s [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

nearly drowned in the keening from the peaks.
Page 109
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Tyrus tried to ignore the cold and his complaining body. He had to keep the
glamour around them as they worked their way closer and closer to that citadel
in his vision. Two ridges and then&
The curtain of howling snow tore asunder, and they saw an immense animal
hunched athwart the path. Multiple fangs bared, countless eyes shining redly,
it was a lizard out of some nightmare. Hastily Tyrus tightened the glamour
into a shield, diverting his strength and weakening the fabric elsewhere.
Jathelle was beside him, her sword drawn. The lieutenant and his men rushed up
on either side of the sorkra and their queen, their pikes aimed for the
monster's head and breast. Those to the rear could not see what was happening,
bumping into those ahead of them, cursing and shouting questions.
"Wait!" Tyrus ordered the bodyguards. Remembering Aubage's lessoning, they
held their pikes ready but did not lunge. Tyrus studied the hulking thing as
it roared and gnashed its many teeth and prodded at his glamour with its
bulbous nose. "It can no longer see us," Tyrus assured
Jathelle and the men. He had called forth much from his reserves to make the
barrier solid against it, and a tremor through his belly warned Tyrus he could
not maintain such powerful magic very long. Before he faltered, though, the
awful creature lost interest in the riddle of the glamour and ambled away,
soon swallowed up in the snow.
Men gasped in relief and the soldiers lowered their pikes, staring at one
another. "What& what was it? Where has it gone?"
"More worry if it comes back!"
"Was it damp-breather or snake-wing& ?"
"& never saw its like& "
"We did," Jathelle corrected the brigand who had said that. "A smaller one was
on Drita Meadows, snapping at us while the skeleton warriors captured Ilissa."
Their words drifted past Tyrus as he reworked the glamour more evenly around
them. He clenched his jaw to still the irritating chatter of his teeth.
Reluctantly, he dipped down into the arcane world and drew more strength for
his spellcasting. The time might have come at last when he would have to
discover his limits. Yet he must save his greatest arts for the inevitable
clash with Vraduir!
"There& there are likely to be more of them," Tyrus cautioned them. He
shivered so badly his words seemed to rattle. But everyone was shuddering with
cold and sounded the same. "Try& try to stay close together. If you&
if you tear through the glamour, it& it diminishes my protection for the rest.
And& and I cannot help you if you are outside."
"Will you weave the silver rope to show us where to stay, sorkra?" Rof asked.
Tyrus clamped his hands tightly over the saddle, stilling the racking shivers
that assaulted him. "Dare& dare not. AH I can do& to keep the glamour. Stay
close& stay close& " he advised faintly. "The Death God's creatures. Not& not
illusions. Real& "
"Can we kill them, if we must?" Jathelle wondered.
Frustrated that he could give her no sure answer, Tyrus murmured, "I
do not know. I hope so."
They moved on up the slope, forced to work back and forth tediously in order
to make the ascent. Despite their care, the slippery footing betrayed them. A
horse and rider fell and started sliding out of control along the way they had
climbed. The horse crashed against other horses and more went down, men
spitting oaths and scrambling to get free and find footholds. The entire mass
of four horses and men tore against the glamour, ripping at it, going through.
The shock of its shattering knocked Tyrus out of the saddle. He hung off his
mount's neck, barely conscious, while the frightened animal tried to sidle out
from under him completely. Jathelle and Erejzan were grabbing at the reins and
Tyrus, helping him.
Page 110
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
The world was splintered with hurtful light and ice, the full fury of the
storm hurtling at them, once the glamour broke. It was a fragile veil, unable
to prevent entry, and entry was made.
From the twisted rocks shaped like beasts came true beasts, a two-headed golhi [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]