The Seeker - Isobelle Carmody [152]
“Why did he leave?” I asked.
“I saw nothing. There was nothing,” she sent.
Bewildered, I lifted my torch and climbed out, wondering what could have frightened Reuvan badly enough that he would desert us.
I opened my mouth to call down the steps, but the words died in my throat.
Fear had seized me.
My heart pounded and the night was suddenly ice-cold as I watched the air before me shimmer and smoke in a way that could not be natural. The smoke coalesced into a spectral face so grotesque and malevolent that only some Herder hell could have spawned it. Almost reptilian, it watched me from the end of the alley, a shadowed creature of roiling smoke and razor-sharp teeth.
Terror flooded my mind; the lantern slid from my nerveless fingers. I screamed then, barely registering the footsteps coming up the metal steps behind me. I heard Kella cry out before I saw her, falling at my feet in a dead faint. That shook me enough to break my trance. I dashed the books from Pavo’s arms and half dragged him and Jik out of the doorway. They stared at the specter in astonished wonder.
“Ghosts …” Pavo moaned.
I grasped his shoulders and shook him to make him help me lift Kella, all the while keeping an eye on the creature. It did not advance but opened its mouth menacingly. Then there was a savage growling, but not from the monster—it came from the far side of the mound of rubble and was followed by a high-pitched scream.
Then, just as abruptly as it had appeared, the smoky demon vanished.
“What just happened?” Pavo asked.
Jik looked at me, his face transformed. “That growling. It was Darga!”
I thought fear had deranged him, but there was barking nearby, and this time I recognized it. I sent out a probe and immediately encountered Darga.
“There you are,” he sent imperturbably. “Come to me.”
Startled, I told the others to wait inside and picked my way over the rubble, tracing his probe to what remained of a building fronting the alley. It was little more than four walls, and in one corner a growling Darga held a thin, ragged figure at bay.
I was beside him before I realized it was a girl cowed against the wall, her skin as black as if she had rolled in the mud. To my bewilderment, she hissed and bared her teeth at the sight of me.
All at once, fear assaulted me.
Darga growled again, and the fear vanished.
I stared at the girl in wonder. “She’s doing it!”
“I learned from a dog that you had left the city. I followed your scent,” Darga sent. “Then I saw the child-funaga’s mind making you see things. I frightened her enough to break her grip on your mind. She does not know how to speak to my mind, so she cannot make me afraid.”
The urchin snarled at me, pressing herself deeper into the corner.
“She is like a wild wolf pup,” Darga sent.
I looked at the girl. “Well,” I said aloud in a gentle voice, “if you are wild, then I will have to tame you.” I backed away, telling Darga to follow. The girl suspiciously watched us withdraw, then ran forward and slithered through a hole in the wall, swift as a snake.
I reached out but could find no trace of her mind.
There was a joyous reunion between Jik and Darga. The others were astonished and relieved that the demon we had seen was no more than a vision. Pavo suggested returning to the library, but I decided we had better find Reuvan, Brydda, and Idris.
“It’s been a long night. And we have plenty of time to go through the books. We’ll have to stay until I can tame our wild girl.”
We found Reuvan unconscious, having run into a jutting piece of stone in the darkness, then returned to Brydda. He was fascinated to hear the truth about his ghosts and, though still wary, agreed to cross into the city. But he was skeptical about my intention to tame the girl.
I shook my head wearily. “I can’t give up. I have to win her trust.”
“Why?” Brydda asked. “What does it matter?”
I looked at him. “Don’t you understand? She is the one I came all this way to find. She’s one of us. And I have a feeling she needs us as much as we need her.