Crystal Enchantment Read online

  She stumbled into the clearing and her foot struck something. She bent down and picked up the laser weapon, clutching it to herself as though it was all that she had left of him. Tears streamed down her face, blinding her.

  The towers! Surely they were taking him there. She could heal himunless they'd already killed him. No! She couldn't let herself think that. She could save him.

  She 'ported, landing clumsily on the rounded roof of the middle tower. The center was actually flat, a diameter of about ten feet, and then the roof curved. She stared into the dusky light and saw the dark shapes approaching, but still at some distance. Moving carefully, she edged over to the curved part of the roof and stared down at the side of the tower. Stone ledges jutted out at intervals from the upper half of the structure. If there were ledges, there must be doors. She 'ported down to one of them.

  The ledge was barely wide enough to stand on, and behind it a tall door gaped open. Jalissa considered the situation. The three towers were hugemuch taller than they'd seemed from a distance. And each of them had at least a dozen ledges. She had to know which one would be used by the demon carrying Miklos. She glanced back up toward the roof of the tower she was on, and knew that she wouldn't be able to see from there.

  The towers were surrounded by a thick forest. Jalissa chose an especially tall evergreen and 'ported into it, then scrambled to find a hiding place within the thick branches. Now she had a good view of all the towers.

  Moments later, the first of the demons appeared and landed on a ledge in the middle tower. The others followed. Jalissa held her breath. What if they'd simply dropped Miklos to his death?

  And then she saw him, hanging limply from the talons of the biggest of the demons. It landed last, on the lowest of the ledges, dropping Miklos to the stone floor. He didn't move.

  The demon picked him up in its hairy arms and carried him through the door. Seconds later, Jalissa 'ported to the same ledge, then peered cautiously around the edge of the doorway.

  She could see very little of the interior. A faint glow seemed to rise up from somewhere far below. There was no sign of the demon or of Miklos. She stepped through the doorwayand found herself falling!

  It was the scene from her nightmare! Far below, she could see shapes moving about as she fell. But in the space of a second, she realized she could save herself and 'ported to the forest outside the towers.

  Dizzy from the fall and the 'porting, Jalissa crouched in the forest and waited for her vision to clear. When it did, she saw what she'd hoped to find: another entrance into the tower.

  A wide, tall door yawned open. Beyond it, she saw that same faint glow. She got to her feet and started toward it. Miklos was in there, and she gave no thought at all to her own danger.

  Chapter Eleven

  Jalissa walked through the door, her head high and determination plain in her every step. Her fingertips glowed with the magic fire as she moved through the darkness toward the ruddy glow. And then she stopped.

  Before her was a large circular room. Torches burned on dank stone walls, but the glow she'd seen came from a huge pit in the very center of the room, where tongues of orange-red flame licked at the raised sides of the pit's border.

  Miklos lay on the floor a few feet from the pit. She stared at him, seeking some sign of life, but unable to find it in the flickering light. She started toward him, then stopped as she heard the rustling sounds of wings. She peered into the shadows between the torchesand saw the demons, all of them watching her.

  She raised her hands. ''Begone! Leave, or I will destroy you!"

  Her words echoed off the stone walls. The voice seemed not to be her own. But it produced the desired effect. The demons slipped away, leaving through archways at either side of the huge room.

  Jalissa rushed to Miklos and dropped down beside his inert form. He lay twisted, partly on his side, with his torso pressed face-down against the cold stone. Very gently, she turned him over, then cried out with relief when she saw his chest rise and fall.

  She began to summon her healing powers, then stopped as she felt something. A cold draft invaded the room, and with it came an even colder touch against her mind. Still kneeling beside Miklos, she lifted her headand stared straight at an apparition far more terrifying than the demons.

  It was very talltaller perhaps than even Miklos. She could see nothing at all of its body, since it wore a black robe with a hood that shaded its face as well. She stood up as it began to move toward her, the robe swirling about it. The movement was strangeslow, gliding motions, as though it weren't walking at all, but was floating instead. And when it came to a stop about ten feet away, she saw, in the shadows of the hood, a pair of blood-red eyes that glowed like the fire in the pit beside her.

  "Who are you?" she demanded, knowing instinctively that this must be the demons' masterand the one who had brought the spacecraft here. "Why did you bring us here?"

  The eyesall she could see of the creatureburned into her. Then a cold, hard voice spoke directly into her mind.

  "I did not bring you here."

  "Don't play games with me!" Jalissa shouted, still speaking aloud. "If you didn't, who didand why?"

  "Your gods," said the flinty voice. "Your gods brought you here, Witch."

  "That's nonsense! They wouldn't do that!" But Jalissa was feeling the first, faint stirrings of doubt.

  "You are free to leaveif they will permit it," came the reply.

  "Then we'll leave," she said, turning her attention back to Miklos.

  "No. You may leave. The human stays. It has been a long time since we have seen one of them."

  "He comes with me!"

  Jalissa could actually feel the creature's surprise. "Why?" it asked. "Why should you care about a mere human?"

