Alan Dean Foster Humanx 4 Voyage City of the Dead

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

blinded the watching crowd and there was much screaming. Women and children
fled for the safety of boulders and sun shelters. Several of the warriors
lined up in stately procession along the dock broke formation to sample the
cool waters of the
Skar.
Gwattwe had enough presence of mind to note their names and former rank.
When his sight had recovered somewhat from the effects of the unexpected
flash,
he turned back to the spirit boat. It still rode easily on its lines. Curled
up on the rear deck was the object that an instant earlier had been his spirit
doctor. Smoke rose from the skull and sides of the fetal shape while the
leather sandals burned ferociously.
One of Enaromeka's students jumped onto the boat. Gwattwe held his breath but
Page 45
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
nothing happened to the scholar as he beat at the fire consuming his
instructor's feet. With great presence of mind, the student yelled
instructions.
There was movement among the onlookers. A bucket was located, filled with
river, and carefully handed over.
As the student dumped the water on Enaromeka's corpse, a solemn voice intoned,
"Visitor, you do not belong on this boat. No permission for visitation has
been granted. You have twenty anats in which to vacate this boat or you will
suffer dire consequences. You have been warned."
"I'm not leavings" the student announced, making a sign to ward off the most
dangerous of unknown spirits. Reaching down, he picked up the ineffectual
zhaloo, hefted it angrily as he moved toward the doorway that had defeated his
in-structor.
Gwattwe was not as surprised by the light this time. The student was barefoot,
and the water in which he stood did not protect him from the fire spirits. His
departure from existence was much more spectacular than Enaromeka's. Swallowed
by the burst of energy, he gave a tremendous convulsive twitch and leaped or
was thrown over the side of the craft.
Two warriors reluctantly doffed their armor and dove into the river to pull
him ashore. Gwattwe examined the student's body with much interest. It was
broken and distorted, though differently from Enaromeka's. The soles of his
feet had been carbonized and black streaks ran up both legs. The smell of
burnt flesh was strong in the morning air.
But there had been no fire, only a burst of light and a loud crackling sound.
Pungiram, one of the elders of Aib, had come down onto the dock.
"It would appear, my Oyt Gwattwe, that the hairy strangers are not so dumb as
they frst seemed."
"So it would appear." Gwattwe showed no distress at having been abruptly
deprived of the services of his spirit doctor. He eyed the boat with more
interest than ever. "In this first test of trust and friendship, they have
come out ahead. But I am persistent, old one. There must be some way to drive
the protecting spirit out of this boat so that we can take possession of it."
Pungiram decided to speak up. "You will not find many ready to do battle with
unknown spirits, especially spirits that slay as efficiently as do those
guarding this boat."
"I am not afraid of spirits," Gwattwe said as he hastened to shield himself
with a couple of quickly executed signs, "that are of this world, but it is a
new thing to try to deal with a spirit that comes from beyond. However, I am
not so sure that we are dealing with a spirit here. This boat is a thing of
metal and other strange substances. It is nova proper spirit house."
"Do we have any idea what other spirits consider a proper abode?"
"Perhaps we may learn. I will not give up and walk back to my house." His gaze
rose, turned to the trade road which had swallowed up the tall hairy ones. "A
long way to Turput, a long way back. We have much time left to us."
The surviving students had clustered around the Oyt. He frowned at them. "What
ails you?"
"We must do something about the Teacher." The speaker gestured toward
Enaromeka's blackened body. "He must be given a proper burial."
"He must have his wood and his journey to the sea," another insisted.
"I agree," Gwattwe said "Which of you will honor him by being the first to
step onto the spirit boat to remove the body?"
Rapid glances were passed among the scholars. They de-cided it would be best
to discuss the matter in depth before making any firm decisions. They drifted
away toward the town, arguing vociferously among themselves.
His peace and quiet restored, Gwattwe again considered the object of his
dreams.
He had never been to any of the wondrous city-states that traders told of, had
traveled only a short distance Downriver. But he'd visited Kekkalong and had
Page 46
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
admired its wealth. The spirit boat was no more than another new thing to be
studied and understood, as he had come to understand power and wealth. He
would make a massive effort to be patient. He would have to be or he would
quickly run out of advisors.
He would make a speech praising brave Enaromeka. Then everyone would go back
to work. Tomorrow he would con-sider the problem anew. That was all that was
required; careful thought and sufficient tomorrows.
But he would have to cajole as well as order his advisors. The odor of a
colleague's burning flesh was a powerful deterrent to curiosity.
Chapter Seven
"De-Etienne, de-Etienne, we must stop and rest!"
Etienne halted, staring ahead to where the trading road climbed still another
of the endless vertical walls in a series of laboriously cut switchbacks. The
roar of the Aurang cat-aract was a constant buzz in his ears, even though it
was out of sight far off to their left.
"We're nearly there, Homat. I don't want to spend an-other night on the road.
Tell them no."
"It does not matter, de-Etienne." Homat gestured at the line of heavily laden
porters behind them. "They say they will go not a step farther until they are
given time to put on their warmest clothing."
Etienne made a face as he checked his wrist instrumen-tation. The air
temperature was eighty-four and holding. De-spite that, several of the porters
made no attempt to hide their discomfort, and two were shivering. For his [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Tematy