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Screaming in fear, the hell-creatures tried to turn and flee back down their
black highway. But it was too late. There could be no flight to safely now.
None would escape my wrath.
A bloodlust came over me, terrible and strong. The ring on my finger burned.
A roar of blood filled my ears. I rode into the hell-creatures' midst,
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swinging my sword like a scythe. Heads rolled. Bodies fell. My horse reared
and struck with its hooves, crushing skulls, then leaping forward to bite and
rend with its teeth.
Together we cut a swath through the onrushing soldiers of Chaos. Those who
sought to run were trampled or struck from behind. Those who stood and fought
were slashed, stabbed, disemboweled, or beheaded sometimes all at once.
And still we fought. My horse went down, and I leaped from his back with a
savage war-cry, tackling a group of hell-creatures. Their glowing red eyes
showed nothing but terror at the blood-drenched monster I must have been. As
they scrambled to get away, I laughed and roared and swung my sword like a
whip through the air, and so many pieces of them fell to the red-stained
grass.
Finally, panting, I drew to a halt, covered in sweat and gore. Around me the
battle had begun to wind down. None of the hell-creatures still stood anywhere
within fifty feet of me. Men,my men, moved among the bodies, stabbing them
with swords, making sure they were truly dead. We did not want any survivors
or surprises.
Then my ring pulsed once, quick and sharp a warning? I whirled, scanning
the bodies around me, looking for anything unusual or out of place.
Then I spotted a figure standing in the cover of a copse of trees on the next
hill. I couldn't see his face, but he seemed to be staring directly at me. A
shiver of alarm went through me. Swayvil?
And then the figure raised one arm& and waved.Aber .
I took a deep breath, glanced around at the mopping-up efforts of my men, and
decided they didn't need me for the moment. I had personal business to take
care of.
Then I waved back. Might as well put him off his guard, I decided. Let him
think I had forgotten or forgiven&
I stripped the cloak from a dead hell-creature's back, wiped my face and
sword clean, then calmly marched toward my brother's position. I kept my
expression carefully neutral& showing neither hate nor anger nor the desire
for revenge that burned within me.
As I grew near, he seemed to sense something of my intentions, for he
suddenly turned and ran off into the trees. I followed, rushing through the
tall oaks, catching a glimpse of him now and then.
"Don't run!" I shouted. "Aber! Make it easy for yourself!"
"Then promise you won't hurt me!" he shouted back.
"Do you take me for a fool?" I demanded.
"Yes," he said with a light laugh. "But don't be offended. I'm smarter than
everyone in the family. Even Dad, though he doesn't realize it."
"Wait for me!"
We reached a small clearing, and I found him standing there with his arms
crossed, a little smile on his lips.
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I drew up. "I'm sick of games!" I told him. I raised my sword. I would make
his death as quick and as painless as I could, for Freda's sake. "Why did you
come here? What did you possibly think would happen?"
He sighed and shook his head. "Look behind you."
"If I do, you'll disappear again."
"If you don't, you'll be dead." He shrugged. "It's my last warning for my
favorite brother."
Suddenly I had a very bad feeling inside. I glanced over my shoulder.
And just as suddenly I wished I hadn't.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
^
I saw myself standing there. Or, rather, I saw my double. Face, hair, shape of
chest, length of legs I might have been looking in a mirror. And he even
held a sword exactly like mine.
This had to be the man who kidnapped Fenn from Amber. We had all assumed
Suhuy sent him. Apparently it had been King Swayvil& or Aber.
"Who are you?" I demanded of him.
"I am Oberon," he said.
I snorted. "I don't think so."
"I am andwill be the rightful King of Amber," he growled. "You stole my
place. I will take it back."
"You may have my face, but you aren'tme ?"
He raised his sword. "I am. Iwill be ."
"Incredible," Aber said. He looked from the double to me and back again
wonderingly. "You reallyare identical. I didn't quite believe it."
"The difference," I said grimly, "is thatI'm real. And after I've killed your
creature whatever it is I'm going to kill you."
"I think not," he said.
"I'm real enough," said the fake Oberon. "Look at me! I am you in every way& "
And, as I would have, he leaped without warning, hammering at me with a
series of bone-jarring blows. I parried his first attacks, sending our swords
ringing, then threw him back and riposted. Again our blades sang and danced,
steel on steel, blurring with the speed of our every move. We each strained to
throw the other one back. His muscles knotted like mine. His neck corded; his
face grew red and veins bulged at his temples.
We both leaped back at the same time too, swords up, panting hard. He looked
as winded as I felt.
Slowly, we circled each other, swords up, feeling each other out. Though I
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hated to admit it, we seemed equally matched.
"I think the Pattern copied you," Aber said casually. I let my gaze flicker
over to him for a second. He sat down under an oak tree and crossed his legs,
relaxing. For all the care he showed, he might have been attending a picnic.
"Explain!" I said.
"I'm not sure I can." He laced his fingers behind his head. "But, in a way, I
think you're both Oberon."
I leaped forward, a whirlwind of thrusting, lunging, slashing. My double gave
way before me. Although I could have countered each such attack easily, he
seemed to be having trouble keeping up. An advantage? Did he lack my stamina?
We both drew back, panting, glaring at one another.
"Oberon?" Aber continued, "Do you want to know where I found him?"
"Yes!"
"Then I'll tell you. You will find it amusing." He cleared his throat. "I
went back to the new Pattern after Dad made it. You thought I didn't know
where it was, but I did. I saw Dad start to draw it, and I made a Trump to get
back there. It worked. Dad was just finishing when I arrived. He attacked me
I don't know why, since I never did anything to him. He did it without warning
just drew his sword and stabbed me!"
I nodded. "He did the same to me. But I defended myself. He was crazy."
"Yes. I didn't realize it at the time." Aber paused. "Watch out!"
My double came at me again, sword swinging. I parried, then drove him back
with an attack of my own, raining down blow after blow.
Still Aber talked. "I wished myself away anywhere else and the Pattern
sent me outside the pattern. I crawled into the bushes, thinking I was going
to die. Dad collapsed, like it had been too much for him. So I lay there, too
weak to move, just watching and waiting. That's when you showed up. You walked
the Pattern, woke Dad up, knocked him senseless, and then picked him up and
disappeared."
Panting, my double and I drew apart again, glaring at each other. I had never
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