Norton, Andre - Chapbook 04 by Serpent's Tooth (v1.0) Read Free Book Online Page A

reflect the gleam of this alien light.
     
    He
no longer watched the hunters, rather studied his footing.   That remnant of his own species, or Modic's , was not alone.   There lay a scattering of broken bones, some near reduced to powder,
along each step.
     
    He
heard a thin, half-muffled cry which might have come from Modic ,
muffled as he was by mask.   The Seeker
tripped, fell to his knees on the last step, his shoulders shaking, his head
turning from side to side as if so he tried to avoid blows.   Some strong compulsion drew him on to crawl
along the platform above as might a seriously injured animal seeking
shelter.   There was no cracking of
splintering bones now, all sound had been absorbed by a deep hum which hurt Rentam's ears, throbbed through his body.   Two more strides brought the guide
    beside Modic .   He
reached down and hooked his fingers in the other's armpit, giving a steady
pull, while the Seeker scrambled in the bones and flopped about, seeming unable
regain to his feet.
     
    "Up!"   He was so near to Modic Rentam believed that his words were not lost in that
ever growing throb.
     
    "Up
to your feet, Seeker.
     
    Would
you meet battle on your knees, already so far spent as you seem?"
     
    Modic turned his shaking head to look up at Rentam dull eyed.
     
    Spittle
ran from the corner of his mouth and with it a thread of blood from a lip he
had bitten though.   He showed no
understanding, but some part of the guide's urgency must have reached him, as
he swung around to clasp both of his sweat slicked hands on Rentam's arm.   Using that hold for leverage as he
might a tree or rock pillar, he drew himself up, near over setting Rentam in the process, when for a moment or two he hung a
dead weight on the other before regaining his feet.
     
    The
throbbing grew heavier, more assertive as if something ahead was impatient at
their delay.   As they moved forward, Modic , still using Rentam as a
support, they were plunged into light... a blaze of blue.   Modic halted,
stopping Rentam almost in midstride ,
to jerk at the edge of the mask the guide had worn into the city.
     
    "Put
on," he croaked hoarsely, his mouth close to the guide's nearest ear.
     
    One-handed,
for he could not put aside the gem light he held, the Betweener obediently pulled on the mask once again though he did not like the curtailment
of sight which wearing it caused.
     
    Only
it was true that once he was again shrouded that blaze of raw light was
subdued, and he could see enough to mark the fact they they were indeed in a palace or some incredibly rich shrine.
     
    The
light might blot out a measure of response from the display of unbelievable
wealth about them, but it could not utterly hide what was set in patterns on
the walls, and not only on the walls.   There were dunes and drifts of precious metals and gem stones across the
floor, many of the pieces broken.
     
    As
they shuffled on they tramped on a medley of stones and metals of stones and
metals such as could not be seen at a fair even if all which had ever changed
hands there had been reassembled for one great showing.
     
    There
were weapons, too, swords and knives possessing hilts rich in jewels, strange
other objects which were certainly not intended for adornment but which, if
weapons, Rentam did not recognize.
     
    Here
and there was a rack of bones .. . some draped with chains of office of the
adornment of chief wives.   Several of
these lay broken across the things which Rentam believed might be weapons.
     
    Before
them was still that blast of light which gave no hint of its source or purpose
.. . unless that latter was death, which Rentam could
well believe.   In his hands the colored
spindle of stone quivered past all his endeavors to control it, but so far it
had not broken free.
     
    His
tongue touched the rough stuff of the mask, the tip of it pointed through the
hole which served for the mouth cutting and the opening for breathing.   Deliberately he