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A benefit of the purge was that th back A couple of days later, I was almost back to full physical fitness, except forpress-ups on the floor of y, when I heard Debbie squeal downstairs I stopped instantly and shared a worried look with Harkat, as standing guard by the door I hurried to his side and re to block out the worst of the street noises
"Should we go down?" Harkat asked, opening the door a crack We could hear Debbie babbling excitedly, and as we listened, Alice joined her and also began to talk very quickly
"I don’t think anything’s wrong," I said, frowning "They seem happy, as if an old friend has?" I stopped and slapped hed, then both of us said at exactly the sa the door wide open, we barged down the stairs and found Debbie and Alice chatting with a burly, red-skinned, green-haired man, dressed in purple ani stars - shurikens - looped around his torso
"Vancha!" I shouted happily, clutching his arain, Sire," Vancha said with surprising politeness Then he burst into a grin and huggedto Harkat, he laughed "I !" Harkat grinned
"It’s great to see you both, but of course I’at Debbie and Alice "Female beauty’s e hot-blooded men live for, aye?"
"He’s a born flatterer," Alice sniffed "I bet he says that to every woman he meets"
"Naturally," Vancha murmured, "because all women are beautiful, in one way or another But you’re ht!"
Alice snorted with conte at the corners of her lips Vancha looped his ar roouests Sitting down, o fetch some food She told hi while he was here, and he laughed with delight
It was refreshing to see that the War of the Scars hadn’t changed Vancha March He was as loud and lively as ever He filled us in on his recent movements, the countries he’d explored, the va it sound like a big, exciting adventure, free from all consequences
"When I heard that Leonard was here, I came as quickly as I could," Vancha concluded "I flitted without rest I haven’t missed him, have I?"
"We don’t know," I said "We haven’t heard froht he almost killed me"
"But what does your heart tell you?" Vancha asked, his large eyes weighing heavy upon ht, expectant line
"He’s here," I said softly "He’s waiting for me - forusI think this is where Mr Tiny’s prophecy will be tested We’ll face him on these streets - or beneath - and we’ll kill him or he’ll kill us And that will be the end of the War of the Scars Except?"
"What?" Vancha asked when I didn’t continue
"There was supposed to be one final encounter Four times our path was due to cross with his When he had me at his mercy recently, that was the fourth ti Maybe his prophecy doesn’t hold true any longer"
Vancha mulled that one over "Perhaps you have a point," he said uncertainly "But as much as I despise Des Tiny, I have to admit he doesn’t make many mistakes when it comes to prophecies - in fact none that I’ve heard of He told youould have four chances to kill Leonard, aye?" I nodded "Then maybe we both have to be there Perhaps your solo encounter doesn’t count"
"It would have counted if he’d killed runted
"But he didn’t," Vancha said "Maybe he couldn’t Perhaps it siht, that ain," I said
"Aye," Vancha said "A fight to the death Except if he wins, he won’t kill both of us Evanna said one of us would survive if we lost" Evanna was a witch, the daughter of Mr Tiny I’d alotten that part of the prophecy If Steve won, he’d leave one of us alive, to witness the downfall of the clan
There was a long, troubled silence as we thought about the prophecy and the dangers we faced Vancha broke it by clapping loudly "Enough of the dooloom! What about you two?" He nodded at Harkat and o? Do we knoho Harkat used to be?"
"Yes," Harkat said He glanced at Debbie and Alice "I don’t wish to be rude, but could you? leave us alone for a while?"
"Is thisly
"No," Harkat chuckled "It’sPrince’s talk"
"We’ll be upstairs," Debbie said "Call us when you’re ready"
Vancha stood and bowed as the ladies were leaving When he sat again, his expression was curious "Why the secrecy?" he asked
"It’s about who I was," Harkat said, "and where? we learnt the truth We don’t think we should discuss it? in front of anybody except a Prince"
"Intriguing," Vancha said, leaning forward eagerly
We gave Vancha a quick rundown of our quest through the wastelands, the creatures we’d battled, ons He said nothing, but listened enthralled When we told hi Kurda Smahlt out of the Lake of Souls, Vancha’s jaw dropped
"But it can’t be!" he protested "Harkat was alive before Kurda died"
"Mr Tiny can h time," I said "He created Harkat from Kurda’s remains, then took him into the past, so that he could serve as my protector"
Vancha blinked slowly Then his features clouded over with rage - and fear "Damn that Desmond Tiny! I always kneas powerful, but to be able to meddle with time itself? What manner of diabolical beast is he?"
It was a rhetorical question, so we didn’t atte him how Kurda had chosen to sacrifice himself - he and Harkat shared a soul, so only one of the us free to return to the present
"Thepresent ?" Vancha snapped "What do you mean?"
Harkat told him about our theory - that the orld was the future When he heard that, Vancha treh hiht the War of the Scars could be that crucial," he said softly "I knew our future was at stake, but I never drea humanity doith us" He shook his head and turned away, , "I need to think about this"
Harkat and I said nothing while Vancha deliberated Minutes passed A quarter of an hour Half an hour Finally he heaved a large sigh and turned to face us "These are gririm as they seem From what you’ve told me, I believe that Tiny did take you into the future - but I also believe he wouldn’t have done so without good reason He ht also have been a warning
"That damned future must be e face if we lose the War of the Scars Steve Leonard is the sort who’d level the world and bring it to ruin But if e can prevent that When Tiny came to Vampire Mountain, he told us there were two possible futures, didn’t he? One where the vampaneze win the war, and one where the valimpse of the former future to drive home the point that wehave to win this war It’s not just ourselves we’re fighting for - it’s the entire world The orld is one future - I’m sure the world where we’ve won is coreed "If both futures currently exist? he ht have been able to choose which? to take us to"
"Maybe," I sighed, unconvinced I was thinking again about the vision I’d had shortly after we’d first htof immense power - the Lord of the Shadows Evanna told me this master of evil was part of the future, and the road there was paved with dead souls She’d also told me that could be one of two people - Steve Leopard or back I was unable to share Vancha and Harkat’s view that one future was bright and cheery where the other was dark and -scale trouble, whichever way the War of the Scars swung But I kept my opinions to myself - I didn’t want to co hts "We just have to make sure we kill Steve Leonard, aye?"