Sixth Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
“Now boys, stop quarreling!” Olga shouted from the reception area. “We’re expecting a guest, aren’t we?”
Gesar and Zabulon shut up.
“Someone’s knocking,” said Olga. “I’ll get it.”
Sergei Glyba darted over to the window with surprising agility, grabbing Kesha by the hand and dragging him away from his conversation with Nadya. Jermenson, on the contrary, stood up and moved closer to the door. The old battle magician’s face lit up in eager anticipation.
I got up too and positioned myself between the door and my family.
“Ah, so that’s it,” we heard Olga say. “Very interesting. Come in.”
“She’s certainly making the most of her entrance,” Zabulon remarked as Olga walked in through the door first and cast a mysterious, thoughtful glance at me.
Then Olga stepped aside and a young girl dressed in jeans and a nylon jacket walked in. The snow was still dusting her collar in a way it never does with living people—that only happens with vampires, who are as cold as ice. And I remembered this vampiress. A thin face with high cheekbones and dark, sunken eyes. When a vampire’s organism has stabilized, this stigma of eternal hunger is hidden, it retreats deep within. But this vampiress had never developed into a mature individual. She had been disembodied for unlicensed hunting and attacking members of the Night Watch.
“Didn’t I tell you? I was right!” Gesar exclaimed triumphantly.
“Hi there,” I said to the vampiress. What else can you say to a dead enemy who has just risen from hell? Especially to an enemy who once seemed terrifying and dangerous, but proved to be no more than a weak and lowly pawn in someone else’s game. And then all of a sudden turned into an incredibly powerful friend.
The vampiress looked at me. A shadow of recognition flickered across her face, followed by powerless malevolence. No, a vampiress who looked at me like that could never have rescued me . . . Then suddenly her face blurred, changing its shape, her body started stretching upward, and her figure changed into a man’s. It was one of those illusions that vampires are so fond of, but it was also the kind of full-on morphing that only a Higher Vampire can perform.
“No,” I said, watching as the faces appeared, one after another. “No!”
First came the vampire Vitieslav from the Inquisition. There was recognition in his expression too, and even a hint of affection. Then he saw Arina and obviously wanted to say something to her. But his place was taken by another face and I winced in pain when I recognized Gennadii Saushkin, whom I had disembodied in Edinburgh. He was once a good-natured, law-abiding citizen—insofar as that’s possible for a vampire—and then he became an insane killer.
Somehow I could tell that none of them were real. The vampiress, Vitieslav, and Saushkin hadn’t come back to life, all squeezed into a single body. It was something else. Some kind of disguise, but so perfect, so profound, that the masks were almost alive, almost real.
Almost. But they were still masks. Someone was wearing them . . .
Gennadii Saushkin recognized me too, and lowered his eyes in embarrassment, as if he felt ashamed to see me, his executioner. And then another face surfaced, one that looked like his, but a lot younger.
“But that’s not . . .” I began.
Kostya shrugged with a guilty expression.
“Sorry, but here I am. All those dolls inside one another, and I’m the one in the middle.”
“I killed you,” I said. “Twice. You burned up in space . . .”
Kostya nodded, then frowned and corrected me.
“Fortunately, I froze first.”
“And then I disembodied all of you on the sixth level of the Twilight,” I went on. “With Merlin’s spell . . . Are you telling me that Merlin got it wrong?”
“Merlin didn’t get it wrong,” said Kostya, shaking his head. “But the Twilight took a special view of my case. It . . .” Kostya paused, trying to find the right words. “It raised me up.”
“Why would it do that, I wonder?” Zabulon said.
“Hello, boss.” It looked ridiculous, but Kostya addressed Zabulon very politely, almost fearfully. “Sorry for dropping in out of the blue like this.”
“Why would it do that?” Zabulon repeated.
Kostya unzipped the jacket, which had become too small for him.
“For the sake of the Sixth Watch, apparently. So that it could be convened. I’m sorry, but you couldn’t have done it on your own.”
“Because we had forgotten everything?” Zabulon asked.
