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Tokta Burek had just shrugged, xe s lichen-web creaking with the
movement. He ll fret himself dead, xe said, you might as well start on
again and see if you can get him to rest come nightfall. He ll not let the
jarring stop him getting better, you needn t worry over that. The chert s too
dammalheaded to die.
You said he s been drinking smoke. That s where those blisters come from, his
body fighting the need, trying to revert to the way it was before. Can t be
too far gone, or he would be dead. I ll give you some doses of the roec and a
lotion to spread on his skin for the pustules. It will take a few weeks to
work the irritants from the smoke out of his system.
Hunh! He s an irritant to my system.
Burek chuckled. A talking boil, xe said. Xe tou-ched her cheek, the one with
the hawk etched on it. I have deeply enjoyed your art, Shadowsong. By next
year I will have spun my husk and be dreaming the change time away and you
will be part of those dreams.
Remembering, her eyes stung. Impatiently she drew her hand across them and
once again set her mind-touch to probing the dark silent forest that closed in
around and over them, only a few flickers of sunlight reaching the road
through the heavy canopy. She was riding a few pony lengths in
front of
Maorgan who was leading the single packer and the two litter ponies and
looking a bit strained.
That was because Melech had gone on ahead with Lebesair. With their gas sacs
Page 110
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
and thin membranes they were vulnerable to pellet guns. One hit wouldn t
bother them much, the hole would seal itself before too much of their lift
leaked away. Enough hits, though, and the weight of lead as well as the loss
of gas would bring them down. An Eolt on the ground was a dead Eolt.
Wild lives brushed against her touch, feral beasts descended from the
fertilized ova brought by the
Fior, budding beasts that had developed here, and the curi-ous mixes
that she didn t know how to explain. No, mix wasn t quite the right word.
Blend? Alloy rather than compound? Like the moss ponies, two strands of life
style woven into a quirky whole.
In any case, no danger to them.
They stopped at intervals to feed and water the ponies. That was doubly
important now that they had no spares. They stopped at noon to eat and let
Shadith check Danor s bandages and see how he was holding up.
Tokta Burek was right, the journey seemed to be speeding up the healing rather
than setting him back. His temper wasn t improved and his weakness meant it
came out in spates of complaint and jabs at Shadith and Maorgan. Shadith
caught him watching Maorgan with an evil satisfaction at seeing the Ard
suffering the absence of his Eolt.
Mid-afternoon Shadith rode round a bend and saw a group of Fior and Denchok
leaning on shovels and contemplating the bridge over the creek that crossed
the road. The water foamed around rocks and hit the bridge piers with a force
that made them shudder visi-bly. She waved Maorgan to a stop, then rode
forward till she reached the group.
Oso, Meathlan. Is the bridge safe for the crossing? We carry an injured Fior
to Chuta Meredel and can t stretch too much circling.
They turned and stared silently at her with a blank-faced stolidity that was
as intimidating as it was irritat-ing. She d met this response many times
before in her long life, so she simply sat with her hands resting on the
pommel, waiting for one of them to make up his or xe s mind to speak.
A Denchok set hands on xe s hips, looked from Shadith to Maorgan
just visible behind her.
Injured?
Maorgan raised his brows. When Shadith nodded, he rode a few steps
forward, enough so the
Denchok could see the litter.
Chorek, Shadith said. Tokta Burek fetched his fever down, but we ve got to
get him to Meredel.
Best keep a hard watch out, the choreks re bad round here. Politicals, lot of
them, chased out of
Ordu-mels down Plain and landed on us. And there s no dumels for shelter
tween here and Medon
Pass. Take it slow, maybe better get the litter over first. Storm winds last
night kicked a couple planks off
and the water loosened the piers some when it rose. We were just figuring how
to shore them up till we can get a builder from Minach.
When Maorgan tried to lead the litter ponies onto the bridge, they set their
feet, hunched their heads down, and wouldn t budge. Shadith clicked her
tongue, slid from the saddle. Best let me do that, Ard.
