Dworkin’s Dilemma
The news I carried was very disturbing to Dworkin. He said that it tended to confirm some of his suspicions, that Brand was not merely the unwitting tool of the Adversary, but the Adversary reborn into mortal flesh. That, he said, would explain many things.
We gathered together the ones who remembered both pasts. I fortunately intercepted Daniel before he did something rash, which was quite apparent from his bearing.
Out on the balcony, Dworkin told us of his suspicion that Brand was in fact the Adversary, born in mortal flesh and thereby able to avoid the limitations of the Compact.
Then, from where, I cannot say, Dworkin materialized an arrow with a tip of cold iron. Even from across the balcony I could feel its awful power: I cannot say how he could even hold it, let alone be that close to it.
Our plans were quickly made. Daniel would challenge Brand, for that was the rash act he was preparing to do before he knew of Dworkin’s suspicions. Miranda would take the arrow from Dworkin, and said that she would not take any chances and ask her father to fire it. The others would accompany Daniel and help as they could.
For my part, I would accompany Dworkin to the Circle. There I would dance and lend my power to his in an effort to keep the Adversary from fleeing. I also knew that this would bind me to this realm, but it was a sacrifice that I was willing to make.
###
In Faerie
I danced. I Danced.
With my fellow Fae, we danced in the Circle. We poured our power into Dworkin, so that he would contain the Adversary. We could not see what transpired in Amber, only that Dworkin’s plan was successful. What truly happened there I have learned from witnesses later.
When the arrow pierced the Adversary, he disappeared from the mortal plane, to appear in the center of the Circle. He appeared as his accustomed form of the Horned Hunter, and, with deathly menace cruelly evident in his gaze, he stalked toward where I crouched, holding Dworkin’s form.
I attempted to hold his gaze with my own, to mesmerize and entrance him, even for just a moment, to give Dworkin that much more time to recover, but his rage was such that he was uncontrollable. Only the Compact kept him from destroying all of the Fae present, myself and Dworkin included. Instead, he vanished in a cloud of darkness.
Personal Links