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Vailret now realized where they stood. In the center of the square stood a stagnant fountain. In the greenish water, slime-covered mechanical fish puttered around in slow circles; several had sunk to the bottom, where algae grew on them. Across the plaza stood the rebuilt shrine building, the museum that contained original writings of the great inventor Maxwell, whom Sitnaltans revered as the founder of their city. The first time Vailret had stayed in Sitnalta, the shrine building started on fire. He had charged in to rescue their precious documents when none of the Sitnaltans proved willing to take the risk. Now the struggling characters scrambled over the wreckage of the other building they had just demolished. Lining up in straight lines, they marched across the square, curling around the dead fountain where Bryl and Vailret stared at them. The Sitnaltans aimed straight at the rebuilt shrine building. The Sitnaltans themselves saw what the controlling force was driving them to do, and they fought back with redoubled urgency. One stout woman managed to trip herself and tumble in front of two columns of the other Sitnaltans. The first three tripped over her, and then the others kept walking, stepping on her body. She cried out, but she could not roll away. Vailret ran forward, using his shoulders to knock characters aside. He pulled the woman away; Bryl grabbed her other arm and helped drag her across the cobblestones. She gasped but seemed unconcerned with her own pain. "Not me -- if you can move, stop them! They'll destroy the Charter of Sitnalta." More than a score of Sitnaltans went toward their target. Vailret looked at Bryl -- the two of them couldn't possibly fight against so many. Even if the Sitnaltans themselves didn't wish them any harm, the controlling force would have no such qualms. "Bryl, use the Air Stone!" Vailret said. "Confuse them." Bryl pulled out the four-sided diamond and stared at it. "But this is Sitnalta. Magic won't work here." "Try it anyway," Vailret said. "There's a chance." Bryl closed his eyes and tossed the pointed diamond to the ground. A "3" showed up. Vailret smacked his fist into his palm. "How did that happen?" Bryl gaped. "I'm not supposed to roll anything but a 1 here." But after a moment he snatched up the diamond and concentrated on his illusion. Around the scrolled and columned building, a thick maze of pedestal-wide brambles sprang up. They twirled and tangled with needle-sharp thorns as long as daggers. Bryl held the Air Stone with both hands, closing his eyes. The Sitnaltans stopped, gawking in amazement. A few moved around the edges of the brambles, but could see no way in. They stopped, as if gathering strength. Vailret feared what they would do. Then one column plunged forward face-first into the brambles. Vailret did not know if they simply disregarded the illusion and pushed ahead, denying what their eyes told them. Or if the controlling force had accepted the sacrifice of a few characters and urged them forward anyway. The illusion could not maintain solidity. The Sitnaltan column marched through the brambles unscathed. As they succeeded, the other Sitnaltans mobilized and pushed forward. "It isn't working," Bryl mumbled. He let go of the diamond, and the illusion dissolved. "Time to be more decisive then," Vailret said. "You've got the Fire Stone. See what that does." Bryl took out the ruby. "If the Air Stone was just a fluke, there's no chance this one will work. The odds are -- " "Just try it!" file:///K|/eMule/Incoming/Kevin%20J%20Anderson%20-%20Game%2003%20-%20Game's%20End.txt (5 of 16)8-12-2006 23:21:01 file:///K|/eMule/Incoming/Kevin%20J%20Anderson%20-%20Game%2003%20-%20Game's%20End.txt Bryl rolled the eight-sided ruby, and it landed with the "5" showing up. Another success. This time a tall ring of fire surrounded the building, feeding off nothing but the cobblestones. The Sitnaltans gathered around, pushing close enough to the fire that the hair singed away from their foreheads and eyebrows. Smoke smudged their faces. If they tried to plunge through the fire, they would die. "You'd better watch, Bryl. I don't want to slaughter them. I'd rather let them rip up their damned documents." But then the Sitnaltans wavered in their step, paused, and collapsed, as if suddenly dropped from a great height, set free from an invisible grip. The moment the characters struck the ground, most scrambled back to their feet, tense and ready to pounce on any enemy they could see. Some remained cross-legged on the ground, sobbing and shaking. "It _is_ like a spell," Vailret said. "You were right." The Sitnaltans appeared baffled as they turned. Some stared in relief at the intact, though smoke-stained, museum. Others gawked at the building they had just torn down. "Maybe we should just swim across the water terrain," Bryl said. "I'll even give up a hot meal and a good bed to get out of here. Professor Morse was right." He shivered, tucking his hands into the folds of his blue cloak. He looked very old. "If that controller gets hold of us, we might never be able to get away." "If that controller makes you use the Fire Stone against your will, you could bring down this entire city in a single day." Vailret looked around. He didn't particularly want to speak with the stunned Sitnaltans. "Let's go find Professor Frankenstein before anything else happens." Bryl had never been to the workroom of Professors Verne and Frankenstein; but Vailret remembered asking the professors to invent a new pair of mechanical eyes for Paenar, since his magical eye-staff refused to function in Sitnalta. Oriented by the fountain and Maxwell's museum, Vailret recalled the other places Mayer had shown him in his tour of the city, the thinking lounges, the great room where characters rolled dice and kept track of the scores to discern some pattern to the Rules of Probability. "Frankenstein is just down this street," he said, trudging ahead. With each step, he feared that the invisible manipulation would sink claws into his mind and drive his body to do terrible things -- especially now that they had called attention to themselves by using the Stones. If the force indeed used magic to control characters, maybe it would want the Stones for itself. The doorways and facades marked the Sitnaltan homes and research establishments in a confused jumble of designs. Mayer had pointed out details as they walked, and now Vailret tried to remember the important parts. Mayer had been upset when he and Paenar asked to see the professors, rather than continuing their tour with her. She stopped at the appropriate doorway, then stalked off, leaving them to fend for themselves. Vailret stopped. "This one." An engraved plaque on the door announced: _Profs. Frankenstein and Verne_ Inventors At Large _PLEASE DO NOT DISTURB_ It looked as if a piece of tape had obscured Verne's name, but someone had peeled it away again. "We're going inside," Vailret said. He pounded on the door, then winced as he struck the ornate carving with the side of his hand. Loud curses and a clatter of toppling books and equipment came from inside. Footsteps moved toward the door, accompanied by continued mutterings. Vailret took a half step backward and put himself behind Bryl. "You can stand in front." Someone yanked the door open from inside, and a gaunt man thrust his head out. His dark hair had been mussed, grease stains twirled across his cheeks, and his eyes looked glazed. His voice carried a thick overtone of anger. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |