Part 9 (1/2)

It said: ”More.”

For a second or two, Fern felt the upsurge of panic.

”Try fire,” Will suggested.

This time, when Fern hurled her order, there was raw authority in her tone. The tube of lip shot outward, and Fern threw in the final ”Fiume!” ”Fiume!” even as it devoured the spell. Flame seared through the soft mouth parts; the lips crumpled and turned black; the whole blancmange began to shudder. Then it imploded, engulfed in its own substance, eviscerating the very core of the magic. Gaps appeared in the circle as the spellpowder was whipped into the vortex. Fern picked up the wrong jar, swore, swapped it, tried to fill in the c.h.i.n.ks. The magic was flowing back now, leaking out into the room. The bookshelves heaved in a solid, moving wave. The ceiling arched upward until the distended plaster began to split and fragments floated down like leaves. The floor s.h.i.+fted uneasily beneath their feet. The cat had turned into a ball of madness: both Ragginbone and Moonspittle struggled to restrain him, flayed by whirling claws. Will threw his arms around Gaynor just as she reached to brush the plaster from her hair, inadvertently knocking him in the eye. Both of them gasped out breathless apologies. Something with too many eyes materialized in several parts of the room at once, staring out from chair back and book-spine, from grimy lithograph and splintered bell jar. Fern had abandoned the spellpowder and was fighting to regain control, ignoring a growing sense of helplessness. even as it devoured the spell. Flame seared through the soft mouth parts; the lips crumpled and turned black; the whole blancmange began to shudder. Then it imploded, engulfed in its own substance, eviscerating the very core of the magic. Gaps appeared in the circle as the spellpowder was whipped into the vortex. Fern picked up the wrong jar, swore, swapped it, tried to fill in the c.h.i.n.ks. The magic was flowing back now, leaking out into the room. The bookshelves heaved in a solid, moving wave. The ceiling arched upward until the distended plaster began to split and fragments floated down like leaves. The floor s.h.i.+fted uneasily beneath their feet. The cat had turned into a ball of madness: both Ragginbone and Moonspittle struggled to restrain him, flayed by whirling claws. Will threw his arms around Gaynor just as she reached to brush the plaster from her hair, inadvertently knocking him in the eye. Both of them gasped out breathless apologies. Something with too many eyes materialized in several parts of the room at once, staring out from chair back and book-spine, from grimy lithograph and splintered bell jar. Fern had abandoned the spellpowder and was fighting to regain control, ignoring a growing sense of helplessness.

”Orcale nef-heleix . . . Varde nessantor . . . Ai Morcadis thinefisse . . . varde!”

The eyes winked out. The perimeter was still broken, but the magic seemed to be contained, held within a boundary of pure will. The spellfire flared, blue flames licking around the pelmet, and in its livid glare Fern's face, too, looked blue, pinched with effort. ”End it!” cried Ragginbone, but she rushed on, babbling the new summons in a frenzy of haste, before her strength failed altogether. ”Dana!” she called, into the night, into the void. ”Prisoner or wanderer, come to me!”

And for a few moments she was there-not the well-tended body in the hospital bed but as she must have looked at the party, with a swirl of hair not her own and the chiffon tatters of her costume. Under the makeup her eyes were frightened; her hands seemed to push at an invisible wall. At first she did not appear to see her summoner, but then her gaze focused on Fern, and she grew still, and the tip of her nose flattened as if pressed against a gla.s.s. Her lips moved soundlessly, but they could all read the words. Help me Help me . . . . . .

She vanished without dismissal into a surge of darkness. The epicenter of the circle grew storm-black. An image developed in the murk: a girl's face, transparent as a hologram, s.h.i.+ning faintly. Fern murmured, bemused: ”Gaynor?” ”Gaynor?” Ragginbone's shout of warning came too late. Gaynor had slipped from Will's grasp, stepped through a break in the perimeter. There was a second when her features melded with those in the circle, then she, too, vanished. Ragginbone's shout of warning came too late. Gaynor had slipped from Will's grasp, stepped through a break in the perimeter. There was a second when her features melded with those in the circle, then she, too, vanished.

What happened next was something Fern would never remember very clearly: Will's panic, Ragginbone's harsh admonition, Moonspittle's squeak of protest. She was unable to think anymore and ceased to try; instinct took over. ”You'll have to maintain the circle,” she found herself saying, probably to Moonspittle. ”Seal the boundary. Don't let anything through. If you can hold the spell, I'll be back.” She didn't wait for objection or restraint. Her will was firm, her mind empty. She had no plan of action, no doubt, and in that instant, no fear.

She stepped into the circle, spoke one word. ”Envardo!” I follow. ”Envardo!” I follow.

She followed.

