[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
and if necessary we can hunt for negwens by feel."
Cezer voiced his doubts about this proposed course of action. "I pride myself
on my sense of direction, but I can't see a damn thing. A hamster could be
making faces at me and I wouldn't know it. Sure, we could continue on the way
we're supposed to go. But we could also become disoriented and wander around
in circles until we drop."
"Have you a better suggestion?" she asked him bluntly.
"No," he grumbled. "According to the rest of you, it seems I never have a
better suggestion."
Careful to stay within earshot of one another, they began to move, forming a
line behind Mamakitty. Everyone periodically announced their presence to
ensure that no one wandered off. In this manner they made progress, pausing
only to eat, drink, and rest. But it was progress that, without any real means
of orienting themselves, remained dubious at best.
"Light!" Cocoa's exclamation caught everyone off guard. "I see light!"
Oskar kept moving until he bumped up against her. Whether out of excitement or
indifference, she did not object to the contact. "Where? I don't see
anything."
"You wouldn't, lover of carrion." Judging from the sound of his voice, Cezer
was standing slightly to the right and in front of him. "It's directly ahead
of us, right in our path."
Taj strained to see. "Is it the eyelid finally blinking back?"
"Use your bird brain," Samm admonished his friend. "The light is appearing in
front of us. Unless we have become badly turned around, that means it's coming
from the east. Since it emerged from the south and blinked its way northward,
if the eyelid was retracting, then any first light we detect should appear to
our north."
"It's blue," Mamakitty announced encouragingly. "Naturally it would be blue."
"That's strange." Cezer had to squint, even cat-sharp vision needing a moment
to readjust from the total darkness. "There seem to be multiple sources."
The pale blue phosphorescence advancing to meet them was not a consequence of
Page 123
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
any gargantuan blink. Instead, it revealed itself on a much more modest scale.
It wiggled and writhed and was streaked with dark patches that did not glow.
Though faint by comparison with daylight, or even the reflection of the moon,
in the otherwise complete blackness it produced enough illumination to reveal
the absence of eyes and the presence of teeth: short, ugly, serrated
triangular teeth that lined the rim of a circular mouth equipped for gripping
and sucking.
"Not negwens," Oskar whispered unnecessarily, "or vrorvels, or like anything
else we've seen."
The nearest of the blue worm-shapes suddenly lunged in his direction. He had
barely enough time to draw his sword and swing wildly, striking the serpentine
blueness just behind a gaping fist-size maw of a mouth. Phosphorescent blue
liquid fountained from the gash. Some of it landed on Oskar's thighs and feet.
It dripped down his legs, flickering as if blue fireflies had been glued to
his clothing. Gradually it faded away to become one again with the darkness.
Wounded, the surprised worm had drawn back. As it did so, another and then
another, each equally lambent, equally grotesque, emerged from the granular
surface underlying the warm optic fluid, corkscrewing their way upward from
below.
"It's another kind of parasite that lives in the Eye. But this one lives in
the body of it, in the flesh. Or in whatever it is we're walking on that
passes for flesh. Our presence must be drawing them out. They must emerge only
in darkness, when the Eye is shut." Having observed the attack on his
companion, a tense Cezer had drawn his own weapon. "By the look of those
fangs, I'll bet it usually preys upon other parasites."
"We're not parasites." Watching the approach of the ghostly phosphorescent
blue shapes, Oskar held his sword at the ready. The blade pulsed with fading
blue light from the blood of whatever it was he had cut. "Maybe they'll see
that we're not their usual prey and leave us alone."
"Oh, let's bet our lives on that assumption, shall we?" An apprehensive Taj
held one of his knives loosely out in front of him. "You march up to the
nearest one, Oskar, and identify yourself. The rest of us will wait here so we
can properly gauge its confused response."
One of the huge worms raised its forward half out of the optic fluid and began
swaying from side to side, examining them with sensory organs that were not
eyes. When it dropped back down into the supportive liquid, a second worm
promptly repeated the scrutiny. Mamakitty counted half a dozen of them, each
bigger and thicker through the middle than Samm had been in his original body.
