[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
bandaged; filled with heartgrief, for five of the Vanadurin would never again
answer home all. Thusly did the dayrise find the riders of the Valanreach.
Earlier, a count showed mat three and seventy Rutcha and one Drokh had fallen
to the riders; and in the predawn the carrion were dragged down out of the
defile and flung into a ravine, where the coming of the Sun would shrivel them
to dust, as Aden's Ban decreed. The Wrg weapons were gathered, and in dull
rage the riders snapped the blades and shattered the hafts and bent the iron
bars beyond repair, and these, too, were cast into the ravine.
In midmorn, Didion and Ged returned to the defile and sought out Brytta.
"Sire," said Didion, drawn and weary,
"long we hunted, and this we found." He held up an arrow, broken in twain,
covered with dried black Wrg gore. Brytta examined it closely and grunted; it
was his. "Yet," Didion went on, "no Drokh did we find, not near nor far; and
by dawn's light we searched even unto the snow line. At the first, a spotted
trail we followed, and quickly found the arrow. Soon the trail diminished, at
last to disappear on the edge of a deep crevasse with a black still pool at
bottom. Ged, here, climbed down while I cast about, but neither he nor I found
aught else."
"Skut!" spat Brytta, flinging the fractured arrow from him and looking
bitterly at his broken hand. "The Drokh may have been but fleshwounded,
snapping the arrow in twain and pulling it through himself. As to the Wrg's
fate thereafter, we know not whether he pitched off into the crevasse by
accident, or while dying, or not at all. He may have escaped entirely; if so,
then even now word goes forth to Gnar.
"Yet you have done all I could ask, and though, no Drokh was found, feel no
blame; the hand that failed was mine." And Brytta dismissed the two and cast
himself to the ground. And he sat with his back to the wall, and his brooding
stare bore into the stone opposite him. His mood was black and bitter, and in
his eyes lurked fault.
Yet after a long while of smoldering thought, he again stood and gathered his
warriors to him: "Vanadurin," he spoke, "I deem we must remain on guard in
this defile, for other bands of ravers may be about the land. Yet all must
come through this slot to reach the secret High Gate. And though this is the
night appointed when King Durek will attempt the Dusk-Door, still it may not
open, for the Squad of Seven may be delayed.
And it is in my mind that other trials may come, and we stand at guard here at
the Dwarf Army's back. Even now, word may be going forth to Gnar, and he may
set a Rutchen army on the inside of the Door to await the Dwarves. And in that
event, if the Squad be delayed, then likely they will not be able to penetrate
Gnar's waiting Swarm to reach the Door hinges. And if the Squad cannot reach
the inside of the Door, then who will let Durek's Legion within?
"Too, there may be other doors, other gates, through which Gnar may launch an
attack upon the Host. Yet the
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DEHni5 L MeKIERNAtt
THE BREQA PATH
89
secret Gate in yon Quadran Gap is the only one we are certain of. And if an
army marches down this way, then we with quick slashing strikes must bait and
harass and divert their energies aside for as long as our War-skill permits,
to give the Squad and the Legion precious time to ope the Door.
"And so, here we must stay, both foreguarding and hindguarding the Dwarf Army.
And a long wait it may be, for we know not when the Door may yield: tonight,
tomorrow, in a seven-night, or never.
"Yet even though we wait, there is still much to do: Place our slain comrades
'neath stone cairns, until proper burial. Tend your steeds. Then rest, for you
are weary. Go now, and know you stand a vital duty."
And the warriors saluted Brytta Hdlf and turned to take up their tasks.
"Hogon," Brytta called, "set forth a ward of eight: four upslope, four down,
two-hour watches."
And while Hogon selected the guard, Brytta turned to a flaxen-haired youth:
Brath, Brytta's bloodkith. "Brath, sister's son, to me," he said wearily as he
sat down upon a small boulder.
The younger Man, his left arm bound in splints and held in a sling, stepped to
his kinsman's side. "Sire?"
"Your arm is shivered and your leg gashed," observed the Marshal, a Fierce
pride in his eyes, for Brath had accounted for many of the Rutchen slain.
"Were we in other times or other places, I would send you to the hearth."
Brytta held up both hands, forestalling the protests leaping to the young
warrior's lips. "Instead, I would have you go to yon mountain" he pointed to
Redguard "and relieve Wylf, for he is hale and we need his strong arm. In mis, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl chiara76.opx.pl
bandaged; filled with heartgrief, for five of the Vanadurin would never again
answer home all. Thusly did the dayrise find the riders of the Valanreach.
