[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
other observable difference between them and their tissue-heavy relations was the degree to which they
stared at the passing visitors: stared with a degree and intensity that grimly belied their dearth of eyes. If
not for the presence of healthy trees and bushes, Simna could well have believed that they had rolled on
into the land of the dead.
Studying the forest as they rattled along the increasingly ill-maintained dirt track, bumping over rocks and
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
clumps of uncropped weeds, they watched a misshapen panoply of normal life play itself out among the
vegetation. Ehomba pointed out a skeletal badger busily excavating a new burrow with more than
adequate claws but no pads on its feet. A great bull elk trotted past, displaying horns that in its entirely
emaciated state seemed certain to make it too topheavy to stand up, much less run. But it managed to
stay erect nonetheless.
Once, a bobcat of bones leaped from concealment to take down a large rabbit. Normally, there is no
more piercing and heart-rending sound in the wilderness than the cry of a dying rabbit, but this one could
only emit the noise of bare bones rubbing together. Settling down to its meal, the ghostly feline began to
gnaw on its victim, pinning it to the ground with limber white paws. Biting and ripping with sharp teeth, it
methodically dismembered its prey, cracking open the smaller bones to get at the marrow within.
Tiny skeletal fledglings croaked in nests carefully built by osseous parents. A trio of cassowaries loped
across a clearing, their exposed ribs clacking against one another like castanets as they ran. Cumbersome
grizzly skeletons grazed in a dense patch of wild blackberries. Occasionally one would become entangled
as the thorny vines wrapped tightly around ribs or arms. One bear-shape pushed its snout deep into the
copse, emerging with it stained blue-black by berry juice. A vine thrust upward through the underside of
the jaw to emerge from one eye socket. This vegetal invasion appeared to have no effect on the
lumbering ursinoid.
Why a skeleton would need to eat was but one of many questions contemplated by the travelers. As
was his nature, Ehomba very much wanted some answers, whereas his companions simply wished to be
clear of the blighted chasm as rapidly as possible. Even Ahlitah, who had a particular taste for marrow,
sensed the unwholesomeness of the place and expressed his desire to leave it behind.
Abruptly, the wagon made a sharp swerve. Hoy! Simna called out as he was thrown off his feet.
Who s steering? Looking around as soon as he managed to recover his equilibrium, he caught sight of
Ehomba taking in the sail. Etjole, what are you up to, man? Surely you don t mean for us to camp
here?
Not camp. The herdsman spoke while continuing his work. But we have to stop for a moment. By
way of explanation he nodded forward.
A large tree had fallen across the wagon track, blocking it completely. Thick underbrush on either side
prevented them from going around. The toppled trunk would have to be moved, or cut through, or else
the wagon would have to be unloaded and hauled across, with their supplies following from hand to
hand, one package at a time.
By Givouvum, what a place for a rest stop! Grumbling loudly at the inconvenience, the swordsman
vaulted over the side of the wagon to inspect the impediment.
A stop, yes, but from the look of it, no rest. Ehomba was soon standing alongside his friend. Together
they pondered how best to proceed, whether to try to remove the log or move themselves across it.
Not one given to much pondering, Hunkapa Aub lumbered over to the top of the tree where it lay
among a host of smaller saplings it had smashed in the course of its fall. For a long moment he stood in
silence, considering the supine column. Then he bent his knees, gripped the upper stretch of the tree in
both huge hands, and with a rolling grunt lifted it off the ground and began to pull it deeper into the woods
and off the road. Joining reluctantly in the effort, the black litah put its forehead against the shattered base
of the tree. Digging in with all four sets of claws, it pushed while Hunkapa pulled.
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
It took them less than ten minutes to move the trunk far enough off the track for the wagon to squeeze
past. Starting back to their vehicle, Ehomba found himself wondering how much more of the blighted
forest they had yet to traverse, and whether they would be out of it by nightfall. Hopefully, they would be
far away before darkness fell, provided nothing else materialized to impede their progress.
That feared something else took the form of several dozen figures who emerged from behind the wagon
and the brush off to one side. Each skeletal warrior carried a heavy wooden club or spear, save for
several who brandished weapons confiscated from unlucky predecessors. A few wore scavenged armor.
Ill-fitting helmets of bronze and steel bounced loosely on naked, bony skulls. Feathers and iridescent
insect parts protruded from the metal crests, supplying a macabre touch of color to warriors whose
appearance was otherwise almost entirely the bleached, chalky white of naked bone. Many of the
animate advancing cadavers were missing teeth or limbs.
