Elven Star – The Death Gate Cycle 2. Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman

But they weren’t frightened. They weren’t fleeing from it in panic. Haplo felt their senses reaching out, smelling, listening, seeing without eyes. The Patryn fought back the black haze and concentrated his energy on keeping the ship floating up higher and higher.

He saw one of the creatures lift its arm. A giant hand reached out, grabbed hold of one of the wings. The ship lurched, throwing everyone to the deck.

Haplo held onto the stone, concentrated his magic. The runes flared blue, the creature snatched its hand back as if in pain. The ship soared into the air. Looking out from beneath his gummed eyelashes, Haplo saw green treetops and the hazy blue-green sky and then everything was covered by a dense black, pain-tinged fog.

CHAPTER 27

SOMEWHERE ABOVE EQUILAN

“WHAT … WHAT IS HE?” ASKED REGA, STARING AT THE UNCONSCIOUS MAN LYING on the deck. The man was obviously seriously injured- his skin was burned and blackened, blood oozed from a wound on his head. But the woman held back, afraid to venture too close. “He … he glowed! I saw him!”

“I know it’s been a difficult time for you, my dear-” Zifnab gazed at her in deep concern.

“I did!” Rega faltered. “His skin glowed! Red and blue!”

“You’ve had a hard day,” said Zifnab, patting her solicitously on the arm.

“I saw it, too,” added Roland, rubbing his solar plexus and grimacing. “And what’s more, I was about to lose my hold on him, my arms were getting weak, and those . . . those markings on his hand lit up like a torch. Then my hands lit up, and suddenly I had enough strength to drag him down through the hatch.”

“Stress,” said the old man. “Does queer things to the mind. Proper breathing, that’s the key. All together, with me. Good air in. Bad air out. Good air in.”

“I saw him standing out there on the deck, fighting those creatures,” murmured Paithan, awed. “His entire body radiated light! He is our savior! He is Orn! Mother Peytin’s son, come to lead us to safety!”

“That’s it!” said Zifnab, mopping his brow with his beard. “Orn, favors his mother-”

“No, he doesn’t,” argued Roland, gesturing. “Look! He’s human. Wouldn’t Mother what’s-her-name’s kid be an elf- Wait! I know! He’s one of the Lords of Thillia! Come back to us, like the legend foretold!”

“That, too!” said the old wizard hastily. “I don’t know why I didn’t recognize him. The spitting image of his father.”

Rega appeared skeptical. “Whoever he is, he’s in pretty bad shape.” Cautiously approaching him, she reached out a hand to his forehead. “I think he’s dying-Oh!”

The dog glided between her and its master, its glance encompassing all of them, saying plainly, We appreciate the sympathy. Just keep your distance.

“There, there, good boy,” said Rega, moving a little nearer. The dog growled, bared its sharp teeth. The plumed tail began to slowly brush from side to side.

“Let him alone. Sis.”

“I think you’re right.” Rega edged back, came to stand beside her brother.

Crouched in the shadows, forgotten, Drugar said nothing, might not have even heard the conversation. He was staring intently at the markings on the back of Haplo’s hands and arms. Slowly, making certain no one was looking at him, Drugar reached within his tunic and drew forth a medallion that he wore around his neck. Holding it up to the light, he compared the rune carved into the obsidian with the sigla on the man’s skin. The dwarf’s brow furrowed in puzzlement, his eyes narrowed, his lips tightened.

Rega turned slightly. The dwarf thrust the medallion beneath his beard and shirt.

“What do you think, Blackbeard?” the woman asked.

“My name is Drugar. And I think I do not like being up here in the air in this winged monster,” stated the dwarf. He gestured toward the window. The vars shore of the gulf was sliding beneath them. The tytans had attacked the humans on the bank. Around the shore’s edge, crowded with helpless people, the gulf water was beginning to darken.

Roland looked out, said grimly, “I’d rather be up here than down there, dwarf.”

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126

Leave a Reply 0

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *