[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

what she said. Like her sister, she had rebelled.
 So. You re turning on me. Ethrian s words were as chill as the corridors of
time.  I thought it would be the Great One who betrayed me.
 Ethrian . . . 
 Get him. Or we fight amongst ourselves.
Sahmanan looked past him. Dead soldiers were coming out of the woods. He
meant it.
 You idiot! She flung herself forward. Her impetus smashed him against a
prehistoric granite monolith. He kicked her . . .
She sang a spell.
The world went white. Heat blistered Ethrian s skin. He felt a big vacant
place in his mind. Hundreds of soldiers had ceased to exist . . . He bellowed
in rage. He had come close to killing himself.
The boulder and Sahmanan s spell shielded them. He cursed, said,  One of us
was thinking. Thank you. Then,  I m blind!
 Your sight will return. Ethrian, don t let hatred control you like that.
After a time,  Sahmanan?
 Yes?
He said,  All right. It won t happen again. I m sorry. You still have to
bring the Great One.
She sighed.  All right. When the ground cools and we can leave the protection
of the spell.
Ethrian stood on the hill alone. A scimitar of moon rose behind him. He
leaned on a spear, staring at the fires on the distant shore. Soon now, Lord
Ssu-ma, he thought. I ll break your will, you stubborn pig. I ll carve the
heart out of your empire. I ll make it my own. I ll find my father s
murderer . . .
But first he had to use the stone beast without falling under its control.
And Sahmanan. What of her? How strange she had been this afternoon. What was
that natter about escaping slavery?
She didn t add up. She sang too many conflicting songs.
The air behind him whispered to the approach of vast wings. The sound waxed.
Soon it filled the night. A swarm of shafts streaked across the water. The sky
burned behind Ethrian. A dozen shadows of him reached toward the river. He
Page 115
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
raised one hand, thought, This is me, Shinsan: A clawed shadow reaching for
your heart.
The shafts dropped dragons and riders, though these were not the shafts of
the desert battles. These hadn t a tenth of the power of those. They had a
homemade feel, as though his enemies had exhausted the real thing and were
making do with what they could concoct themselves.
He smiled.  The thing you fear pursues you. The thing you dread is upon you.
Your time has come.
A dragon smacked down behind him. Sahmanan called a question. He did not
turn.
She was beside him in a moment. He felt the immense presence of the Great
One.  I brought him, Ethrian.
 And what does he think?
He didn t have to ask. He felt the beast s joy, its eagerness, its lust for a
chance to embarrass an enemy it hated because it refused to bend or be
conquered, or even to fear.
The stone beast wanted to be taken seriously. These Lords of the Dread Empire
no longer did so. They knew the situation as well as did Ethrian. They now
perceived the Deliverer and his godling as fading nuisances they would
eliminate within days.
Ethrian had drifted across the river and had seen the confidence there.
Theyknew they would break him this time. They were abiding his attack,
expecting him to destroy himself.
The stone beast said,  You did well to summon me, Deliverer. You had no other
hope. Together, now, we will crush them. But I ask you, how do you plan to
cross the river?
Ethrian had given that no thought. He was worried about smashing his enemies,
not about getting to them. He did not have a single boat. His troops hadn t
built rafts or pontoons. The legions had destroyed all local craft during
their retreat.
He cursed himself for being a fool.  Not much of a general, are you,
Deliverer? The stone beast s sarcasm stung. His own accusation had come home
to roost.
 What would you suggest, Great One? He tried for sarcasm himself. He glanced
to the east, where the sun was about to rise.
 Sahmanan. I ll feed you strength. Freeze the river.
Ethrian gaped.  Freeze it?
The beast laughed. And the youth shivered, knowing he had best take care.
Sahmanan performed some lengthy, darkness-hidden ritual. After a time, she
said,  Aid me, Great One.
Ethrian felt the cold grow. It taunted his burned skin. It rolled down the
hill. The woods became so chill that branches snapped. He closed his eyes,
drifted out of his body.
Page 116
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
There were scums of ice on the river already. The cold swept toward the
nether shore. Over there they had begun to respond, ere ever the chill reached
them. Their fires grew higher. Their drums hammered rhythms of warning.
Frost formed. The air grew misty. Snowflakes trickled down. Shinsan s
soldiers calmly manned their earthworks.
If I had soldiers like these . . . Being the best would avail them not. A
man s skill meant nothing once he heard the stone beast s Word. Ethrian knew.
He had seen Sahmanan s visions of the war with Nahaman.
His spirits rose. Soon he would stand on the western shore, its master. The
legion dead would rise around him, ready to move on . . . In a flash of whimsy
he flung himself westward, through the wild forests, hunting the place they
would try stopping him next. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]