[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
"As a matter of fact, yes," Radnal said. "Koprit birds can see color; you'll often see shoveler skinks
impaled in their hoards. Big-eared nightfoxes eat them, too, but they track by scent, not sight."
"I hope no koprit birds come after me," Evillia said, laughing. She and Lofosa wore matching red-orange
tunics almost the same shade as the shoveler skink's lure with two rows of big gold buttons, and red
plastic necklaces with gold clasps.
Radnal smiled. "I think you're safe enough. And now that the lizard is safe, for the time being, shall we
go ? No, wait, where's freeman vez Maprab?"
The old Strongbrow emerged from behind a big, wide-spreading thornbush a few heartbeats later, still
refastening the belt to his robe. "Sorry for the delay, but I thought I'd answer nature's call while we
paused here."
"I just didn't want to lose you, freeman." Radnal stared at Benter as he got back onto his donkey. This
was the first apology he'd heard from him. He wondered if the tourist was well.
The group rode slowly eastward. Before long, people began to complain. "Every piece of Trench Park
looks like every other piece," Lofosa said.
"Yes, when will we see something different?" Moblay Sopsirk's son agreed. Radnal suspected he would
have agreed if Lofosa said the sky were pink; he slavered after her. He went on, "It's all hot and flat and
dry; even the thornbushes are boring."
"Freeman, if you wanted to climb mountains and roll in snow, you should have gone someplace else,"
Radnal said. "That's not what the Bottomlands have to offer. But there are mountains and snow all over
the world; there's nothing like Trench Park anywhere. And if you tell me this terrain is like what we saw
yesterday around the Bitter Lake, freeman, freelady" he glanced over at Lofosa "I think you're both
mistaken."
"They certainly are," Benter vez Maprab chimed in. "This area has very different flora from the other
one. Note the broader-leafed spurges, the oleanders "
"They're just plants," Lofosa said. Benter clapped a hand to his head in shock and dismay. Radnal
waited for him to have another bad-tempered fit, but he just muttered to himself and subsided.
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
About a quarter of a daytenth later, Radnal pointed toward a gray smudge on the eastern horizon.
"There's the Night Demons' Retreat. I promise it's like nothing you've yet seen in Trench Park."
"I hope it shall be interesting, oh yes," Golobol said.
"I loved the scene where the demons came out at sunset, claws dripping blood," Nocso zev Martois
said. Her voice rose in shivery excitement.
Radnal sighed. "Stones of Doomis only a frightener, freelady. No demons live inside the Retreat, or
come out at sunset or any other time. I've passed the night in a sleepsack not fifty cubits from the
stonepile, and I'm still here, with my blood inside me where it belongs."
Nocso made a face. No doubt she preferred melodrama to reality. Since she was married to Eltsac,
reality couldn't seem too attractive to her.
* * *
The Night Demons' Retreat was a pile of gray granite, about a hundred cubits high, looming over the flat
floor of the Bottomlands. Holes of all sizes pitted the granite. Under the merciless sun, the black openings
reminded Radnal of skulls' eyes looking at him.
"Some holes look big enough for a person to crawl into," Peggol vez Menk remarked. "Has anybody
ever explored them?"
"Yes, many people," Radnal answered. "We discourage it, though, because although no one's ever found
a night demon, they're a prime denning place for vipers and scorpions. They also often hold bats' nests.
Seeing the bats fly out at dusk to hunt bugs doubtless helped start the legend about the place."
"Bats live all over," Nocso said. "There's only one Night Demons' Retreat, because "
The breeze, which had been quiet, suddenly picked up. Dust skirled over the ground. Radnal grabbed
for his cap. And from the many mineral throats of the Night Demons' Retreat came a hollow moaning and
wailing that made the hair on his body want to stand on end.
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]