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[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] Prisoner, said Khadgar. Humans don t take slaves. Sure you do, said Garona. You just call them something else. So we should stay together. And that s it? said Khadgar. Mostly, said Garona. Plus there is the little fact that I haven t reported in to Gul dan for some time. If and when we do run into him, I will explain that I was held prisoner at Karazhan, and he should have shown more wisdom than to send one of his followers into a trap. You think he d believe that? asked Khadgar. I am uncertain that he would, said Garona. Which is another good reason to stay with you. You could buy yourself a lot of influence with what you ve learned, said Khadgar. Garona nodded. Yeah. If I don t get an ax through my brain before I get to tell anyone. No, for the moment I ll take my chances with the paleskins. Now, I need one more thing. What s that? I need to gather the bodies together, and heap some brush and tinder over them. We can cache what we don t need, but we need to burn the bodies. It s the least we can do. Khadgar frowned. If the heavy horse are still in the area, a plume of smoke will bring them at once. I know, said Garona, looking around at the fragments of the patrol. But it s the right thing to do. If you found human soldiers killed in an ambush, wouldn t you want to bury them? Khadgar s mouth made a grim line, but he didn t say anything. Instead, he went to grab the farthest orc and drag him back to the remains of the watchtower. Within an hour, they had stripped the bodies and set the remains ablaze. Now we should go, said Khadgar, as Garona watched the smoke spiral upward. Won t this call the horsemen? said Garona. Yes, said Khadgar. And it will also send a message there are orcs here. Orcs who feel secure enough to burn the bodies of their comrades. I d rather have a chance to explain ourselves at close range than facing a charging warhorse, thank you very much. Garona nodded, and, stolen cloaks flapping behind them, they left the burning watchtower. Garona spoke truly, in that the orc version of field rations were a nasty concoction of hardened syrup, nuts, and what Khadgar swore was boiled rat. Still, it kept them going, and they made good time. A day and a day passed and the country opened up now into sprawling fields that rippled with growing crops. The land was no less desolate, though, the stables empty and the houses already collapsed in on themselves. They found several more burned spots of orc funerals, and an increasing number of hummocks marking the passing of human families and patrols. Still, they kept to the brush and fence lines as much as possible. The more open terrain made it easier to see any other units, but left them more exposed. They holed up in a mostly intact farmhouse while a small army of orcs moved along the ridgeline. Khadgar watched the line of units surge forward. Grunts, cavalry mounted on great wolves, and catapults done up in fanciful decorations of skulls and Page 97 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html dragons. Beside him, Garona watched the procession and said, Idiots. Khadgar shot her a questioning glance. They could not be more exposed, she explained. We can see them, and the paleskins can see them as well. This lot doesn t have an objective they re just rolling through the countryside, looking for a fight. Looking for a noble death in battle. She shook her head. You don t think much of your people, said Khadgar. I don t think much ofany people, right now, said Garona. The orcs disown me, the humans will kill me. And the only human I really trusted turned out to be a demon. Well, there s me, said Khadgar, trying not to sound hurt. Garona winced. Yes, there is you. You are human, and I trust you. But I thought, I really thought, that Medivh was going to make a difference. Powerful, important, and willing to talk. Unprejudiced. But I deceived myself. He s just another madman. Maybe that s just my place working for madmen. Maybe I m just another pawn in the game. What did Medivh call it? The unforgiving clockwork of the universe? Your role, said Khadgar, is whatever you choose it to be. Medivh always wanted that as well. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |