[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
crystal of her ring, then at the reddened skin that bordered it. She waited
until Royalt neared and reined up almost beside her.
There s something wrong, she said. Alucius is hurt. It s not the same as
last time.
What do you mean? asked Royalt.
The ring. It turned cold, like ice. That was perhaps a glass back, but then
it warmed up. I wondered, but I could feel that he was all right. This time,
there was fire, enough to redden my skin, and then& then there was more of the
chill.
Is he& ?
He s alive, but he s badly hurt. Wendra swallowed. This feels different
from the last time. I don t know how, but it does.
He should be in Tempre. Sanders& I hope that the Lord-Protector& Royalt shook
his head. But it
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doesn t make sense. Why would the Lord-Protector make such an announcement,
inviting him there, and then& ?
Do you suppose he was on his way home? Or back to Dekhron? asked Wendra,
still looking down at the black crystal.
That could be. That could be. Some of those on the Council or that sandsnake
Weslyn& They ve tried before.
He stopped them, then, didn t he?
He did, the older man admitted, but even sandsnakes learn from their
mistakes, and when you re successful, you don t learn much.
You worry that he s been too successful, don t you? asked the woman.
Alucius has seen evil, Wendra, but what he hasn t seen, not yet, is how
easily it can spread, and how effective it can be. He has not seen or felt
truly powerful evil. That is something an old herder can sense even if I know
not the cause. He paused. Should we head back to the stead?
She shook her head. I can t do anything, and I d just fret. A bitter laugh
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followed her words. I ll worry anyway, but here I ll have something to do.
Royalt nodded.
104
Once more,Alucius found himself standing in a strange room, an empty chamber
with a single wide window before him. The walls were of an amberlike stone,
holding depths of light. He glanced down.
Beneath his feet was a simple silver square, looking like a mirror, except
that it showed absolutely no reflection. His shoulder felt as though it were
on fire, and when he glanced down, he could see that the engineer s weapon had
sliced away a section of his tunic and shirt, but not the nightsilk beneath.
Even as he looked up and took in the room, he could feel the room begin to
spin around him. He staggered several steps toward the wall, putting out his
left hand to steady himself as his legs began to tremble and give way.
He sagged to the floor, wondering where once more he might be, even as the
pain from his right shoulder continued to mount. Redness blurred over his
eyes, and the room began to spin around him, faster& and even faster.
Was there some sort of greenness?
Or was it wistful thinking?
He tried to raise his head, to focus on a shimmering golden greenness& and
failed.
Darkness deep darkness swept across him.
The darkness lightened, and he could sense figures who appeared around him,
blocky figures, followed
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by green and shimmering figures. But another wave of darkness, hot and
feverish darkness washed over him, dragging him into depths that were cooler.
How long he lingered in the darkness, Alucius had no idea, save that once more
the deep green darkness lifted, so that he felt himself in more of a fog,
silent, with no sounds, no echoes, and, once more red agony seared through his
shoulder. Yet after that ravaging blast of red pain, the heat and the pain in
his shoulder began to subside.
Before he could appreciate that, he drifted or was pushed back into the dark
depths.
He struggled through more darkness, darkness interspersed with dreams of
alabaster-skinned men and women with snakelike unseen appendages, and with
pistols that fired blue light-knives that always seemed to find his shoulder,
no matter how he ducked or tried to raise the lifeweb darkness against them.
Once more, Alucius woke slowly, lying on the narrow bed, feeling the heat pour
off his forehead, and from his shoulder. He could barely turn his head, just
enough to see that a shimmering dressing was fastened across his right
shoulder, a dressing that provided both heat and chill simultaneously. His
eyes lifted, but he could only see the amber walls, those and a solid doorway,
smaller than he would have thought.
A small feminine figure appeared beside his bed.
You must eat. Then you must rest. You were badly injured. You will be better.
But you must eat.
How& ? Alucius couldn t even lift his arms, they felt so heavy.
You will recover& eat to strengthen your body&
She spooned something from a platter into his mouth, a mushy substance tasting
vaguely of prickle, but far better, or so it seemed. Alucius swallowed slowly,
then accepted some more. The third spoonful was something else, fruitlike,
cooler.
As he ate, he could feel himself getting more and more tired, and his eyelids
heavier and heavier& and he slid slowly into the comforting green darkness, and
slept, this time without dreams.
105
Alucius yawned and started to stretch.A twinge of pain ran down his right arm,
and he stopped. It was only a twinge, not the searing agony it had been.
Page 228
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Suddenly, he realized that he was awake, truly awake.
He had no idea how long he had drifted between sleeping and waking, with
shadowy figures amid the green-washed darkness. He remembered talking to
someone, but not whom, nor what he had said.
He glanced around the room. Whether it was the same room in which he had found
himself after struggling to escape from the strange engineer he had no idea,
only that it had the same amber walls, walls containing a depth beneath their
surface and a shade similar to the yellow golden thread he had followed
through the darkness between the Tables. He did not recall seeing a bed in the
first room, but he had not seen much before he collapsed.
Slowly, he turned his head to the right. There was a single window in the
room, and through it he could see the silver-green sky of Corus. He studied
the window and its casement more closely, realizing that
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
the glass was so clear, so transparent. He had never seen glass so fine.
Likewise, the glass was set not in wood, but in a shimmering silvery metal
that was not silver. On the wall there was a row of amber pegs, pegs that were
seamlessly attached to the walls. From the pegs hung his uniform, his
nightsilk undergarments, and his sabre. There was no sign of the burns and
damage to his tunic. His boots were neatly set against the wall under his
uniform. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl rafalstec.xlx.pl
crystal of her ring, then at the reddened skin that bordered it. She waited
until Royalt neared and reined up almost beside her.
