It was clear from the text that even the witches didn't approve of that kind of behavior. And there were scathing attacks on the blabbermouth Joan and unflattering epithets applied to her gaga commander. But the conclusion was presented in dry, academic terms-there was no way to use the "affinity for sorcery" possessed by ordinary people to transform anyone into an Other. After all, an Other was distinguished not by an elevated level of this "affinity," like the bloodthirsty de Rais had foolishly thought, but by a lower level. And so all of his murderous experiments had only made him more and more human…

It sounded convincing. I scratched the back of my head. So… it turned out that I was far less gifted for magic than the alcoholic Uncle Kolya? And only thanks to that was I able to make use of the Twilight? Well, go figure that.

And Svetlana, it turned out, had an even lower level of "affinity?"

And theoretically Nadiushka had no gift for magic at all? And that was why the Power simply flooded into her the way it did- here, take it and use it?

Oh, those witches-they were really smart!

The next chapter discussed whether it was possible to raise the level of Power in nature, so that a larger number of people would become Others. The conclusion was disappointing-it wasn't possible. After all, Power was not only used by Others, who in principle could refrain from magical actions temporarily. Power was also gleefully consumed by blue moss, the only plant known to live at the first level of the Twilight. If there was more Power, the Twilight moss would grow more abundantly… And there might be other consumers of Power at the deeper levels of the Twilight… So the level of Power was a constant-I laughed out loud at rinding that word in the archaic book.

All that was followed by the actual story of the book Fuaran. The title was derived from the name of an ancient Eastern witch who wanted desperately to turn her daughter into an Other. The witch experimented for a long time-first she went down the same path as Gilles de Rais, then she realized her mistake and began trying to increase the level of Power in nature… In fact she followed every false trail, and eventually realized that she needed to "reduce her daughter's affinity for sorcery." According to the rumors, her attempts to do this were recorded in Fuaran. The situation was complicated by the fact that in those times the nature of the "affinity" was unknown-but then it wasn't known when the book I was reading was written either, and the situation still hadn't changed by my own time. Nonetheless, through a process of trial and error, the witch succeeded in turning her daughter into an Other.

Unfortunately for the witch, a great discovery like that attracted the interest of absolutely every Other. Back then there was no Treaty, no Watches, and no Inquisition… and so everyone who heard rumors of the miracle made a dash to get his hands on the formula. For a while Fuaran and her daughter managed to beat off the attacks-apparently, the already mighty witch had not only turned her daughter into a powerful Other, but also increased her own level of Power. The aggrieved Others banded together into an army of magicians, with no division between Dark Ones and Light Ones, struck all together, and wiped out the family of witches in a terrible battle. In her final hour Fuaran fought desperately for her life-she even transformed her human servants into Others… but although they acquired Power, they were too disoriented and unskilled. Only one of the servants turned out to be smarter than the rest. He didn't try to pull the chestnuts out of the fire; he just grabbed the book and beat it. By the time the victorious magicians realized that the witch's "laboratory notes" had disappeared (essentially, that was all Fuaran was, laboratory notes), the fugitive's tracks were already cold. The fruitless search for the book went on for a long time. Occasionally someone would claim that he had met the fugitive servant, who had become a rather powerful Other-that he had seen the book and looked through it. Counterfeit books also appeared- some of them were produced by crazy followers of the witch, some by Other swindlers. All the cases were thoroughly analyzed and documented in the book.

The final chapter contained a discussion of the theme "What did Fuaran invent?" The authors had no doubt that she really had succeeded, but they believed the book had been lost forever. The sad conclusion was that her discovery was so fortuitous and original that its essential nature was impossible to guess.

But what surprised me most of all was the brief conclusion: If the book Fuaran still existed, it was the duty of every Other to destroy it immediately "for reasons clear to everyone, despite the substantial temptation and motives of personal gain…"

Oh, those Dark Ones. How they clung to their great power.

I closed the book and started walking around the yard. I glanced into the barn again, and decided once again not to risk turning the car's engine on.

Fuaran and her book had existed. The witches had been certain of that. I had to allow for the possibility of a hoax, but in my head I didn't really believe this was one.

And so the theoretical possibility of transforming a human being into an Other did exist.

That made sense of what had happened at Assol. Gesar and Olga's son had been a human being-as Others' children usually were. That was why the Great Ones hadn't been able to find him. But when they did find him, they'd turned him into an Other, then set up the whole show… they hadn't even been afraid to deceive the Inquisition.

I lay down in the hammock and took out my disk player, pressed the random selection switch, and closed my eyes. I felt like tuning out completely, filling my ears with something meaningless…

But I was unlucky. I got Picnic.

Oh no, this makes me want to laugh,

There is no window here, the door's corroded;

The Grand Inquisitor himself

Has come to torture me.

The Inquisitor squats down,

Picks up an instrument:

"Tell me everything you know,

And you'll feel better too."

I'm sure he wants to open me up

Like a simple suitcase, he knows one thing:

Even the very emptiest of the emptiest

Has a false bottom, a false bottom.

I don't like coincidences like that. Even the most ordinary people can influence reality-they're just not capable of directing their Power. Everybody's familiar with the feeling-when buses turn up just as you need them or stubbornly refuse to appear; when the songs playing on the radio match up with your thoughts; when you get phone calls from people you were just thinking about… By the way, there is a very simple way of checking if you're getting close to the abilities of an Other. If for several days in a row when you happen to glance at the clock you see the figures 11:11-it means your connection with the Twilight has become more intense. On days like that you shouldn't neglect your premonitions and intuitions…

But that's just small-scale human stuff. In Others the connection is just as unconscious as in people, but it's far more pronounced. And I really didn't like the fact that the song about the Grand Inquisitor had turned up at precisely that moment…

If I had had more strength

I would have told him: "Dear fellow,

I do not know who I am, where I am,

What forces rule this world;

And the labyrinths of long streets

Have snared by wandering feet…

The Inquisitor does not trust me,

He gives the screw a turn

I'm sure he wants to open me up

Like a simple suitcase, he knows one thing: