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.With the knighthood had come far more bravery than he had ever known, so he could stand withnarrowed eyes, trying to stare down a malignancy he could not see, even though he felt anothergathering close to it on one side and a third on the other side, then another and another.But he staredunafraid, for he stood on consecrated ground bordered by his own warding circle.He paced its arc, hearing behind him Jord's murmured confessing of his sins.Matt tried not to listen, notthat he could have understood a word anyway he was too far from them.The presences moved withhim, and he realized it was himself they had come for, though if they did manage to overwhelm him,Jord and the friar would be engulfed right after him.He wished the former false druid would hurry upand finish his confession.He also began to understand why the Devil tempted people to desecrate holyplaces.file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry%20krui.zard%20in%20Rhyme%2006%20-%20Haunted%20Wizard.html (195 of 329)20-2-2006 21:41:53Stasheff, Christopher  Wizard in Rhyme 6  Haunted WizardThen, somehow, the malignancy seemed to lighten.Matt turned to stare outward, wondering what hadhappened and Buckeye stepped out of the gloom."You could at least thank me for safe conduct."Matt stared in amazement."So it was you fighting off the monsters I couldn't see!""Yes, and you burned my hide for it," Buckeye said indignantly, and turned his back to show Matt apatch of singed fur.Matt swallowed, feeling horrible."Sorry.I didn't know my helper was vulnerable toblessings.Look, at least I didn't say whose blessing I was calling for.""Thanks for small favors," Buckeye sniffed.Matt felt suddenly apprehensive if the bauchan had been able to defy the invisible evil entities thatsurrounded him, it had to have stronger magic than he had thought.Matt hoped Buckeye didn't want toget back at him too badly."Did you fight off the wolves, too?""Wolves!" Buckeye said with contempt."They are nothing.Know that we creatures of the forestunderstand one another, mortal, and if I comprehend the viciousness of their packs, they in return knowthe danger of my magic and my whims.The night-walkers, now, they are another matter, but there isenough malice in me to let me walk among them, and enough goodness to shield me.Spirits fear oneanother, too, mortal man, and know one another's power.""Standing up to them must have taken a lot of courage, then," Matt said.Buckeye seemed to still inside, and for a moment there was nothing of the bantering or mischievousabout him."Some bravery, yes.I knew I could master any one of them, after all, but I could not be surethey would not league against me." Then the moment passed, and his grin flashed forth once more."Butthey did not they are creatures made solitary by their spite and jealousy, and will not ally with oneanother if they can avoid it.In this case, they were too slow to recognize necessity, as I had thought theywould be.""It was still taking quite a chance.Thank you for braving the risk.Were they sent by the Chief Druid?""Chief mocker, you mean, if you speak of Niobhyte," Buckeye said with contempt."Nay.They weresent by an evil far greater than his.""For Banalix, or me?""For you." The bauchan grinned."They thought to frighten you away from the protections of " Hedecided not to use whatever term he'd had in mind, and said instead, " from your usual protections.They did not know that you had also the protections of a spirit far more earthly.""Meaning yourself." Matt swallowed thickly."Why did you help me?"file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry%20krui.zard%20in%20Rhyme%2006%20-%20Haunted%20Wizard.html (196 of 329)20-2-2006 21:41:53Stasheff, Christopher  Wizard in Rhyme 6  Haunted WizardThe bauchan shrugged."I was bored, and it lent the night some interest.Besides, who would I have totorment if you were slain and I had not yet met your family?""I see," Matt said dryly."You were defending your property."The grin turned to a leer."You might say that, yes."Matt decided he'd better keep his bauchan amused.Then his heart sank as he realized he'd thought of itas "his.""Goodman," Friar Gode called, "you may come back within.""Coming," Matt answered, then turned back to Buckeye."Thanks for bailing me out.""I shall be glad to do so again." The bauchan's eye glittered wickedly."If the whim should take me."Matt was tempted to wish something else would take the creature, but he had the sense to throttle thethought, if not the feeling.He turned back to mount the church steps in the first rays of sunrise.Matt found Jord inside the church, thoroughly chastened and gazing about him in disbelief."He is reconciled with God," the friar said by way of explanation.Matt said to Jord, "You look as though you'd never been in a church before.""All my life," the ex-druid returned, "until Nio until the Chief Druid beguiled me away with tales ofpower and pleasure." A smile lightened his face for a moment."They were true, too." Then he frownedagain."But he did not tell me what awaited failure." He shuddered."I cannot say which was worsethose huge padding feet in the night, or the hoarse breathing of they who walked.""The feeling of them inside your mind and heart," Matt told him."Aaiiee!" It was short, but it was a scream, and Jord buried his face in his hands."Heaven protect mefrom ever suffering that again!"Matt set a comforting hand on the man's shoulder.At least, it was meant to be comforting, but Jord gavesuch a start, Matt would have thought he'd been hit with a jolt of electricity.He took his hand away."Don't worry, you're safe from them now, as long as you stay in here."Jord calmed considerably, looking about him and drinking in the tranquillity of the church."None canfile:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry%20krui.zard%20in%20Rhyme%2006%20-%20Haunted%20Wizard.html (197 of 329)20-2-2006 21:41:53Stasheff, Christopher  Wizard in Rhyme 6  Haunted Wizardcome in here?""No spirits," Matt told him."I made sure of that."Friar Gode looked up at him, startled, but Matt gave him a wink.Jord, though, had caught the qualification."But things that are not spirits can enter?""Evil men can," Matt admitted."There's always the chance of that.Whenever pagans come to loot, thechurch is one of the first places they look."Jord shivered, but said manfully, "Even so, as you say, there is always such danger [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]