[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
He felt as if his insides were going to burst, just as air would explode from
a burst balloon. He could no longer react rationally, but fought on in a
fran-tic, instinctive, uninhibited frenzy. Pain and fear drove him forward
with a fury that was frightening. With his good hand, he drew out a short
sword and wielded it with such a vengeance that he emasculated one gnoll with
a swing, then gashed partway through the belly of another with his next. Even
the bloodthirsty gnolls grew wary, and Ren sensed that he had to keep moving
while he retained the advantage. As he started to dart across the courtyard,
he came face to face with the huge gnoll chieftain.
Obviously Cadorna hadn't lied about the ancestry of the gnoll leader. Ren had
never seen such a creature. The chieftain had the ungainly height of a gnoll,
coupled with the bulk of a brawny human. Ren
might well have mis-taken him for a giant, were it not for his face. A man's
nose protruded like a wart from a hyena snout, and pink human lips framed
slavering canine teeth. But it was the eyes that were most terrible of all.
They were unnatu-rally large, wide-rimmed and wide-set like a gnoll's, but
they bore the searing intelligence of a human being a sick, crazed human
being. The creature bore a mon-strous double-edged sword and a long, sharp
dagger.
"Human slug! Don't think for one minute you can run from me!"
The creature's speech was thick and difficult to under-stand. Obviously its
distorted mouth could barely pro-duce the sounds of the human language. Ren
stopped immediately, brandished his own short sword, and is-sued a challenge
of his own.
"Half-breed vermin! Don't you think for one minute you can stop me!"
"So it's a fight you want, is it, worm?"
"Aye," said Ren. "A fight it is. One on one. To the death."
A ring of gnolls had started to close in around Ren, but the chieftain waved
them back. From every building, gnolls swarmed to the center of the courtyard,
and it was only the threatening glances of their leader that kept them from
pressing in and crushing the duelers.
In moments, not a single gnoll remained to block Shal and Tarl's path, but
instead of fleeing, they remained mo-tionless, watching horror-struck as the
strange duel un-folded. They watched as the huge gnoll-man landed a
devastating blow square on Ren's head with the flat of its sword.
"Gods and demigods! I've seen enough!" Shal shouted in a voice that could be
heard even over the tumult. With a piercing mental command, she spurred
Cerulean into the midst of the mob. Without a moment's hesitation, she leveled
her staff at the half-gnoll chieftain, intoned three syllables, and watched as
a bolt of lightning blasted straight through the creature, sending it flying
across the compound. When the horrified gnolls turned in uni-son toward her
and Tarl and started to charge, she lev-eled the staff again and blasted away
unmercifully. Fireballs and lightning ripped through the hordes of gan-gling
hyena-faced creatures, and their squeals and shrieks of pain blotted out all
other sound. Only the few who were fortunate enough to be near Ren were
spared.
As soon as Ren recovered from the blow to his head and the shock of seeing his
opponent jolted across the courtyard, he fled toward the compound gate, afraid
of being consumed in the flames that were exploding everywhere. Quickly he
mounted the terrified mare that stood waiting and spurred her away from the
burning encampment at a gallop.
When she was sure Ren was safe, Shal spurred Ceru-lean around and charged out
Page 92
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
the gate after him.
Tarl clasped her waist tightly, marveling at the uncharacteris-tic fury of his
companion. In minutes, the huge magical steed had caught up with Ren.
When they reached his side, Shal reined to a stop. Be-hind them, there was no
sign of any pursuit.
"What in the Abyss did you do that for?" Ren's face was crimson with rage.
Neither Shal nor Tarl had ever seen Ren so angry. Shal responded with an anger
of her own. "That ugly thing was clobbering you back there! You would've been
killed if I hadn't done something!"
"But it was a duel of honor!" [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl szkicerysunki.xlx.pl
He felt as if his insides were going to burst, just as air would explode from
a burst balloon. He could no longer react rationally, but fought on in a
fran-tic, instinctive, uninhibited frenzy. Pain and fear drove him forward
with a fury that was frightening. With his good hand, he drew out a short
sword and wielded it with such a vengeance that he emasculated one gnoll with
a swing, then gashed partway through the belly of another with his next. Even
the bloodthirsty gnolls grew wary, and Ren sensed that he had to keep moving
while he retained the advantage. As he started to dart across the courtyard,
he came face to face with the huge gnoll chieftain.
Obviously Cadorna hadn't lied about the ancestry of the gnoll leader. Ren had
never seen such a creature. The chieftain had the ungainly height of a gnoll,
coupled with the bulk of a brawny human. Ren
might well have mis-taken him for a giant, were it not for his face. A man's
nose protruded like a wart from a hyena snout, and pink human lips framed
slavering canine teeth. But it was the eyes that were most terrible of all.
They were unnatu-rally large, wide-rimmed and wide-set like a gnoll's, but
they bore the searing intelligence of a human being a sick, crazed human
being. The creature bore a mon-strous double-edged sword and a long, sharp
dagger.
"Human slug! Don't think for one minute you can run from me!"
The creature's speech was thick and difficult to under-stand. Obviously its
distorted mouth could barely pro-duce the sounds of the human language. Ren
stopped immediately, brandished his own short sword, and is-sued a challenge
of his own.
"Half-breed vermin! Don't you think for one minute you can stop me!"
"So it's a fight you want, is it, worm?"
"Aye," said Ren. "A fight it is. One on one. To the death."
A ring of gnolls had started to close in around Ren, but the chieftain waved
them back. From every building, gnolls swarmed to the center of the courtyard,
and it was only the threatening glances of their leader that kept them from
pressing in and crushing the duelers.
In moments, not a single gnoll remained to block Shal and Tarl's path, but
instead of fleeing, they remained mo-tionless, watching horror-struck as the
strange duel un-folded. They watched as the huge gnoll-man landed a
devastating blow square on Ren's head with the flat of its sword.
"Gods and demigods! I've seen enough!" Shal shouted in a voice that could be
heard even over the tumult. With a piercing mental command, she spurred
Cerulean into the midst of the mob. Without a moment's hesitation, she leveled
her staff at the half-gnoll chieftain, intoned three syllables, and watched as
a bolt of lightning blasted straight through the creature, sending it flying
across the compound. When the horrified gnolls turned in uni-son toward her
and Tarl and started to charge, she lev-eled the staff again and blasted away
unmercifully. Fireballs and lightning ripped through the hordes of gan-gling
hyena-faced creatures, and their squeals and shrieks of pain blotted out all
other sound. Only the few who were fortunate enough to be near Ren were
spared.
As soon as Ren recovered from the blow to his head and the shock of seeing his
opponent jolted across the courtyard, he fled toward the compound gate, afraid
of being consumed in the flames that were exploding everywhere. Quickly he
mounted the terrified mare that stood waiting and spurred her away from the
burning encampment at a gallop.
When she was sure Ren was safe, Shal spurred Ceru-lean around and charged out
Page 92
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
the gate after him.
Tarl clasped her waist tightly, marveling at the uncharacteris-tic fury of his
companion. In minutes, the huge magical steed had caught up with Ren.
When they reached his side, Shal reined to a stop. Be-hind them, there was no
sign of any pursuit.
"What in the Abyss did you do that for?" Ren's face was crimson with rage.
Neither Shal nor Tarl had ever seen Ren so angry. Shal responded with an anger
of her own. "That ugly thing was clobbering you back there! You would've been
killed if I hadn't done something!"
"But it was a duel of honor!" [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]