Luck in the Shadows

wall, eyes darting about the room for some cover, finding none. "What do you want ?"
    "Don't you know? Such a pity to die in ignorance. But it is all one to us. You are a thief, and we want back what you have stolen. You can elude us no longer."
    "Tell me what it is!"
    Anger and despair mingled with his fear to recall a tentative shred of courage.
    Stretching its arms out across the ceiling, the loathsome thing wheezed out another blast of sepulchral fetor.
    He was going to die; not knowing why seemed the final injustice.
    The figure laughed again as it reached down for him, the sound of its voice tugging at the last roots of his sanity.
    " No !" Snarling, Seregil sprang at it.
    For a brief second his hands seemed to grasp at some distorted form, then he slammed into the far wall.
    When he whirled about, the creature was standing by the door.
    Another of the strange fits of blood lust came over Seregil then and this time he welcomed it, opening himself to the strength it lent. He ached with it, was driven mad with it as he flew at the dark thing. The night candle was kicked over and went out but still he fought on, finding the creature with his hands, feeling the chill of it slip away again and again.
    Suddenly his fingers found purchase. The form grew solid and he clawed at it, seeking a throat with his hands.
    It toyed with him, fending him off without returning his blows.
    The game did not last long, however. Huge talons sank suddenly into his chest and the world erupted in a searing blast of pain. Mercifully, his mind went out.
    Alec lay half strangled on the cold floor beside Seregil. In the darkness he couldn't see what had happened to his hand, but it hurt like hell.
    "What's going on up there?" the landlord shouted angrily from the far end of the passage. "I'll not have my house torn up in the middle of the night, do you hear?"
    "Bring a light. Hurry!" Alec gasped, struggling one-handed to his knees.
    The landlord appeared in the doorway, candle in one hand, a stout cudgel in the other. "Sounds like someone's being murdered up—" He stopped short as his light fell over them.
    Seregil lay unconscious or worse, blood staining the breast of his shirt and his throat. Alec realized he probably didn't look much better.
    His nose was bleeding where Seregil had struck him, and his face and neck were badly scratched. Cradling his left hand against his chest, he saw what looked like a round, raw burn in the center of his palm.
    "Hold the light down," he told the innkeeper.
    Kneeling over Seregil, he made certain his friend was still breathing, then pulled the neck of his shirt open and gasped in dismay.
    The last time he'd seen the reddened area on Seregil's chest had been aboard the Darter .
    Now there was a bloody wound in the same spot.
    Holding the palm of his throbbing hand to the light again, Alec saw that his burn and this mark were exactly the same size and shape.
    On the floor beside Seregil lay the wooden disk, the useless trinket he had stolen from the mayor's house because it wouldn't be missed. Picking it up gingerly by the broken leather thong, Alec compared it to the strange burn on his palm and the one on Seregil's chest.
    It matched perfectly. Looking closer, he could even make out the print of the small square opening in its center.
    It was right in front of us all the time! he thought in silent anguish. How could he not have known?Why didn't I see?
    He'd been awakened by the sound of Seregil crashing about in the next room and gone to see what was the matter. In his haste he forgot the lamp and cursed angrily to himself as he'd fumbled the key into the lock of Seregil's door. The hallway was dark, the room inside darker still. In spite of the noise, he'd been unprepared for the attack that came the moment he stepped in.
    When cold fingers grasped at his throat, Alec's only thought was how he could defend himself without injuring Seregil. He was trying to get a better grip on Seregil's tunic when his hand slipped inside the neck of it. Finding the thong under his hand, he'd grabbed for it, felt it sliding away as Seregil drew back. Then the terrible pain.
    "What sort of foolishness is this?" the landlord demanded, looking over Alec's shoulder. Then the man was backing way, making a sign against evil.
    "You've killed him with sorcery!"
    Alec thrust the disk out of sight. "He's not dead. Come back here with that light!"
    But the man fled. Cursing in frustration, Alec stumbled to his own room and struck