[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

"Another one of those power drains," Carialle said
"Somehow, what they do sucks all the energy, all the cohesive force out of the
surrounding ecology. The air outside of Chaumel s little mountain nest is
dead, clear to where I am."
"Magic doesn't have to come from somewhere," Keff said.
"Keff, physics! Power is leaching toward your location.
Therefore logic suggests it is being drawn in that direction by need."
"Magic doesn't depend on physics. But I concede your point."
"Its true whether or not you believe in it. The concen-
trated force-fields are weakening everywhere but there."
"Any chance it weakened enough to let you go?"
There was a slight pause. "No."
A prestidigitator and his slender, golden-furred assistant suddenly appeared
in midair, floating down toward the floor while performing difficult
sleight-of-hand involving fire and silk cloths. They held up hoops, and
acrobats bounded out of the walls to fly through them. More acro-
bats materialized to catch the flyers, then disappeared as soon as they were
safely down. Keff watched in fascination, admiring the dramatic timing.
Apparently, the spectacle failed to maintain the interest of the other guests.
His chair jerked roughly forward toward Lacia, nearly ramming him through the
back. The acrobats had to leap swiftly to one side to avoid being run over.
"You are a spy for a faction on the other side of Ozran, aren't you?" she
demanded.
'There aren't any other factions on Ozran, madam,"
Keff said. "I scanned from space. All habitations are lim-
ited to this continent in the northern hemisphere and the archipelago to the
southwest."
"You must have come from one of them, then," she said. "Whose spy are you?"
Page 87
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Just like that, the interrogation began all over again.
Instead of letting him have time to answer their demands, they seemed to be
vying with one another to escalate their accusations of what they suspected
him of doing on Ozran.
Potria, still angry, didn't bother to speak to him, but occa-
sionally snatched him away from another magifolk just for the pleasure of
seeing his gasping discomfort. Asedow joined in the game, tugging Keff away
from his rival.
Chaumel, too, decided to assert his authority as curator of the curiosity,
pulling him away from other magifolk to pre-
vent him answering their questions. In the turmoil, Keff spun around faster
and faster, growing more irked by the moment at the magi using him as a pawn.
He kept his hands clamped to his chair arms, his teeth gritted tightly as he
strove to keep from being sick. Their voices chattered and shrilled like a
flock of birds.
"Who are you ... ?"
"I demand to know...!"
"What are you ... ?"
"Tell me...."
"How do...?"
"Why... ?"
"What...?"
Fed up at last, Keff shouted at the featureless mass of color. "Enpugh of this
boorish interrogation. I'm not play-
ing anymore!"
Heedless of the speed at which he was spinning, he pushed away his tray,
stepped out from the footrest, and went down, down, down....
a CHAPTER NINE
Keff fell down and down toward a dark abyss. Frigid winds screamed upward,
freezing his face and his hands, which were thrust above his head by his
descent. The hori-
zontal blur that was the faces and costumes of the magifolk was replaced by a
vertical blur of gray and black and tan.
He was falling through a narrow tunnel of rough stone occasionally lit by
streaks of garishly colored light. His hands grasped out at nothing; his feet
sought for support and found none.
Gargoyle faces leered at him, ^bbering. Flying crea-
tures with dozens of clawed feet swooped down to worry his hair and shoulders.
Momentum snapped his head back so he was staring up at a point of light far,
far above him that swayed with every one of his heartbeats. The move-
ment made him giddy. His stomach squeezed hard against his rib cage. He was in
danger of losing what litde he had
been able to eat. The wind bit at his ears, and his teeth chattered. He forced
his mouth closed, sought for control.
"Carialle, help! I'm falling! Where am I?"
The brains tone was puzzled.
176
"You haven't moved at all, Keff. You're still in the mid-
dle of Chaumel's dining room. Everyone is watching you, and having a good
time, I might add. Er, you're staring at the ceiling."
Keff tried to justify her observation with the terrifying sensation of
falling, the close stone walls, and the gar-
goyles, and suddenly all fear fled. He was furious. The abyss was an illusion!
It was all an illusion cast to punish him. Damn their manipulation!
'That is enough of this nonsense!" he bellowed.
Abruptly, all sensation stopped. The buzzing he sud-
denly felt through his feet bothered him, so he moved, and found himself
lurching about on the slick floor, struggling for balance. With a yelp, he
Page 88
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
tripped forward, painfully bruising his palms and knees. He blinked
energetically, and the points of light around him became ensconced torches,
and the pale oval Plennafrey's face. She looked concerned. Keff guessed that
she was the one who had broken the spell holding his mind enthralled.
'Thank you," he said. His voice sounded hollow in his own ears. He sat back on
his haunches and gathered him-
self to stand up.
He became aware that the other magifolk were glaring at the young woman.
Chaumel was angry, Nokias shocked, Potria mute with outrage. Plenna lifted her
small chin and stared back unflinchingly at her superiors. Keff wondered how
he had ever thought her to be weak. She was magnificent.
"Her heartbeats up. Respiration, too. She's in trouble with them," Carialle
said. "She's the junior member here-
I'd say the youngest, too, by a decade-and she spoiled her seniors' fun.
Naughty. Oops, more power spikes."
Keff felt insubstantial tendrils of thought trying to insinuate themselves
into his mind. They were rudely slapped away by a new touch, one that
felt/scented lightly of wildflowers. Plennafrey was defending him. Another
sally by other minds managed to get an image of bloody, half-eaten corpses
burning in a wasteland into his consciousness before they were washed out by
fresh, cool air.
"Keff, what's wrong?" Carialle asked. "Adrenaline just kicked up."
"Psychic attacks," he said, through gritted teeth. 'Trying to control my
mind."
He fought to think of anything but the pictures ham-
mering at his consciousness. He pictured a cold beer, until it dissolved
inexorably into a river of green, steaming poi-
son. He switched to the image of dancing in an anti-grav disco with a dozen
girls. They became vulpine-winged har-
pies picking at his flesh as he swung on a gibbet. Keff thought deliberately
of exercise, mentally pulling the Roto-
flex handles to his chest one at a time, concentrating on the burn of his
chest and neck muscles. Such a small focus seemed to bewilder his tormentors
as they sought to cor-
rupt that one thought and regain control.
Sooner or later the magifolk would break through, and he would never know the
difference between his own con-
sciousness and what they planted in his thoughts. He felt a twinge of despair.
Nothing in his long travels had prepared him to defend himself against this
kind of power. How much more could he withstand? If they continued, he'd soon [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

  • zanotowane.pl
  • doc.pisz.pl
  • pdf.pisz.pl
  • alwayshope.keep.pl

    •