[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
and my best friend, Lioton. I don't know how my uncle tolerated us we were lucky he
brought us back, the way we behaved. We must have played every prank ever invented on
him." He grinned wryly. "So
156 TaraK. Harper
what was it like, living with the Ethran? I've never seen more than two or three of them
together at a time."'
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Click here to buy
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"They're very gentle people in some ways," she answered slowly. "In others, they're like
animals. There was a lot of work to do. I was lucky to be chosen to go they ask for a healer
maybe once every two or three years.''
"Is it true that they pay for what they need with carvings?"
She pulled out a small pouch and displayed two small carvings. "These were made by the
Ethran. I carry them for luck. They gave me others, but I left them at home with my
father,"
"Are they really all as short as a clumpbush?"
"That's one of the reasons they chose me instead of an older healer. I was young, so I was
shorter than the adults, but I was already ready for my first Internship. Moonworms, but I
wanted to go." She smiled. "I traded my scheduled Internship with another healer one
who didn't like to leave the comforts of home for the chance to go with the Ethran."
"How long were you there?"
"Three cycles." She smiled suddenly as if at a private joke. "Three very long cycles." Aranur
raised his eyebrows, and she laughed. "They wanted me to stay and become one of their
clan," she explained. "The ninan before I was supposed to leave, they had a huge meeting.
At first they sent me into the woods so I wouldn't hear what was going on, but the little
ones kept running back and forth telling me everything that happened, word for word. The
adults didn't really mind they can't keep secrets, anyway. When they finally called me
back, they tried to present me with an Ethran headdress." Dion made a face. "I didn't
really offend them by refusing they would have had to rebuild half their village for me to
be comfortable but they still tried to insist that I carry half their carvings away with me."
She laughed. "I had to accept one from each family just to keep peace in the village."
"It was a small village?"
"It was a very targe village," she corrected.
Aranur chuckled. He could just see her as a girl, weighed down with stones, trying to travel
the sixty kilometers back home again.
By midafternoon they had passed several parties on the road but were still kilometers from
the coast. Dion was still riding beside Aranur when they heard a "Damn."
WOLFWALKER
157
Looking back, Aranur called them to a halt. "What is it?" he demanded, twisting his dnu
around and riding back to Tyrel, who was dismounting.
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Click here to buy
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"Picked up a rock," the boy muttered.
Aranur gestured for Rhom to help the boy look. He wanted to tell them to hurry, but there
was enough tension in the air without his adding to it. "Well?" he asked finally, shifting
impatiently in the saddle. The Gray One, appearing suddenly from the brush, startled him,
and he almost swore himself. The wolf looked at him with its yellow eyes. He could swear
the beast was laughing at him again. "What's the problem?" he asked the young
blacksmith.
"It's a Siker barb," Rhom said slowly. "Not a rock. We'd have been better off with a rock."
He put the beast's foot down carefully. "It's worked up into the foot we must have picked
it up when we took that shortcut across the fens and even if I cut it out, the dnu won't run
again soon."
"Why not?" Tyrel demanded.
"The nerve damage is already starting," the smith explained, lifting the placid dnu's hoof
and pointing to the radiating purple lines. "It's probably why it ran so long with the barb in
there before you noticed."
Aranur frowned and looked back at the hills. "Tyrel, strip your pack and take Ainna's dnu.
Ainna, ride with Namina. It won't be comfortable, but we're losing ground every minute
we hang around here." He barely waited forme switch before spurring his mount back to
the fore and picking up speed again.
They crested another hill, and Rhom dropped behind, away from his twin's side. He had
been gone only a few minutes when he reappeared.
"They're back there, about five kilometers," he said over the noise of the hooves as he rode
up to Aranur. "They must have found fresh mounts on the way, because they're riding
hard."
"We'll have a race for it, then."
"That's not all. I have a feeling that the bunch behind us is only half of what we'll find
when we take the turn to Red Harbor. There's that higher road to worry about, and I could
just about see a dust cloud behind one of the closer hills.''
"We still have three kilometers to the coast and then another kilometer around to the
harbor. And," Aranur said with a gesture, "look at the river. This is the second high slack
tide. The
158 TaraK. Harper
tides are starting to turn out on the coast now, and there's no guarantee that the ship's
there at all, let alone that it's still waiting, if there's a cross-tide today."
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' 'We just have to chance it. What else can we do? We're going to have to fight anyway."
The tall man agreed. "One thing's for sure," he said flatly, brushing dark hair from his cold
eyes. "We'll give them a run for their gold.''
They lay against the dnu's backs and urged them on. Beside them, the gray wolf loped
across the ground just off the trail, where its feet landed silently in soft sandy grass. The
Gray One was excited by the smell of the sea, and Dion had to quell the shadow emotions
that spilled from the wolf's mind to hers. The sea. Neither of them had seen it before, but
the salt scents that raised her nose and the stale dampness that invaded the air gave a
sullen impression of the coast. And the band of pursuers was gaining on them little by
little, inexorably, like the tide creeping up on sand-trapped men. The dnu that Ainna and
Namina were riding held them back since it carried the heaviest load, but they had no
other mount to use, and on the second kilometer Ainna changed across the saddles to the
healer's dnu to shift the burden and give Namina's mount a rest. The ride took on a surreal [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl aikidobyd.xlx.pl
and my best friend, Lioton. I don't know how my uncle tolerated us we were lucky he
brought us back, the way we behaved. We must have played every prank ever invented on
him." He grinned wryly. "So
156 TaraK. Harper
what was it like, living with the Ethran? I've never seen more than two or three of them
together at a time."'
