Armies of Light and Dark by Peter David

Author:Peter David [David, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction
ISBN: 9780345427199
Google: bT4wPC012FAC
Amazon: 034542719X
Publisher: Del Rey
Published: 2000-05-01T23:00:00+00:00

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— chapter 8 —

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At first Gwynn couldn’t be quite sure that she had come to the right place.

She made her way through the streets of Ghehana, one of the seamiest sections in all of Centauri Prime, and certainly the worst part of the capital city. She did so adroitly, masking her presence with practiced ease. It wasn’t that she was invisible, but anyone who happened to glance in her direction simply didn’t notice her; their gaze would have slid off her without registering any sort of actual presence.

It would not, however, serve in all circumstances. As confident as she was in her ability, the shadows stretched all around her in this particular section of town, and she found herself checking to see whether the shadows moved. This was not paranoia on her part. The Drakh seemed to move in and out of darkness with as much facility as their departed masters. She had the very disturbing feeling that the Drakh would have no problems discerning her being there at all.

She paused outside one building that had the correct address—she was supposed to find Galen here. She placed her hands against the front door and closed her eyes, reaching out. Yes. Yes, Galen was definitely within. She sensed mage energy that could only be originating with him.

The door, however, was locked. This provided an impediment for her for as long as it took her to say, “Open.” The door immediately attended to her and opened. What was interesting to note was that the door was not an automatic one, and only three people present on Centauri Prime would have been capable of getting it open simply by telling it to do so. Gwynn was one, the other was inside, and for all she knew, the third might be, as well.

As it turned out, he was. Finian was standing right there when the door opened up, and he bowed to her with a sweep of his cloak. As annoying as his attitude could be sometimes, she had to admit that she was pleased to see him. The months after the passing of Kane had been hard on Finian, for they had been friends for many years, and Finian had not taken Kane’s death well at all. He had been so despondent over it, in fact, that there had been some talk about his place within their society. Finally, it had been Galen who had spoken on his behalf, which struck Gwynn as curious. Galen had spent almost no time with Finian, had barely said ten words to him, as far as Gwynn knew. Yet he had spoken so passionately on Finian’s behalf that the others had given the young mage adequate time to come around.

Apparently he had, although Gwynn thought she could still see traces of mourning in his eyes.

“Where is he?”

“No patience for niceties, Gwynn?”

“Good evening, Finian. Where is he?”

“Upstairs.”

Gwynn followed Finian up a narrow flight of stairs, which creaked under her feet. A smell of moisture wafted through the air; something was leaking somewhere.

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