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."Leah!" Quentin roared in fury, striking blow after blow at the wronk that had once been Ard Patrinell,watching in horror as it responded with the unerring instincts and skill of the Captain of the Home Guard,infused with the knowledge that Patrinell had acquired through twenty-odd years of combat and training.It was terrifying.It was as if Patrinell was still there, his spirit captured within that metal form, able todirect its actions, to give thought to its responses.It was as if it knew what Quentin would do before hedid it, as if it could anticipate the Highlander's every move.Perhaps he could, Quentin thought in dismay.Ard Patrinell had taught the Highlander almost everythinghe knew about fighting.Aboard the Jerle Shannara, Patrinell had trained and schooled Quentin in thetricks and the maneuvers that would keep him alive in combat.Quentin had been a good student, butPatrinell knew the tricks and maneuvers, as well, had known them longer, and could employ them better.As did the wronk he had become, remade in this new image, in this monstrous form, in this horrific fusingof metal and flesh.Another of the Rindge went down, bloodied and broken, torn open from neck to crotch.Obat and theremaining Rindge turned and fled.Quentin's tiny band sagged back before the wronk's fresh onslaught.Despair clouded their faces and drained them of their strength.But then they got lucky.Pressing itsattack, the wronk got tangled up in the body of a dead Rindge, lost its footing, and went down.It was upalmost instantly, but a broken limb of the dead man was lodged between its joints.In the few moments ittook the wronk to free itself, Quentin and his companions broke off their seemingly hopeless struggle andraced after the fleeing Rindge.Whatever was needed to win their battle, it would first require a plan.Justthen, it was best just to get away.Sheathing their weapons on the fly, they raced back into the trees.Obat slowed to let them catch up,shouting something at Panax, who shouted back; then all of them disappeared into the trees.In seconds,they could no longer see the ruins.They ran a long time.Others of the Rindge joined them, all of thembreathing hard, bathed in sweat, riddled with fear.Quentin felt the magic of his sword subside, a red hazefading into twinges of emptiness and unfulfilled need, a mix of emotions that tore at him like brambles.HeGenerated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmlwas burned out and chilled through all at once, and part of him wanted to go back into battle while theother wanted only to escape.He did not know how long they ran or even how far.They were well away from the ruins before theystaggered to a halt, a forlorn and dejected band.They knelt in the fading afternoon light, heads lowered inexhaustion, listening through ragged gasps for the sounds of pursuit.Quentin glanced at Tamis, and hisemotions coalesced into an overwhelming feeling of shame.Their effort had failed utterly.They were nobetter off than they had been when they started out-worse off, perhaps, because now they knew the fateof at least one of their missing companions and maybe of the rest, as well.Tamis glared back at him.He was surprised to see tears in her eyes."Don't look at me!" she snapped.Obat spoke to one of the Rindge, and the man rose and started back toward the ruins-looking to see ifthe thing they had fled was still following them, Quentin thought.Panax eased over to him, gruff face flushed and angry."What sort of monster would do that to a man?"he growled."Make him into a machine out of bits and pieces of himself?""Another machine, maybe," Quentin offered wearily."A better question might be why?"Panax shook his head."There's no sense to it.""There's sense to everything, even if we don't understand what it is." Quentin was thinking about thewronk's eyes, Ard Patrinell's eyes."There's a reason Antrax uses wronks.There's a reason for this one.Did you see how it fought us? Did you watch it respond to our attacks? It has Ard Patrinell's memories,Panax.It's using his skills and tactics.It knows how to fight the same way he did."The Rindge who had been dispatched by Obat returned on the run, speaking hurriedly to the subchief,who in turn spoke to Panax.The Dwarf came to his feet at once."Let's go! It's right behind us!"Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmlThey climbed to their feet and continued on quickly, Obat in the lead, choosing an unobstructed paththat allowed them to move swiftly; their best chance lay in outrunning their pursuer.Once or twice,Quentin glanced over his shoulder, but there was nothing to see.He did not doubt for a moment that thewronk was following, untiring and implacable, determined to pursue them until they were run to ground.The Highlander was already feeling twinges of doubt over whether they could escape it.But to stand andfight would be a mistake.The wronk was bigger and stronger.Its armor gave it better protection.Itpossessed Ard Patrinell's fighting instincts and skills.Perhaps if there were more of the Rindge, if theycould reach the village and summon others to their aid, they might stand a chance.Otherwise, even withthe magic of the Sword of Leah to aid them, he wasn't sure they would prevail.They were strung out through a dense part of the forest they were unable to avoid when the wronkcaught up with them.It came out of the trees to one side, its appearance so unexpected that no one wasready for it.Instantly, trapped and cut to pieces, two of the Rindge and the Elven Hunter Wye died.Theremainder of the company scattered in a mix of shouts and cries, going off in all directions, fighting tobreak free of the wronk and the entangling trees.Quentin and Tamis ran one way while Panax and Kianran the other.The Rindge ran everywhere.For an instant everything was chaos as the wronk surgedthrough the center of their line, blades cutting at everything.Then the Highlander and the Tracker were in the clear once more.Quentin risked a quick glance overone shoulder.A gleam of metal in sunlight and the sounds of something huge thrashing after them told himthe wronk was still coming, and it was coming for them."This way!" Tamis hissed, dodging deadwood and scrub like a rabbit as she plunged down a ravine.They ran in silence for a long time, neither one speaking, trying to put as much distance as possiblebetween themselves and their pursuer.It was growing dark, twilight settling over Parkasia, shadowslengthening into night.It was difficult to pick up all the obstacles that hindered or blocked their path,especially when they were running, and more than once Quentin almost lost his footing.All the while, theycould hear the sounds of pursuit, the breaking of branches, the rending of brush and grass, the steady,relentless clump of heavy steps.Something unexpected and frightening insinuated itself into the Highlander's thinking as he fled.At first hediscounted the possibility, pushed it aside angrily, but then he began to wonder.Both times, here andthere, the wronk had made it a point to come after him.He had seen it in the monster's attack on theRindge defensive formation, back in the ruins, where it had rushed the natives first, then turned directlyfor him.Again, in the woods, after striking down those closest, it had chosen to pursue him.It seemedparanoid to think like that [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]