Watt Evans, Lawrence Ethshar 01 The Misenchanted Sword

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.It was not just blood that was responsible but something else.He had heard legends of foul weapons, demonic or sorcerous in origin, that sucked the souls from theirvictims; could it be that he now carried such a weapon? He had never heard of such a weapon beingcreated by wizardry but then, the old hermit had been using spells of his own invention.One part of the usual version of the story said that the victims invariably died with their faces frozen inexpressions of unspeakable terror.He glanced at the dead northerner's face; while scarcely calm, theexpression of shock and pain did not live up to the descriptions of those whose souls had been stolen.No, he didn't think it was the northerner's soul that had appeased Wirikidor and allowed it to besheathed albeit briefly.Perhaps the blood of the sword's owner would not work, but any other would.The hermit had told him that the sword had some sort of an ownership spell on it.He remembered the sickening sensation as the sword had twisted in his hand, determined to cut thenortherner's throat out; no, the sword was not satisfied with just a little blood.It had wanted the man'slife.Not his soul, perhaps, but his life.That was not a pleasant thought.Wirikidor might indeed protect Valder, but he did not think he wouldenjoy owning it.For one thing, it was a nuisance carrying it about unsheathed.He promised himself thatthe next time he got it into the scabbard he would leave it there until he needed it again.Putting aside for the moment his consideration of the sword's nature, the next important question waswhat this northern soldier had been doing here.From the man's nonchalant attitude, it was obvious thathe had not been expecting any Ethsharitic activity at any rate, not on land close at hand.Valder couldguess well enough what he had been doing skulking in the bushes, from the sound if nothing else evennortherners needed to relieve themselves but where had he come from? As nearly as Valder couldestimate, he was still several leagues behind the northern lines unless the Ethsharitic forces hadsuccessfully counterattacked.That was an encouraging thought, but Valder was not at all sure it was justified.He glanced about,hoping to pick up the northerner's trail.He found it with surprising ease.The man had made no attempt to conceal it and had, in fact, obviouslyused the same path several times, judging by the amount of wear.Mosses and creepers had beenthoroughly trampled.With Wirikidor in hand, Valder followed the trail southwestward through theforest and in only minutes emerged onto the top of a rocky bluff and found the northerner's littleencampment, overlooking the sea.The dead man's duty was clear; he had been stationed to watch forEthsharitic landings along this stretch of coastline.The elevated position gave him a clear view ofseveral miles of beach.aaTTnnssFFffooDDrrPPmmYYeeYYrrBB22.BBAAClick here to buyClick here to buywwmmwwoowwcc.AAYYBBYYBBr rHe had not expected an attack on land, of course.Valder's presence must have been a shock.This realization left Valder with only guesswork to tell him how far behind the northern lines he mightstill be.He had no way of knowing how much of the coastline the enemy would consider worthguarding.His own army might be a league away, or a hundred.All he could be certain of was that thewar was still being fought, as it had always been, or else there would have been no need to post a coastalwatch at all.Any number of questions were now vital.When was the soldier's relief due? How far apart were theshore-watchers posted? Would it be worthwhile to travel inland to avoid them?He glanced at Wirikidor.He was protected, he told himself; he could go where he pleased.That was notreally a major concern, after all.No, he corrected himself, there were still crossbows, not to mention the arcane weaponry of sorcerersand shatra.He did not want to encounter any more of the enemy than he had to, and where possible itwould be best to meet at close quarters, where Wirikidor would, it seemed, do his fighting for him.Besides, he had no particular desire to kill northerners though he felt a twinge of guilt at making thatunpatriotic admission to himself.Creating a disturbance back here behind the Empire's lines might drawtroops away from his countrymen and comrades; he knew that and told himself that he probably shouldtry to cause trouble, but he was still not eager to kill anyone.Better by far, in his opinion, to avoidtrouble.The sentry's relief might be along any minute, he thought or perhaps not for days, but he saw noreason to take unnecessary chances.He turned and walked back into the forest, away from the sea.CHAPTER 6Two days later Valder was beginning to wish an enemy would find him, just so that he could sheathe hissword after killing someone.He had been carrying the weapon bare in his hand for thirteen days, againsthis will, and was sincerely tired of it.He had tried putting it under his belt, or along one shin, but thesehad proved much too uncomfortable to use for any length of time.He was well away from the shoreline now and had no intention of veering back in hopes of picking offanother coast-watcher, but the thought of coming across a lone northern scout had a certain appeal.Thesweaty palms and tired wrists were overcoming his distaste for bloodshed.With that in mind, he was taking pains to move quietly, lest thoughts of an enemy might tempt the godsto bring him one; he did not want to be caught off-guard.The forest had thickened, and a profusion ofrhododendrons limited the easily available paths, so that he found himself picking his way carefully,watching his feet, his head bent low to avoid overhanging' branches.That let his hair, woefully unkemptafter two and a half months without a mirror, hang down across his eyes, and, with his hands as tired asthey were, he did not bother to brush it aside very often.It was sheer luck that he saw the northern patrolbefore they saw him; he happened to glance up at exactly the right moment.None of the three enemysoldiers was as fortunate.Valder froze for a moment and watched them [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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