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." Riki gazed off into theforest, eyes unfocused, thinking."Like Dorothy, he's a traveler betweenworlds, just as lost."Riki's eyes snapped back in focus."Impatience.He's your wizard.""Who?""Impatience.The dragon that you fought at Turtle Creek."file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry/Bureaublad/.html.jpg,%20advance%20reader%20copy)/A416520554__17.htm (3 of 10)5-1-2007 1:07:14- Chapter 17She tried to fit the name of "Impatience" with the countless jagged teeth andmassive snaky body."See, intelligence disguised." Riki waved his cigarette, reminding her of theastronomer post docs when they went into lecture mode."Legends say that adragon has a body and a spirit, and you can encounter the one without theother.Usually in the old stories, the dragons send their spirits out to crossgreat distances  but while they're doing it, it's a very unwise thing toapproach them.The lights are on, but no one's home.""Running on autopilot?""Let's just say that there's more than one story about someone getting theirhead bitten off while a dragon's spirit is absent."She remembered with great clarity the sense of intelligence filling thedragon's eyes its surprise at having a hand clamped into its mouth."So you'resaying the dragon was unconscious at the time he attacked me.""Probably."That would certainly explain how she managed to walk away with nothing morethan a sore hand."So where is this dragon now?""Even if I knew that, I wouldn't tell you.I want Impatience for the tengu.Page 144ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlThat's what I was doing atReinholds.The oni had set a trap for it, using the fountain as a lure.""The oni?""Impatience was one of two dragons the oni had waiting on Onihida for theinvasion.The other isMalice, who is much bigger.Somehow Impatience managed to slip the oni's holdon him and escape.""So, on top of the royal troops and the oni, we have an unaligned dragonrunning loose in Pittsburgh.""Well, a party is only fun if you invite lots of interesting people."She stuck her tongue out at him."How do you plan to find Impatience?""I don't know.You apparently have to follow the yellow brick road."In her dream, though, the road ended with the tree.This was going to driveher mad.In the silence between them, she heard a slight noise from Riki's hippocket.He frowned, slipped out a cell phone and answered it with a cautious,"Hello?"As he listened, his look changed to worry."You're where? Jesus Christ whatare you doing there? Oh fuck.Yes I said that, what do you expect me to say?No don't  don't." Riki sighed."Put your cousin on.No, no, not Joey!Keiko." Riki waited a moment until the phone could be traded off on the otherside of the conversation."Yeah, I'm here.What's going on?"Riki listened for several minutes, grimacing as if what he heard pained him."I'll be there in a few minutes.Hang tight." Riki tucked away his phone."Change of plans.""You're letting me go?""Sorry," he actually managed to look it."I'll never have this chance again.Ican't throw it away." He pulled out a silk scarf and tied it over her eyes."Idon't want you to know where we're going." He took firm hold of her and jerkedher off her feet."This time, don't wriggle so much."She felt him leap, knew that he left the safety of the tree, and nearlyscreamed at the knowledge.His wings rustled out, caught the air, and theyswooped upwards.Fifteen or twenty minutes later, Riki dove down and wove through light andshadows to land again.Numb from dangling, her legs folded under her.Riki lowered her down to aprone position and thenfile:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry/Bureaublad/.html.jpg,%20advance%20reader%20copy)/A416520554__17.htm (4 of 10)5-1-2007 1:07:14- Chapter 17knelt behind her, panting with exertion.Their landing site seemed too flat to be a tree branch but it swayed slightlywith the rustling of the wind."Damn it, Riki, where are we?"Riki tugged down her blindfold.She lay just inside the door of a tiny cabin;only eight-foot square, it would have been claustrophobic if it actuallycontained furniture."We're at a cote," he panted."Emergency shelter."The cabin seemed to be made of scrap lumber.The one small round windowletting in light held glass, and the high ceiling bristled with nails,indicating that the roof was shingled, so the cabin was weatherproofed."Stay put." He stepped past her to pull something off a set of shelves on theback wall."There's no safe way down to ground.I'll be back."Cabin, hell, it was a tree house.Under any other circumstance, she would havebeen entranced with the notion.Riki took a deep breath and stepped backwards out the door, spreading hisblack wings."Stay," he repeated and flapped away.Page 145ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlNot trusting his word, she struggled to her feet and went to the door.Theview straight down made her step backwards quickly.It was a place strictlyfor birds.If her hands weren't bound behind her back, she could get to themassive branch just outside the door, but there was nowhere to go from there.The tree was too wide, and the lowest branch too far from the ground to allowclimbing down.She could see nothing but virgin forest through both the doorand window, not even a glimpse of sun or river to give a clue which directionthey flown.The cote was cunningly made.A brace along the back wall provided the oneanchor point so the stress of the shifting tree could not tear the room apart.The front of cabin rested on a beam yoked over side branches.A loft bednearly doubled the floor space.A generous overhang meant the front door couldhang open even during a rain shower to let in light without the weather.Theoutside of the cabin had been painted gray and black in a pattern thatmimicked ironwood bark.She kicked shut the door but the latch was too high for her to shift with herhands bound.The shelves on the back wall were stocked with survival gear: warm clothingand blankets in plastic bags, extra plastic bags, rolls of duct tape, aserious first aid kit, ammo for guns, flashlights, two box knives, waterproofmatches, bottled spring water, a water purifier kit, a small cooler filledwith power bars and military rations, and even a roll of toilet paper.Judgingby the shape of the bag, Riki had taken a set of clothes with him.She fumbled with one of the box knives, blindly sawing at the plastic strapbinding her wrists.The blade kept slipping, nicking her wrists, before shefinally managed to cut through.She bandaged her wrists, looking at what shehad to work with [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]