Alan Dean Foster Krull

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"My appearance is upsetting to most men, something which I regret but refuse
to apologize for, as
I am not responsible for it."
"I am Ergo." He extended a welcoming hand, saw it vanish in the vast but easy
grip.
"The Magnificent, if I am not mistaken?"
Ergo tried to hide his annoyance. "He appears to have compensated for the loss
of an eye by developing a talent for eavesdropping," he muttered to Titch.
"Doesn't he have a name? But why do I ask you? So terrifying a vision would
obviously send a child such as yourself fleeing in terror at its mere sight."
"Not really," said Titch apologetically. "His name is Rell. I've met him
before." The cyclops smiled down at the boy. "He visits the seer sometimes. He
doesn't talk much and when he and my master converse they use words that are
beyond me. He lets my master do most of the talking. I don't think he likes to
talk."
"So I've noticed. Except to be sarcastic to those who wish
"Or to talk with those who already are friends," the cyclops commented.
Ergo was still reluctant to forgive the slight. "My name is not for jesting
with, beanpole. It's all very well and good to have a short name when you're
twelve feet tall, but small
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people need large names to give them weight."
"Your actions give you more weight than any name could, my sensitive friend,"
the giant told him somberly. "I saw you save the boy from the spear. That was
worth a hundred noble titles.
I've seen many noble men turn tail and flee when confronted with such a
choice. He who takes the risk to save another honors his name in deed far more
than can be done by any combination of letters."
Embarrassment was a posture Ergo rarely suffered from, but it made him turn
away now.
"Well, there's no need to make a fuss over it. It was easy. No spear was
coming at me. Besides, it's what friends are supposed to do for one another."
"Exactly so," said the cyclops. "Don't try to shrug it off. Your heroism is
much more real than your affected magnificence."
"What do you mean 'affected'?" Ergo demanded to know, back on emotionally
comfortable ground again.
The cyclops sighed. "Never have I met a man so intent on avoiding a
well-deserved compliment. Do not think to avoid it so easily, my friend. What
I can see, I see clearly and without distortion."
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Colwyn arrived in time to cut off Ergo's ready rejoinder.
"Ah," said the cyclops, "so this is the man who claims to be king of more than
a kingdom."
He studied the new arrival carefully. "What's wrong, man? Are you not content
with one kingdom that you must lay claim to more?"
"I did not choose this course of action, one-eye. It was il_ _ _ - "
"Ah, circumstance," the cyclops mused aloud. "I could tell you much about
circumstance, young king."
"I hope that I may have the opportunity to listen," Colwyn nodded toward Ergo.
"You've been paralleling our course for some time now. Shadowing our companion
here."
Ergo puffed up like a toad-frog. "It's only natural he would toe attracted to
an obviously superior type."
"Not to mention one with a propensity for wandering off on his own and drawing
the attention of marauding Slayers," Colwyn reminded him.
"It's true I have been following you," the cyclops admitted. "I would still be
keeping my own company if not for the need to aid His Magnificence on several
occasions." Both waited for a response from Ergo but that worthy wisely
elected to hold his peace this time.
The cyclops nodded across to where Ynyr was conversing softly with the seer.
"When I
learned that the old one had come down off his mountain I knew that the time
had come."
"Time for what?" Colwyn asked curiously.
"The time for decision-making. It's something the seer and I talked of on many
occasions.
Being wise, he was not intimidated by my size and since he is blind, I was not
intimidated by his knowledge. We got along well."
"I can see why, for though your appearance may be fearsome to many, I find
your openness and perceptivity appealing. There is no need to keep to the bush
and rocks. Travel with us, instead of alongside us. All men need company."
The cyclops smiled broadly. "Yes. All men. I think that you will make a good
king, Colwyn.
If you live." He turned and walked off to inspect the lakeshore.
Colwyn beckoned to Torquil. "What do you think of our new ally?" i
"He's agreed to join us, then?"
own he chose not to announce it until now. I've invited him to share our
company as well as our purpose."
Torquil looked to where the cyclops was probing the water with his huge
trident. "I'm glad you did so. He'll be a fit replacement for poor Darro, and
in any fight he'll be worth half a dozen men. His kind hates the Slayers, and
if there are any spoils to be taken he'll not demand a share. A better "
fighting companion would be hard to imagine."
"I'm glad you approve." Colwyn watched the cyclops at his work. "Though I'm
not sure your opinion of him matters any more than does mine." "How do you
mean?"
"He'd already decided he was going to join us. Come. Let's get out of this
place and hope there are no more ambushes waiting for us. I'm as anxious as
any man to breathe clean air again."
Though she ran down endless corridors, she had no way of marking the passage
of time. She did not grow hungry, and nervousness alone kept her from
collapsing from fatigue. That, and a determination to run until she was
stopped.
She wished for the rats that would normally infest such a place, but this was
no ordinary fortress. Even common vermin shunned its peculiar tunnels and
passages.
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Then the gown and robe appeared before her again, its glowing crown a floating
promise of an awful, unimaginable destiny.
"Why have I been brought here?" she asked.
And she heard the voice of the Beast, not as an echoing roar that filled the
corridors, but as words, carried to her in a tone of sly confidence.
"For a ceremony."
"What kind of ceremony?"
"Do you not recognize before you a gown such as no woman has ever seen of
dreamed of? Do you not recognize the crown that can only be worn by a queen
wedded to He Who Commands? You have been brought here for a wedding." She was
too frightened to scream. She turned to retreat back the way she'd come, but a
white Slayer stood there, impassively threatening. With a weak cry she turned
and stumbled off still deeper into the maze....
It was strange to find such an extensive strip of dry land in the middle of
the Great
Swamp, but the narrow bridge of earth and gravel was a welcome sight to the
marchers. They'd been straining their eyes on the faint path ever since they'd
entered the Great Swamp lest they step out on a surface that might suddenly
disappear. It was a relief to stride, however briefly, on land that did not
swallow a man's ankles.
Titch had fallen back, leaving the uncomplaining seer to walk with Ergo to
guide him. The boy was drawn to the cyclops. Now he rode atop the giant's
shoulders. In addition to being fun, it provided him with the best vantage
point of all. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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