Much bigger. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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and if necessary we can hunt for negwens by feel."
Cezer voiced his doubts about this proposed course of action. "I pride myself
on my sense of direction, but I can't see a damn thing. A hamster could be
making faces at me and I wouldn't know it. Sure, we could continue on the way
we're supposed to go. But we could also become disoriented and wander around
in circles until we drop."
"Have you a better suggestion?" she asked him bluntly.
"No," he grumbled. "According to the rest of you, it seems I never have a
better suggestion."
Careful to stay within earshot of one another, they began to move, forming a
line behind Mamakitty. Everyone periodically announced their presence to
ensure that no one wandered off. In this manner they made progress, pausing
only to eat, drink, and rest. But it was progress that, without any real means
of orienting themselves, remained dubious at best.
"Light!" Cocoa's exclamation caught everyone off guard. "I see light!"
Oskar kept moving until he bumped up against her. Whether out of excitement or
indifference, she did not object to the contact. "Where? I don't see
anything."
"You wouldn't, lover of carrion." Judging from the sound of his voice, Cezer
was standing slightly to the right and in front of him. "It's directly ahead
of us, right in our path."
Taj strained to see. "Is it the eyelid finally blinking back?"
"Use your bird brain," Samm admonished his friend. "The light is appearing in
front of us. Unless we have become badly turned around, that means it's coming
from the east. Since it emerged from the south and blinked its way northward,
if the eyelid was retracting, then any first light we detect should appear to
our north."
"It's blue," Mamakitty announced encouragingly. "Naturally it would be blue."
"That's strange." Cezer had to squint, even cat-sharp vision needing a moment
to readjust from the total darkness. "There seem to be multiple sources."
The pale blue phosphorescence advancing to meet them was not a consequence of
Page 123
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
any gargantuan blink. Instead, it revealed itself on a much more modest scale.
It wiggled and writhed and was streaked with dark patches that did not glow.
Though faint by comparison with daylight, or even the reflection of the moon,
in the otherwise complete blackness it produced enough illumination to reveal
the absence of eyes and the presence of teeth: short, ugly, serrated
triangular teeth that lined the rim of a circular mouth equipped for gripping
and sucking.
"Not negwens," Oskar whispered unnecessarily, "or vrorvels, or like anything
else we've seen."
The nearest of the blue worm-shapes suddenly lunged in his direction. He had
barely enough time to draw his sword and swing wildly, striking the serpentine
blueness just behind a gaping fist-size maw of a mouth. Phosphorescent blue
liquid fountained from the gash. Some of it landed on Oskar's thighs and feet.
It dripped down his legs, flickering as if blue fireflies had been glued to
his clothing. Gradually it faded away to become one again with the darkness.
Wounded, the surprised worm had drawn back. As it did so, another and then
another, each equally lambent, equally grotesque, emerged from the granular
surface underlying the warm optic fluid, corkscrewing their way upward from
below.
"It's another kind of parasite that lives in the Eye. But this one lives in
the body of it, in the flesh. Or in whatever it is we're walking on that
passes for flesh. Our presence must be drawing them out. They must emerge only
in darkness, when the Eye is shut." Having observed the attack on his
companion, a tense Cezer had drawn his own weapon. "By the look of those
fangs, I'll bet it usually preys upon other parasites."
"We're not parasites." Watching the approach of the ghostly phosphorescent
blue shapes, Oskar held his sword at the ready. The blade pulsed with fading
blue light from the blood of whatever it was he had cut. "Maybe they'll see
that we're not their usual prey and leave us alone."
"Oh, let's bet our lives on that assumption, shall we?" An apprehensive Taj
held one of his knives loosely out in front of him. "You march up to the
nearest one, Oskar, and identify yourself. The rest of us will wait here so we
can properly gauge its confused response."
One of the huge worms raised its forward half out of the optic fluid and began
swaying from side to side, examining them with sensory organs that were not
eyes. When it dropped back down into the supportive liquid, a second worm
promptly repeated the scrutiny. Mamakitty counted half a dozen of them, each
bigger and thicker through the middle than Samm had been in his original body.
Much bigger. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]