World's End (44 page)

Marta studied the ground closely and saw the unmistakable depression of a path in constant use. It continued straight and then, several hundred yards ahead, it turned left at an intersection. From here, she knew the path would twist and turn its way northward, all the way to the Great Sleeper's cottage and then on to the City Gate. And, at every intersection, Marta would have to stare at the ground and peer again into the future. For the most part, Marta could not will herself into having detailed visions of the future, like the one she'd had of Kiril burning Jasber Isle. She could, however, will herself into having very brief glimpses of the future, almost snapshots, which never lasted for more than a fraction of a second. Marta could control these flashes to a certain extent—even directing how far into the future she wanted to see—but the process exhausted her.

"It's straight ahead and then left at the first intersection," gasped Marta as she looked up from the ground. She was breathing heavily. She had already led them through four intersections, and she was getting quite tired. She also noticed her old and wrinkled hands, covered with liver spots and small, angry-red veins. They looked even older than before, and she noticed that they were shaking uncontrollably.

Alfonso shook his head. "You look even older than on the rowboat. I didn't think it was possible for you to get any older."

"Can you give me a hand?" croaked Marta. "I get very tired after I have my visions."

Kõrgu led Bilblox over to where Marta was standing. With great tenderness, Bilblox scooped Marta up and began walking forward with her in his arms. "Don't worry, er ... ma'am," said Bilblox. "I can carry ya the whole way if need be."

"Thank you," gasped Marta.

They plodded onward through the snow in silence.

"Marta," said Alfonso finally, "in your vision, did you see my father actually dead?"

Marta paused. "He was lying on the ground, and he did not move," she replied.

"But that doesn't mean he was dead," replied Alfonso.

"No," said Marta. "But it's hard to imagine how he could have survived lying in the snow in that way, without moving."

"With any luck, we'll get there in time," said Bilblox.

"B-B-Beware," wheezed Marta, who now looked as if she were well over one hundred years old. "Beware of the snow snakes."

I
T HAD BEEN MANY HOURS
since Leif left the relative comfort of Zinedine's dirt cave. He knew that his survival depended on making it back to the cottage and finally he was close. In fact, he had almost made it to the cottage when he sensed that he was being followed. He could hear something long and heavy sliding through the snow. On several occasions, he glanced backwards, but each time he saw nothing. At times, he thought he saw powdery snowdrifts shifting, as if something was underneath them, but he couldn't be sure.

He suspected that it was a snow snake, the kind the sweepers had warned him about: up to a hundred feet long, as wide as a barrel, and fast. Lethal in every way. It appeared as if the snake was stalking him and it was only a matter of time before it struck. Somehow, he had to shake this creature. The cottage was nearby, and if he was correct, it was on the other side of the razor hedge he was currently facing.

It was time to do something he had only managed to do once before, something beyond hypnogogia. Like Alfonso, Leif could enter hypnogogia. At first, he had been content with just this ability. It had helped him many times along the trip to Jasber. And he continued to practice hypnogogia once he was banished to the cottage in the razor hedges, in the hopes that he would be able to escape. It was there, after studying the same Alexandria box as Alfonso, that he discovered that hypnogogia was not only an incredible ability to have, but it was also the doorway to the mastery of other skills. Of course, just to stay in hypnogogia was draining, so he had only scraped the surface of what he believed he could potentially do.

He was about to do something very dangerous, but there was no time for further practice. It would take all the remaining strength that he had. Leif inhaled a deep breath of cold air, pushed it down to the very bottom of his abdomen, and then exhaled slowly through his nostrils. A moment later, he was in hypnogogia. Quickly, he brought all of his attention to bear on a single molecule of oxygen and then he expanded his field of vision to see the billions of other molecules of oxygen shimmering around him. He extended out his arms and touched his index finger to a single molecule. Very gently, he brought his thumb next to the index finger so that both fingers were now touching the molecule. A split second later, he began spreading his two fingers apart. This action caused the molecule to widen. A hole appeared in the middle, as if the molecule had become a doughnut. It started to vibrate and glow with electricity. This spastic motion spread to the other oxygen molecules surrounding Leif, until the air around him crackled with energy.

