The courts of chaos Read Online Free PDF Page B

made my decisions and the time has come,” he said. “Bare your left arm.”
    I did this, as his form continued to grow in substantiality, looking more and more regal the while, a strange sadness on his face, of a sort I had never seen there before.
    He took hold of my arm with his left hand and drew his dagger with his right.
    I watched as he cut my arm, then resheathed his blade. The blood came forth, and he cupped his left hand and caught it. He released my arm, covered his left hand with his right and drew away from me. Raising his hands to his face, he blew his breath into them and drew them quickly apart.
    A crested red bird the size of a raven, its feathers all the color of my blood, stood on his hand, moved to his wrist, looked at me. Even its eyes were red, and there was a look of familiarity as it cocked its head and regarded me.
    “He is Corwin, the one you must follow,” he told the bird. “Remember him.”
    Then he transferred it to his left shoulder, from whence it continued to stare at me, making no effort to depart.
    “You must go now, Corwin,” he said, “quickly. Mount your horse and ride south, passing into Shadow as soon as you can. Hellride. Get as far away from here as possible.”
    “Where am I going, Father?” I asked him.
    “To the Courts of Chaos. You know the way?”
    “In theory. I have never ridden the distance.”
    He nodded slowly.
    “Then get moving,” he said. “I want you to create as great a time differential as you can between this place and yourself.”
    “All right,” I said, “but I do not understand.”
    “You will, when the time comes.”
    “But there is an easier way,” I protested. “I can get there faster and with a lot less bother simply by getting in touch with Benedict with his Trump and having him take me through.”
    “No good,” Dad said. “It will be necessary for you to take the longer route because you will be carrying something which will be conveyed to you along the way.”
    “Conveyed? How?”
    He reached up and stroked the red bird’s feathers.
    “By your friend here. He could not fly all the way to the Courts-not in time, that is.”
    “What will he bring me?”
    “The Jewel. I doubt that I will be able to effect the transfer myself when I have finished what I have to do with it. Its powers may be of some benefit to us in that place.”
    “I see,” I said. “But I still need not ride the entire distance. I can Trump through after I receive it.”
    “I fear not. Once I have done what must be done here, the Trumps will all become inoperative for a period of time.”
    “Why?”
    “Because the entire fabric of existence will be undergoing an alteration. Move now, damn it! Get on your horse and ride!”
    I stood and stared a moment longer.
    “Father, is there no other way?”
    He simply shook his head and raised his hand. He began to fade.
    “Good-bye.”
    I turned and mounted. There was more to say, but it was too late. I turned Star toward the trail that would take me southward.
    While Dad was able to play with the stuff of Shadow atop Kolvir, I had never been able to. I required a greater distance from Amber in order to work the shifts.
    Still, knowing that it could be done, I felt that I ought to try. So, working my way southward across bare stone and down rocky passes where the wind howled, I sought to warp the fabric or being about me as I headed toward the trail that led to Garnath.
    . . . A small clump of blue flowers as I rounded a stony shoulder.
    I grew excited at this, for they were a modest part of my working. I continued to lay my will upon the world to come beyond each twisting of my way.
    A shadow from a triangular stone, across my path . . . A shifting of the wind . . .
    Some of the smaller ones were indeed working. A backward twist to the trail . . . A crevice . . . An ancient bird’s nest, high on a rocky shelf . . . More of the blue flowers . . . Why not? A tree . . . Another . . .
    I felt the power moving within me.