Worse, they stood between the travelers and their vehicle, in which all their weapons were stored.
However, they were not entirely defenseless. As sepulchral shouts rose from the gaunt, ghastly regiment
and weapons were upraised, Hunkapa Aub and Ahlitah took matters into their own hands and charged.
The shaggy man-beast s unearthly howling combined with the big cat s thunderous roars were enough to
give even the dead pause. As the skeletal raiders hesitated, the improbable duo tore into them. It was a
revelation to Simna to see the ferocity with which the gentle, soft-voiced Hunkapa scattered their
attackers. Sword cuts failed to penetrate his thick, hairy coat, and spears he knocked aside with
sweeping sideways blows of his massive arms. Grabbing up one clattering, cackling cluster of bones, he
dismembered it as easily as the swordsman would a chicken. Ripping another assailant into pieces,
Hunkapa threw chunks of bone at its companions, bowling them over with the force of his throws.
Skeletons were knocked askew or trampled underfoot.
Eyes blazing, Ahlitah was not relying on his stentorian bellows to scatter the enemy. Powerful, curving
claws severed skulls from shoulders while heavy paws shattered vacant rib cages and limbs. The crackle
of bones being crunched echoed through the woods every time the litah s powerful jaws locked onto
another gaunt figure.
While their two nonhuman companions wreaked havoc among the surprised attackers, Ehomba and
Simna made a dash for the windwagon. Ducking beneath a spear thrust, Simna rolled into the legs of his
assailant, bringing the startled skeleton down on top of him. Reaching up and around, he locked both
hands and forearms around the skull. Much to his surprise, it was warm. Gritting his teeth, he twisted his
hands and arms in opposite directions. With a snap, the neck broke and the head came away in his
fingers. As the decapitated skull tried to sink its exposed, gleaming teeth into his arm, the sickened
swordsman flung it as far as he could.
Ehomba leaped sideways to avoid a sword stroke and brought his right leg around the way Asab had
shown him and the other young men of the village when they were of an age to learn about fighting. Its
legs taken out from under it, the skeleton went down on its back. As it rolled toward him, flailing [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl ocenkijessi.opx.pl
other observable difference between them and their tissue-heavy relations was the degree to which they
stared at the passing visitors: stared with a degree and intensity that grimly belied their dearth of eyes. If
not for the presence of healthy trees and bushes, Simna could well have believed that they had rolled on
into the land of the dead.
Studying the forest as they rattled along the increasingly ill-maintained dirt track, bumping over rocks and
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
clumps of uncropped weeds, they watched a misshapen panoply of normal life play itself out among the
vegetation. Ehomba pointed out a skeletal badger busily excavating a new burrow with more than
adequate claws but no pads on its feet. A great bull elk trotted past, displaying horns that in its entirely
emaciated state seemed certain to make it too topheavy to stand up, much less run. But it managed to
stay erect nonetheless.
Once, a bobcat of bones leaped from concealment to take down a large rabbit. Normally, there is no
more piercing and heart-rending sound in the wilderness than the cry of a dying rabbit, but this one could
only emit the noise of bare bones rubbing together. Settling down to its meal, the ghostly feline began to
gnaw on its victim, pinning it to the ground with limber white paws. Biting and ripping with sharp teeth, it
methodically dismembered its prey, cracking open the smaller bones to get at the marrow within.
Tiny skeletal fledglings croaked in nests carefully built by osseous parents. A trio of cassowaries loped
across a clearing, their exposed ribs clacking against one another like castanets as they ran. Cumbersome
grizzly skeletons grazed in a dense patch of wild blackberries. Occasionally one would become entangled
as the thorny vines wrapped tightly around ribs or arms. One bear-shape pushed its snout deep into the
copse, emerging with it stained blue-black by berry juice. A vine thrust upward through the underside of
the jaw to emerge from one eye socket. This vegetal invasion appeared to have no effect on the
lumbering ursinoid.
Why a skeleton would need to eat was but one of many questions contemplated by the travelers. As
was his nature, Ehomba very much wanted some answers, whereas his companions simply wished to be
clear of the blighted chasm as rapidly as possible. Even Ahlitah, who had a particular taste for marrow,
sensed the unwholesomeness of the place and expressed his desire to leave it behind.
Abruptly, the wagon made a sharp swerve. Hoy! Simna called out as he was thrown off his feet.