Earlier, a count showed mat three and seventy Rutcha and one Drokh had fallen
to the riders; and in the predawn the carrion were dragged down out of the
defile and flung into a ravine, where the coming of the Sun would shrivel them
to dust, as Aden's Ban decreed. The Wrg weapons were gathered, and in dull
rage the riders snapped the blades and shattered the hafts and bent the iron
bars beyond repair, and these, too, were cast into the ravine.
In midmorn, Didion and Ged returned to the defile and sought out Brytta.
"Sire," said Didion, drawn and weary,
"long we hunted, and this we found." He held up an arrow, broken in twain,
covered with dried black Wrg gore. Brytta examined it closely and grunted; it
was his. "Yet," Didion went on, "no Drokh did we find, not near nor far; and
by dawn's light we searched even unto the snow line. At the first, a spotted
trail we followed, and quickly found the arrow. Soon the trail diminished, at
last to disappear on the edge of a deep crevasse with a black still pool at
bottom. Ged, here, climbed down while I cast about, but neither he nor I found
aught else."
"Skut!" spat Brytta, flinging the fractured arrow from him and looking
bitterly at his broken hand. "The Drokh may have been but fleshwounded,
snapping the arrow in twain and pulling it through himself. As to the Wrg's
fate thereafter, we know not whether he pitched off into the crevasse by
accident, or while dying, or not at all. He may have escaped entirely; if so,
then even now word goes forth to Gnar.
"Yet you have done all I could ask, and though, no Drokh was found, feel no
blame; the hand that failed was mine." And Brytta dismissed the two and cast
himself to the ground. And he sat with his back to the wall, and his brooding
stare bore into the stone opposite him. His mood was black and bitter, and in
his eyes lurked fault.
Yet after a long while of smoldering thought, he again stood and gathered his
warriors to him: "Vanadurin," he spoke, "I deem we must remain on guard in
this defile, for other bands of ravers may be about the land. Yet all must
come through this slot to reach the secret High Gate. And though this is the
night appointed when King Durek will attempt the Dusk-Door, still it may not
open, for the Squad of Seven may be delayed.
And it is in my mind that other trials may come, and we stand at guard here at
the Dwarf Army's back. Even now, word may be going forth to Gnar, and he may
set a Rutchen army on the inside of the Door to await the Dwarves. And in that
event, if the Squad be delayed, then likely they will not be able to penetrate
Gnar's waiting Swarm to reach the Door hinges. And if the Squad cannot reach
the inside of the Door, then who will let Durek's Legion within?
"Too, there may be other doors, other gates, through which Gnar may launch an
attack upon the Host. Yet the
88
DEHni5 L MeKIERNAtt
THE BREQA PATH
89
secret Gate in yon Quadran Gap is the only one we are certain of. And if an
army marches down this way, then we with quick slashing strikes must bait and
harass and divert their energies aside for as long as our War-skill permits,
to give the Squad and the Legion precious time to ope the Door.
"And so, here we must stay, both foreguarding and hindguarding the Dwarf Army.
And a long wait it may be, for we know not when the Door may yield: tonight,
tomorrow, in a seven-night, or never.
"Yet even though we wait, there is still much to do: Place our slain comrades
'neath stone cairns, until proper burial. Tend your steeds. Then rest, for you
are weary. Go now, and know you stand a vital duty."
And the warriors saluted Brytta Hdlf and turned to take up their tasks.
"Hogon," Brytta called, "set forth a ward of eight: four upslope, four down,
two-hour watches."
And while Hogon selected the guard, Brytta turned to a flaxen-haired youth:
Brath, Brytta's bloodkith. "Brath, sister's son, to me," he said wearily as he
sat down upon a small boulder.
The younger Man, his left arm bound in splints and held in a sling, stepped to
his kinsman's side. "Sire?"
"Your arm is shivered and your leg gashed," observed the Marshal, a Fierce
pride in his eyes, for Brath had accounted for many of the Rutchen slain.
"Were we in other times or other places, I would send you to the hearth."
Brytta held up both hands, forestalling the protests leaping to the young
warrior's lips. "Instead, I would have you go to yon mountain" he pointed to
Redguard "and relieve Wylf, for he is hale and we need his strong arm. In mis, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]