Danor swore weakly as she edged past the ponies. She ignored him, rubbed the
poll of the off bearer and considered how much control she should exert. These
tough stubborn little beasts liked ground solid beneath their feet, not
shifting about with little screeching whines. She rather did, herself. She
could feel uneasiness on the verge of solidifying into fear. That wasn t good.
She eased into the mindfield, not trying to see through the pony s eyes, only
to give him a sense of warmth and security.
Page 111
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
After a minute of her massaging his poll and his brain at the same
time, he relaxed a little. She re-peated the process on the other litter
pony, then stepped away from them and pulled off her boots.
She tossed them onto the road and walked the bridge, feet clinging to the worn
planks, feeling them shudder against her soles. Through the openings left by
the windripped planks, she could see the water hammering at the supports. They
were right, though, it would hold if she could keep the ponies calm.
She came back. Ard, your harp, play us across, hm? The Mad Mara s Lament I
taught you a while back so I can serenade our little friends here.
Wild things fluttered in my head, she sang and remembered another time she d
sung that song, sitting in a cage, waiting to be sold to a bunch of
bloody-handed priests.
Wild wings fluttered in my head
And wild thoughts muttered there
In waking dreams I saw you dead
Your body rent, your throat gone red
Your splendid thighs ripped bare.
I cannot sleep, cruel love
Memory s my Mourning Dove
Cuckoos call out, horned maid
See your faithless lover fade
All oaths broke, all hope betrayed ...
With the last notes, the caöpa stepped from the bridge, snorting as he let her
lead him clear. She hitched the leadrope to a convenient sapling and ran back
across the swaying timbers, collected her boots, pushed them into a
saddlebag, then went back to work coaxing the other caöpas across.
The swaying was worse, the footing more uncertain, so this time it was harder
to get them going, even with her mindtouch soothing them, but the harp music
helped. They were used to the sound and it covered all but the worst of the
noises from the bridge. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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Tokta Burek had just shrugged, xe s lichen-web creaking with the
movement. He ll fret himself dead, xe said, you might as well start on
again and see if you can get him to rest come nightfall. He ll not let the
jarring stop him getting better, you needn t worry over that. The chert s too
dammalheaded to die.
You said he s been drinking smoke. That s where those blisters come from, his
body fighting the need, trying to revert to the way it was before. Can t be
too far gone, or he would be dead. I ll give you some doses of the roec and a
lotion to spread on his skin for the pustules. It will take a few weeks to
work the irritants from the smoke out of his system.
Hunh! He s an irritant to my system.
Burek chuckled. A talking boil, xe said. Xe tou-ched her cheek, the one with
the hawk etched on it. I have deeply enjoyed your art, Shadowsong. By next
year I will have spun my husk and be dreaming the change time away and you
will be part of those dreams.
Remembering, her eyes stung. Impatiently she drew her hand across them and
once again set her mind-touch to probing the dark silent forest that closed in
around and over them, only a few flickers of sunlight reaching the road
through the heavy canopy. She was riding a few pony lengths in
front of
Maorgan who was leading the single packer and the two litter ponies and
looking a bit strained.
That was because Melech had gone on ahead with Lebesair. With their gas sacs
Page 110
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
and thin membranes they were vulnerable to pellet guns. One hit wouldn t
bother them much, the hole would seal itself before too much of their lift
leaked away. Enough hits, though, and the weight of lead as well as the loss
of gas would bring them down. An Eolt on the ground was a dead Eolt.
Wild lives brushed against her touch, feral beasts descended from the
fertilized ova brought by the
Fior, budding beasts that had developed here, and the curi-ous mixes
that she didn t know how to explain. No, mix wasn t quite the right word.
Blend? Alloy rather than compound? Like the moss ponies, two strands of life
style woven into a quirky whole.
In any case, no danger to them.