“No,” Kostya replied after a moment’s pause. “Because if I wasn’t here, the Sixth Watch couldn’t possibly defeat the Two-in-One, even theoretically. And the Twilight plays fair.”
“So the Twilight is on our side, then?” Gesar asked eagerly.
“It’s on its own side,” Kostya said. “But there are rules, you see, and it abides by them. An agreement was concluded between the Others and the Two-in-One. That agreement must be implemented or rescinded. For that there have to be two sides. And both sides must have a chance.”
“Strangely enough, I’m glad to see you,” I said.
Kostya nodded seriously.
“Strangely enough, I’m glad to see you too,” he replied. “The existence I have now is a very odd one. But it’s better than nothing.”
“Why did it do this to you?” I asked.
“I haven’t talked to it about that,” Kostya said with a shrug. “But I have thought about it. I think one or two vampires more or less doesn’t matter all that much to the Twilight. It could return any vampire it wanted to the world, but it happened to choose me. Maybe because I killed Vitieslav, the vampire who used to be in the Sixth Watch, and from the Twilight’s point of view I became his successor? But the Twilight also gave me a little part of other vampires. Even my father, for some reason.”
“I gave Gennadii Saushkin my blood,” Arina said in a low voice. “He was trying to copy your formula and increase his level of Power. He hoped that a witch’s blood would help.”
“There’s the tie of blood,” I said. “It all started because of the vampires, and everything has kept circling around them. The Twilight has used them to link us all together.”
“And now it will force us to make a choice,” Kostya said. “Sorry, but I have to ask this. I’m not trying to give orders, but we have very little time left . . . The Power that has come is almost at the door. You have to choose. Who are the members of the Sixth Watch?”
I looked at Gesar. He nodded.
“You decide . . . You’re the one being asked.”
He seemed to have hunched over and gone limp. As if all the air had been let out of him.
“In the Sixth Watch you will represent the vampires,” I said. “Arina will represent the Conclave of Witches. Innokentii will represent the Prophets.”
“As the head of the Association of Seers and Prophets, I do not—” Glyba began, but stopped short, looking at me. Or maybe he was looking at something else? Into the future? “I have no objections,” he concluded, sounding bewildered.
“The Mirror Magicians will be represented in the Sixth Watch by Egor,” I continued. “Since there is never more than one Mirror Magician in the world at one time, his appointment is automatic. The forces of Darkness will be represented in the Sixth Watch by Zabulon, by virtue of the right granted to him by the Inquisition, the heads of the Day Watches, and the blood of Lilith, the oldest of the Dark Others. The forces of Light will be represented in the Sixth Watch”—I looked at Svetlana and shook my head—“by my daughter, Nadezhda Gorodetsky, by virtue of her right as an Absolute Light Enchantress.”
“The Sixth Watch has been convened,” said Kostya. He paused for a moment and added: “Since this is so important to all of you, I’ll give you a little hint. The Sixth Watch has been convened correctly. We have a chance of overturning the agreement with the Two-in-One.”
“You mean we can beat him?” Nadya exclaimed joyfully, taking a step forward. “Thanks, Dad.”<
I smiled at my daughter, but shook my head.
“No, of course not. You’ve seen him. He’s not the Tiger, he crushed the Tiger. And the entire Conclave of Witches couldn’t stop him. Perhaps you could, you’re his equal in Power. But he’s more cunning and he’s used to killing. And if you killed him, you’d kill the entire Twilight, but we need that, don’t we?”
Nadya frowned.
“There won’t be any duel, little girl,” Arina said quietly, walking up to Nadya. “I’ve just realized that, old fool that I am. All we can do is revoke the agreement. Declare it null and void.”
“He’s coming,” said Kesha. “He’s coming and he—”
The boy suddenly fixed his eyes on me. This time I had no doubt that he had seen the future. And he shook his head at what he had seen.
“What options do we have?” I asked. “You know there aren’t any.”
We heard the sound of steps in the reception area and the new members of the Sixth Watch spontaneously bunched together. Even Zabulon sighed, got up from behind his desk, and moved across to them.
