Songs of the Dancing Gods by Jack L. Chalker Read Free Book Online Page B

this sort of finish. It depended, though, on her having the strength of will to break through that emotional trancelike dance state, to make the old Tiana control the new.
    The one time they had tried it before, she’d managed it, but that spring inside her wasn’t totally uncoiled as yet, and it was no sure thing in this bigger crowd and rougher environment, either. He gave the signal to Irving, hoping the boy would catch it or have the sense of the crowd to do it anyway.
    Irv did, but this third set was a humdinger; the crowd was joining in to the same rhythms, which were, after all, more street Philadelphia than Husaquahrian to begin with and thus had an extra impact, and Tiana was outdoing herself and leading them on. The situation was rife with the potential for, at best, a mass open-air orgy or, far worse, a violent and dangerous frenzy. Joe pulled his sword out of its sheath and held it so that the flat could be used, almost clublike. Tiana had already missed a couple of exit opportunities, and he feared the worst.
    However, just when he thought he’d have to wade in and get her out, she did a tremendous series of twists and leaps and then, with the crowd giving almost awestruck room, she dashed for the crowd, then gave a mighty broad jump and actually cleared the heads of the nearest spectators, landing with a three-roll up to the edge of the buildings, then quickly running into the nearest doorway and out of sight of the crowd, which, momentarily stunned, now galvanized as a mob and stormed after her.
    Joe stepped back, sheathed his sword, and let them charge the open doorway to the small bar into which she’d run, and, when the last were inside or milling just outside, made his way to Irv, who was already packed and ready.
    “Pretty good haul,” the boy remarked. “Man! If I only had a guitar, maybe a sax, I could lay down a great rap and they’d never come down!”
    “Come on,” Joe snapped. “We better make sure she made it out the back way. It sounds real mean in there right now.”
    “Don’t it always?”
    They made their way to the back of the buildings, which were virtually on the river itself, and Joe tried to get his eyes accustomed to the sudden darkness. “Watch your step,” he warned the boy. “This wood’s old and rotten here; one false step and you go right into the river.”
    A dark shape moved from beneath the stairs in front of them. “It’s about time,” Tiana said nervously.
    “We’re here as fast as we can move,” Joe responded. “Why? Trouble?”
    “A couple of filthy types in that bar made grabs for me,” she told them. “I had to kick one of ‘em in the balls and the other one in the face.”
    “You’re learning fast,” the big man said approvingly. She might not manage a sword, but legs powerful enough to make the kind of leap she’d made, combined with her timing, were lethal weapons in and of themselves. “You delayed a long time, though. I was afraid you weren’t going to make your break.”
    “Too many people. Too many tall people. I had to wait until there was a thin spot with shorter men. Even then I kind of back-kicked one as I went. I’m still not used to looking up at most men. Still, I have to admit I haven’t had this much fun in my life.”
    She wasn’t being sarcastic with that last remark and he knew it. She was quickly developing a taste for living on the edge, for taking last-second chances and, he knew, she relished the power and attention and near mystical effect her dancing and athletic skills could have on people.
    “Yeah, well, one of these days there’s gonna be too many tall guys to jump over and too many for me to fend oif, too,” he warned her. “If you survive that, it’ll take most of the fun out of it.”
    She came up to him, put her arms around him, and kissed him. “God! I’m really turned on!” she whispered. She always was after one of these things.
    At that moment a door crashed open, flooding the back area with