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." He waved his cloaked arm through the air."But now there are onlyalchemy and wizardry left.I will meet this so-called archmage of yours, andthen the victory will be complete.You will be the first I will savor when Ihave gained control of them all.In the meantime, I will place you where 1 canbe more sure you will stay."Melizar kicked the manipulant huddled at his side."Send them away.Backwhence we came."Jemidon tensed as the figure on the ground somehow managed to start a smallfire from implements tucked into the waist of his loincloth.He tried toignore the sense of helplessness that welled up within him.He faced no lessthan a long-tailed djinn that could slice him in two with the snap of itsclaws.No mortal who was not its master couldstand against one.There was no point in even trying to resist.With roundeyes, he watched the demon step forward and spread its Wood-red wings.As itsarms closed around him and Delia, the smeil of burning sulfur made him gag."Elsewhere," he heard Melizar's muffled command."Send them through the flamesto elsewhere.Let him see if he can fare in my domain as well as I have inhis."288PART FOURPage 162ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlThe Verity of ExclusionCHAPTER SIXTEENSkysoarJEMIDONcould not judge the passage of time.There was a moment of disorientation andthen he heard sharp cries of surprise.The wings of the djinn unfurled.As quickly as it had engulfed them, the demon stepped back into the flame andvanished.A blast of numbing cold air ripped at Jemidon's uncovered hands and eyes.Asense of weightlessness rose from his stomach; his feet slowly left theground.He looked up and blinked.He was surrounded by a vast expanse ofreddish sky, not the robust oranges of sunset reflected in clouds, but a softcolor that washed from horizon to horizon, full of a diffuse light for whichno source could be seen.In the far distance, spanning completely across theruddy glow, were dim hints of long, straight lines, a trelHs of triangles likethe facets of a gem.Where were they? It was a scene that could not possibly exist in theexperience of man.Everything was alien the colors, the smell of the air, andthe sound of the whistling wind.The shock hammered at Jemidon's senses andfroze him in place, a mute statue totally without comprehension of what hesaw.A hand grabbed his shoulder from behind.He was thrust into a shallow pitcarved from solid rock and saw Delia pushed to his side.Long, slender fingerspointed to small indentations in the walls, and he understood what to do.Gripping tightly with his hands and feet, he prevented himself from floatingaway.For the longest time, Jemidon remained huddled in the pit, pressing againstDelia to share her warmth and feeling the wind whip over his back.He kept hiseyes screwed291shut, all muscles tensed to lock him into position, not wanting to move,trying to will away what he had seen as part of a flawed glamour.But thethought of what really must have happened bubbled in his mind, gatheringstrength and dripping with desolation and helplessness.Finally Jemidon had to be sure.Cautiously, he opened his eyes and lookedabout.He saw about a dozen figures, dressed only in loincloths like Melizar'smanipulants, huddling in depressions similar to his own.They were arrayed ina circle about a deeper pit that contained the last flickers of the fire, acomplex linkage of mirrors, and a flat tablelike stone with strange glyphsmarked around the periphery.Like Melizar's manipulants! His sagging spirits plummeted with the thought.LikeMelizar himself! Here the beings appeared to move about in comfort, to be thenorm.He and Delia were the exceptions, the outcasts trapped far away fromhome.The strange one indeed had made good his threat."Where are we?" Delia came to life at his side."Is this the realm of demons,the world behind the flames?"Jemidon looked to the horizon.They seemed to be on the top of a rocky mound;the terrain fell away in all directions.But the proportions were all wrong.There was nothing in the distance beyond the curve of the hill, no plainstretching away or other mountains, only reddish sky and the distant lines."It is totally unlike what the wizards have recorded in the sagas," Jemidonsaid."But I fear that, for us, it will make little difference [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]