[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Sa'necari!
How could we not have known it
? A fit of coughing nearly sent him to his knees. Blood, white froth, and
yellow bile foamed around his muzzle. Some force inside him said, "keep going,
keep going," and he did, even though he knew Malthus was right he was dying.
The young lycan clutched at his chest and stomach as he struggled onward
. I'm a fool. I should have gone to Claw with my suspicions.
"Follow him. He won't get far. There's enough poison in him to kill twenty
lycans," Malthus said. "Retrieve my points from his body. And my shafts."
Imps scampered after Nikko.
You're right, you bastard ... I won't ... get far. But maybe
... far enough.
He heard Malthus riding off in another direction. Nikko's vision blurred. Fits
of spasming rushed through his muscles, making his body twitch and cramp.
Nikko felt weak and tired, with a pressure in his chest like a fist closing
around his lungs and heart. The constriction left him struggling to breathe,
unable to voice a warning howl into the dwindling light
assuming it could be heard by anyone or scream at his pain and anguish.
He could barely keep his feet, could barely move. He focused on picking one
foot up and then the other. Nikko's feet slid around under him. His knees kept
threatening to
Serpent's Quest [Lycan Blood Vol. I]
by Janrae Frank
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drop him as if they belonged to a broken doll. Two huge willow trees grew
close together ahead of the young lawgiver.
He heard the river rushing a few feet beyond the trees. If he threw himself in
the river, perhaps his body would wash up near one of the fishing villages.
They could match the arrows in his body to those Malthus carried, identifying
his murderer.
Nikko tottered into the trailing curtain of branches, clutching at a trunk to
hold himself up. The fletching on five shafts protruding from his body looked
like small, dark birds perched in the willow curtain. The shafts caught on the
branches as he struggled for one last step the step that would carry him into
the water and twisted the heads in his wounds. The death scream he had been
unable to voice earlier erupted from his throat in a long ululation of
suffering.
* * * *
Malthus dismounted before the bleeding table at his brother's cave that was
how he had begun to think of it his brother's cave. A dead body draped the
table and seven more hung from sturdy poles with their heads tied back, their
throats cut, and their blood draining into basins. He hoped that his
companions had brought plenty of preserving bottles:
the valley was rich in blood. Malthus had arrived at the meeting ready to be
fed, but not expecting it. Food appeared plentiful and fresh assuming they had
held something back for him.
Egidius, Laetus, and five others sat on the ground and small boulders: two
Rakshasas in their lovely female forms, sat sharing a dismembered arm, slicing
chunks from it with
Serpent's Quest [Lycan Blood Vol. I]
by Janrae Frank
256
their long knives; a huge, barrel-chested brukulaco kept licking his lips
hungrily while gazing at the bodies on the poles; and a pair of lamiae waited
for their share of lycan flesh, their female human torsos emerging from the
coils of their serpentine legs. Malthus nodded at them. Lord Daemon had
procured him some very powerful allies, which was necessary when dealing with
the tough lycans.
A banshee like cry, half-wail, half howl shattered the air.
Egidius' head came up sharply. "What was that?"
Malthus shrugged. "Lycan death scream. You've heard them often enough."
"Yes, but so close to here..."
Malthus smirked. "That was the lawgiver. I shot him. Nikko turned out to be a
more impressive specimen than I
expected." He moved around the table, examining the dead lycan there. She had
been almost pretty. "I hope you saved some for me. I haven't had a rite in
months."
"We did. Our scouts stumbled on an isolated group of steadings. The last of
the males have been drained, as you can see." Laetus pointed at the bodies on
the poles. "We have a dozen women and children chained up in another cave."
"Excellent. I've been craving a rite." Malthus stroked the corpse, sticking
his fingers in the wounds, pulling them out, and licking them. "You haven't
been done with this one long."
Laetus laughed, his eyes dancing merrily. "You're good, Malthus. I'd barely
gotten my pants pulled up when we heard your horse."
"Lycans don't call me the Butchering Serpent for naught."
He slapped Laetus on the shoulder. "I'll pick out some to be
Serpent's Quest [Lycan Blood Vol. I]
by Janrae Frank
257
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ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
sent to my estate in Carrion Crevasse. I want to start my experiments again
when this job is done."
"What did you mean by impressive?" Egidius asked.
Malthus chuckled. "My imps had him looking like a porcupine. I put three
arrows into him before it even slowed him down. I put two more into him to be
certain he didn't get far. And then another. Judging from that scream, it
still took him a while to die."
The imps would eat Nikko and then bring a few trophies back to Malthus, as
they always did. The toxins in Nikko's corpse would not so much as give them [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl fopke.keep.pl
Sa'necari!