There s something wrong, she said. Alucius is hurt. It s not the same as
last time.
What do you mean? asked Royalt.
The ring. It turned cold, like ice. That was perhaps a glass back, but then
it warmed up. I wondered, but I could feel that he was all right. This time,
there was fire, enough to redden my skin, and then& then there was more of the
chill.
Is he& ?
He s alive, but he s badly hurt. Wendra swallowed. This feels different
from the last time. I don t know how, but it does.
He should be in Tempre. Sanders& I hope that the Lord-Protector& Royalt shook
his head. But it
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
doesn t make sense. Why would the Lord-Protector make such an announcement,
inviting him there, and then& ?
Do you suppose he was on his way home? Or back to Dekhron? asked Wendra,
still looking down at the black crystal.
That could be. That could be. Some of those on the Council or that sandsnake
Weslyn& They ve tried before.
He stopped them, then, didn t he?
He did, the older man admitted, but even sandsnakes learn from their
mistakes, and when you re successful, you don t learn much.
You worry that he s been too successful, don t you? asked the woman.
Alucius has seen evil, Wendra, but what he hasn t seen, not yet, is how
easily it can spread, and how effective it can be. He has not seen or felt
truly powerful evil. That is something an old herder can sense even if I know
not the cause. He paused. Should we head back to the stead?
She shook her head. I can t do anything, and I d just fret. A bitter laugh
Page 227
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
followed her words. I ll worry anyway, but here I ll have something to do.
Royalt nodded.
104
Once more,Alucius found himself standing in a strange room, an empty chamber
with a single wide window before him. The walls were of an amberlike stone,
holding depths of light. He glanced down.
Beneath his feet was a simple silver square, looking like a mirror, except
that it showed absolutely no reflection. His shoulder felt as though it were
on fire, and when he glanced down, he could see that the engineer s weapon had
sliced away a section of his tunic and shirt, but not the nightsilk beneath.
Even as he looked up and took in the room, he could feel the room begin to
spin around him. He staggered several steps toward the wall, putting out his
left hand to steady himself as his legs began to tremble and give way.
He sagged to the floor, wondering where once more he might be, even as the
pain from his right shoulder continued to mount. Redness blurred over his
eyes, and the room began to spin around him, faster& and even faster.
Was there some sort of greenness?
Or was it wistful thinking?
He tried to raise his head, to focus on a shimmering golden greenness& and
failed.
Darkness deep darkness swept across him.
The darkness lightened, and he could sense figures who appeared around him,
blocky figures, followed
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
by green and shimmering figures. But another wave of darkness, hot and
feverish darkness washed over him, dragging him into depths that were cooler.
How long he lingered in the darkness, Alucius had no idea, save that once more
the deep green darkness lifted, so that he felt himself in more of a fog,
silent, with no sounds, no echoes, and, once more red agony seared through his
shoulder. Yet after that ravaging blast of red pain, the heat and the pain in
his shoulder began to subside.
Before he could appreciate that, he drifted or was pushed back into the dark
depths.
He struggled through more darkness, darkness interspersed with dreams of
alabaster-skinned men and women with snakelike unseen appendages, and with
pistols that fired blue light-knives that always seemed to find his shoulder,
no matter how he ducked or tried to raise the lifeweb darkness against them.
Once more, Alucius woke slowly, lying on the narrow bed, feeling the heat pour
off his forehead, and from his shoulder. He could barely turn his head, just
enough to see that a shimmering dressing was fastened across his right
shoulder, a dressing that provided both heat and chill simultaneously. His
eyes lifted, but he could only see the amber walls, those and a solid doorway,
smaller than he would have thought.
A small feminine figure appeared beside his bed.
You must eat. Then you must rest. You were badly injured. You will be better.
But you must eat.
How& ? Alucius couldn t even lift his arms, they felt so heavy.
You will recover& eat to strengthen your body&
She spooned something from a platter into his mouth, a mushy substance tasting
vaguely of prickle, but far better, or so it seemed. Alucius swallowed slowly,
then accepted some more. The third spoonful was something else, fruitlike,
cooler.
As he ate, he could feel himself getting more and more tired, and his eyelids
heavier and heavier& and he slid slowly into the comforting green darkness, and
slept, this time without dreams.
105
Alucius yawned and started to stretch.A twinge of pain ran down his right arm,
and he stopped. It was only a twinge, not the searing agony it had been.
Page 228
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Suddenly, he realized that he was awake, truly awake.
He had no idea how long he had drifted between sleeping and waking, with
shadowy figures amid the green-washed darkness. He remembered talking to
someone, but not whom, nor what he had said.
He glanced around the room. Whether it was the same room in which he had found
himself after struggling to escape from the strange engineer he had no idea,
only that it had the same amber walls, walls containing a depth beneath their
surface and a shade similar to the yellow golden thread he had followed
through the darkness between the Tables. He did not recall seeing a bed in the
first room, but he had not seen much before he collapsed.
Slowly, he turned his head to the right. There was a single window in the
room, and through it he could see the silver-green sky of Corus. He studied
the window and its casement more closely, realizing that
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
the glass was so clear, so transparent. He had never seen glass so fine.
Likewise, the glass was set not in wood, but in a shimmering silvery metal
that was not silver. On the wall there was a row of amber pegs, pegs that were
seamlessly attached to the walls. From the pegs hung his uniform, his
nightsilk undergarments, and his sabre. There was no sign of the burns and
damage to his tunic. His boots were neatly set against the wall under his
uniform. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]