  For a moment, she simply couldn't answer. She stared from Miklos to the creature in abso- lute horror. What it was really saying was that she was more like itnot human. Then a movement drew her out of that cold terror, and she looked down at Miklos to see him opening his eyes and then struggling to raise himself up.

  "I'm not one of you!" she shouted, her voice ringing off the stone walls. "I love him!"

  Miklos had by now gotten shakily to his feet. And the moment he did, he saw the black-robed figure. His hand went to the stunner at his belt, and before she could say or do anything, he had withdrawn it and aimed it at the creature.

  Laughter he couldn't hear echoed through her brainand then the creature spoke aloud for the first time. "You cannot love a mere human. I could crush him to dust with one finger."

  Miklos still held the stunner, but his gaze had gone from the creature to her questioningly. She met his gaze briefly, then turned back to it.

  "You will not harm him! If you try, I will destroy you and your towers. He leaves with me!"

  The creature said nothing, and she sensed that it was considering whether or not she could do such a thing. She wasn't certain either, but she stood her ground.

  "Then take him. He is nothing."

  Jalissa reached out for Miklos's hand; she had to pull him along after her. He seemed mesmerized by the tall figure, who now stood there silently.

  Once outside the tower, Jalissa cast a quick glance around to make sure that the demons weren't lurking about somewhere. Miklos stopped when she did, and she could tell that he was still dazed.

  "Miklos!" she said sharply, tugging on his hand. "Come on! We must get back to the spacecraft."

  He didn't move, except to turn slowly around and stare back at the tower. She grasped his shoulders and shook him as best she could. "Miklos! What's wrong with you?"

  "What is this place?" he asked in a strange voice. "What was that . . . that thing?"

  "It isn't important now. Are you hurt? Can you walk?"

  Before he could answer, lightning flashed above the towers, followed by a reverberating boom of thunder that shook the ground beneath them. And seconds later, a hard, cold rain began to pelt them.

  She hurried toward the p
rotection of the forest, but Miklos was still moving sluggishly, no matter how much she tried to hurry him. Within moments, they were both soaked as the wind picked up and drove the rain through the trees.

  Shivering, Jalissa considered the distance. The hovercraft was wrecked, and the spacecraft must be more than a hundred miles away. She stared at Miklos. The rain dripped off his face as he continued to stare at her, his eyes not quite focusing.

  Could she do it? she wondered desperately. Could she 'port with him? It seemed to her that the worst that could happen was that she wouldn't be able to do it, and they would be forced to walk all the way back to the spacecraft. That would surely take several days, and what if the spell she'd cast to protect it began to weaken? She wasn't exactly an expert on such matters.

  She had to try it. She was convinced that if she got Miklos away from the towers, he would recover from his stupor. He had to be reacting to some force she couldn't feel herself.

  "Miklos," she said, speaking slowly and carefully, as one does to a child, "we're going to 'port back to the spacecraft. Or at least I'm going to try to take us there. Do you understand?"

  He merely frowned at her. "I . . . can't 'port."

  "No, but I canand I'm taking you with me. Just wrap your arms around me, and don't let go."

  She hugged him to her, one cold, wet body pressed against the other, and after a second, his own arms wrapped themselves around her.

  "Jalissa! Wake up!"

  She struggled up from a deep well of darkness, aroused by the sound of a familiar voice. When her eyes fluttered open, she found herself staring into a pair of very worried green eyes.

  Memories assaulted her: the demons, the towers, that terrible creature. Then she remembered trying to 'portand stared hard at Miklos. "Are you all right?" she asked in a raspy voice. He seemed to be. And she belatedly realized that they were back in the spacecraft.

  "As all right as I'm likely to be," he said with a grim smile.

  "Where are we?" she asked, trying to gather up enough strength to raise herself from the reclining seat. Every bone and muscle in her body protested, and she fell back again.

  "On our way back to Gavon. From there, we're going on to Mafriti."

  "Mafriti?" she echoed, nearly smiling as she thought about that beautiful world. "Why would we go there? What about Noros? We have to find the Coven."

  "Neither of us is in any shape to go looking for the Coven now. I've arranged to have the U- meet us on Gavon. We'll be on Mafriti within twenty-four hours."

  Mafriti. This time, she did smile. In her mind, she saw the two of them, walking along its white sand beaches, swimming in the lucid turquoise waters. . . .

  Miklos contacted the command center on Gavon, then replaced the mike and stared at the sleeping woman beside him. He still wasn't sure he remembered what had happened to them. Disjointed pieces came to him, but with no context to put them in, he hadn't been able to reconstruct what had actually taken place after the demons had forced down the hovercraft and carried him off.

  The only thing he was certain of was that she had saved himand at great cost to herself. How great that toll had been, he wouldn't know until the medical specialists on Gavon could examine her.

  As he guided the spacecraft into orbit around Gavon, fragments of conversation echoed through his brain. "He leaves with me!" "Then take him. He is nothing."

  "He is nothing." Those words kept haunting him, even though his memory did not produce an image of the speaker. That he, Miklos Panera, scion of the most powerful family in the galaxy and the most respected of Special Agents, could be called "nothing" sent a chill through him.

  The truth was that he wasn't sure he wanted to know what had happened. The rational world of science he understood so well was already threatening to shatter around him.

