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.Her imagination could readily supply a hundred destinations, objectives to which Wayfinder could be sending her.But she had no real reason to credit any of them.Hours passed, tempting Tigris to despair, while their great steed still hurtled toward the west, now angling somewhat to the south, at mind-numbing velocity.Valdemar was stunned to see how the sun's normal westward passage slowed, then stopped for them, then began to reverse itself.The griffin's wings had long ago become an almost invisible blur.Great masses of cloud, above, below, and near them churned past.Tigris, almost lost in her own thoughts, became chillingly certain that Wood had by now had more than enough opportunity in which to suspect, if not actually prove, her treachery.And it was not the Ancient One's habit to delay punishment until he was presented with airtight proof.And then, just when the enchantress had begun to wonder if her Master's magic had already found her and begun to destroy her life, and the terrible flight was going to endure forever, the Sword of Wisdom suddenly swung its sharp Page 79ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlpoint downwards.Tigris hastily moved to instruct her magic steed, directing it carefully toward the indicated goal.Obediently the griffin descended, through layers of cloud and slanting sunlight to the waiting earth.They emerged from the clouds at no more than mountain-top altitude.Valdemar, reviving from a kind of trance brought on by cold and monotony, observed in a dull voice that the object of their journey appeared to be nothing but an extensive desert.He had no idea how far they were from the wasteland where their flight had started.Tigris, moved by some impulse toward human feeling to engage in conversation, agreed.Thinking aloud, she speculated that Wayfinder might have brought them here in search of the Sword ofVengeance."Farslayer? How would that help you?""A dullwitted question.A bright young man like you must know the virtue of that Sword."Within a minute or two the griffin brought its riders safely to a gentle landing on the earth.Muttering words of control into the nearest ear of the huge leonine head before her, Tigris climbed lithely from her saddle with drawn Sword, to stand confronting a harsh, lifeless-looking landscape under a midday sun.Valdemar promptly joined her, without waiting to be commanded.All was quiet, except for a faint whine of wind moving a drizzle of sand around their feet.The Sword in the young woman's hand was pointing now in the direction of a barren hillock nearby.Together Valdemar and Tigris began to walk that way.As they drew near the hillock, he raised a hand to point toward its top.Up there, the cruciform outline of a black hilt showed against the distant sky, as if the point of a Sword were embedded in the ground, or in something that lay on the earth.Silently, keeping their discovery in view, the pair trudged toward the modest summit.What at a distance had appeared to be a Sword was one indeed.At close range the weapon was identifiable asFarslayer.The Sword of Vengeance was stuck through the ribcage of a half-armored skeleton, nearly buried in the sand.file:///F|/rah/Fred%20Saberhagen/Saberhagen,%2.Lost%20Swords%207%20-%20Wayfi nders%20Story.txt (76 of 118) [2/4/03 9:57:09 PM]file:///F|/rah/Fred%20Saberhagen/Saberhagen,%20Fred%20-%20Lost%20Swords%207%20-%20Wayfinders%20Story.txt"So," Tigris breathed, "I was right.It is to be his death.That is my only chance to escape from him.So be it, then."Valdemar noted that the garments adorning the anonymous skeleton had once been rich, and gold rings still adorned some of the bony fingers.Tigris, murmuring some words of her art in an exultant tone, stretched out her hand to take hold of the black hilt.But scarcely had she possessed Farslayer, when there sounded a deep, dry whispering out of the low clouds above.Valdemar, looking up sharply, could see them stirring in turmoil."What is it?" the young man asked in a hushed voice.At the same time he unconsciously took a step nearer his companion, as if some instinct told him that he needed her protection.Before Tigris could reply, there emerged from the lowering cover of clouds a churning gray vortex, a looming threat the size of a griffin, but barely visible to Valdemar.He found the silent onrush of this phenomenon all the more frightening because his eyes were almost willing to believe that nothing at all was there [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]