dwarfish legend. It must be unimaginably ancient to you. It dates from before men walked the earth."
Yesterday's breakfast is unimaginably ancient to me most of the time, but I didn't say so. I didn't want to seem shallower than I am. Wipe off that sneer.
"In those days dwarfish sorcerers were quite powerful, Mr. Garrett. And some were quite dark. The most powerful and darkest was Nooney Krombach, who created the Book of Shadows."
Praise me, I kept a straight face. Nooney Krombach. I reminded myself that they probably find our names just as quaint. "Nooney Krombach?"
"Yes. Quite possibly fanciful, of course. Like so many saints in human mythologies. But he doesn't have to have existed to have influenced his future."
"I understand." I did, because just a few months ago I'd survived a case involving several of TunFaire's religions. This city is cursed with a thousand cults.
"Krombach's legend has led thousands of would-be masters of the world to attempt to create their own Book of Shadows."
That was fine by me but didn't make anything clearer. "What was it?"
"A book of magic. One hundred sheets of brass hammered paper thin, bound in tooled mammoth leather, every page bearing a spell of immense potency. And every spell created and set down with our dwarfish passion for perfection."
I began to see why people were after this book. But not why they were after me. I didn't have any grimoires lying around the house. Gnorst mistook my frown for puzzlement.
"These spells are very specialized, Mr. Garrett. Each enchantment, one to the page, properly employed, will allow the book's user to assume a different form and character. In other words, the book's user is able to assume any of a hundred guises by turning to the proper page and reading aloud. He is able to become any of a hundred people—or whatever creature might be inscribed."
"Huh?" I wasn't being dumb. But that was a big load. My imagination grabbed the idea and darted around. I gulped. "You saying this Serpent had the Book of Dreams and somebody stole it?"
"The Book of Shadows was destroyed, at great cost to the ancients. The characters it contained were all wicked. If your visitor told the truth, the witch she mentioned was trying to create her own book of shadows. What could she have possibly offered them?"
"Who?" I was having trouble keeping up
"Those dwarves. The ones you encountered. It isn't possible to create a book of shadows without dwarfish craftsmen. But no sane dwarf would lend himself to an evil of that magnitude... . But you don't care about that."
I did and I didn't. I was way out at sea, without a rudder, taking waves and wind on the beam.
Troubled, Gnorst started pacing. He looked like a hairy egg on stubby legs, wobbling. "This is bad, Mr. Garrett. This is very bad." He repeated himself several times. I didn't say anything back because I figured I'd said everything I had to say. "This is awful. This is grotesque. This is terrible." I'd started to get the idea he thought this wasn't good. He spun on me. "She said the book is here, this woman? Here in TunFaire?"
"She said she thought it was."
"We have to find it and destroy it before it can be put to use. Did she say it was complete?"
"She said it was taken. Stolen by a character named Holme Blame. That's all. She didn't go into details. She just wanted to hire me to find it
"Don't. Don't go near the thing. An evil that great. Let us handle it. No human is pure enough of heart to resist." He wasn't talking to me anymore. He went on not talking to me. "This will ruin me. My production schedule will go to hell. But I have no choice." He remembered me, whirled. "You're a cruel man, Mr. Garrett."
"Say what?"
"You've made it impossible for us to get any work done while this monstrosity is loose. Our entire industry may collapse."
Right after the moon fell into the sea. He was overreacting. "I don't get it."
"Imagine yourself to be deeply evil. Then imagine yourself with the power to become
Yesterday's breakfast is unimaginably ancient to me most of the time, but I didn't say so. I didn't want to seem shallower than I am. Wipe off that sneer.
"In those days dwarfish sorcerers were quite powerful, Mr. Garrett. And some were quite dark. The most powerful and darkest was Nooney Krombach, who created the Book of Shadows."
Praise me, I kept a straight face. Nooney Krombach. I reminded myself that they probably find our names just as quaint. "Nooney Krombach?"
"Yes. Quite possibly fanciful, of course. Like so many saints in human mythologies. But he doesn't have to have existed to have influenced his future."
"I understand." I did, because just a few months ago I'd survived a case involving several of TunFaire's religions. This city is cursed with a thousand cults.
"Krombach's legend has led thousands of would-be masters of the world to attempt to create their own Book of Shadows."
That was fine by me but didn't make anything clearer. "What was it?"
"A book of magic. One hundred sheets of brass hammered paper thin, bound in tooled mammoth leather, every page bearing a spell of immense potency. And every spell created and set down with our dwarfish passion for perfection."
I began to see why people were after this book. But not why they were after me. I didn't have any grimoires lying around the house. Gnorst mistook my frown for puzzlement.
"These spells are very specialized, Mr. Garrett. Each enchantment, one to the page, properly employed, will allow the book's user to assume a different form and character. In other words, the book's user is able to assume any of a hundred guises by turning to the proper page and reading aloud. He is able to become any of a hundred people—or whatever creature might be inscribed."
"Huh?" I wasn't being dumb. But that was a big load. My imagination grabbed the idea and darted around. I gulped. "You saying this Serpent had the Book of Dreams and somebody stole it?"
"The Book of Shadows was destroyed, at great cost to the ancients. The characters it contained were all wicked. If your visitor told the truth, the witch she mentioned was trying to create her own book of shadows. What could she have possibly offered them?"
"Who?" I was having trouble keeping up
"Those dwarves. The ones you encountered. It isn't possible to create a book of shadows without dwarfish craftsmen. But no sane dwarf would lend himself to an evil of that magnitude... . But you don't care about that."
I did and I didn't. I was way out at sea, without a rudder, taking waves and wind on the beam.
Troubled, Gnorst started pacing. He looked like a hairy egg on stubby legs, wobbling. "This is bad, Mr. Garrett. This is very bad." He repeated himself several times. I didn't say anything back because I figured I'd said everything I had to say. "This is awful. This is grotesque. This is terrible." I'd started to get the idea he thought this wasn't good. He spun on me. "She said the book is here, this woman? Here in TunFaire?"
"She said she thought it was."
"We have to find it and destroy it before it can be put to use. Did she say it was complete?"
"She said it was taken. Stolen by a character named Holme Blame. That's all. She didn't go into details. She just wanted to hire me to find it
"Don't. Don't go near the thing. An evil that great. Let us handle it. No human is pure enough of heart to resist." He wasn't talking to me anymore. He went on not talking to me. "This will ruin me. My production schedule will go to hell. But I have no choice." He remembered me, whirled. "You're a cruel man, Mr. Garrett."
"Say what?"
"You've made it impossible for us to get any work done while this monstrosity is loose. Our entire industry may collapse."
Right after the moon fell into the sea. He was overreacting. "I don't get it."
"Imagine yourself to be deeply evil. Then imagine yourself with the power to become
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