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eight-sided ruby again. Vailret had elbowed his own way through the hole and jumped toward one Anted, stretching his short sword out to lop off the insect's antennae. Reeling and disoriented, the Anted did not know how to defend itself, leaving it open to Vailret's stab to the brain. An Anted lunged at Journeyman, jaws gaping wide like a steel trap. The golem braced himself, catching the pincers with his hands, and he spread the viselike jaws. The insect struggled to back away, but still Journeyman applied his strength. After a loud snapping sound, the golem released his hold to watch the ant fall among the others on the floor. Delrael searched for another insect as the first ant head tumbled to the floor. The decapitated body struggled awkwardly before crumpling. His mind saw only the red of Tallin's blood. Three more fell. Another exploded in flames as Bryl succeeded with his fourth spell for the day. One insect circled around behind Delrael, opening its jaws. But Journeyman was there, leaping up and straddling the Anted's back. "Oh, a wise guy, eh? Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk!" He grasped the ebony mandibles and pulled backward. His clay muscles rippled, stretching the Anted's neck grotesquely out of its socket until the pale connecting fibers popped apart. The last of the chirping noises fell silent. Motionless hulks of the dead insects littered the floor, making it slippery with spattered ooze. No other Anteds appeared. Delrael pushed his way past the fallen insect bodies. Tallin. Bryl was already bent over the ylvan. Delrael kneeled, staring, then he reached forward to brush blood away from Tallin's mouth. Delrael was shaking. He dropped his sword with a clang on the hard floor. The ylvan's eyes trembled, then flickered open. The pupils were dilated, unfocused. Blood welled up inside them from ruptured capillaries, but still they held a glimmer of life. Tallin's cheeks twitched. Vailret's voice came over Delrael's shoulder, quiet and compassionate, but also practical. "We need to get out of here, Del, before Ryx sends more Anteds." Delrael rose to his feet and turned on his cousin with such a terrible expression on his face that Vailret stepped backward, stumbling on the slippery floor. He caught himself against the wall. Delrael slumped forward, shaking his chest as he contained his words, everything he wanted to say. He'd had many adventures, but he had never faced the death of a companion. Questing had been too much fun to worry about things like that. Rule number one -- always have fun! It seemed like such a ridiculous thing now. His father Drodanis had watched an ogre murder his brother Cayon. Vailret was beside Paenar when the blind Scavenger sacrificed himself at the volcano. But Delrael had never looked at death face to face before, never watched as the Outsiders removed a character from the Game permanently. Delrael swung his fist in the air at some intangible foe. The Outsiders had to be watching. "What sort of Game are you playing with us! Why? Are you having fun?" His shoulders trembled. "Tallin..." The ylvan's bloody lips parted, forming words like the last wind from a dying storm. Delrael bent his ear close to Tallin's mouth. "Take my crossbow and ... use it." Delrael squeezed Tallin's shoulder, trying to impart some energy back to the ylvan. He had been near death once himself, when the Cyclops attacked him near Ledaygen; but Thilane Healer of the khelebar had replaced his mangled leg with one made of _kennok_ wood. But they had no healers here now, nothing to help Tallin. "Delrael ... I'm glad I knew ... you." Something like a sigh escaped Tallin's lips, and Delrael stared intensely into the ylvan's black eyes. He held onto the camouflaged leather of his jerkin. The cap with the single scarlet feather had fallen off, lying on its side against the wall. Tallin's gaze lifted, filled with tears of pain, and his eyes met Delrael's once before the ylvan departed. Delrael froze as ice worked its way up from his gut into his veins and muscles. He stared into the ylvan's lifeless eyes before he lifted his hand to brush Tallin's cheek. A smear of blood dried on the back of his hand. Silence rang in his ears. No one said anything to him. Delrael drew a deep breath, trying to calm himself, but it didn't work. He stood up, brandishing the old Sorcerer sword at anything that could hear him. "Damn you, Ryx!" He hung his head. "You and all the Outsiders, too." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |
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