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An uneasy ruff Shark, who believes in forcing people to work for the Disciples, isn&039;t used to tyrants like Beranabus

The ician comes over and sits with us He scratches the sole of his left foot, then runs a hand through his hair and coughs "Take no notice of Nadia&039;s hysterics," he says "She&039;ll be all right when she calh this is the first tihs harshly Nobody smiles

"This isn&039;t the best of introductions, is it?" Beranabus notes, looking at me wryly "You think I&039;m a heartless beast But this is the way life is for me I have no time for decency I&039;m a demon killer That&039;s my sole purpose in life I sleep soundly - on those rare occasions when I sleep - because I know I&039;ed et rid of those You too, Shark and Deviant?"

"Dervish"

"Aye Duhtest advantage can be vital when you&039;re faced with a de you two intend to stay and help?"

Shark and Dervish glance at each other edgily I don&039;t think either had planned to stay Then Shark shrugs and raises an eyebrow Dervish nods in answer and smiles weakly They bend to untie their laces

Beranabus studies e one, Kernel Fleck Noric in those who possess an abundance of it, but I get al with power to open s betorlds so swiftly"

"I don&039;t think it&039;s hts and I&039;ether when they pulse That&039;s the only difference between me and you I can see the pieces of theYou can&039;t"

"Tell hts," Beranabus says "When you first noticed them and realised you could manipulate them"

"I&039;ve seen the lights all my life, but it was only on the needle of rock that I realised I could" A memory kicks in and I coo, I put lights together infor a few days" I can&039;t believe I hadn&039;t re?" Beranabus sniffs

"Yes Nobody knehere I was I don&039;t know either I can&039;t reh the "

"Nothing at all?" Beranabus presses

I think hard, but even though I no that I must have crossed into this universe,about theitself, before I stepped through, but the me closely She looks at Beranabus, troubled "Does it not strike you as strange that of all the places Cadaver could have ee? The home of the one boy in all the world who has a pohich in soreater than even your own"

"You think he went there for Kernel?" Beranabus frowns

"Perhaps When we turned up,Kernel So he took the brother instead, ga that Kernel would chase after hi slowly "Aye, it could be Maybe we should forget about Cadaver and - "

"No!" I hiss "Art&039;s the only thing in this universe I&039;m interested in I don&039;t care if it&039;s a trap - I&039; for him Whether you help me or not I kno I&039;ll use ato find him"

Beranabus smiles icily "You could have done that as soon as you returned But you didn&039;t Instead you searched for me Because you need me to snatch your brother back You can find hiht for hi I have - for you Do you expect lower at thehiht you had to search for this Cadaver demon anyway," Dervish says "He&039;s the one who can lead you to the weapon, right?"

"Perhaps not directly," Beranabus says "Nadia&039;s vision wasn&039;t clear She said the deuide us But perhaps he&039;s already done that"

"You think part of the Kah-Gash is here?" Shar around at the yellowish demon world

"No I think Cadaver was onlyit" He fixes his gaze on uide Cadaver&039;s role was to lead us to you Now that we know about your talent, we can use it to search for the Kah-Gash That&039;s the deal - help et your brother back"

I stare at Beranabus nervously It sounds like a fair trade, but I&039;ician&039;s hands, a slave Nobody kno many pieces the Kah-Gash was broken up into It could be a handful or it could be a thousand

"Help me rescue Art now," I barter "Then I&039;ll search for the weapon"

Beranabus shakes his head "The Kah-Gash first You won&039;t have any reason to help me once you have your brother back You could open aand slip away from me any ti to tie ht backfire on ain like this before It&039;s strange Confusing Frightening But I force h

"One piece," I say quietly "I&039;ll help you search for it Then we go after Cadaver and Art That&039;s fair"

Beranabus scowls and starts to argue

"He is right," Share An eye for an eye, so to speak"

Beranabussound "It&039;s not equal That&039;s likeI&039;ll help you rescue one of your brother&039;s legs You want the whole boy - well, I want the whole Kah-Gash"

"But I could spend the rest offor all the pieces!" I cry

Beranabus rolls his eyes "Very well," he says reluctantly "Find the first piece Then we rescue your brother Then you help me find the rest of it"

"No!" Sharmila snaps "You can&039;t ask that of hi his eyes off me "Of course, I can&039;t hold you to that proive it"

I hesitate My gaze slides to Nadia, still sitting with her back to us, crying To spend years here like she has, fighting demons, never return home Do I love Art that much? Would I sacrifice all that I have to save hi as you think," Beranabus says "There ht only be a few pieces of the Kah-Gash Maybe we&039;ll find them within weeks or months Once I have the weapon, I&039;ll be able to destroy the deo home Lead a nor "OK" Beranabus breaks into a sree to help ician&039;s smile vanishes "Why wouldn&039;t you be able to find it?"

"I don&039;t know if I can search for objects Maybe I can only open s to people or demons If I can find it, I will But if I search and I can&039;t, I want your word that you&039;ll still help me"

Beranabus considers that "Very well"