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.They rushed from the lower levels of the fortress, the darkened stairwells,and the tunnels that ran beneath.Foremost among them was the Dwarf commander Radhomm.Red hairflying, he led his soldiers into the tangle of giant arms, cutting and hacking with a broadax.Bits and piecesof the Kraken flew in a froth of blood, reddish ichor spilling down upon the dampened scone of the dam.But the Kraken was a monstrous thing, and the Dwarves were little more than gnats to be brushed aside.The tentacles came down, smashing the tiny creatures who swarmed about it, leaving them lifeless.Stillthe defenders came on, determined to clear the way for those trapped within the doomed fortress.Butthe Kraken swept them aside as quickly as they appeared, and they fell dying all about the monster.Finally the Kraken caught Radhomm as the Dwarf commander fought to break past.The monster swungthe red-haired Dwarf high into the air, unaffected by the broadax that still flailed in stubborndetermination.The Kraken lifted Radhomm; then, with horrifying suddenness, it smashed him downwardto the stone, broken, twisted, and lifeless.Slanter was pulling vainly at Jair. Run! he screamed in desperation.Tentacles swept past them, hammering into the battlements and smashing the stone so that it flew in alldirections.A shower of jagged fragments struck the Valeman and the Gnome as they struggled, knockingthem sprawling, half burying them in debris.Shaking his head dazedly, Jair regained his feet andstaggered forward against the stone balustrade.Below, the Dwarves had fallen back within the beseigedfortress, demoralized by the loss of Radhomm.The Kraken was still stretched across the litteredcourtyard, edging closer now to the walls upon which Jair crouched.The Valeman started to drop back,then stopped in dismay.Slanter lay stunned at his feet, blood oozing from a deep cut in his head.Then far below, seemingly from out of nowhere, Garet Jax appeared.Lean and black against the graylight of the dawn, he darted swiftly from the shelter of the battlements on the sea wall, a short speargripped in his hands.Jair cried out as he saw him-a sudden, wild cry-but the sound was lost in the wail ofthe wind and the screams of battle.Across the blood-soaked length of the high dam the WeaponsMaster raced, a small and agile figure-not away from the deadly tentacles of the Kraken, but directly intothem.Weaving and dodging like a shadow without substance, he broke for the monster s gaping maw.The tentacles hammered down, swatting at him, missing him, sliding past him, far too slow for anyone soimpossibly quick.But one slip, one mistake.Up against the hooked beak, the Weapons Master leaped, against the very jaws of the beast.He struckwith stunning swiftness, the short spear burying itself deep within the soft tissue of the open maw.Instantly, the tentacles collapsed, the giant body lurching.But Garet Jax was already moving, spinningsideways and diving clear of the trap that sought to snare him.On his feet once more, the WeaponsMaster caught up a new weapon, this one a lance fixed with an iron pike, the haft still clutched in thelifeless hands of its owner.With a quick scooping motion, Garet Jax had wrenched it free.Too late, theKraken caught sight once more of this dangerous attacker, barely two yards from one lidded eye.Theiron-tipped lance thrust upward at the unprotected eye, piercing through skin, blood, and bone into thebrain beyond.The stricken Kraken wrenched backward in obvious distress, fin-legs churning madly.Stone rampartsshattered all about it as it sought to regain the waters of the Cillidellan.Still Garet Jax clung to the lanceembedded within the monster s brain, refusing to release it, grinding it deeper and deeper as he waitedfor the life force to expend itself.But the Kraken was impossibly strong.Heaving upward, it lifted free of Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmlthe high dam, then fell ponderously into the Cillidellan and dove from sight.Hands still fixed upon the haftof the lance, Garet Jax was carried with it.Jair stumbled back against the shattered balustrade in stunned disbelief, his cry of anger dyingsoundlessly in his throat.Below, the high dam lay clear again and the Dwarf defenders trapped withinbroke from their prison for the safety of the south watch.Then Slanter was next to him once more, staggering back to his feet.Blood covered the wizened yellowface, but the Gnome brushed it aside wordlessly and yanked the Valeman down the stairs after him.Stumbling and falling, they gained the courtyard and started across in the direction taken by the fleeingDwarves.But already they were too late.Gnome Hunters had appeared on both sides of the battlements behindthem.Howling and screaming, a mass of armored, blood-soaked forms, they poured