[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.As her taut muscles began to relax under the influence of the heat, fatiguewashed over her.She closed her eyes and knelt beside the spring, breathing inthe hot wet air until she was nearly asleep, her mind drifting in chaoticimages.After several minutes she stirred, rubbed at her eyes, then forcedherself on her feet.Overhead in the mist the floating ghosts were gathering,starting to merge, and in the surrounding mist she could hear rustlings andscrapings as the night runners began their foraging.Desolate, her emotions and her mind pulling her apart, she turned toward herown kind, seeking blindly for the comfort their presence would give her; shetrotted warily through the mists, experience and a sharpening night sighttaking her safely through the traps of the land until she saw a blurred spotof red and yellow light flickering ahead of her.She dropped beside Churr, reaching out to touch his leg, the hard, cool flesha reassurance of reality, her hand on him an assertion of her claim to kinshipin the tribe.He pulled away and walked to the fire leaving her afraid in away she d not known so strongly before, though she d had tremors of it.Hecame back with a sharpened stick skewered through chunks of meat.Silently hehanded it to her then moved away to join the ring about the fire, his back toher as if he closed a door in her face.She stared down at the charred flesh.After a while she started eating.I m not sakawa yet, she thought.At least hegives me food.Sakawa.It was a hard thought.When a demon seized a Rum and drove him tocommit acts no Rum could possibly do, the tribe drove him out.The kin-slayer,the man who killed by magic cursing a Rum to death, the woman who abandonedher hatchling, the Rum who fell to the earth foaming at the mouth when Mambilawas not in the sky, the child who could not stop destroying things no matterhow he was punished these were drummed from the village.Sakawa.No villagewould take him in.No one would speak to him or feed him or clothe him or evenstay in his sight.Sakawa.Outcast.Demon driven.If the Amar cast me out, shethought, I ll know my luck was lost when Rihon died.I m not a demon s vesselbut he surely must think I am.The Wan won t let them do it, he can t, he llhave to know I haven t changed, I m still Roha the dark Twin.The demons fromthe sky, they re the ones who did this, they have to die.All of them.All!Then everything will be all right again.She stared at Churr s unyieldingPage 92ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlback, afraid to say anything.Whatever she said, he d discount as demon stalk.She looked down at the congealing meat on the stick and wanted to throwit at him, but she forced herself to finish it, unwilling to anger him in anyway.Abruptly Churr jumped to his feet. Time, he growled.The warriors cast asidewhat was left of the meat, kicked dirt over the fire and followed him into themist, leaving Roha gaping after them.She stood, tossed the skewer aside,hesitated, wondering if she dared follow them, then knew she couldn t bear tobe alone and started after them as silently as she could.The way seemedfamiliar; she stepped over the crumpled dying leaves she d slashed from thestranglevine and knew the Amar were heading for the demon camp.She wanted toshout her triumph; instead, she closed her eyes and stood swaying until shecould contain her excitement, then she trotted on, her breathing rough, hereyes glittering.She reached the edge of the clearing in time to see the brother-killer go downwith an Amar arrow in his leg.Hissing, her claws out, Roha flung her armswide in a great triumph.This time the brother-killer was dead, properlykilled by an Amar arrow.Then the Fire-hair turned, cried out incomprehensiblewords and the triumph was washed out of Roha.She watched the demon run to thebrother-killer, then the air seemed to thicken in a great blur around the twoof them, the Fire-hair and the brother-killer.Something was happening, shecouldn t see what.Then the blur was gone and the Fire-hair was bending overthe brother-killer, her hands pressed around the wound in his legs, the arrowwas out and fallen by her side, and the circlet of shimmering golden bloomswas shining around her head.Roha remembered the touch of those long firmhands, the touch, the warmth coming from them, remembered her flesh closingover the gaping wounds in her body [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]