[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

the same effect on more agile humans.
"We'll use our knives where possible, lad, beamers only if we have to." After
disposing of the sentries guarding the pathway down to the ice, they'd signal
Hunnar and the assault party, then hold the open walkway against any who might
attempt to retake it.
So went the theory.
Five more minutes of crawling brought them around into the sheltered side of
the fortress. They found themselves gazing at what had to be the top of the
walkway.
On this side the pinnacle was several meters lower. Moving slightly away from
the wall, Ethan could see stairs laboriously cut from the naked rock of the
stone pillar wending their way down into darkness.
Crawling to the edge of the cliff, he peered over. No sign of Hunnar and the
Page 44
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
others. That was as it should be. He felt confident they were waiting silently
below, part of the shadows and hollow places, awaiting the human's signal.
Two armed Tran flanked the top stair. Their atten-tion was directed down and
out, their lances pointed threateningly at the stairway. From his position
next to the edge, Ethan was able to obtain a good view of the parapet directly
above the entrance.
"No sentries above," he whispered to the waiting September.
"Why should there be, feller-me-lad?" The giant was a brown-suited lump, just
another rock buttressing the outer wall. "Sentries at the stairway and maybe
at the drawbridge are guard enough."
Ethan reflected again on the Tran inability to climb smooth surfaces. There
was no place to hide on the length of exposed stairway spiraling downward. One
Tran could spot an attack party, give the alarm, have breakfast, and return
before the fight began. A few soldiers with bows and arrows or spears could
hold off an attacking army.
September was whispering to him again. "I'll take the fat one on the far side,
lad. You take the other." He was fumbling for the small axe at his belt. Ethan
would use a dirk. He hoped they wouldn't need to use
file:///G|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/Fos...%20-%20Mission%20to%20Moulokin
(1979)[v1].html (43 of 166) [10/15/2004 12:52:51 PM]
Alan Dean Foster - Mission to Moulokin beamers. Not that they would make any
more noise than axe or knife, but the intense beams of light might be visible
to someone within the fortress.
He crawled back next to the giant. Together they started to make their
belly-scraping way toward the guards, keeping to the shadowy regions close by
the wall. The wind helped to hide the noise of their pas-sage; the Tran had
excellent hearing.
Triangular furry ears flipped in their direction and one of the guards turned,
squinted. The two humans became part of the landscape.
"Be that you, Smigere?" The guard's double eyelids flickered against the wind.
"You are not due on watch for three vate
." Ethan held his breath. The curious guard took several steps toward them.
"Smigere, are you sick?"
Although the sentry was staring straight at Ethan, he apparently still
couldn't conceive of the possibility that any enemy could be behind him. The
other guard was looking curiously at his companion.
There was no time for antique weapons. At such close range, it was impossible
to miss with the beam-ers.
Both Tran were punctured by thin ropes of azure light. Smigere's friend went
down with an expression of surprise and hurt on his face, as if he couldn't
quite believe what was happening to him. He looked down at the hole in his
chest, dropped his lance, and stared curiously into the shadows. His eyes
closed and he fell over onto his side. His beamed colleague had stum-bled
backward and tumbled over the side of the cliff.
After another glance at the moonlit ramparts above, September rose, walked
over to the remaining body.
He examined it briefly, then picked it up by one arm and leg. A single swing
consigned it to the night and the ice. Wind and distance combined to prevent
them from hearing the corpse strike the surface far below.
That was fine with Ethan, though he wondered ab-sently if the falling shapes
had accidentally struck any of the waiting attack party. No time to worry
about that now.
They ran to the doorway. Entrance to the fortress was blocked by a single
outward-opening door of thick wood. It was large enough and wide enough for
Tran to enter only in single-file. Any opponents fortunate enough to survive
the stairway could be picked off one at a time if they tried to force their
way into the keep.
Their task was only half finished. It was reasonable to expect a gatekeeper
Page 45
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]