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[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
opportunity to retreat.
Bending down, she placed one of Tempet s arms around her shoulders and hoisted
him to his feet.
He was only semi-conscious and his eyes were cooked shut. Alloi backed away
with her groaning brother.
Although Shan knew that he should kill them, he watched them disappear into
the forest. Too exhausted to pursue them now, Shan sunk to his knees and
dipped his fingers into the pool. He imagined the female s hands cupping the
water from the spring to soothe her companion. An intense jealousy clawed at
his heart as he longed for her to minister to his wound.
Who are you? he murmured and passed out.
When he awoke the sun was much higher and sparkling on the pristine pool. Shan
took stock of his appearance and was appalled. His clothes were ruined,
smeared with mud and blood, and sprinkled with forest litter. Painfully, he
removed his jacket and examined the hole where the bitaran had gone through.
He was still trying to understand what the weapon had done to him, and his
mind automatically devoured the concept of using magic to rapidly reshape
metal objects.
Setting the jacket aside, he rolled up his sleeves and began to wash the blood
and dirt from his hands. His thoughts returned to the female and his
ridiculous mercy. He pictured her reflection in the water and savored again
her beauty that he had seen so briefly.
Then Shan realized that he was not merely imagining her, but sensing her. The
female s magic was upon the land, and Shan crushed his soft thoughts and sat
up. He instantly covered himself with a shield spell.
The distant howl of wild animals in the forest drew his attention, and Shan
cast his perception toward the sound. When he saw his men battling the
fenthakrabis, he realized that the female was controlling the beasts with her
mind and using them to prevent the men from reaching him.
Fortunately, the men were strong and well armed and they quickly dispatched
the beasts before
Shan needed to intervene.
When he saw that his men had come looking for him, Shan felt a great love for
those who were loyal to him. Knowing that his isolation would soon end eased
his pain, and he was about to contact Dreibrand when a heavy force hit his
body.
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Shan s mind dashed back to his body and discovered that a panther had attacked
him. White light blazed in the large cat s eyes and long claws pierced his
flesh, pinning him for the slaughter. As the strong jaws descended, Shan
forced his thoughts into the mind of the animal. He had the ability to
communicate with animals although he had not pursued the skill to its fullest
potential.
His new female opponent, however, was adept at using dangerous animals as her
weapons, and
Shan met her mind within the mind of the panther. They vied for control of the
feline s killer instincts, but Shan s power and proximity allowed him to
prevail. The panther relented after a hot blast of magic and its snarl changed
into a shrill yowl. Without planning its retreat, the panther leaped into the
pool. Distressed by the pain and then the water, it splashed to the opposite
bank.
The white light faded from its eyes and the wet predator with singed hair
looked thoroughly confused by its condition.
Shan grabbed his sword, leveled it at the panther, and yelled. Without the
desire of another mind
pushing it to attack, the panther accepted that the rys was not as vulnerable
as he appeared. It roared once with its ears back and then ran away.
Shan stayed alert to his immediate surroundings, but he no longer sensed the
powers of the female prowling the land. When he tried to stand up, he found
that his exhaustion would not let him. He settled for crawling to a tree and
propping himself against it.
The panther had torn up his left arm and his right shoulder, and Shan
gradually used his healing magic to stop the blood flow. Internally his pain
was flaring up again because the impact from the large animal had jarred the
delicate stability that he had imposed on the severe injury. Knowing that he
needed help, Shan mentally beckoned Dreibrand.
With guidance from Shan, Dreibrand had no need to follow the erratic trail
left by the night-long duel, and he reached Shan quickly. Dreibrand cried out
with dismay when he saw Shan propped against the tree. Expansive stains of
blood darkened his clothes and his sword and shield were lying across his
legs. The rys looked like a man, who having suffered a mortal wound, had
dragged himself to the side of the battlefield to perish.
I am done dying, Shan whispered when Dreibrand reached his side. The rys
smiled weakly as he appreciated his private joke, but Dreibrand s concern was
not alleviated. Shan looked pale, like the thin winter daylight on the
Rysamand.
What happened? Did you kill them? Dreibrand asked.
No. But the male is badly wounded, perhaps even worse than me, Shan replied.
Dreibrand s eyes darted over the sprays of blood on the ripped clothing,
wondering where to begin.
He settled on the right side of Shan s torso, which the rys covered
protectively with his arm.
Let me see, he said and pulled Shan s arm and shirt out of the way.
Dreibrand recognized the tender lavender flesh that indicated that healing
magic had sealed the wound, but the patch was incomplete and blood had started
to seep again.
Looking over his shoulder, Dreibrand ordered his men to build a fire and post
a guard.
Thank you for coming, Shan said. I could not have hoped that you would be
so close.
As soon as it was light, we got on your trail. But we lost Pel Ton last
night, Dreibrand said.
I had hoped that no one was hurt, Shan murmured.
Dreibrand retrieved his saddlebags and worked quickly to prepare some
bandages. Do you know how close they are? I believe one of them used magic to
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direct some fenthakrabis to attack us, he said.
That was the female, Shan explained. She is very powerful, but I am not
sure where they are right now
Dreibrand said, Let it suffice for now that they are not here. He helped
Shan sit forward and began to wrap a bandage around his torso. How closely
did you see them? Are they rys? he inquired while he worked.
I think they are rys. They certainly have intelligence and magic, Shan
answered. I tried to communicate with the male, but I learned only that his
name is Tempet and he possesses an intense hatred for me, as you can see.
So it was this Tempet that did this to you? Dreibrand said.
Yes. He is very dangerous. Never let him get close to you, Shan warned. His
power allows him to change the shape of his weapon, so there is no knowing
what its reach is. That is how this happened.
Dreibrand glanced at the other men. They were hovering nervously. Like him,
their relief from finding Shan had been deflated by the rys s bad condition.
Lowering his voice, he said, Shan, this looks bad. How long do you need to
recover?
No time. I can still fight, Shan said. We must continue the pursuit.
Are you sure? Dreibrand said skeptically. Even if Shan was immensely
powerful, Dreibrand had seen Shan take a bad wounding before and the rys had
been down for days.
Shan was not so quick to reply again. The pain scoffed at his previous
confidence and he confessed, Dreibrand, I need to enter a hibernation state
so I can get this injury under control, but
I dare not. If Tempet and the other one come back, you will need me.
Remembering the death of Pel Ton, Dreibrand tended to agree with Shan s
assessment, but allowing Shan to languish in disrepair would not serve them
either.
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Dobre pomysły nie mają przeszłości, mają tylko przyszłość. Robert Mallet
De minimis - o najmniejszych rzeczach.
Dobroć jest ważniejsza niż mądrość, a uznanie tej prawdy to pierwszy krok do mądrości. Theodore Isaac Rubin
Dobro to tylko to, co szlachetne, zło to tylko to, co haniebne.
Dla człowieka nie tylko świat otaczający jest zagadką; jest on nią sam dla siebie. I z obu tajemnic bardziej dręczącą wydaje się ta druga. Antoni Kępiński (1918-1972)
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