Who s steering? Looking around as soon as he managed to recover his equilibrium, he caught sight of
Ehomba taking in the sail. Etjole, what are you up to, man? Surely you don t mean for us to camp
here?
Not camp. The herdsman spoke while continuing his work. But we have to stop for a moment. By
way of explanation he nodded forward.
A large tree had fallen across the wagon track, blocking it completely. Thick underbrush on either side
prevented them from going around. The toppled trunk would have to be moved, or cut through, or else
the wagon would have to be unloaded and hauled across, with their supplies following from hand to
hand, one package at a time.
By Givouvum, what a place for a rest stop! Grumbling loudly at the inconvenience, the swordsman
vaulted over the side of the wagon to inspect the impediment.
A stop, yes, but from the look of it, no rest. Ehomba was soon standing alongside his friend. Together
they pondered how best to proceed, whether to try to remove the log or move themselves across it.
Not one given to much pondering, Hunkapa Aub lumbered over to the top of the tree where it lay
among a host of smaller saplings it had smashed in the course of its fall. For a long moment he stood in
silence, considering the supine column. Then he bent his knees, gripped the upper stretch of the tree in
both huge hands, and with a rolling grunt lifted it off the ground and began to pull it deeper into the woods
and off the road. Joining reluctantly in the effort, the black litah put its forehead against the shattered base
of the tree. Digging in with all four sets of claws, it pushed while Hunkapa pulled.
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
It took them less than ten minutes to move the trunk far enough off the track for the wagon to squeeze
past. Starting back to their vehicle, Ehomba found himself wondering how much more of the blighted
forest they had yet to traverse, and whether they would be out of it by nightfall. Hopefully, they would be
far away before darkness fell, provided nothing else materialized to impede their progress.
That feared something else took the form of several dozen figures who emerged from behind the wagon
and the brush off to one side. Each skeletal warrior carried a heavy wooden club or spear, save for
several who brandished weapons confiscated from unlucky predecessors. A few wore scavenged armor.
Ill-fitting helmets of bronze and steel bounced loosely on naked, bony skulls. Feathers and iridescent
insect parts protruded from the metal crests, supplying a macabre touch of color to warriors whose
appearance was otherwise almost entirely the bleached, chalky white of naked bone. Many of the
animate advancing cadavers were missing teeth or limbs.
Worse, they stood between the travelers and their vehicle, in which all their weapons were stored.
However, they were not entirely defenseless. As sepulchral shouts rose from the gaunt, ghastly regiment
and weapons were upraised, Hunkapa Aub and Ahlitah took matters into their own hands and charged.
The shaggy man-beast s unearthly howling combined with the big cat s thunderous roars were enough to
give even the dead pause. As the skeletal raiders hesitated, the improbable duo tore into them. It was a
revelation to Simna to see the ferocity with which the gentle, soft-voiced Hunkapa scattered their
attackers. Sword cuts failed to penetrate his thick, hairy coat, and spears he knocked aside with
sweeping sideways blows of his massive arms. Grabbing up one clattering, cackling cluster of bones, he
dismembered it as easily as the swordsman would a chicken. Ripping another assailant into pieces,
Hunkapa threw chunks of bone at its companions, bowling them over with the force of his throws.
Skeletons were knocked askew or trampled underfoot.
Eyes blazing, Ahlitah was not relying on his stentorian bellows to scatter the enemy. Powerful, curving
claws severed skulls from shoulders while heavy paws shattered vacant rib cages and limbs. The crackle
of bones being crunched echoed through the woods every time the litah s powerful jaws locked onto
another gaunt figure.
While their two nonhuman companions wreaked havoc among the surprised attackers, Ehomba and
Simna made a dash for the windwagon. Ducking beneath a spear thrust, Simna rolled into the legs of his
assailant, bringing the startled skeleton down on top of him. Reaching up and around, he locked both
hands and forearms around the skull. Much to his surprise, it was warm. Gritting his teeth, he twisted his
hands and arms in opposite directions. With a snap, the neck broke and the head came away in his
fingers. As the decapitated skull tried to sink its exposed, gleaming teeth into his arm, the sickened
swordsman flung it as far as he could.
Ehomba leaped sideways to avoid a sword stroke and brought his right leg around the way Asab had
shown him and the other young men of the village when they were of an age to learn about fighting. Its
legs taken out from under it, the skeleton went down on its back. As it rolled toward him, flailing [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]