Leif looked up and without a moment's hesitation walked directly into the razor hedges. Instead of being torn apart, as any normal person would have been, the thorns and branches expanded like the molecule, and Leif walked directly through the empty space in the middle. He emerged on the other side of the razor hedges and walked forward until he was several feet into open snow. Then he left hypnogogia and fell to his knees, overcome with exhaustion.

He had done it!

After taking a minute to collect himself, Leif looked up to see a welcome sight: a large clearing with a cottage in the middle of it. He smiled and rose to his feet. The sweepers had told him that the snakes would never dare attack the cottage. He'd be safe there. However, as he staggered toward the cottage, he saw there was just one problem. Standing in front of the porch was a man dressed in a fur coat. The man held a long sicklelike sword in one hand and a wide-brimmed hat in the other. Blood dripped steadily from a wound in his hand. His eyes were entirely white.

It was Kiril.

"I was just about to give up on you, dear friend," said Kiril calmly, as he put his hat onto his head. "I'm in a bit of a predicament myself, and I don't have a great deal of time. I was just about to leave, but my luck has changed, and here you are!"

"We need to get inside," gasped Leif. "There's a snake..."

Kiril nodded sympathetically.

"That was a very impressive little trick you just did," said Kiril in a lighthearted manner. "I've never seen anyone walk through a wall of razor hedges. I've heard that some Great Sleepers develop the powers to transvaporate, but I've never seen it." He looked coldly at Leif. "Though I'm the one bleeding to death, I must say, you look more exhausted than I do."

Leif nodded and gasped for air. He didn't have the strength to talk and instead kept moving toward the cabin. They were only feet away, and Leif eyed Kiril wearily.

Kiril tightened his grip on the hilt of his khopesh. Leif sensed what was about to happen and he dove to his right just as Kiril slashed at him with his blade. Leif landed heavily on the ground and moaned. He had narrowly missed the full force of Kiril's swipe, but the blade had grazed him and torn part of his shirt. Kiril quickly regained his composure and raised his sword to finish the job. At that moment, he sensed something large slithering behind him.

Instinctively, Kiril spun around. He didn't want to, with Leif finally at his mercy, but he knew he could not ignore whatever was behind him. He saw not one, but two monstrous snow snakes moving fast toward them. They were massive serpents, each about eighty feet long, with bodies as thick as tree trunks. They had sickly yellow eyes, gleaming white scales, and sharp fangs.

Kiril turned and ran, counting on the snakes to focus on Leif, who was obviously wounded and in no shape to defend himself. He was right. The two snakes circled around Leif and, finally, one of them sank its fangs into his neck. Leif screamed out in pain, jerked several times, and then went limp. The snakes then turned their attention to Kiril, who was about two hundred feet away.

Kiril glanced over his shoulder and realized he would not be able to outrun the snakes. He brandished his khopesh and began to twirl it with such speed that, from afar, the blade resembled a plane propellor. The snakes recoiled and appeared to be mesmerized by this display. They hissed and snapped, but they drew no closer. Eventually, they retreated back toward the cottage to collect Leif.

As the snakes turned toward his enemy, Kiril lowered the khopesh and leaned heavily against it. It was time to move. He turned and staggered back into the maze.

***

Several hours later, Alfonso entered the clearing that surrounded the cottage, followed by Bilblox and Kõrgu. In his arms, Bilblox was carrying Marta, who now appeared to be seventy or perhaps eighty years old. Kõrgu saw the snow snakes first. She began to growl in a way that Bilbox had never heard before. The violence of her growl sent a shiver up his spine.

"What is it?" asked Bilblox.

"Two snow snakes," whispered Marta.

Alfonso looked at the snakes and knew the entire journey depended on his actions in the following minutes. Only through the powers of hypnogogia could anyone overcome these vicious beasts. What's more, everything about the current situation reminded him of his dream many weeks ago aboard the
SomnolenŢă,
which meant that somewhere beyond the snakes lay his father, with puncture wounds in his neck.

He looked at Marta. "He's here, right? My dad is here."

She nodded.

"Stay put," Alfonso whispered. "I'll deal with the snakes."