  From her comfortable spot on the deck of the small beach house, Jalissa watched as Miklos came out of the water, framed by the sparkling white sands and the turquoise sea tipped with small whitecaps.

  He was naked, and the sun reflected off his wet, bronzed body. She felt a very familiar stirring inside, a melting sensation that told her she must indeed be recovering and that this brief va- cation from their problems was now in danger of becoming a problem in and of itself.

  She had only the vaguest recollection of the trip to Gavon and the medical specialists and then the trip here to Mafriti. Most of those memories consisted of Miklos's soothing voice, telling her that she would be fine, that all she needed was some rest.

  She still didn't know what he had told the medical specialists, but she knew what was wrong. She had pushed her powers beyond their limits when she'd 'ported the two of them back to the spacecraft. She, who had for years disdained her supernatural talents, had then foolishly assumed that they were limitless.

  Down on the beach, Miklos picked up a towel and wrapped it around his lean waist. He stood for a moment, staring up at her, and she raised a hand to let him know she was awake. He immediately started across the beach and up the hill toward her.

  They had been on Mafriti for three days now, but she'd spent most of that time dozing in her comfortable chaise on the deck. Such conversation as had passed between them had been limited to how she felt and making choices from the menus for the meals that were then brought to them.

  Jalissa had been on Mafriti several times, but this was the first time she'd ever stayed in one of the private beach houses, each of which had its own strip of beach and enough land to be totally secluded. Her salary as a Whisperer was quite substantial, but not enough to afford such luxury as this.

  Mafriti was an almost uncannily beautiful world that the Vantrans had laid claim to centuries ago. It had no native population, but what it did have were miles of lovely beaches, fascinating rain forests and some of the highest mountains of any world in the galaxy.

  When peace came to the galaxy after the founding of the Federation, the Vantrans had set about developing Mafritibut in a very careful manner, so as not to despoil its natural beauty. It becameand remainedthe vacation spot of choice for those who could afford it.

  Miklos climbed up the stairs to the deck, then picked up his discarded robe. Jalissa found it amusing that he would swim naked in full view of the deck, yet show such modesty now. He poured some fruit juice for both of them, and then settled down into the other chaise.

  "I think I may go swimming myself," she told him. "I really am beginning to feel more like myself again."

  He nodded, and she could see that he was debating with himself about something. She had no idea how much he recalled of what had happened to them. It might be better if he knew nothing, but she was sure that he would demand an explanation sooner or later. "What do you remember, Miklos?" she asked when he continued to sit there in a brooding silence.

  He gave her a look that told her he was both grateful and fearful that she'd raised the subject. "Nothing at allat least after those creatures attacked usor attacked me."

  "They were demons," she said gently. "It will do you no good to pretend otherwise. I know that you would prefer to believe they don't existand so would Ibut they do exist."

  And then she told him the whole story, leaving out nothing. As she talked, he sat there staring out at the sea. When she had finished, he turned to her. She saw that he was striving to control his emotions. It was difficult enough for her, and she at least had grown up with the knowledge that such things existed, even if she had tried to deny that knowledge. How much harder it must be for him to be forced to face something for which science had no answer.

  "What was itthat other one, with the red eyes?"

  "A demon-master. The demons that attacked us are essentially mindless creatures who simply do their master's bidding."

  "Do you believe that the demon-master had nothing to do with our being brought there?" he asked.

  Jalissa was silent for a moment. He had asked the question she herself had been asking ever since she'd awakened here on Mafriti.

  ''I don'
t know. I don't see what it had to gain by lying."

  "But why would the . . . gods have done it?"

  She noted that even now, he had trouble admitting their existence.

  "Because they wanted to prove somethingperhaps to both of us."

  "That they exist, you mean?"

  She nodded.

  "Then why didn't they just show themselves to us, instead of showing us their opposites?"

  "I think they wanted to be certain that we knew both exist."

  "And that they'll interfereif they choose to do so," he said bitterly.

  "Yes."

  "We must find the Coven," he said determinedly. "I think they must be on Noros. That's why they captured the spacecraft, to keep us away from them."

  "If that's true, then how can we find them?" She knew he was right, but she didn't relish the prospect of another encounter with the demons and their master.

  "We can always hope that they've made their point and will let us proceed." He paused for a moment before continuing. "I wish that I could pursue this on my own, instead of putting you at risk again. But I need you with me."

  Then he gave a short, mirthless laugh. "And anyway, I haven't done a very good job of protecting you up to this point."

  "I've never really seen you as my protector, Miklos. We're a team, and we protect each other."

  Unable to risk allowing the conversation to proceed any further along this dangerous path, Jalissa got up and announced that she was going swimming. When she reached the beach, she turned back and saw that he was still on the deck, no doubt continuing to blame himself for his failures.

  A little humility won't hurt him, she thought as she slipped out of her robe and walked into the warm water, conscious with every step of his gaze on her naked body.

  The water was pleasantly warm and the waves mere ripples in this sheltered cove. Jalissa alternated swimming and floating as she tried to think about their next move. But images of Miklos, walking naked from the sea, kept interposing themselves between her and those thoughts.