[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] The other threw up his hands in despair. "Spirit or flesh, she summons us. I will go, if you are afraid." "If she allows, I will have your blood for those words," the second man growled. Then they both did exactly what Blade wanted them to do, stepping out onto the open slope away from the boulders. "No, l will have your blood," said Blade, only half to himself. He took two steps to the left and shot his first arrow. It flew wide, but the two Rutari had no ears or eyes for anything except the apparition of the Wise One. Blade had plenty of time to shoot again. The second arrow hit the first sentry in the thigh. He let out a scream that echoed around the valley. Crystal shuddered visibly, but the second man didn't notice. He looked wildly around and apparently decided the scream was from the Wise One. Now that he was satisfied that she had returned as an evil Spirit to curse him, no amount of respect for her memory could keep him at his post. Without a backward glance at spear or comrade, he took to his heels. Blade nocked a third arrow with flying fingers. Not far beyond the running man was more rough ground. If he got into that he'd be so hard to hit that he would have a good chance of getting away. His tale of what happened might not be accurate, but it would damned sure bring more Rutari warriors up here in a hurry! Blade thought he and Crystal could do better without this. Blade could also have done without Crystal's idea of help. As he aimed for the running man, she ran down the slope, her knife in her hand and Cheeky clinging desperately to her hair. Screaming like a real Spirit, she leaped on the staggering wounded man and slammed him to the rocky ground. Blade didn't dare shoot for fear of hitting her, and by the time he was able to let fly, the running man was no easy shot. The arrow drew another scream. Blade dropped his bow, snatched up his spear, then dashed forward. Page 83 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html He hoped he hadn't hit Crystal and was determined to teach her a lesson if he hadn't. Crystal was covered with blood when Blade reached her, but she was grinning with such savage delight that he knew it must be her victim's. He dashed on past her until the second sentry appeared out of the mist. He was stumbling along, the arrow in his back, one hand groping behind him for the source of this mysterious pain. Hearing Blade coming up behind him, he turned just in time to take Blade's spear in his chest. When he was sure the second man was dead, Blade returned to Crystal. She was wiping her knife off on the dead man's hair, and wiping herself off with a bunch of dead grass. As Blade approached she jumped up and threw her arms around him. It was a much more enthusiastic embrace than Blade enjoyed receiving from a naked young woman when he couldn't do anything about it. "That's two for my father's Spirit. Two, and they won't be the last!" she crowed. "It might have been only one, and us in danger," growled Blade. "You must understand the way of weapons like my bow. Never, never, never get in their path when I am using them. An arrow flying a long way cannot always tell a friend from an enemy. You might have had an arrow here-" he patted her flat stomach "-instead of the two sentries." Instead of being apologetic, Crystal wriggled with pleasure under his touch. Danger and vengeance for her father seemed to be working on her like a love potion. Blade sighed. "Crystal, if you try to draw me into making love to you now, I shall turn you over my knee and spank you. There is much to be done before we can safely do that. Have you forgotten why we came?" She pressed her face into his chest. "Am I no longer desirable to you?" He put his arms around her. "You are even more desirable than ever." This was the simple truth. She'd lost weight on their trek north, without losing her magnificent figure. "Left to myself, I would have you down on the ground--" "Not on the ground, please, Blade. The stones would be hard. On our cloaks, at least." Blade laughed. "On our cloaks. But as I said, we are not our own masters. There is the Idol close by, ready for us. Who knows? It might make me impotent, if we tried to make love before we rescued it from the unlawful hands of the Rutari!" Eye of Crystal looked horror-struck, whether at the idea of the Idol's wrath or Blade's impotence was hard to tell. Then she looked up toward the mouth of the cave and nodded. "Let us go and seek the Idol, then. Once we have it, perhaps its magic will make you stronger." "Woman, you've got a one-track mind," said Blade, patting her rump as she started up the slope ahead of him. Blade would have been happier if he'd known exactly what they were looking for. Knowing where the Idol was hadn't answered the question of exactly what it was. No living man among the Uchendi had seen the Idol. The Rutari carried it off something like eighty years ago. Cheeky had seen it, but only from a distance, in poor light, and while he was desperately trying to hide the fact that he was looking at it from the Wise One, Ellspa, and Moyla. Somehow Blade pieced together enough information to keep his job from being completely hopeless. The Idol was made of metal harder than any the tribes knew and worked in ways they could not understand. It was small enough that one person could carry it-Cheeky had seen Ellspa do so. That was all he knew. In a way it made the mystery of the Idol greater and more tantalizing than ever. Now at last Blade was at the mouth of the Idol's cave, with no one to stop him Page 84 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html from going in. According to Cheeky's memories, the Idol lay about three hundred feet inside the darkness. Blade's feet were itching to carry him into the cave, but he controlled them. While he covered her with the bow, Crystal retrieved their packs. She returned wearing trousers and sandals again, with some of her light-headedness gone. Taking vengeance for her father with her own hands must have been a tonic to her, but Blade was glad it was wearing off. It was a long way home. In the packs were four torches made of reeds dipped in animal fat, then bound tightly around wooden sticks. Blade took out two torches and blew up the sentries' abandoned fire until some embers were glowing again. It was smoking like the devil, but with the mist swirling around so thickly Blade wasn't worried, about anyone noticing the smoke. Thrust into the embers, the torches began to smoke, then burn, then shed a flickering, sickly yellow light. Just enough to keep us from falling down holes, thought Blade, and to Cheeky, ("All right, little friend. Lead on.") Aloud, he told Crystal, "Stay behind me and keep a lookout toward the mouth of the cave. " There was no point in leaving her alone on guard at the entrance; she'd be in more danger and Blade would be in no less. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl blacksoulman.xlx.pl