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case. They had probably thrown the dead overboard, for in the heat of the
crimson sun corpses would quickly begin to stink.
They reached the ship, and Fylo set Agis on the rear deck. As the noble
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climbed over a crumpled sail to slip into the floater's pit, he found Wyan
waiting at the helm, along with a yellow-haired half-elf crewman. The slave's
ankle was swollen and purple, and he managed to stand only by supporting
himself on the ship's wheel.
"You're a brave man for coming to our aid, sir," said the half-elf. "Most
others wouldn't have done the same, and the crew is thankful-whether we make
it or not"
"We'll make it," Agis assured him, slipping into the floater's seat "But we'd
better move fast."
"Aye, captain," replied the half-elf. He looked forward, then commanded,
"Ready your plunging poles!"
Agis used his good hand to lay his broken arm across the dome, gasping at the
pain it caused. He focused his thoughts on the obsidian beneath his hands. A
moment later, he smelled the briny aroma of salt water and felt himself
rocking back and forth to the gentle sway of lapping waves. He visualized the
battered
Shadow Viper floating on the surface of the sparkling sea, then groaned as a
heavy weight settled upon his spirit. The caravel rose out of the dust. The
crew raised a haggard cheer and plunged their poles into the silt.
As the slaves pushed off, a series of sonorous grunts sounded from the isthmus
shore. An instant later, the bay erupted into a gray haze, boulders dropping
all around the
Shadow Viper. A
loud crash sounded behind Agis, then the helmsman's broken body flew past the
noble amidst a torrent of shattered planks and beams.
A shard of broken wheel struck Agis squarely between the shoulder blades. The
fragment did not pierce his flesh, but the impact drove him face-first into
the floater's dome. His broken arm exploded in pain, and his concentration
lapsed, allowing the
Shadow Viper to settle back into the bay.
"Agis!" screamed Fylo's deep voice. The giant's fingers closed around the
noble's shoulders, pulling him upright. "You hurt?"
"I'll be fine," Agis gasped.
Keeping his broken arm on the floater's dome, he looked over his shoulder. In
place of the helm, a broken-
edged hole opened below deck, a gray boulder resting in a pile of rubble that
had once been Kester's stateroom.
Farther away, Nuta and his party of warriors were wading out from the isthmus,
each giant holding another boulder to hurl at the
Shadow Viper.
Fylo pointed toward the mouth of the bay, where the cove opened up into a
broad expanse of featureless dust
"Take ship to deep silt Joorsh can't follow," he said, taking a huge harpoon
off the rear deck's rack. "Fylo slow them down."
"No!" Agis yelled. "We have catapults. You run."
"Where to?" the giant asked, puzzled. "Agis only friend. Not let Joorsh hurt
him." With that, the half- breed turned and waded back to meet the pursuing
warriors.
Wyan floated up from Kester's stateroom. "What are you waiting for? It was
your idea to save this worthless bunch of slaves."
Grimacing with the pain of his broken arm, Agis pulled the satchel off his
shoulder. "Can you get Tithian out of there?" he asked.
"Of course."
The noble laid the satchel on the edge of the floater's pit. "Then do it," he
said. "I don't know how long I'll last.
Besides, when the next boulder hits, it would be better to have an extra
shipfloater."
As the disembodied head drifted over to the satchel's mouth, Agis returned his
attention to the floater's dome
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and raised the
Shadow Viper.
The effort added to his agony, and he began to feel sick. The slaves leaned
against their plunging poles. The caravel's response was sluggish, for it rode
dangerously low in the silt.
Agis focused on the smell and the sound of the sea inside his mind, trying to
raise the ship higher. The pain of his broken arm intruded on his thoughts,
making the waves choppy and unpredictable. In addition to moving slowly, the
ship began to lurch and roll. The noble stopped trying to concentrate so hard,
and the sea calmed again. If Tithian did not take over soon, Agis knew they
would sink.
A pair of thunderous battle cries sounded behind the ship. Now that the
Shadow Viper was under way, Agis allowed himself to look back. He saw Fylo
charging straight at Nuta, who was raising his boulder to throw. Behind the
chief, the other Joorsh warriors were rushing forward to support their leader.
Nuta hurled his boulder, and Fylo ducked. The stone glanced off the
half-breed's injured shoulder. He screamed in pain and dropped to one knee,
burying himself up to his chest in silt. For a moment, Agis thought the giant
would pitch forward and vanish beneath the surface of the bay. Then, as the
chief started to pass him by, the half-breed seemed to gather his strength.
With an angry bellow, he rose and thrust his harpoon deep into Nuta's ribs.
The chief screamed and fell. As the grizzled giant disappeared into the silt,
Fylo jerked the bloody harpoon free and, screaming a war cry, turned to charge
the rest of the company. His astonished enemies stopped and launched their
boulders at him. The half-breed countered by flinging his harpoon at the next
warrior in line, then disappeared beneath a hail of gray stones.
A curtain of pearly dust rose where Fylo had fallen. For a long time, Agis
could do nothing but stare into it, amazed at the giant's actions. By
attacking so fiercely, he had forced the Joorsh to use their boulders against
him, buying precious time for the
Shadow Viper to escape. In his death, the lonely half-breed, who had struggled
all his life to find a single friend, had committed the ultimate act of
fellowship. Now, though he might never know it, he would have a whole shipload
of comrades.
"Goodbye," Agis whispered sadly. "In all the cities of Athas, the bards shall
sing of your great friendship."
The surviving Joorsh warriors began to emerge from the dust curtain. With
their hands now empty, they were free to use their arms for balance. They were
wading through the silt with a strange, twisting gait that seemed half running
and half dancing, plowing great plumes of silt into the air. Although they no
longer had anything to throw at the
Shadow Viper, they appeared confident that they would catch the caravel, for
it continued to ride low and make sluggish progress.
Returning his attention to the ship, Agis found Tithian-at least he thought it
was Tithian-crawling from the satchel. The king's auburn hair had become
coarse and gray, and the ever-present diadem no longer sat upon his head. His
skin had paled with age, growing flaky and wrinkled, while dark, angry-looking
circles sagged beneath his eyes. Only the darting brown eyes and sharply
hooked nose remained the same as the noble remembered.
"Tithian?" the noble gasped. "What happened to you?" [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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