Jeffrey Lord Blade 22 Forests of Gleor

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his gaze but her face was chill. King Embor smiled in greeting, but thinly.
Blade noticed that both of them wore fighting gear. Neena had two spears
propped against her bench and the king had a bow slung across his back and a
sword at his belt.
Queen Sanaya, on the other hand, once more seemed as cheerful as if she were
on a picnic. She wore a red gown and white leather boots, with a dark brown
fur robe thrown over her shoulders. A tiara of emeralds sparkled in her hair
as she looked around her, laughing and chattering to everyone within earshot.
She had the look of someone for whom the day could hold no unpleasant
surprises.
Another ladder led down to the floor of the arena. The three assistants sat
down on the logs and began unpacking the gear while Blade and Kulo climbed
down the wobbling, hastily made ladder. Blade hoped he wouldn't have to climb
that ladder in any sort of a hurry.
Blade checked his weapons, climbed up onto a stump, and looked out across the
arena. On the opposite side of the circle, fifty feet away, was a gate of
heavy logs for the test animals.
Blade motioned Kulo to stand well behind him. Then he looked up at the royal
party. King Embor nodded and raised his hand. On top of the wall and from
outside it horns and drums sounded to signal the beginning of the test. With
grindings and creakings of wood, the gate started to swing open. Blade gripped
his sprayer, wondering what would come through. King Embor had politely
refused to let him know the order in which the animals would be released.
Then a faint cluck-cluck-cluck sounded from across the arena, followed by the
sound of clumsily flapping wings. Blade laughed. The first test specimen was a
mugos-a slow-wined, ground-dwelling bird about the size and shape of a Home
Dimension turkey.
Blade strode forward. As the bird spotted him it clurked in alarm and darted
back toward the gate.
Finding the gate closed, it jumped on top of a stump and flapped its wings
frantically. By that time Blade was within easy range. He raised the sprayer,
aimed it at the bird's head, and rammed in the plunger.
The six feet of threebo jumped as Blade fired, and the fine spray missed the
bird completely. He shifted one hand to get a better grip, then aimed and
fired again. This time he hit his target. The bird blinked in surprise and
bewilderment as the sleeping water doused it. It opened its beak to complain.
Then it tottered, its eyes closed, and it fell forward off the stump with a
faint plop.
Blade looked around the walls of the arena. Everyone was on his feet. Several
of the clan chiefs were pointing at the fallen bird, openmouthed with
unconcealed astonishment. Blade saw King Embor's thin smile changing into a
grin. Watching the clan chiefs gaping like schoolboys must be a treat for him!
Well, there were going to be a good many more surprises before this day was
over.
The guards outside the gate came in, took the bird away, and led in one of the
giant chipmunks. This animal was much more intelligent and quicker on its feet
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than the bird. It darted around and around the arena, ducking in and out
behind the stumps, sometimes jumping up on top of one to chatter mockingly at
Blade. Blade sprayed several doses of sleeping water into thin air, trying to
hit it.
Now Blade waved Kulo forward. With the young man well out ahead of him, he
managed to trap the animal against one wall. It tried to leap over a stump,
but a shot from Kulo's sprayer caught it in midair. It landed sprawling,
lurched to its feet, took two steps, then fell flat on its face and lay still.
This brought all the clan chiefs to their feet again. Several shouted out
loud. They hadn't been told what they might expect to see from Prince Blade.
Probably none of them even now understood exactly what was going on. But they
could see skill and speed at work, and most of them could appreciate that.
Blade threw a glance at Neena. She was obviously struggling not to smile.
Sanaya was laughing out loud.
There was a pause, while servants walked precariously along the wall, handing
mugs of beer and plates of sausage and roast meat to the spectators. Then the
guards drove one of the single-horned deer in through the gate.
Blade knew that this animal would be a somewhat more drastic test than the
ones before. It was many times larger, and would therefore need a much larger
dose of sleeping water. In the confined arena it could not run as freely and
swiftly as it could in the forest, but it would still be a difficult target.
It was also capable of defending itself. That made Blade feel a good deal more
comfortable about going after it. He didn't much like shooting things at birds
and animals who could do nothing in return except run.
He stepped toward the deer. It lowered its head until the point of the horn
was low enough to hook upward. Large black eyes rimmed with white stared at
Blade. The stag made a low bubbling sound in its throat. Then it charged
straight at Blade.
Blade's first shot of sleeping water went right over the stag's head and
struck halfway down its back. A
patch of hair turned dark and damp. That was all. Before Kulo could fire, the
stag was on them. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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