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F
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B
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A
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Click here to buy
Click here to buy
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"They're very gentle people in some ways," she answered slowly. "In others, they're like
animals. There was a lot of work to do. I was lucky to be chosen to go they ask for a healer
maybe once every two or three years.''
"Is it true that they pay for what they need with carvings?"
She pulled out a small pouch and displayed two small carvings. "These were made by the
Ethran. I carry them for luck. They gave me others, but I left them at home with my
father,"
"Are they really all as short as a clumpbush?"
"That's one of the reasons they chose me instead of an older healer. I was young, so I was
shorter than the adults, but I was already ready for my first Internship. Moonworms, but I
wanted to go." She smiled. "I traded my scheduled Internship with another healer one
who didn't like to leave the comforts of home for the chance to go with the Ethran."
"How long were you there?"
"Three cycles." She smiled suddenly as if at a private joke. "Three very long cycles." Aranur
raised his eyebrows, and she laughed. "They wanted me to stay and become one of their
clan," she explained. "The ninan before I was supposed to leave, they had a huge meeting.
At first they sent me into the woods so I wouldn't hear what was going on, but the little
ones kept running back and forth telling me everything that happened, word for word. The
adults didn't really mind they can't keep secrets, anyway. When they finally called me
back, they tried to present me with an Ethran headdress." Dion made a face. "I didn't
really offend them by refusing they would have had to rebuild half their village for me to
be comfortable but they still tried to insist that I carry half their carvings away with me."
She laughed. "I had to accept one from each family just to keep peace in the village."
"It was a small village?"
"It was a very targe village," she corrected.
Aranur chuckled. He could just see her as a girl, weighed down with stones, trying to travel
the sixty kilometers back home again.
By midafternoon they had passed several parties on the road but were still kilometers from
the coast. Dion was still riding beside Aranur when they heard a "Damn."
WOLFWALKER
157
Looking back, Aranur called them to a halt. "What is it?" he demanded, twisting his dnu
around and riding back to Tyrel, who was dismounting.
a
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Y
e
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Y
Y
r
r
B
B
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.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
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"Picked up a rock," the boy muttered.
Aranur gestured for Rhom to help the boy look. He wanted to tell them to hurry, but there
was enough tension in the air without his adding to it. "Well?" he asked finally, shifting
impatiently in the saddle. The Gray One, appearing suddenly from the brush, startled him,
and he almost swore himself. The wolf looked at him with its yellow eyes. He could swear
the beast was laughing at him again. "What's the problem?" he asked the young
blacksmith.
"It's a Siker barb," Rhom said slowly. "Not a rock. We'd have been better off with a rock."
He put the beast's foot down carefully. "It's worked up into the foot we must have picked
it up when we took that shortcut across the fens and even if I cut it out, the dnu won't run
again soon."
"Why not?" Tyrel demanded.
"The nerve damage is already starting," the smith explained, lifting the placid dnu's hoof
and pointing to the radiating purple lines. "It's probably why it ran so long with the barb in
there before you noticed."
Aranur frowned and looked back at the hills. "Tyrel, strip your pack and take Ainna's dnu.
Ainna, ride with Namina. It won't be comfortable, but we're losing ground every minute
we hang around here." He barely waited forme switch before spurring his mount back to
the fore and picking up speed again.
They crested another hill, and Rhom dropped behind, away from his twin's side. He had
been gone only a few minutes when he reappeared.
"They're back there, about five kilometers," he said over the noise of the hooves as he rode
up to Aranur. "They must have found fresh mounts on the way, because they're riding
hard."
"We'll have a race for it, then."
"That's not all. I have a feeling that the bunch behind us is only half of what we'll find
when we take the turn to Red Harbor. There's that higher road to worry about, and I could
just about see a dust cloud behind one of the closer hills.''
"We still have three kilometers to the coast and then another kilometer around to the
harbor. And," Aranur said with a gesture, "look at the river. This is the second high slack
tide. The
158 TaraK. Harper
tides are starting to turn out on the coast now, and there's no guarantee that the ship's
there at all, let alone that it's still waiting, if there's a cross-tide today."
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
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Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
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.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
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.
.
.
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r r
' 'We just have to chance it. What else can we do? We're going to have to fight anyway."
The tall man agreed. "One thing's for sure," he said flatly, brushing dark hair from his cold
eyes. "We'll give them a run for their gold.''
They lay against the dnu's backs and urged them on. Beside them, the gray wolf loped
across the ground just off the trail, where its feet landed silently in soft sandy grass. The
Gray One was excited by the smell of the sea, and Dion had to quell the shadow emotions
that spilled from the wolf's mind to hers. The sea. Neither of them had seen it before, but
the salt scents that raised her nose and the stale dampness that invaded the air gave a
sullen impression of the coast. And the band of pursuers was gaining on them little by
little, inexorably, like the tide creeping up on sand-trapped men. The dnu that Ainna and
Namina were riding held them back since it carried the heaviest load, but they had no
other mount to use, and on the second kilometer Ainna changed across the saddles to the
healer's dnu to shift the burden and give Namina's mount a rest. The ride took on a surreal [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]