He was back in Marcia's rooms.Īnd so was the Darke Wizard, the Necromancer, DomDaniel.ĭomDaniel was asleep on Marcia's sofa. Then he carefully Discomposed himself just enough to pass through the solid purple planks and thick silver hinges of the door and expertly Rearranged himself on the other side. Alther did the ghost equivalent of taking a deep breath and composed himself. He melted himself through the window and found himself standing outside Marcia's front door, or so it had been a few hours earlier. What would he find?ĭrifting up the outside of the Tower, he soon spotted the small arched window at the top that he had been looking for. Alther skirted around the Palace and headed along the broad avenue known as Wizard Way that led to the WizardTower. He had somehow expected the upheavals of the evening to show, but it was past midnight by now and a fresh blanket of snow covered the deserted courtyards and old stone buildings.

He was surprised how peaceful and quiet the Castle was. The snow sizzled and spat as it landed on the charred pontoon, and as Alther lingered for a moment over the remains of Sally's pride and joy, he hoped that somewhere on the cold river the Hunter was enjoying the blizzard.Īlther flew up the rubbish dump, past the discarded rat door and made a steep ascent over the Castle wall. Soon, through the white wall of snow, Alther could see the glowing red embers that were all that remained of Sally Mullin's Tea and Ale House. As Alther drew nearer to the Castle, fat snowflakes began to drift lazily down from the sky, and as he approached the final bend in the river that would take him around Raven's Rock, the air became suddenly thick with snow.Īlther slowed right down, for even a ghost can find it hard to see where he's going in a blizzard, and carefully flew on toward the Castle. Above him the clear sky was clouding over with heavy snow clouds, and the moon had disappeared, plunging the bright snow-covered riverbanks into darkness. Sitting in the stern of the boat was the Hunter, hunched, shivering and silently pondering his fate, while in the prow the Apprentice, to the Hunter's extreme irritation, fidgeted about, occasionally kicking the side of the boat out of boredom and in an effort to get some feeling back into his toes.Īlther flew unseen over the boat, for he Appeared only to those he chose, and continued his journey. Ten oarsmen were wearily pulling on the oars as the boat crept slowly back up the river. Alther was flying the way he loved to fly, low and very fast, and it was not long before he overtook the bullet boat.

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