[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
."What have you done with my nephew?"*****Another tremendous crash sounded inside the ward, shaking the gateway so violently Tavis nearly lost his footing.He took the clamor to be a good sign.If the titan already had what he wanted, he would not be tearing Wynn Keep apart handful by handful.The high scout reached the end of the vaulted passage, and, with Basil close behind, followed their escorts through the wicket door at the base of the iron-clad gates.When Tavis entered the ward, his heart sank into his stomach.The keep roof lay scattered across the cobblestones, crumpled into twisted heaps of lead and rafter.Inside the fortress itself, several fires were burning out of control, casting streaks of dancing orange light through the slender arrow loops and pouring huge plumes of black smoke into the sky.The titan stood at the front of Wynn Keep, a looming figure cloaked in purple gloom, barely distinguishable from the fading dusk light.He was straddling the dry moat that guarded the approach to the entry gate, ripping the upper story off the temple tower with one hand and holding Brianna in the other.A semicircle of garrison soldiers stood at his feet, firing a constant stream of crossbow quarrels into his body.The bolts simply passed through the colossus and bounced off the walls behind him, drawing no attention whatsoever from their target.Perhaps a dozen men lay wounded at the feet of the colossus, their open mouths voicing screams that could not be heard above the din of demolition.The sergeant who had been guarding Tavis pulled a hand axe, then turned to his small company of men."Ready yourselves!" he yelled."We'll save the queen!""How?" Tavis asked."What makes you think your axes will have more effect than those crossbows?"The sergeant spun on the high scout, frowning at his presence in the inner ward."Milord, the queen barred you—" The objection came to an abrupt end as the titan dropped another handful of rubble to the ground.A sheepish look fell over the sergeant's face, and he glanced back toward the keep."Never mind—but we've got to do something!"The titan lowered his head to peer into one corner of the tower.He plunged his free hand deep into the building and began to feel around, like a man trying to pull a weasel from its hole.Since he already had Brianna, the colossus could only be searching for Kaedlaw.Tavis pointed to one of his escorts."You, fetch my bow and quiver from my chamber." As the man left to obey, the high scout turned to Basil."We need your help."The verbeeg was already holding his runebrush."Show me your blades, all of you," he ordered."And keep them steady!"The high scout drew his sword and braced it over his arm.Basil touched his brush to the weapon and painted, tracing a moon-shaped pattern of turquoise light upon the metal.A rich blue stain crept outward from the glowing sigil, turning the entire blade the color of sapphire.The steel began to shimmer like starlight, then became dusk-purple and vanished from sight, save for the rune itself and a gleaming line of cobalt along the weapon's edge.Basil nodded his approval, then moved to the sergeant's hand axe."These runes will help your steel find purchase in Lanaxis's armor," he said, using thetitan's ancient name."But don't swing your weapons about unnecessarily.""Why?" The sergeant scowled at the glimmering stain spreading across his axe blade."My runes haven't had time to dry." Basil was already working on the next soldier's weapon, and he did not even look up as he spoke."The night air will rub them off."Across the ward, Lanaxis had moved to the back end of the keep and was peering into the red tower.He reached inside, came up empty-handed, then grunted in anger and slapped his palm against the spire.The third story came loose and crashed to the ground with a deafening boom.Tavis shouted an order, but realized his ears were ringing so hard that even he couldn't hear his own voice.He motioned for the sergeant to join him, then started across the ward at his best sprint.The others would have sense enough to follow when their weapons were ready.By the time Tavis dodged past the rubble heaps and reached the temple tower, his hearing had returned to normal.He found a dozen stunned crossbowmen waiting for him, their faces shocked and hopeless."It's no use, milord," said the leader."He's a phantom.Nothing will touch him!""These will!" Tavis raised his sword and, without slowing his pace, pointed to the glowing rune."Come along, and when someone falls, arm yourselves with his weapon."Fifty paces away, at the other end of the keep, the titan pulled a struggling body from the red tower.Tavis's stomach turned queasy with fear that it might Avner, who was the most likely person to whom Brianna would have entrusted Kaedlaw.A steel gleam flashed between Lanaxis's dark fingers, and the high scout breathed easier.His young friend never wore armor.The titan opened his hand and let the steel-clad figure drop.The man screamed briefly, then crashed to the ground twenty paces ahead of Tavis.Lanaxis stooped over and pushed his arm back into the red tower, allowing the high scout a brief glimpse of Brianna.Her eyes were fixed on the interior of the building, her mouth hanging open in a terrified expression that left no doubt who Lanaxis would pull from the tower next.From inside came the rumble of collapsing walls, followed by the muffled screams of dying men and the clack of firing crossbows.A flurry of black quarrels streaked from the keep's arrow loops and sailed harmlessly through the titan's body.Then Tavis was upon his foe.The high scout found himself at eye-level with a murky shin so large he could not have stretched his arms around it.There was no time to slip behind the leg to attack the heel tendon.Tavis drew his weapon back and chopped at the front of the ankle, hurling his full weight into the blow.It was like trying fell a mature spruce with a single axe-strike.The impact numbed Tavis's arms to the shoulders, and his stinging hands lost their grasp on the hilt.A deafening roar boomed down from the sky, then he found himself stumbling across the cobblestones.The high scout braced his feet and managed to regain his balance.The ground heaved beneath his feet as the titan shifted his immense weight, jerking his injured foot into the air.The fetid smell of stale blood filled Tavis's nostrils, and a cascade of warm brown fluid rained down on his head.The high scout did not look up.He simply dived away and hit the cobblestones rolling.Lanaxis's heel came down behind him, cratering the ground and bouncing him into the air
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]