“Can you or can’t you?”

“I can.”

“Then get on with it, because time’s pressing on.”

“Geralt,” said Dandilion, “you’ve gone stark raving mad! Keep away from that bloody strangler!”

“Silence, please,” said Krepp, “and gravity. I’m praying.”

“To hell with your prayers!” Neville hollered. “I’m off to gather the people. We’ve got to do something and not stand here gabbling! Gods, what a day! What a bloody day!”

The witcher felt Chireadan touch his shoulder. He turned. The elf looked him in the eyes, then lowered his own.

“You’re going there because you have to, aren’t you?”

Geralt hesitated. He thought he smelled the scent of lilac and gooseberries.

“I think so,” he said reluctantly. “I do have to. I’m sorry, Chireadan—”

“Don’t apologize. I know what you feel.”

“I doubt it. Because I don’t know myself.”

The elf smiled. The smile had little to do with joy. “That’s just it, Geralt. Precisely it.”

Krepp pulled himself upright and took a deep breath. “Ready,” he said, pointing with pride at the barely visible outline on the wall. “But the portal is unsteady and won’t stay there for long. And there’s no way to be sure it won’t break. Before you step through, sir, examine your conscience. I can give you a blessing, but in order to forgive you your sins—”

“—there’s no time,” Geralt finished the sentence for him. “I know, Mr. Krepp. There’s never enough time for it. Leave the chamber, all of you. If the portal explodes, it’ll burst your eardrums.”

“I’ll stay,” said Krepp, when the door had closed behind Dandilion and the elf. He waved his hands in the air, creating a pulsating aura around himself. “I’ll spread some protection, just in case. And if the portal does burst… I’ll try and pull you out, witcher. What are eardrums to me? They grow back.”

Geralt looked at him more kindly.

The priest smiled. “You’re a brave man,” he said. “You want to save her, don’t you? But bravery isn’t going to be of much use to you. Djinns are vengeful beings. The sorceress is lost. And if you go there, you’ll be lost, too. Examine your conscience.”

“I have.” Geralt stood in front of the faintly glowing portal. “Mr. Krepp, sir?”

“Yes.”

“That exorcism which made you so angry… What do the words mean?”

“Indeed, what a moment for quips and jokes—”

“Please, Mr. Krepp, sir.”

“Oh, well,” said the priest, hiding behind the mayor’s heavy oak table. “It’s your last wish, so I’ll tell you. It means… Hmm… Hmm… essentially…get out of here and go fuck yourself!”

Geralt entered the nothingness, where cold stifled the laughter which was shaking him.

VIII

The portal, roaring and whirling like a hurricane, spat him out with a force that bruised his lungs. The witcher collapsed on the floor, panting and catching his breath with difficulty.

The floor shook. At first he thought he was trembling after his journey through the splitting hell of the portal, but he rapidly realized his mistake. The whole house was vibrating, trembling and creaking.