I stayed where I was, close to the door.
“Anton!” Svetlana shouted.
“Stay where you are!” I ordered her.
The Two-in-One appeared in the doorway.
He had changed again. The Light Magician Denis and the Dark Magician Alexei had been finally and completely transformed and fused into a single creature, a man at least two and a half yards tall, with massively thick arms and legs and a disproportionately large head, even for a giant like that. His eyes bulged and his half-open mouth was full of sharp teeth. He was naked and had absolutely no sexual features.
Little children sometimes draw monsters like this, and then their concerned parents start thinking about a visit to the psychologist.
Little children sometimes remember what the old folks have forgotten and foresee what the grown-ups don’t want to think about.
The Two-in-One lowered his head and stepped into the room—and I felt the Twilight shudder.
In distant parts of the world, in the special-access collections of the Inquisition in Prague and the witches’ secret vaults under Madrid; in the regional branches of the Night and Day Watches; in the vampire catacombs of London, in Berlin and Taipei, Kiev and San Francisco, Tokyo and Warsaw; all the amulets and artifacts that had accumulated Power over hundreds and thousands of years were discharged simultaneously.
An Icelandic volcano with an unpronounceable name erupted, flinging up a pillar of ash and flame, as a torrent of energy poured through its base. In the Atlantic Ocean an American submarine broke in half when it was caught on a line of Power, a streak of boiling water at a depth of a hundred yards. In the air above Spain a single-engine plane was transformed into a swan five yards long, with the panic-stricken pilot clinging to its neck. Moscow, which had never known any serious earthquakes, was hit by a tremor measuring six on the Richter scale, which destroyed a newly elevated road. The air was filled with a reverberating hum.
And the Two-in-One was enmeshed in a web of green fire.
He howled and flung out his arms, trying to tear apart the magical bonds. But they didn’t yield. The amount of Power in them was very great—more than even the Twilight could withstand.
A murky, whitish Shield appeared, dividing the office in two, but even through the Shield the blazing web threatened to burn out our retinas. The Two-in-One staggered, trying to stay on his feet, but the web glowed even more brightly, biting into his flesh.
“Now then!” Gesar shouted with the wild abandon of a hunter finishing off a wounded animal.
The green flames soaked into the body of the Two-in-One and the glow faded. The Shield was extinguished and the Two-in-One stood there as if he was listening carefully to something in his grotesquely huge body.
He burped, releasing a cloud of foul-smelling green smoke.
Everything went quiet, apart from the cups and saucers rattling on the desk. And then a small cup split in two, spilling out an unfinished espresso
The Two-in-One raised his head and growled quietly.
“Well, we had to try it, didn’t we?” Zabulon said in an apologetic tone of voice.
The Two-in-One took a step forward.
“The Sixth Watch has been reestablished!” Arina announced, stepping forward and standing beside me. “Two-in-One, the Sixth Watch has been reestablished. By virtue of the right of the Covenant of Blood, we demand negotiations!”
The giant fixed his gaze on her and paused for a moment before speaking.
“Who are the members of the Watch of Six?” he asked
“I, Arina, for the witches. Zabulon for the Dark Ones. Nadezhda for the Light Ones. Egor for the Mirror Magicians. Innokentii for the Prophets. And . . .” Arina hesitated for a moment. “Konstantin for the vampires.”
“I shall talk to him first,” the Two-in-One announced. “By virtue of the right of the first Others, he speaks first.”
Kostya stepped out to join Arina.
“I am the Dark Other Konstantin Saushkin, the Master of Masters.”
“This is deception!” the Two-in-One declared. “You are dead.”
“I have been dead for a long time,” Kostya said coolly. “I am thrice dead. I died when I became a vampire, initiated by my own father. I died far from the earth, isolated from Power. I died on the sixth level of the Twilight, killed by Anton Gorodetsky. I am undead. What right have you to be indignant that someone who is dead has joined the Watch?”
“You hindered me.”
“I corrected your error. You had no right to attack a future member of the Watch of Six.”
The Two-in-One hesitated again before he replied.
“Speak.”
