Day Watch

"Ah, come on," the soothsayer objected skeptically. "How can it be the end…"

The magician corrected himself: "Well, the end of our superiority. We won't be able to put the Dark Ones under pressure for the foreseeable future."

"But is it really possible to do that anyway?" There was a note of very healthy, frank skepticism in the soothsayer's words. "The Light Ones and the Dark Ones have existed side by side for thousands of years. They've been fighting for thousands of years. Look at how long the Watches have been competing with each other. And then there's the Inquisition-it doesn't allow any violations of the balance of Power…"

The Light Ones broke off their conversation for a moment, walked to the front of the line of three people at the bar and gently clouded everyone else's minds, including the barman's.

"Twenty hamburgers and a carton of juice," the magician said and then turned back to his companion.

I pretended my mind was clouded too. Others are basically pretty happy-go-lucky. Especially young ones. The feeling of their own superiority over ordinary people is pretty intoxicating, and it takes years before they can understand that sometimes being human is much simpler and better than being an Other.

"Anyway, there's going to be a fight. Anton told me the Dark Ones have got some sorcerer from out of town, and he laid out Farid and Danila with an easy sucker punch. And he killed Tiger Cub. The bastard…"

"She had no business attacking a peaceful Dark One," I thought, feeling a

But the Light Ones were wrong about the sucker punch. I'd paid a heavy price for that fight.

A moment later I realized that something was happening. As if on command, the Light Ones turned their faces toward the airfield and immediately withdrew into the Twilight. A second later, so did I.

Outside the building, one of the Dark Ones was standing on a snow-covered runway with his wand held out in front of him. A long tongue of flame licked at the frozen concrete. Once, twice. The magician was drying out the runway before the plane from Odessa landed. But there were Light Ones hurrying toward him from the terminal building, sinking into the snowdrifts as they ran.

The magician launched a few more tongues of flame and then shifted deeper into the Twilight.

It looked to me like it was Kolya.

My two Light chatterboxes hastily tipped their food supplies into white-and-green plastic bags and set off at a fast trot, trampling the ever-hungry covering of blue moss. It had an easy life here. All those people, all those emotions… A single passenger who was late for a plane was enough to feed this entire ravenous carpet for a day.

I hopped off my stool too, leaving my unfinished beer on the counter. I could barely make out what was happening through the wall of the terminal building-all I could see were the vague shadows of Others with the colored patches of auras above their heads and viscid bursts of Power being discharged. At the same time, I could still see the inside of the terminal hall and the people sitting in plastic chairs, patiently waiting for their flights.

Low, rumbling sounds threaded themselves through the Twilight-it was a woman's voice a

Down. Forward. And now to the right.

I leapt over the turnstile and found myself facing the exit to the airfield.

There was a full-scale battle going on out there-I could literally sense the discharges of energy on my skin. All that Power from the amulets, all that skill from the magicians-and it could all have been used for other purposes, instead of fighting each other. The Light Ones were so rigidly dedicated to their righteous struggle! It hadn't even entered their heads simply to reach an agreement with us-they'd gone rushing straight into the attack.

I could sense that the Dark Ones were having a tough time of it. It looked like the chief of Night Watch, Gesar, had got involved. And there were at least another two very powerful magicians out there now, beside the plane that was taxiing to its stand.

And then four figures burst in through the wall of the terminal. They were all Others, of course. All tall, with broad shoulders, blond hair, and blue eyes. As if they'd been specially picked to match-a standard matching set of twentieth or twenty-first century Vikings. All wearing identical warm winter parkas and carrying identical bags. They weren't wearing hats and their hair looked disheveled, but something told me it wasn't the wind that was responsible for that.

At first I couldn't understand why they had remained in human form. But then I looked at them in the human world and laughed in surprise when I got the idea: An Other's image in the Twilight-his subconscious dream-can take all sorts of forms…

They walked quickly across the hall, almost ru

Walking past me.

But just as they drew level with me, a dark-blue flower the size of a heavy Ural construction truck sprang up to the right of them. Everyone in the Twilight was thrown to the ground.

As I lay there on my back, I raised my head and saw a blue veil shimmering in midair, looking like a gigantic Aurelia jellyfish. But I could sense that something was about to happen behind that transparent curtain.

And I was right-a portal opened up in the blue haze, right there in the baggage hall, behind that hazy blue curtain. My eyes were stung by a blinding white glow and it was suddenly abnormally light in the Twilight, even though there were still no shadows. That was a really weird sight: unbearably bright light and not a hint of a shadow.

There were two Light Ones. The Night Watch chief and an attractive young woman. An enchantress of very impressive Power.

"You are in my power," Gesar declared loudly, making a short, economical pass with his hands. "Stand up!"

He was talking to the Vikings. The Light Ones hadn't noticed me lying there closer to the portal than anyone else.

One of the Vikings said something angry and abrupt in English. Gesar replied. I regretted gloomily that I didn't understand a single word. Then the Vikings stood up and began obediently walking toward the portal. I was preparing to stand up and had even got on all fours already, but when the third Viking drew level with me, the fourth abruptly withdrew deeper into the Twilight.

Gesar reacted instantly-he cast a Net over the others and disappeared. The enchantress stayed where she was.

The remaining Vikings were pi

Lying with my nose pressed to the floor was not at all pleasant; I made an effort and turned my head.

My eyes met the eyes of the Viking lying beside me. I felt a frost more chilly than any Moscow winter. "You!"

"You're an Other!"

"Yes…"

"You serve the Darkness…"

"Probably…"

"Take care of it!"

"What?"

But the Viking had already closed his eyes. The silent dialogue had only lasted a few brief moments.

Take care of what? This damn thing that was poking me in the ribs?

Just to be sure of things, the enchantress dropped another concrete slab on us-the Vikings began wheezing painfully and something like a groan was torn from my chest.