He told Bas about the slave-gangs, the androids, the shining monster in
the pit--and the darkness that swept over the world. It was the last
that caught the boy's attention.
He sat up slowly. "Darkness? You! How did you get to me, past the
light?"
Ciaran told him.
"The Stone of Destiny," whispered the Immortal. Suddenly he laughed.
He laughed to fill the whole dark space beyond the light; terrible
laughter, full of hate and a queer perverted triumph.
He stopped, as suddenly as he had begun, and spread his hands flat
on the colored silks, the long nails gleaming like knives. His eyes
widened, grey windows into a deep hell, and his voice was no more than
a breath.
"Could that mean that I will die, too?"