Dark Sun: Prism Pentad 2 - The Crimson Legion by Troy Denning Read Free Book Online Page A

The tips of their noses had
    
    
     no sooner disappeared
    
    
     into black barrier than the mul heard the sizzle and sputter of
    
    
     more
    
    
     fireballs.
    Screaming, he threw himself into the pit, knocking Neeva off the ladder as he dropped past
     her. The gladiators crashed headlong into Gaanon's massive form, and all three tumbled to
     the floor in a heap. A loud whoosh sounded over their heads. Long tongues of crimson flame
     shot down the wall, licking at their legs and their backs, stopping just shy of the floor
     itself.
    When Rikus spun over, he saw nothing but a blazing inferno overhead. There were flames of
     every color: red, yellow, white, blue, and, he thought, even black. He could not see the
     wall or ceiling, only raging fire.
    Despite the holocaust, the argosy continued to trundle forward.
    Rikus and his companions collected their weapons and rose. Not seeing how the thri-kreen
     could have survived such a firestorm, the mul touched his hand to his forehead, then held
     it toward where he imagined K'kriq's charred remains would be lying. “You fought like the
     Dragon,” he said, giving the mantis-warrior the gladiator's greatest farewell salute.
    With that, the mul led the way back toward the cargo door. They reached it just as the
     argosy itself was passing from the Tyrian side of the dark wall to that of the Urikites.
     From this side, the barrier was not opaque. Rather, it had the translucent quality of a
     sheet of thinly cut obsidian, and the Tyrian gladiators were visible on the other side as
     dim, charging shapes.
    Rikus saw immediately that his use of the fortress-wagon had upset his opponent's
     carefully laid battle plans. The Urikite regulars had been spread out in long ranks behind
     the black wall, and most of them were now wildly rushing toward the wagon. Already,
     hundreds were gathered near the argosy to await the Tyrian gladiators. With some of their
     spears pointed toward the wagon and some toward the gladiators following it, the soldiers
     were in a disorganized mess that Rikus knew his gladiators would quickly decimate.
    Rikus could see that the Urikites were a little more organized at the far side of the
     valley. A fair-sized company was marching toward Jaseela's flank. He could only assume
     that, on the other side of the wagon, a similar company of Urikites was rushing toward
     Styan's templars.
    A series of brilliant flashes flared from near the front of the wagon, followed
     immediately by several deafening cracks. The smell of burning wood and charred bone filled
     Rikus's nostrils, then the argosy ground to quick halt. When he peered around the edge of
     the door, the mul saw a small group of yellow-robed templars standing near the front of
     the wagon. Their smoking fingers were pointed at the thick shaft that connected the
     mekillots to the wagon.
    At the rear of the argosy, the first of the gladiators emerged from the darkness,
     screaming their battle cries and charging into the disorganized Urikites.
    “Let's fight!” the mul yelled, raising his cahulaks.
    Rikus leaped from the smoky wagon into the bright crimson light. He had no sooner landed
     than a pair of Urikite soldiers jabbed their speartips at him, simultaneously raising
     their shields to protect their faces. Rikus swung a cahulak, cutting their weapons off at
     the heads.
    Before the mul could move forward to finish them, Gaanon's joyful warcry boomed over his
     shoulder. The half-giant slipped past the mul and leveled his mighty war-club at the
     spearless Urikites, smashing their bucklers as if they were glass. The blow knocked the
     pair back into the crowd and sent a half-dozen men sprawling. Neeva followed Gaanon's
     attack, smashing bones and rending flesh on both the fore- and back-swings of her axe.
    It was all Rikus could do to keep his companions from wading into the midst of the Urikite
     mob. “Wait!” he called, hitting their shoulders with the