Read Online Razumov's Tomb by Darius Hinks - Free Book Online Page B

of the place,” he gasped, before hurrying over to a window in the far wall. He peered through the rippled glass at the fighting outside. “I can’t understand it,” he muttered, shaking his head and frowning at one of his guards. “There are so many of them.”
    Caspar paused, thinking the bürgermeister’s words sounded a little odd. “I don’t think those damned wretches will be concerned with disrupting our plans, bürgermeister.”
    Groot laughed nervously.
    Caspar frowned, sensing that he was missing something, but, at that moment, Gabriel cried out, listing a series of constellations and numbers.
    Caspar whirled around and saw that the wizard was staring up at the ceiling.
    “What do you see?” asked Caspar, stepping over to him.
    There was a distant look in Gabriel’s eyes that seemed to suggest he was looking beyond the vaulted plaster-work. “This is it,” he announced, nodding at the stones beneath them. “This is the site of the ruins.” He tapped his staff on the floor. “We must begin.”
    Caspar gave an eager nod and removed a tall, thin bottle from within his robes. “Stand back!” he cried, waving his staff at the knights. “Leave the room, all of you. Wait in the entrance hall until we’re done.”
    As Groot and the others backed away, Caspar uncorked the bottle and began walking in a circle around Gabriel, pouring a thin stream of viscous liquid onto the floor. As the liquid splashed across the tiles it hissed angrily, sending up trails of blue smoke. Gabriel made several circuits, until the two wizards were surrounded by a shifting, diaphanous wall. As the smoke rose towards the ceiling, it shimmered and flashed in the moonlight as though it were bedecked with thousands of tiny stars.
    At the same time as Caspar was creating the wall of smoke, Gabriel was covering the floor with dozens of arcane chalk marks, using each one to chart the movements of a different heavenly body. Then he traced his staff across each of the intersections and mouthed a long, garbled incantation.
    Once the two wizards had completed their preparations, they knelt together in the middle of the smoke circle and closed their eyes. They reached out with their left hands, pressed the tips of their fingers together and began to mutter the spells they had rehearsed in Altdorf.

    Groot and his men edged back towards the curtain of smoke, peering in wonder at the silhouettes of the wizards, but before they had taken more than a few steps, the knights barred their way.
    “Gentlemen,” said one of them, gripping the hilt of his sword and nodding at the door. “The Grand Astromancer requested that we leave him in peace.”
    One of Groot’s men sneered and placed his hand on the knife in his belt. It was the officer with the long black ponytail and the beak-like nose. “Really?” His voice was low and menacing. “And if we don’t, what will you—?”
    “Sergeant Zelter,” interrupted the bürgermeister, grabbing his guard by the shoulder and shoving him towards the door. “Show some manners.” Groot smiled sweetly at the knight. “Of course we’ll leave, my friend.”
    The knight did not return the smile, and he watched Groot closely as they headed back into the entrance hall.

    Behind the wall of smoke, Caspar’s mind was racing to keep up with Gabriel’s. His thoughts began to fill with the strangest visions. First he saw crowds of cuttlefish, pulsing and writhing in the space between him and Gabriel. As he watched in disgust, the molluscs merged into a single gelatinous mass. The lump of rippling flesh began forming into a vaguely humanoid shape, with spindly, twitching limbs and a vast grinning mouth. The thing was utterly disgusting, but the most disturbing thing was how infectious its humour was. As the creature began to chuckle, leaking clouds of flies from its misshapen mouth, Caspar found himself grinning along.
    “Wait!” he cried, opening his eyes. “What is this?”
    “You must stay