The serpents had been circling the cottage probably for hours; their circular tracks were everywhere. They were in a foul mood and hissed at each other and glared at the dark cottage, where their prey was hiding.

Alfonso felt oddly calm as he approached the snakes. He spied a fluttering snowflake out of the corner of his eye, watched it shimmy and dance for a moment, and then eased his way into hypnogogia. It had begun to snow again.

Alfonso walked toward the cottage. Both snakes looked up, bared their fangs, and slithered toward him. Alfonso breathed deeply and felt the various currents of energy pulsing through the air around him. He suddenly felt light in his shoes, almost weightless. Alfonso leapt off the ground and jumped from snow particle to snow particle. Before a second passed, he was fifteen feet off the ground. Both serpents lunged up at him, but Alfonso danced through the air, nimbly avoiding their snapping jaws.

A slight wind blew. The snowflakes swirled and Alfonso swirled with them, spinning around in the air above the snakes, goading the serpents to attack again. Despite the situation, Alfonso couldn't help feeling elated as he rapidly gained confidence in the art of what he had come to think of as particle climbing. He had practiced this several times since opening the cloud door in Imad's antechamber. Alfonso discovered that he could climb the microscopic particles in the air, whether water, dust, or ice.

"What's goin' on?" demanded Bilblox, who was standing next to the entrance to the razor hedges. "Is the kid okay?"

"He's dancing in the sky," Marta whispered.

Alfonso continued to taunt the snakes for another few minutes until they were in a seething rage, snapping, hissing, and frothing venom. Alfonso then drifted over to the far end of the clearing, to a spot where the wind had formed an eddy of swirling snow. The serpents followed. At one point, one of them struck so close to Alfonso that its scales scraped Alfonso's feet. Alfonso landed on the ground. His back pressed against the razor hedges and he could feel the thorns puncture the outer layer of his winter parka. Both snakes sensed their moment of opportunity. They had their prey trapped. Alfonso roared at them. The snakes lunged. Just in the nick of time, Alfonso leapt into the swirling eddy of snow. He particle-climbed so rapidly that he appeared to be soaring upward. Meanwhile, both snakes lunged at the spot where Alfonso had been only a half-second before. They became tangled with each other, and gored themselves on the thousands of long, sharp thorns of the razor hedges. Their death screams were terrible to hear.

"What's happened?" demanded Bilblox. "I can't see a blasted thing. What in the name of Ivan Magrewski has happened?"

"The snakes are dead," replied Marta. "Now Alfonso is running to the cottage."

***

The instant Alfonso's feet touched the ground, he sprinted for the door of the cottage. He opened it but saw nothing but darkness. After lighting a candle, Alfonso scanned the interior: it contained a small kitchen table, several bookcases along the wall, a scattering of stools and chairs, pots filled with potatoes, and a small bed wedged against the wall. It was piled high with musty blankets. Someone was lying on top of them, face-down. Alfonso approached, not daring to breathe.

"Dad?" he whispered.

Alfonso rolled the person over. It was a man, perhaps in his early fifties. A thick, knotted beard covered his face. Sweat ran freely down the exposed skin of his high cheekbones and forehead. He wore a heavy blue robe that looked as if it had not been washed in ages. Alfonso's legs gave out and he staggered and knelt against the bed. After all this time, there was no doubt in Alfonso's mind. It was his father.

"DAD!" Alfonso shouted. "DAD, WAKE UP!"

Leif Perplexon did not stir.

Alfonso ripped open Leif's blue robe and noticed his shirt and pants were drenched with sweat. Alfonso felt his father's neck and found a faint, unsteady pulse. Leif's forehead was boiling hot to the touch. His father's lips were swollen red and cracked. His legs and arms felt clammy. Turning back to Leif's neck, Alfonso found what he suspected to be the cause of his father's condition: two puncture wounds, about an inch apart, located midway down his father's neck. The skin around the punctures was tinged a gray-blue, exactly as his dream foretold.

Alfonso tore off his backpack and took out the box with the syringes that he had been dragging with him since Marseilles. His hands shook as if he were having a seizure. Dimly, he heard Bilblox's worried shouts.