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.Near the crossroad.We are getting farther away from it."Page 203ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlHe turned his horse then, and started back north, riding hard.The crystal!he told himself.Follow the crystal! The thief, the tracks, are secondary.Macurdy had ridden half a mile up the sleigh trail, when he came to athree-sided woodsmen's shelter.In front of it lay a snow-capped heap offirewood blocks, with a splitting maul standing upright beside it.He stopped,and getting from his horse, stepped into the shelter.Inside was a split-logbench.A heavy steel splitting wedge lay on it, and he picked it up.It couldalmost have been made in Indiana; it had the familiar deep grooves on itsslanting faces.He knew at once what to do.Stepping outside, he lay the wedge on thebattered maple chopping block, then reached into his pocket.The crystal wasalmost too hot to handle! Alarmed, he laid it hurriedly on a groove of thewedge, then reaching, took the maul and hefted it.Eyeing the crystal, heswung hard, overhead and down.The heavy steel head slammed the crystal and a shocking pain stabbed throughMacurdy's skull! At the same instant he heard a terrible cry perhaps a hundredyards away.Dropping the maul, he staggered to the horse and pulled himselfinto the saddle.Then he kicked the animal into a canter, and lying low on itsback, fled westward through the trees, toward the clearing.***Kurqôsz lay shuddering and puking in the snow, with Tsulgax and the otherrakutu kneeling beside him.The blow that had struck the crystal had hammeredKurqôsz much harder than it had Macurdy, whose bonding with it had been briefand superficial.After a couple of minutes, the crown prince raised an arm forhelp, and Tsulgax hoisted him to his feet."He tried to destroy it," Kurqôsz croaked, "but its still here somewhere.Unbroken.Help me."With Tsulgax supporting him, he hobbled on, the other rakutu bringing thehorses.A minute later they saw Macurdy's tracks, and in another the shelterand woodpile.They went to it, Kurqôsz scanning around with his mind for thecrystal.It took awhile to find it.Instead of smashing it, the force of thehammer stroke had sent it flying twenty yards, where it lay buried in snow.When he had it in his mittened hand, Kurqôsz raised it to his forehead,closed his eyes and concentrated.In his mind he saw a rakutu no, a human orhalf-ylf dressed as a rakutu.Saw the face from the crystal's point of view.Aface he remembered from the hive mind scene, of raiders murdering theheadquarters staff at Colroi.And from somewhere earlier.He watched theattempt to destroy the crystal, saw the hammer raised and swung.And that wasall.As if the sentience in the crystal had blacked out.He realized now what had happened to Chithqôsz and his circle those who'dsurvived the flood.This same creature had somehow gotten Chithqôsz's oldcrystal, and destroyed it.Crystals of power formed to resonate with thecircle leader, and his younger brother wasn't hard like himself.Turning, he gripped Tsulgax's shoulder."I have seen his face," he told him."And I will remember.I will hear him scream curses at the parents who gavehim life.He will beg me to kill him."Page 204ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlThe second rakutu held out Kurqôsz's reins, but the crown prince declined."Iwill run," he said.Haltingly he started in Macurdy's tracks, while the rakutur mounted andfollowed.As he ran, he strengthened, his head clearing.He would, he toldhimself, have his revenge, but not tonight.First he would win the war, and heneeded all his attention, all his strength, to control the forces he woulduse.His circle too would need to be clear-headed and strong.So.Tomorrow night then.Tomorrow night he would win the war.The aurorawould still be there for him; he sensed it with certainty.Slowing, he lookedup.Through the leafless crowns of hardwood forest, he saw it flickering andpulsing.Victory and devastation would be the ultimate vengeance.He'ddevastated the east with fire and steel [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ]