to the table, and freed his sword from the scabbard. The purple light rippled up the silvery length of the blade as he drew it clear. He touched the coin purse. The strings were loose; a few silver nobles and gold orbs lay scattered on the table, likewise shimmering as if touched by violet fire.

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