How could we not have known it
? A fit of coughing nearly sent him to his knees. Blood, white froth, and
yellow bile foamed around his muzzle. Some force inside him said, "keep going,
keep going," and he did, even though he knew Malthus was right he was dying.
The young lycan clutched at his chest and stomach as he struggled onward
. I'm a fool. I should have gone to Claw with my suspicions.
"Follow him. He won't get far. There's enough poison in him to kill twenty
lycans," Malthus said. "Retrieve my points from his body. And my shafts."
Imps scampered after Nikko.
You're right, you bastard ... I won't ... get far. But maybe
... far enough.
He heard Malthus riding off in another direction. Nikko's vision blurred. Fits
of spasming rushed through his muscles, making his body twitch and cramp.
Nikko felt weak and tired, with a pressure in his chest like a fist closing
around his lungs and heart. The constriction left him struggling to breathe,
unable to voice a warning howl into the dwindling light
assuming it could be heard by anyone or scream at his pain and anguish.
He could barely keep his feet, could barely move. He focused on picking one
foot up and then the other. Nikko's feet slid around under him. His knees kept
threatening to
Serpent's Quest [Lycan Blood Vol. I]
by Janrae Frank
255
Page 120
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
drop him as if they belonged to a broken doll. Two huge willow trees grew
close together ahead of the young lawgiver.
He heard the river rushing a few feet beyond the trees. If he threw himself in
the river, perhaps his body would wash up near one of the fishing villages.
They could match the arrows in his body to those Malthus carried, identifying
his murderer.
Nikko tottered into the trailing curtain of branches, clutching at a trunk to
hold himself up. The fletching on five shafts protruding from his body looked
like small, dark birds perched in the willow curtain. The shafts caught on the
branches as he struggled for one last step the step that would carry him into
the water and twisted the heads in his wounds. The death scream he had been
unable to voice earlier erupted from his throat in a long ululation of
suffering.
* * * *
Malthus dismounted before the bleeding table at his brother's cave that was
how he had begun to think of it his brother's cave. A dead body draped the
table and seven more hung from sturdy poles with their heads tied back, their
throats cut, and their blood draining into basins. He hoped that his
companions had brought plenty of preserving bottles:
the valley was rich in blood. Malthus had arrived at the meeting ready to be
fed, but not expecting it. Food appeared plentiful and fresh assuming they had
held something back for him.
Egidius, Laetus, and five others sat on the ground and small boulders: two
Rakshasas in their lovely female forms, sat sharing a dismembered arm, slicing
chunks from it with
Serpent's Quest [Lycan Blood Vol. I]
by Janrae Frank
256
their long knives; a huge, barrel-chested brukulaco kept licking his lips
hungrily while gazing at the bodies on the poles; and a pair of lamiae waited
for their share of lycan flesh, their female human torsos emerging from the
coils of their serpentine legs. Malthus nodded at them. Lord Daemon had
procured him some very powerful allies, which was necessary when dealing with
the tough lycans.
A banshee like cry, half-wail, half howl shattered the air.
Egidius' head came up sharply. "What was that?"
Malthus shrugged. "Lycan death scream. You've heard them often enough."
"Yes, but so close to here..."
Malthus smirked. "That was the lawgiver. I shot him. Nikko turned out to be a
more impressive specimen than I
expected." He moved around the table, examining the dead lycan there. She had
been almost pretty. "I hope you saved some for me. I haven't had a rite in
months."
"We did. Our scouts stumbled on an isolated group of steadings. The last of
the males have been drained, as you can see." Laetus pointed at the bodies on
the poles. "We have a dozen women and children chained up in another cave."
"Excellent. I've been craving a rite." Malthus stroked the corpse, sticking
his fingers in the wounds, pulling them out, and licking them. "You haven't
been done with this one long."
Laetus laughed, his eyes dancing merrily. "You're good, Malthus. I'd barely
gotten my pants pulled up when we heard your horse."
"Lycans don't call me the Butchering Serpent for naught."
He slapped Laetus on the shoulder. "I'll pick out some to be
Serpent's Quest [Lycan Blood Vol. I]
by Janrae Frank
257
Page 121
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
sent to my estate in Carrion Crevasse. I want to start my experiments again
when this job is done."
"What did you mean by impressive?" Egidius asked.
Malthus chuckled. "My imps had him looking like a porcupine. I put three
arrows into him before it even slowed him down. I put two more into him to be
certain he didn't get far. And then another. Judging from that scream, it
still took him a while to die."
The imps would eat Nikko and then bring a few trophies back to Malthus, as
they always did. The toxins in Nikko's corpse would not so much as give them [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]