At first, Gaynor thought she hadn't moved. She couldn't recall entering the circle, only being there. There was a brief uprush of light, a sensation of falling-and then the spinning tunnel of radiance slowed, subsided, and she was left standing as before, except that now the perimeter was unbroken. She looked up, and saw the full moon streaming through an open window, its light blending with the werelight so that she had to narrow her eyes against the brightness. The only window in the bas.e.m.e.nt had been small and high up, screened with cloth or brown paper. She began to be frightened-not very frightened, not yet, but frightened enough. She stared around her, trying to see beyond the circle, but all she could make out was a soaring darkness of vast black drapes depending from some vault far above. Then she saw the woman. A tall woman in a pale dress that glittered when she moved. Her hair hung down her back in a thick clotted ma.s.s; her bare arms were as white as the dress. The fire glow limned her figure with blue. Long afterward, Gaynor said: ”Her face was beautiful, but it was like something in a surrealist painting. If you looked at it from a different angle, you knew it would be utterly horrible.”

The woman asked: ”What is your name?” Her voice was soft and sweet as the smell of decay.

Gaynor did not want to reply, but she knew she must. ”Gaynor.”

”That sounds like a modern contraction. The name I knew was Gwennifer. How interesting. So you you are Gwennifer.” are Gwennifer.”

”I don't understand.”

”Playing the idiot, is that it? It makes no difference. I used you before; I shall use you again. You were always invaluable to my plans. I gather you have befriended Morcadis now. Your folly-or hers. Where is she?”

”I think-outside the circle . . .”

”That's no answer. Tell me the truth: the magic binds you. Where is she?”

The pressure of her insistence was almost suffocating Gaynor; she struggled to breathe. Half choking, she could manage no other response. ”Outside . . . the circle . . .”

And then Morgus realized what had happened. Two circles, two spells, drawn together in a single magical bond . . . ”Uvale!” ”Uvale!” she screamed, and a gap appeared along the rim where the flame flicker went out. She raised her hand. ”Come to me!” she screamed, and a gap appeared along the rim where the flame flicker went out. She raised her hand. ”Come to me!”

Gaynor felt herself impelled toward the break in the circle. She knew that to leave the spellground would be disastrous, but she could not seem to resist. Outside the perimeter, the dark shrank to normal proportions, becoming sweeping curtains against a paneled wall. A cat waited there, stone still, its hairless body blotched black and white. She thought the expression on its wizened face was one of total malevolence. Unable to stop herself, she set foot out of the magic, into the room.

The sudden cry behind her snapped the compulsion like overstrained elastic. ”Xiss! Stop! I command you!” A hand seized her wrist, wrenching her back into the circle with such violence that she stumbled and fell. She tried to rise, clutching her rescuer. Outside the perimeter, Morgus was swaying from side to side like a cobra about to strike. Her eyes slitted; her mouth widened into a smile without laughter, all hunger and teeth. In front of her, the goblin cat began to prowl to and fro along the edge of the break, as though searching for that weakening in the barrier that would allow ingress. Stop! I command you!” A hand seized her wrist, wrenching her back into the circle with such violence that she stumbled and fell. She tried to rise, clutching her rescuer. Outside the perimeter, Morgus was swaying from side to side like a cobra about to strike. Her eyes slitted; her mouth widened into a smile without laughter, all hunger and teeth. In front of her, the goblin cat began to prowl to and fro along the edge of the break, as though searching for that weakening in the barrier that would allow ingress.

”Morcadis,” said the witch, very quietly, and ”Fernanda Morcadis,” louder now and clear as a chime.

”You were looking for me,” said Fern. ”I have come.” She was breathless from the abrupt translocation, thrown off balance by Gaynor's desperate grip.

”I like your friend,” Morgus went on, her manner lightening deceptively. ”I knew her of old: she was always venial in sin, soft-hearted and soft-headed. A liability to all who stood by her. I shall enjoy questioning her again.”

”She is young,” said Fern, puzzled. ”You have met before only briefly, in a dream.”

”Youth!” Morgus said scornfully. ”An illusion. Do I not look young to you? Everything is reborn, recycled, remade, even the spirit. She is Gwennifer the adulteress, though she has grown very plain. She cannot change.”

”The world of Time has made you mad,” said Fern. ”You are seeing old enemies in new faces. I thought I I was the one you feared.” was the one you feared.”

”Feared?” Morgus's tone was like silk. ”Oh, no, my most diligent pupil. You betrayed me and tried to kill me, but all you achieved was to initiate my regenesis. I used to think I could not return without you, and indeed you have brought me back. You have made me invulnerable, unkillable. I have the power of the Gift and the power of the Tree and the power of the River. What have you got with which to challenge me? Nothing. I will take your little Gwennifer and sew up her lips with her own hair, and st.i.tch back her eyelids, and she will have to watch the fate I will prepare for you, and it will be long and slow, and before I am done-”

”I will beg for death,” Fern interrupted. ”I know. They always say that.” She was afraid now, and angry at her own fear, and every bit of emotion showed beneath the bravado. The circle closed at a word, rekindling to a glittering thread, but it made a flimsy barricade against the might of the witch queen. Fern knew she had only seconds to take them back-back to the cellar in Soho-and she tried to gather her remaining power, her Gift, but instinct was failing her and she had little idea what to do, or how. Morgus made a convoluted gesture and uttered a strange hoa.r.s.e sound deep in her throat, a cry from an age before speech, and the boards at their feet began to split in many places, and green stems came through, thick and serpent strong, twining their ankles, holding them fast. Gaynor stifled a scream. In moments more tendrils had looped her body, pinning her arms to her sides; Fern s.n.a.t.c.hed hers free just in time.