across the crest ofthe high dam and streamed down into the court.Slanter took one quick look back and abruptly wheeledJair into one of the dark stairwells.They raced down several flights of lamp-lighted stairs, deep into theshadowed dark of the lower levels that led to the inner workings of the locks.Above, the sounds ofpursuit began to fade.When the stairs ended, they found themselves in a dimly lighted corridor that disappeared down thelength of the dam.Slanter hesitated, then turned north, pulling Jair after him. Slanter! the Valeman howled, struggling to slow the Gnome. This leads back the way we vecome-away from the Dwarves! Gnomes will be going the other way, too! Slanter snapped. Won t be hunting Dwarves or anybodyelse this way, will they! Now, run! They ran into the gloom, stumbling wearily along the empty corridor.The sounds of battle were far awaynow, distant and faint against the steady grinding of the machinery and the low rush of the waters of theCillidellan.Jair s mind spun with the shock of what had befallen them.The little company from Culhavenwas no more-Helt and Foraker struck down by the walkers, Garet Jax carried away by the Kraken, andEdain Elessedil disappeared.Only Slanter and he were left-and they were running for their lives.Capaalwas gone, fallen to the Gnomes.The locks and dams that regulated the flow of the Silver River west intothe homeland of the Dwarves were in the hands of their most implacable enemy.Everything was lost.His lungs tightened with the strain of running, and his breathing was harsh and labored in his ears.Tearsstung his eyes, and his mouth was dry with bitterness and anger.What was he to do now? How was heto reach Brin? He could never find her before she stepped down into the Maelmord and was foreverlost.How was he to complete the mission given him by the King.?His legs went out from under him, knocked away by something he hadn t seen, and he went sprawlinginto the darkness.Ahead, Slanter ran on, unheeding, a dim shadow in the darkness of the tunnel.Hurriedly, Jair scrambled back to his feet.Slanter was getting too far ahead of him.Then an arm shot out of the darkness and a hand clamped across his mouth, rough and scaled, sealingaway his breath.A second arm encircled his body, hard as iron, and he was dragged back into theshadows of an open door. Sstay, little peopless, a voice hissed. Friendss, we of magicss.Friendss! Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.They rushed from the lower levels of the fortress, the darkened stairwells,and the tunnels that ran beneath.Foremost among them was the Dwarf commander Radhomm.Red hairflying, he led his soldiers into the tangle of giant arms, cutting and hacking with a broadax.Bits and piecesof the Kraken flew in a froth of blood, reddish ichor spilling down upon the dampened scone of the dam.But the Kraken was a monstrous thing, and the Dwarves were little more than gnats to be brushed aside.The tentacles came down, smashing the tiny creatures who swarmed about it, leaving them lifeless.Stillthe defenders came on, determined to clear the way for those trapped within the doomed fortress.Butthe Kraken swept them aside as quickly as they appeared, and they fell dying all about the monster.Finally the Kraken caught Radhomm as the Dwarf commander fought to break past.The monster swungthe red-haired Dwarf high into the air, unaffected by the broadax that still flailed in stubborndetermination.The Kraken lifted Radhomm; then, with horrifying suddenness, it smashed him downwardto the stone, broken, twisted, and lifeless.Slanter was pulling vainly at Jair. Run! he screamed in desperation.Tentacles swept past them, hammering into the battlements and smashing the stone so that it flew in alldirections.A shower of jagged fragments struck the Valeman and the Gnome as they struggled, knockingthem sprawling, half burying them in debris.Shaking his head dazedly, Jair regained his feet andstaggered forward against the stone balustrade.Below, the Dwarves had fallen back within the beseigedfortress, demoralized by the loss of Radhomm.The Kraken was still stretched across the litteredcourtyard, edging closer now to the walls upon which Jair crouched.The Valeman started to drop back,then stopped in dismay.Slanter lay stunned at his feet, blood oozing from a deep cut in his head.Then far below, seemingly from out of nowhere, Garet Jax appeared.Lean and black against the graylight of the dawn, he darted swiftly from the shelter of the battlements on the sea wall, a short speargripped in his hands.Jair cried out as he saw him-a sudden, wild cry-but the sound was lost in the wail ofthe wind and the screams of battle.Across the blood-soaked length of the high dam the WeaponsMaster raced, a small and agile figure-not away from the deadly tentacles of the Kraken, but directly intothem.Weaving and dodging