Stasheff, Christopher Warlock 03 The Warlock Unlocked

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Stasheff, Christopher - Warlock 04 - The Warlock Unlocked (v1.0) (html).html
case."
Suddenly, the stone floor felt very uncomfortable. "What makes me so special?"
"Oh, no!" Father Al grinned, holding up a palm. "You're not going to get me to
make any guesses about that not without a great deal more research! After all,
it could just be a genetic accident Lord Kern and yourself might not even have
analagous grandfathers!"
"I doubt it," Rod said sourly.
"Frankly, so do I but who's to tell? I don't quite have time to work out a
comparative genealogy between yourself and Lord Kern."
"But how many universes do I have analogs-in?"
"Again who knows? I'd guess you don't have any in universes that never
developed Homo Sapiens but I wouldn't want to guarantee it."
Rod chewed at the inside of his lower lip. "So I might be able to draw on the
powers of wizards in still other, more magical, universes?"
"It's conceivable. Certainly you've got to have a great many analogs, to have
come even this far."
"That makes two, I don't knows' or is it three?" Rod folded his legs. "Time to
quit speculating and get down to practicalities, Father. How do I control this
gift? How do I go about drawing on Lord Kern's powers? I can't just wish it's a
little too chancey."
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Stasheff, Christopher - Warlock 04 - The Warlock Unlocked (v1.0) (html).html
"It surely is. But when you're wishing with great emotional intensity, all you're
doing is opening yourself up and there are techniques for doing that
deliberately." Father Al leaned forward. "Are you ready?"
Rod settled himself a little more comfortably, swallowed against the lurking
dread that was trying to form in his belly, and nodded. "What do I do?"
"Concentrate." Father Al held out his rosary, swinging the crucifix back and
forth like a pendulum. It caught the remaining ray of golden sunlight and
glittered. "Try to let your mind go empty. Let your thoughts roam where they
will; they'll settle down and empty out. Let the dancing light fill your eyes."
"Hypnotism?"
"Yes, but you'll have to do it yourself all I can do is give directions. Let me
know when I seem a little unreal."
"As of three days ago, the first time I met you."
The priest shook his head. "That kind of joke's a defense, my friend and you're
out to let the walls fade away, not make them thicker. Let your mind empty."
Rod tried. After a little while, he realized that's what he was doing wrong. He
relaxed, letting his thoughts go wherever they wished, keeping his eyes on the
glittering cross. Words whirled through his mind like dry leaves; then they began
to settle. Fewer and fewer remained and he felt as though his face were larger,
warmer, and his body diminished. The cross filled his eyes, but he was aware of
Father Al's face behind it, and the stone room behind that and he was aware of
the ceiling and floor lines slanting together toward an unseen vanishing point, as
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Stasheff, Christopher - Warlock 04 - The Warlock Unlocked (v1.0) (html).html
though the whole thing was painted on a flat canvas. There seemed to be a sort
of shield around him, unseen, a force-field, four feet thick& "I'm there."
"Now reach out." The droning voice seemed both distant and inside his head.
"Where's your mind?"
It was an interesting question. Rod's head was empty, so it couldn't be there. "Far
away."
"Let your consciousness roam find your mind."
It was an interesting experience as though he were groping with some unseen
extension through a formless void; but all the while, he still saw only the
dungeon, and the priest.
Then the extension found something, and locked into place. "I've got it."
And power flowed to him blind, outraged anger, a storm of wrath, that filled
him, he could feel his skin bulging, feel it trying to get out of him and blast
everything to char.
The crucifix filled his eyes again, and the priest was barking something, in Latin,
Rod couldn't follow it, but it was a thundering command, with the power of
Doom behind it.
Then the crucifix lowered, and the priest's voice was muffled, distant. "Whatever
it is, it's not supernatural."
Rod shook his head, carefully. "It's human." His voice seemed to echo up
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Stasheff, Christopher - Warlock 04 - The Warlock Unlocked (v1.0) (html).html
through a long channel, and also be right there at his eardrums. It occurred to
him that he should be scared, but he was too angry. Slowly, he rose to his knees,
keeping himself carefully upright. "What do I do now?"
"Use it. First& "
A sudden shock shook Rod. "Hold it. It's using me."
"For what!"
"I don't know& No, I do. It's Lord Kern, and he's not a telepath, but I'm getting
the bottom level of what he's going through. He just used me for a beacon, and
he's drawing on me in some way, to teleportachunkofhisarmy in& "He convulsed
again. "Another chunk of infantry& Cavalry& archers& they're all here now,
very close by& Now he's done with me."
"Do you still have his power?"
Rod nodded.
"Wake your family."
Rod didn't try to slide into Geoff's mind; he just willed him awake, pushing a bit
of power into him to throw off the effects of the drug. The little boy yawned and
stretched, and looked up at his father with a sleepy smile. Then his eyes shot
wide open, and he scrambled to his feet.
Rod reached over to grasp his shoulder. "It's okay, son. I'm still me. Now I've got
to wake your brother and sister. Find them for me."
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Stasheff, Christopher - Warlock 04 - The Warlock Unlocked (v1.0) (html).html
Geoff gulped, paling, and squeezed his eyes shut. It was almost as though Rod
could see the line of his thought, arrowing off through the stone wall. He turned [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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