 |
 |
|
|
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] air, assuming my own shape only when I was well away from the structure. My return did not need any stealth, and I walked up boldly, making more noise than usual in other words, performing a credible imitation of a living man. Lovina was oblivious to my efforts, which was what I desired, after all. She stood in the doorway, holding a lantern high to guide my steps. It had panels of red glass, throwing out a soft red light that gave illumination but would not destroy one's night vision. Courteous of her, though pretty much wasted on me. My eyes were always well accustomed to the dark. She said nothing as I approached, but gave an odd little start when the light struck me. Perhaps my hair had been disarrayed and the points of my ears were showing. I'd deal with it later, then. "This way," I murmured, brushing past her. We went to Leo's crypt. The cement was as solid as any rock by now and I checked it carefully for openings. There were none, thankfully. The mason had done an excellent job. After running a hand admiringly over the smooth joinings, I pressed an ear to the stone. Yes& it was just beginning. Lovina saw the change in my face. "What is it?" "Come," I invited. "Listen." She set down the lantern and also put her ear on the stone. Her hearing was no match for mine, but soon, when the sounds within started to grow, both fear and wonder took her. She straightened and stared at me. "What have you done?" "Fulfilled my lord Strahd's wishes and your own, Lady. Leo Dilisnya has just awakened to his true punishment." "Is he alive?" I gave her a hard look. "No. Nor is he really dead." She made the protective sign of her faith. Its power buffeted against me like a gust of wind, but I'd braced for it and held my place. "Tell me what " I raised my hand. "Just listen." Reluctantly now, she resumed that activity, as did I. The little stirrings I'd heard but moments ago had developed into louder and more frantic thuds and cries. Before long he began to scream. I could imagine him futilely beating the stone sides, throwing his body against the ceiling and floor, stamping his feet on one end while pushing his hands at the other. No matter that he had the strength of the undead, he would not be able to shift the stone. No matter that he could change himself into mist, he would not find the least crack or pinhole to pour through and escape. No matter that he would soon use up his air, he had no need to breathe. No matter, no matter& He went suddenly quiet. Thinking, probably. If he'd studied the subject and by the thorough way in which he'd trapped me earlier, I knew he had he would be considering all his knowledge now. He would know his strengths and weaknesses, but knowing is not the same as actually experiencing. He would feel the power of his changed body, feel the rage coursing through him as well as the savage joy of his dark rebirth, but most of all, he would feel the overwhelming, gut-tearing, blind madness of hunger. "Strahd?" he called, his voice distant through the stone. I said nothing. "You're there. I know you're out there. I know you hear me." Lovina hissed, "That's him. I know his voice." I nodded, thinking I'd have to make her forget this since she'd heard my name. "Strahd, you must let me out," Leo calmly pleaded. "You made me, you must free me." This time I laughed. "Must I?" "Yes, yes. I am your slave. You know that. I can do nothing but what you command. You are my master." "You said if you had my abilities, you'd have put them to better use." "I was wrong. Forgive me, my master. I spoke in ignorance. I was a child, a foolish child. I'm changed now, I know better. Let me serve you. You'll never have a more faithful servant." "Hoping to play upon my arrogance, Leo?" "Noooooo!" he wailed, losing control. It was a truly terrible sound, worse than any death scream I'd ever heard in battle, enough to move a heart of iron to pity. Lovina shivered from it and looked to me with the whites showing all around her eyes. "You wanted him to suffer, Lady. When you hear him cry, remember your mother's cries, your sisters', your " Her hand jerked up to cut me off. "All right! Say no more. This is what I've wished for, and the gods have granted it through you." "Free me!" Leo shrieked. Lovina flinched, then forced herself to remain still. "Please, lord! I will serve you, do whatever you wish." "Then hear my wish, Leo. Live on for as long as you may and then be damned." A lull, then more thuds as he beat the walls. His screams were without words again. He was as far beyond human anger as the sky is beyond human touch. No matter. If he could have beaten his way out, he'd have done so by now. Lovina whispered. "Will he die?" "Eventually." "The magic will keep him alive in such a place?" "Yes." In a gesture similar to my own, she ran her hands over the cement seal. The lantern threw the twin of her movement on the wall in the form of a harsh shadow. It angled away into darkness. Leo became quiet again. "It's utterly black in there," I said, knowing full well that he would hear me. "He can't see anything except the phantoms in his own mind. He has little space around him: a handspan on either side, another above his face, only twice that beyond his head and feet. And he's hungry, Lovina. He's more hungry than you've ever been in all your life. Every moment he's in there it becomes worse. It's as if one great cat is clawing at his belly to get in and a second is inside him clawing to get out. He'll be doubled over by the pain of it, but nothing will help him. He'll gnaw on his own flesh, drink his own blood, but nothing will help him. He'll scream and beg and burn his tongue, calling on the names of the gods, but nothing will help him. He'll beat his head on the stone, hoping to kill himself, but will fail. Only the hunger will kill him. It will consume him like a slow fire consumes the wax of a candle." Her voice was steady and soft. "How long will it take?" "A month." We heard a long, sobbing groan from within. "When three months have passed, come here in the full light of morning and have your men cut the crypt open again. Take out what you find there and burn it, then scatter the ashes." She shut her eyes, lifting her chin a bit, and drew in a breath of cold air. A chill had entered this house of the dead& and the undead. "A month?" [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |