not so bad.” Nadia shrugs uncomfortably. “When we return to the human world, we stay in a cave that has been Beranabus’s base for many centuries. I haven’t seen the outside world since I joined him. I’m not jealous or regretful. Not really.”
She tries to make it sound like she honestly feels that way, but it’s clear that she’s deeply unhappy.
“Why?” Raz asks softly. “Why did the master ask this great sacrifice of you? What is your gift?”
“Fortune telling,” Nadia says with a giggle. “I was a child fortune teller. I’d dress up as a gypsy and read people’s palms, tea leaves, a crystal ball — whatever. When my parents realized I could make money doing it, they set up a special room in our house. Later they took me on the road with a traveling fair. I had a tent of my own. They billed me as Nadia Le Tarot. It was fun, but frightening sometimes — I could see people’s deaths. I was supposed to just tell them good things, but if I saw something upsetting, I couldn’t always hide it. That got me into trouble.
“I don’t know how Beranabus found me. He just turned up one night, and whisked me off into the madness of this. I was terrified. I didn’t know who he was or what he wanted. And all the demons...”
She shudders and glares at Beranabus. I try to imagine what that must have been like. It’s not difficult, since I’m in much the same boat as she was. But at least I made the decision to come here.
“In time I learned why Beranabus took me,” Nadia says. “I can sense things which have not yet happened. There are many people who claim that gift, but I’m one of the few who can really do it. Beranabus says my kind are even rarer than magicians.”
“How much can you see?” Sharmila asks, and there’s an edge to her voice. “Can you see when we will die? And by what means?”
Nadia shakes her head. “Not yet. I have to focus to gain insights like that. And I prefer not to. I don’t like knowing such details.”
“You say you can see the future before it happens,” Raz says slowly. “But if that is true, surely you can act to change it.”
“No. It’s not that specific. I might, for instance, see that you’ll die in a fire, but I won’t know when or where it will happen. My insights are never something that can be altered. If I get a glimpse of a future event, it’s because it has in some way already happened. It can’t be undone or prevented.
“But it
is
possible to use my gift to our advantage — that is, to Beranabus’s advantage.” She goes quiet, staring at her fingernails. Most are bitten down to the flesh, except the smallest nail on her left hand. Maybe she’s saving it for an especially stressful moment.
“There is a weapon,” Nadia whispers, and we have to lean in to hear. “A demonic weapon, maybe legendary, maybe real — Beranabus doesn’t know. They call it the Kah-Gash. According to the legends it’s ancient, even by the standards of the Demonata. We’re talking millions of years. It was broken up into a number of pieces eons ago, and they’ve been missing ever since.”
“How many pieces?” Raz asks.
“We don’t know. We don’t think any demon knows either. But certain demon masters have been looking for them ever since. Beranabus is searching for the pieces too. Because whatever the Kah-Gash is, the legends claim it has the power to destroy universes. They say it can wipe out either the universe of the Demonata, and every demon in it — or our own, and everyone in that.”
“What weapon could be so powerful?” Raz gasps. “Even a nuclear missile cannot destroy an entire universe.”
Nadia shrugs. “If I had the answer, I’d know more than Beranabus or any of the Demonata. But I know this much — one of the pieces
will
soon be found. I’ve seen it.” She starts chewing at the smallest nail on her left hand. “Beranabus has had me concentrating on the Kah-Gash ever since he brought me here. I spend hours of every
She tries to make it sound like she honestly feels that way, but it’s clear that she’s deeply unhappy.
“Why?” Raz asks softly. “Why did the master ask this great sacrifice of you? What is your gift?”
“Fortune telling,” Nadia says with a giggle. “I was a child fortune teller. I’d dress up as a gypsy and read people’s palms, tea leaves, a crystal ball — whatever. When my parents realized I could make money doing it, they set up a special room in our house. Later they took me on the road with a traveling fair. I had a tent of my own. They billed me as Nadia Le Tarot. It was fun, but frightening sometimes — I could see people’s deaths. I was supposed to just tell them good things, but if I saw something upsetting, I couldn’t always hide it. That got me into trouble.
“I don’t know how Beranabus found me. He just turned up one night, and whisked me off into the madness of this. I was terrified. I didn’t know who he was or what he wanted. And all the demons...”
She shudders and glares at Beranabus. I try to imagine what that must have been like. It’s not difficult, since I’m in much the same boat as she was. But at least I made the decision to come here.
“In time I learned why Beranabus took me,” Nadia says. “I can sense things which have not yet happened. There are many people who claim that gift, but I’m one of the few who can really do it. Beranabus says my kind are even rarer than magicians.”
“How much can you see?” Sharmila asks, and there’s an edge to her voice. “Can you see when we will die? And by what means?”
Nadia shakes her head. “Not yet. I have to focus to gain insights like that. And I prefer not to. I don’t like knowing such details.”
“You say you can see the future before it happens,” Raz says slowly. “But if that is true, surely you can act to change it.”
“No. It’s not that specific. I might, for instance, see that you’ll die in a fire, but I won’t know when or where it will happen. My insights are never something that can be altered. If I get a glimpse of a future event, it’s because it has in some way already happened. It can’t be undone or prevented.
“But it
is
possible to use my gift to our advantage — that is, to Beranabus’s advantage.” She goes quiet, staring at her fingernails. Most are bitten down to the flesh, except the smallest nail on her left hand. Maybe she’s saving it for an especially stressful moment.
“There is a weapon,” Nadia whispers, and we have to lean in to hear. “A demonic weapon, maybe legendary, maybe real — Beranabus doesn’t know. They call it the Kah-Gash. According to the legends it’s ancient, even by the standards of the Demonata. We’re talking millions of years. It was broken up into a number of pieces eons ago, and they’ve been missing ever since.”
“How many pieces?” Raz asks.
“We don’t know. We don’t think any demon knows either. But certain demon masters have been looking for them ever since. Beranabus is searching for the pieces too. Because whatever the Kah-Gash is, the legends claim it has the power to destroy universes. They say it can wipe out either the universe of the Demonata, and every demon in it — or our own, and everyone in that.”
“What weapon could be so powerful?” Raz gasps. “Even a nuclear missile cannot destroy an entire universe.”
Nadia shrugs. “If I had the answer, I’d know more than Beranabus or any of the Demonata. But I know this much — one of the pieces
will
soon be found. I’ve seen it.” She starts chewing at the smallest nail on her left hand. “Beranabus has had me concentrating on the Kah-Gash ever since he brought me here. I spend hours of every
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