The Parallel Man Read Online Free Page A

hit him. A little searching revealed a stubby object like the one which the man had pointed at me from the hole in the sky. One end was rounded, but the other was a dull jewel which was disquietingly familiar. Surely Mortifer had carried a jewel like that . . .
    No time to worry about that now. The thing fitted easily into my hand and one of the now-familiar circles was near my forefinger. The man on the floor was beginning to stir a little; I extended the object toward him and touched the circle. There was a purple flash and his body went limp again. I looked at the object in my hand with distaste; what use would valor or skill at arms be against an enchantment like this?
    For the moment though, it served my purpose well enough. I tucked it into a sort of pouch at the waist of the gray garment and heaved the inert body of the man who had originally worn the garment onto the bed. I flung the coverlet over the lower part of his body and moved his limp arm so that it concealed his dark hair as much as possible. I pressed the circle on the wall and held my breath until the white rectangle appeared and became a door. Then I put the blue cap on my head and stepped out into the corridor, trying to imitate a serf’s shambling gait and vacant stare. For better or worse I was out of the room and must face the unknown dangers at the place of enchanters with what wits and courage I could muster.

3. Under the Dome
    As I stepped into the corridor the first thing I saw was a long gray box, unpleasantly like a coffin, floating in the air at about the height of my waist. When I put my hand on its end it began to glide down the corridor, but as soon as I removed my hand it stopped. There was a circle about halfway down the length of the box. I touched it and the lid of the box sprang open, revealing a narrow interior which seemed to be padded. I touched the circle again and the lid closed. I had an unpleasant feeling that this box had been planned to receive my body after I had been rendered unconscious by the weapon now tucked into the pouch in my garment.
    A great deal depended on what enchantment had been put on the box. If it had to be guided to its destination I was at a loss, for I had no idea of where to go now that I had left my room. But perhaps the spell on the box would lead it to some destination where I might learn something more about this trap in which I found myself. I placed both my hands on the end of the box and followed it as it glided off down the corridor, trying to remember to shamble and stare like a serf, for there were cross corridors ahead and someone might come upon me at any moment.
    At the first cross corridor the box swung left, which gave me hope that it was under some spell to bring it to a definite destination. I was in a broader corridor now; an unfamiliar woman in a white garment was approaching me. Her eyes flicked over me without interest as those of a lady of the court would flick over a serf carrying some burden through the castle. I heard footfalls behind me and a man in brown overtook me and walked past me without even a sideways glance.
    A little farther down the corridor there was a large circle on the floor. The box glided to the center of this and then stopped. I risked a glance around; surely this was not our destination. Then the whole area of the circle flashed white and vanished. I almost jumped free, but I could feel something solid under my feet; I was floating rather than falling downward. We floated past several corridors like that I had come from and then stopped. The corridor I was now in was wider and a little dingier than the corridor I had come from and to my excitement there seemed to be just a breath of wind and a smell of fresh air in it. When the box started to glide off again I stopped it by taking my hands off of it and took the jewel-nosed weapon from my pouch. Holding it below the level of the box in my right hand I put my left hand on the box again and it glided off.
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