“By virtue of the right of vampires, the first Others, who concluded the Covenant of Blood with you, I hereby annul that covenant henceforth and forever. Not everything should be resolved in the simple manner to which you are accustomed. I declare the Covenant of Blood abrogated.”
“Whom do you offer in sacrifice as confirmation of your words?” the Two-in-One asked. “You know the rules. Bound by blood. Love and hate. Nobility and treachery. Strength and weakness.”
“I offer in sacrifice Anton Gorodetsky,” Kostya said, and I heard Svetlana screech behind me. “I loved him as my oldest friend. I hate him as my killer. He acted nobly in becoming my friend, defying the rules of the Watches. He acted treacherously in sending me to my death. Because of him I have become strong and because of him I have become weak.”
The Two-in-One didn’t react in any way to Kostya’s words. “Now you speak, witch,” he said.
“I am a Dar— A Light Other, the head of the Conclave of Witches,” Arina declared. “By virtue of the right of witches, who stole their right to Power from the vampires and shape-shifters, by virtue of the women who concluded the Covenant of Blood with you, I annul it henceforth and forever. There is too much blood and much evil, even for us witches. The Covenant of Blood is abrogated.”
“Who is to be sacrificed for your words?”
“Anton Gorodetsky,” Arina said with a nod. “I loved him . . .” Suddenly she laughed. “Even a decrepit old witch has the right to fall in love with a man. I hate him because he did not notice my love, he loves another, and could never be mine. He acted nobly in not noticing my love and he acted treacherously in failing to notice it. I would have given him my strength, but he has no need even of my weakness.”
“The Mirror,” said the Two-in-One.
Egor sighed.
“Now, how does it go . . . I am Egor Martynov, an uninitiated Other and a Mirror Magician . . . probably. By virtue of the right—” he said, and stopped for a moment. “By virtue of the right of the party that preserves equilibrium, by virtue of the right of the party that realizes its purpose only in death, I annul the Covenant of Blood, because the balance must be maintained in some other manner. Without destroying everything. I abrogate it forever and all the rest of it, blah-blah-blah.”
“Your sacrifice?”
“Anton Gorodetsky,” Igor said. “I love him, he saved me. And I hate him, he deceived me. He acted nobly in defending my right to a destiny of my own, but he acted treacherously, because his own destiny was more important to him. He showed me strength and I chose weakness. There. That’s about it.”
“The Prophet?” the Two-in-One asked.
“I am Innokentii Tolkov,” Kesha said. “A Prophet. A Light One. First Level. I represent all Prophets, because I am the only one who suits in this case. I annul the Covenant of Blood, because there is no future in it. And I wish to see the future. Henceforth and forever.”
“The sacrifice?”
“Anton Gorodetsky,” Kesha said in a faint voice. “He saved me too, kind of. But that’s not the important thing. I love him because he is Nadya’s father. And I . . . I hate him. Because I have to name him, and he knew that I was going to name him. And he behaved nobly, he never tried to stop me being friends with Nadya, although I know that he doesn’t like me, he thinks I’m a clumsy, namby-pamby weakling. And I’m a traitor . . . because Nadya and I deceived him. And I have strength, which I know not only foretells the future, but also changes it, only I am weak . . . and I cannot change the future so that I could name someone else.”
“The Dark One,” said the Two-in-One.
“That’s me,” said Zabulon, without making the slightest attempt to move from the spot. “Zabulon, a Higher Dark One, representing the Dark Ones, obviously. I annul the Covenant of Blood; it is an archaic and irrational use of material. Henceforth and until the end of time. My sacrifice is Anton Gorodetsky. I love him—he is the most successful of my descendants. I hate him, he became a Light One and he likes it—I hate him especially because he likes it. He is a fine and noble enemy, but he is prepared to use treacherous means, and that makes me especially furious, because he would have been a truly great Dark One. And I am stronger than him, and would probably always have been stronger, but I could not do what he is doing now. In that way I am weaker. I have tried to do something of the kind sometimes, and I always stopped in time . . . but he does not know how to stop.”