They stopped at intervals to feed and water the ponies. That was doubly
important now that they had no spares. They stopped at noon to eat and let
Shadith check Danor s bandages and see how he was holding up.
Tokta Burek was right, the journey seemed to be speeding up the healing rather
than setting him back. His temper wasn t improved and his weakness meant it
came out in spates of complaint and jabs at Shadith and Maorgan. Shadith
caught him watching Maorgan with an evil satisfaction at seeing the Ard
suffering the absence of his Eolt.
Mid-afternoon Shadith rode round a bend and saw a group of Fior and Denchok
leaning on shovels and contemplating the bridge over the creek that crossed
the road. The water foamed around rocks and hit the bridge piers with a force
that made them shudder visi-bly. She waved Maorgan to a stop, then rode
forward till she reached the group.
Oso, Meathlan. Is the bridge safe for the crossing? We carry an injured Fior
to Chuta Meredel and can t stretch too much circling.
They turned and stared silently at her with a blank-faced stolidity that was
as intimidating as it was irritat-ing. She d met this response many times
before in her long life, so she simply sat with her hands resting on the
pommel, waiting for one of them to make up his or xe s mind to speak.
A Denchok set hands on xe s hips, looked from Shadith to Maorgan
just visible behind her.
Injured?
Maorgan raised his brows. When Shadith nodded, he rode a few steps
forward, enough so the
Denchok could see the litter.
Chorek, Shadith said. Tokta Burek fetched his fever down, but we ve got to
get him to Meredel.
Best keep a hard watch out, the choreks re bad round here. Politicals, lot of
them, chased out of
Ordu-mels down Plain and landed on us. And there s no dumels for shelter
tween here and Medon
Pass. Take it slow, maybe better get the litter over first. Storm winds last
night kicked a couple planks off
and the water loosened the piers some when it rose. We were just figuring how
to shore them up till we can get a builder from Minach.
When Maorgan tried to lead the litter ponies onto the bridge, they set their
feet, hunched their heads down, and wouldn t budge. Shadith clicked her
tongue, slid from the saddle. Best let me do that, Ard.
Danor swore weakly as she edged past the ponies. She ignored him, rubbed the
poll of the off bearer and considered how much control she should exert. These
tough stubborn little beasts liked ground solid beneath their feet, not
shifting about with little screeching whines. She rather did, herself. She
could feel uneasiness on the verge of solidifying into fear. That wasn t good.
She eased into the mindfield, not trying to see through the pony s eyes, only
to give him a sense of warmth and security.
Page 111
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
After a minute of her massaging his poll and his brain at the same
time, he relaxed a little. She re-peated the process on the other litter
pony, then stepped away from them and pulled off her boots.
She tossed them onto the road and walked the bridge, feet clinging to the worn
planks, feeling them shudder against her soles. Through the openings left by
the windripped planks, she could see the water hammering at the supports. They
were right, though, it would hold if she could keep the ponies calm.
She came back. Ard, your harp, play us across, hm? The Mad Mara s Lament I
taught you a while back so I can serenade our little friends here.
Wild things fluttered in my head, she sang and remembered another time she d
sung that song, sitting in a cage, waiting to be sold to a bunch of
bloody-handed priests.
Wild wings fluttered in my head
And wild thoughts muttered there
In waking dreams I saw you dead
Your body rent, your throat gone red
Your splendid thighs ripped bare.
I cannot sleep, cruel love
Memory s my Mourning Dove
Cuckoos call out, horned maid
See your faithless lover fade
All oaths broke, all hope betrayed ...
With the last notes, the caöpa stepped from the bridge, snorting as he let her
lead him clear. She hitched the leadrope to a convenient sapling and ran back
across the swaying timbers, collected her boots, pushed them into a
saddlebag, then went back to work coaxing the other caöpas across.
The swaying was worse, the footing more uncertain, so this time it was harder
to get them going, even with her mindtouch soothing them, but the harp music
helped. They were used to the sound and it covered all but the worst of the
noises from the bridge. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]