-
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
and limped off into the mist.
Now Joe unfroze; his knees turned to jelly and he sank down on the ground, closing his eyes in
despair. Oh, Lord God, what do I tell Tannim's mom and dad? He must have had some kind of
premonition this was going to happen he asked me to take care of them if anything ever happened to
him. Now he's gone oh, God, what do I do now? His shoulders shook with sobs, his throat was tight,
and his chest ached as he hugged himself in his grief.
"Boy " Someone was shaking his shoulder. He looked up, to find an old man well, older than
Chinthliss, anyway shaking him. "Boy, go help your kitsune friend. Lady Ako needs me to aid her."
He nodded dully, responding to an authority automatically, and stumbled to his feet. He shuffled
across the sand to Fox, who was stirring and moaning faintly. Just as he reached the kitsune, Fox
opened his eyes and looked up at him, clearly still in a daze. He'd reverted to the semi-human
form, the one with James Dean's face.
"Dial nine-one-one, would you?" FX asked weakly.
"Yeah, sure," Joe replied. "Is anything broken? Can you sit up?"
"No. Yes." With Joe's help, Fox managed to get into a sitting position, holding his head with one
hand. "Ah, hell. Being physical is not all it's cracked up to be. For every kiss I get when I do
this, seems like I catch ten punches."
"Right." Joe had no idea what he meant, and right now, he didn't much give a damn. He hurt too
much inside to care about much of anything. All he could think of was the last time he'd seen
Tannim, standing beside the Mustang, trading jokes with Chinthliss... .
file:///F|/rah/Mercedes%20Lackey/Lackey,%20M...errated%20Edge%204%20-%20Chrome%20Circle.txt (167 of 173) [6/4/03 10:33:38 PM]
file:///F|/rah/Mercedes%20Lackey/Lackey,%20Mercedes%20-%20Serrated%20Edge%204%20-%20Chrome%20Circle.txt
Never again. Never again.
Chinthliss was a few feet away, back in his human form, helping Shar to her feet. The old man and
the other dragon were nowhere in sight.
Or was the old man the other dragon?
The young woman leaned heavily on Chinthliss' shoulder, and Joe thought she might be crying, for
she hid her face behind the curtain of her hair and her shoulders shook. He was saying something
to her that Joe couldn't hear.
Chinthliss led her over to Lady Ako; lacking any other orders, Joe got Fox up and helped him
stagger in that direction as well. He averted his eyes as they neared; he just couldn't bear to
look at
"I believe I have him stabilized, with Thomas' help," he heard Ako say in a voice so faint with
weariness that it was hardly more than a whisper. "If we can get him to further help quickly, I
believe we can pull him through, but he shouldn't be moved without more Healing than we can give
him. We are at the end of our strength."
For a moment, the words made no sense to him. Stabilized? Healing? What?
Could she mean Tannim?
He let go of Fox's arm, and stumbled the remaining few steps to where Thomas and Lady Ako knelt on
either side of Tannim's body. A body which was breathing, shallowly. There was an awful lot of
blood soaking into the sand around him. Although the green, hexagonal-scale armor he must have
worn under his shirt gaped open over the chest, there was no huge wound, only a raw red line, the
kind you saw on a wound that had just been sutured.
"The talon missed the heart," the old man was saying. "Just. It would seem your protégé's luck is
holding."
"How long can you hold him?" Chinthliss asked, as Shar picked up one of Tannim's hands and held it
as if she was willing her remaining strength into his body.
"With Thomas' help, an hour, perhaps more." Ako smoothed the hair over Tannim's pale forehead. "I
am not sure that anyone will ever be able to heal the damage completely. I fear he will always
bear the marks of this encounter. And he may well still be lost to us."
Chinthliss looked straight at Joe. "The Gate to the barn is still open," he said. "If I send you
through it with the Mustang, can you get to a phone, call Keighvin Silverhair, and get him to us
within an hour?"
Joe had no hesitation. "Yes, sir!" he replied.
"I'll stand watch for trouble," Fox offered. "I've got enough left in me for that." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] - zanotowane.pl
- doc.pisz.pl
- pdf.pisz.pl
- matkadziecka.xlx.pl