like a shadow without substance, he broke for the monster s gaping maw.The tentacles hammered down, swatting at him, missing him, sliding past him, far too slow for anyone soimpossibly quick.But one slip, one mistake.Up against the hooked beak, the Weapons Master leaped, against the very jaws of the beast.He struckwith stunning swiftness, the short spear burying itself deep within the soft tissue of the open maw.Instantly, the tentacles collapsed, the giant body lurching.But Garet Jax was already moving, spinningsideways and diving clear of the trap that sought to snare him.On his feet once more, the WeaponsMaster caught up a new weapon, this one a lance fixed with an iron pike, the haft still clutched in thelifeless hands of its owner.With a quick scooping motion, Garet Jax had wrenched it free.Too late, theKraken caught sight once more of this dangerous attacker, barely two yards from one lidded eye.Theiron-tipped lance thrust upward at the unprotected eye, piercing through skin, blood, and bone into thebrain beyond.The stricken Kraken wrenched backward in obvious distress, fin-legs churning madly.Stone rampartsshattered all about it as it sought to regain the waters of the Cillidellan.Still Garet Jax clung to the lanceembedded within the monster s brain, refusing to release it, grinding it deeper and deeper as he waitedfor the life force to expend itself.But the Kraken was impossibly strong.Heaving upward, it lifted free of Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmlthe high dam, then fell ponderously into the Cillidellan and dove from sight.Hands still fixed upon the haftof the lance, Garet Jax was carried with it.Jair stumbled back against the shattered balustrade in stunned disbelief, his cry of anger dyingsoundlessly in his throat.Below, the high dam lay clear again and the Dwarf defenders trapped withinbroke from their prison for the safety of the south watch.Then Slanter was next to him once more, staggering back to his feet.Blood covered the wizened yellowface, but the Gnome brushed it aside wordlessly and yanked the Valeman down the stairs after him.Stumbling and falling, they gained the courtyard and started across in the direction taken by the fleeingDwarves.But already they were too late.Gnome Hunters had appeared on both sides of the battlements behindthem.Howling and screaming, a mass of armored, blood-soaked forms, they poured across the crest ofthe high dam and streamed down into the court.Slanter took one quick look back and abruptly wheeledJair into one of the dark stairwells.They raced down several flights of lamp-lighted stairs, deep into theshadowed dark of the lower levels that led to the inner workings of the locks.Above, the sounds ofpursuit began to fade.When the stairs ended, they found themselves in a dimly lighted corridor that disappeared down thelength of the dam.Slanter hesitated, then turned north, pulling Jair after him. Slanter! the Valeman howled, struggling to slow the Gnome. This leads back the way we vecome-away from the Dwarves! Gnomes will be going the other way, too! Slanter snapped. Won t be hunting Dwarves or anybodyelse this way, will they! Now, run! They ran into the gloom, stumbling wearily along the empty corridor.The sounds of battle were far awaynow, distant and faint against the steady grinding of the machinery and the low rush of the waters of theCillidellan.Jair s mind spun with the shock of what had befallen them.The little company from Culhavenwas no more-Helt and Foraker struck down by the walkers, Garet Jax carried away by the Kraken, andEdain Elessedil disappeared.Only Slanter and he were left-and they were running for their lives.Capaalwas gone, fallen to the Gnomes.The locks and dams that regulated the flow of the Silver River west intothe homeland of the Dwarves were in the hands of their most implacable enemy.Everything was lost.His lungs tightened with the strain of running, and his breathing was harsh and labored in his ears.Tearsstung his eyes, and his mouth was dry with bitterness and anger.What was he to do now? How was heto reach Brin? He could never find her before she stepped down into the Maelmord and was foreverlost.How was he to complete the mission given him by the King.?His legs went out from under him, knocked away by something he hadn t seen, and he went sprawlinginto the darkness.Ahead, Slanter ran on, unheeding, a dim shadow in the darkness of the tunnel.Hurriedly, Jair scrambled back to his feet.Slanter was getting too far ahead of him.Then an arm shot out of the darkness and a hand clamped across his mouth, rough and scaled, sealingaway his breath.A second arm encircled his body, hard as iron, and he was dragged back into theshadows of an open door. Sstay, little peopless, a voice hissed. Friendss, we of magicss.Friendss! Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]