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inadequate for the ensuing catastrophe.
Three totally incompatible universes clashed. With
Saraquazel in the middle of the collision.
And now that particular memory was the only coherent part
of his mind. He was still trapped, but everything else was
different. And, more distastefully, another intelligence was
occupying the same space as him. By an effort of
concentration, Saraquazel was just able to make the briefest of
mental contacts: the creature called itself Yog-Sothoth. And it
was totally and utterly mad.
As am I, Saraquazel realized. As am I. And started his
soundless screaming once again.
Anastasia gestured towards the two leather armchairs with
a flick of her fingers. 'Please, make yourself comfortable,' she
said, sitting at her table and feeling anything but comfortable.
Never in her wildest fantasies had she ever imagined that she
would be engaging in small talk with the Technomancer and
the Dark One in the heart of her Labyrinth.
`If I've understood the situation correctly, Hierophant, I'm
the reason for this unprecedented summit meeting,' said the
Doctor, accepting a small glass of sherry from Cornelius.
Anastasia dismissed her servant with a curt mental order
before continuing.
`In a manner of speaking, yes,' she replied, sipping her own
drink. 'Yesterday, I saw a vision '
`As did I,' the Technomancer interrupted. 'I saw the Great
Kingdom, but it wasn't the Great Kingdom. Everything and
everyone was seen through a dark glass, including myself.'
`That's what I've been trying to tell you,' sighed the Doctor.
196
`Be quiet,' the Hierophant snapped. 'Were you able to learn
much about this alternate version of yourself?' she asked the
Technomancer.
`Only a name.' She glanced at the Doctor. 'Mel.'
`My powers are superior to yours, Melaphyre,' Anastasia
stated without a trace of conceit. 'So I was able to see further.
My alternate life was spent in the guise of Anne Travers. A
familiar name, Doctor?'
`Only too familiar.'
`A fruitful woman who lived life to the full, I imagine,' she
said wistfully.
`That's one way of putting it, I suppose.' He stood up and
started examining the nearest bookshelf. 'Have you ever
wondered who wrote these books? Have you ever wondered
what most of them are about, come to that?'
With the fate of the Kingdom at stake, the Dark One was
more interested in books! But her voice was calm as she
continued. 'They date from the old times, before the formation
of the Kingdom. It is said that the heresies that were committed
by the savages almost brought the Gods to war, before the
Gods' tears sealed the Kingdom from the barbarians and their
unholy ways.'
She wasn't prepared for the Doctor's laughter. 'You find the
situation amusing, Dark One?'
`Don't you?' he announced. `This set-up is a preposterous
farrago of half-baked myths and legends, hiding the truth
behind an enormous conjuring trick! There is no Great
Kingdom, can't you see that?' he implored.
Anastasia smiled at the Technomancer. `I see that the
stories of the Dark One's poisoned tongue were true,
Melaphyre.'
`So how do you explain your visions, eh?' the Doctor
protested.
`Fantasies, sent to unsettle the Kingdom prior to your
arrival.' And yet she had seen this alter-ego, this Anne Travers.
`Oh, very neat and tidy. And just the sort of narrow-minded
thinking I'd expect.' He walked up to her table and leant over
it, his face only inches away from hers. `This Great Kingdom
is the result of a very dangerous experiment performed by a
197
man called Ashley Chapel. At least, that's what he was called
in the real universe to you he's the Archimage. He unleashed
a force which proceeded to distort his surroundings, although
how it went so catastrophically awry is still a mystery to me.'
He picked up Anastasia's favourite paperweight, an emerald
green pyramid.
`Everything and everyone, apart from me, it seems, has
been caught up in this, this reality warp.' He waved a hand in
the air. `Don't you see. This is all an illusion! A solid, three-
dimensional illusion, I'll grant you, but an illusion all the
same.'
Anastasia was about to deliver another scorching put-down,
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Dobre pomysły nie mają przeszłości, mają tylko przyszłość. Robert Mallet
De minimis - o najmniejszych rzeczach.
Dobroć jest ważniejsza niż mądrość, a uznanie tej prawdy to pierwszy krok do mądrości. Theodore Isaac Rubin
Dobro to tylko to, co szlachetne, zło to tylko to, co haniebne.
Dla człowieka nie tylko świat otaczający jest zagadką; jest on nią sam dla siebie. I z obu tajemnic bardziej dręczącą wydaje się ta druga. Antoni Kępiński (1918-1972)
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