“I’ve seen the lights all my life, but it was only on the needle of rock that I realized I could.. .” A memory kicks in and I come to a surprised stop. “No, that’s not right. A year ago, I put lights together in my bedroom, stepped through the window and went missing for a few days.” I can’t believe I hadn’t remembered that until now.
“Missing?” Beranabus sniffs.
“Yes. Nobody knew where I was. I don’t know either. I can’t remember what happened when I stepped through the window.”
“Nothing at all?” Beranabus presses.
I think hard, but even though I now know that I must have crossed into this universe, my mind’s a total blank. There’s something about the window itself, before I stepped through, but the memory evades me. I shake my head.
Sharmila has been listening closely. She looks at Beranabus, troubled. “Does it not strike you as strange that of all the places Cadaver could have emerged, he turned up in that village? The home of the one boy in all the world who has a power which in some ways is greater than even your own?”
“You think he went there for Kernel?” Beranabus frowns.
“Perhaps. When we turned up, maybe he thought we were protecting Kernel. So he took the brother instead, gambling that Kernel would chase after him.”
“A trap,” Beranabus says, nodding slowly. “Aye, it could be. Maybe we should forget about Cadaver and —”
“No!” I hiss. “Art’s the only thing in this universe I’m interested in. I don’t care if it’s a trap — I’m going to keep looking for him. Whether you help me or not. I know how now. I’ll use a window to find him.”
Beranabus smiles icily. “You could have done that as soon as you returned. But you didn’t. Instead you searched for me. Because you need me to snatch your brother back. You can find him, but you can’t fight for him. You want me to risk everything I have — for you. Do you expect me to do that without asking for anything in return?”
I glower at the magician, but what he says is true. I am asking him to risk his life to help me.
“I thought you had to search for this Cadaver demon anyway,” Dervish says. “He’s the one who can lead you to the weapon, right?”
“Perhaps not directly,” Beranabus says. “Nadia’s vision wasn’t clear. She said the demon thief could guide us. But perhaps he’s already done that.”
“You think part of the Kah-Gash is here?” Sharmila asks, dubiously looking around at the yellowish demon world.
“No. I think Cadaver was only meant to provide us with the means of finding it.” He fixes his gaze on me. “You’re the true guide. Cadaver’s role was to lead us to you. Now that we know about your talent, we can use it to search for the Kah-Gash. That’s the deal — help me locate the fragments, then I’ll help you get your brother back.”
I stare at Beranabus nervously. It sounds like a fair trade, but I’m wary. Afraid of ending up like Nadia, a tool in the magician’s hands, a slave. Nobody knows how many pieces the Kah-Gash was broken up into. It could be a handful, or it could be a thousand.
“Help me rescue Art now,” I barter. “Then I’ll search for the weapon.”
Beranabus shakes his head. “The Kah-Gash first. You won’t have any reason to help me once you have your brother back. You could open a window and slip away from me any time you wished.”
I think it over carefully, not wanting to tie myself to a deal which might backfire on me later. I’ve never had to bargain like this before. It’s strange. Confusing. Frightening. But I force myself to concentrate and think all the options through.
“One piece,” I say quietly. “I’ll help you search for it. Then we go after Cadaver and Art. That’s fair.”
Beranabus scowls and starts to argue.
“He is right,” Sharmila heads him off. “That is an equal exchange. An eye for an eye, so to speak.”
Beranabus makes a grumbling sound. “It’s not equal. That’s like me saying I’ll help you rescue one of your brother’s legs. You want the whole boy — well, I want the whole Kah-Gash.”
“But I could spend the rest of my life looking for all the pieces!” I cry.
Beranabus rolls his eyes. “Very well,” he says reluctantly. “Find the first piece. Then we rescue your brother. Then you help me find the rest of it.”
“No!” Sharmila snaps. “You can’t ask that of him.”
“I can and I did,” Beranabus retorts without taking his eyes off me. “Of course I can’t hold you to that promise, but I’ll trust you to keep your word if you give it.”
I hesitate. My gaze slides to Nadia, still sitting with her back to us, crying. To spend years here like she has, fighting demons, never return home....Do I love Art that much? Would I sacrifice all that I have to save him?
“It may not take as long as you think,” Beranabus says. “There might only be a few pieces of the Kah-Gash. Maybe we’ll find them within weeks or months. Once I have the weapon, I’ll be able to destroy the demon universe. You can go home. Lead a normal, happy, human life.”