”I have you!” Morgus gloated. ”I have you!” ”I have you!”

She lifted both hands- -and something something shot out of the air in front of Fern and hit Morgus full in the chest. The force of its trajectory blew a hole in the perimeter that could not be mended; the witch queen reeled at the impact, borne backward, losing her grip. Fern felt the snake lock slacken about her legs and kicked the stems away, stamping them into the floor. Gaynor followed her example. Morgus beat off her attacker and stood there gasping, her dress ripped and red stained, her half-exposed b.r.e.a.s.t.s swollen into tumuli from the arousal of power. Claw slashes were closing slowly in her white skin, leaving residual blood trails that crisped into hardness against nipple and ribs. The invader had dropped to the floor and crouched there, yowling. Its ginger fur was discolored in the blue light and much of it stood on end, bristling with magical static. It yowled in the unmistakable language of cat fight and garbage raid. shot out of the air in front of Fern and hit Morgus full in the chest. The force of its trajectory blew a hole in the perimeter that could not be mended; the witch queen reeled at the impact, borne backward, losing her grip. Fern felt the snake lock slacken about her legs and kicked the stems away, stamping them into the floor. Gaynor followed her example. Morgus beat off her attacker and stood there gasping, her dress ripped and red stained, her half-exposed b.r.e.a.s.t.s swollen into tumuli from the arousal of power. Claw slashes were closing slowly in her white skin, leaving residual blood trails that crisped into hardness against nipple and ribs. The invader had dropped to the floor and crouched there, yowling. Its ginger fur was discolored in the blue light and much of it stood on end, bristling with magical static. It yowled in the unmistakable language of cat fight and garbage raid.

Mogwit.

”Grab him!” Fern cried. ”I have to concentrate.”

Gaynor lunged just as Nehemet pounced. There was a moment of confused struggle: she felt her arm torn and never knew which animal was responsible. Then she was back in what remained of the circle, clutching a raging bundle of ginger fur. Nehemet threatened, her mouth stretched in a hiss; but she did not attempt to spring after them. Morgus began a charm or curse that was never finished. Fern felt her body grow rigid with the buildup of power: she forced mind and will, Gift and spell to converge in one instance, one word. Gaynor felt her wrist seized, heard the Command-and the circle spun into a hoop of flame, blurring, thickening. Light swallowed them . . .

. . . and they were back in Soho.

It was Moonspittle who had secured the perimeter, controlled if not actually coerced by Ragginbone. Will, handed the cat with a curt order to hold tight, had underestimated Mogwit's strength: more than a hundred years as a wizard's familiar had not only extended life but enhanced muscle tone, though the cat's intelligence seemed to have lapsed into second kittenhood. Once the circle was empty Fern and Moonspittle closed the spell on a shriek of rage that came from nowhere in the room. The fires sank, the electric lights were switched on, and the bas.e.m.e.nt reverted to its own brand of normality. They presented the owner with his promised reward, a new ball for his pet and a collection of p.o.r.nographic postcards from the Edwardian era, which Ragginbone had found in a secondhand bookshop. ”That cat almost certainly saved our lives,” Fern said. ”I'll come back tomorrow and bring him some salmon.”

”Smoked,” said Moonspittle. ”He likes it smoked.”

”Nothing but the best,” Fern a.s.sured him.

They took a taxi back to her flat. Ragginbone reserved his strictures for their return; Will didn't. They were recuperating in Fern's living room over wine and coffee before the tide of recrimination finally began to subside.

”Well,” said Ragginbone judicially, ”and how did Morgus look to you?”

”She's lost weight,” said Fern. ”I'm afraid-it's been trans.m.u.ted into power in some way. She spent centuries in hibernation, feeding off the Tree, and now she's stronger. She said she has the power of the Gift, and the power of the Tree, and the power of the River . . . and I could feel feel it around me, against me. It was too much. I couldn't fight it.” it around me, against me. It was too much. I couldn't fight it.”

”But you did,” said Gaynor.

”We were lucky,” Fern said somberly. ”Just lucky. You can't rely on that.”

”Still,” Ragginbone remarked, ”it's something to know the luck is with you. And Morgus has has a weakness: that much is clear. The sisterhood told us: All that lives must die. It remains only to find a way.” a weakness: that much is clear. The sisterhood told us: All that lives must die. It remains only to find a way.”

”At least we know where she is,” said Will.