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fighting with all their strength and prowess. They were outnumbered far too
greatly to prevail, and Dain had a tricky time at first in adjusting to the
balance and heft of Mirengard, much less its failure to hack through the
fire-knights obsidian armor.
 Stop fighting the sword,
came a voice in his mind.
 Let it fight for you.
And then he got the knack of it and settled himself into the song and rhythm
of a magicked sword untainted and pure.
Moments later, more Netherans joined him and Lord Omas, helping to drive the
fire-knights back.
During a moment of respite, Dain glanced around and saw the Agyas coming at a
full gallop toward him, with the general at their head. Grethori, screaming at
the top of their lungs over a dreadful screech of war pipes, rode behind them.
Dain did not wait for them to catch up, but spurred the darsteed forward.  We
go to Muncel! he shouted.
At first they cut through the thin Gantese defenses easily, but the Believers
rallied and began to concentrate in front of them, holding them away from
Muncel. Dain s charge slowed, and then practically stopped. They fought their
way through, one foot at a time, trampling over the bodies of the fallen and
driving their foes slowly back. And now Dain found himself fighting Netheran
knights as often as he fought Believers. There was a terrible desperation in
their faces as they saw him and forced themselves to attack. They had sold
themselves to the wrong side in this civil war, and they knew it. Although
they fought, often they had little heart in it. As some were quickly slain,
others began to throw down their arms and flee.
It was a trickle of desertion at first, then a stream. More and more of
Muncel s knights fled the field.
Dain was close enough now to see his uncle standing beneath an awning, shaking
his fist and screaming at the deserters. Hurlhounds chased after them,
bringing many down.
But the Believers did not flee. They grew fiercer than ever, and now they were
joined by Nonkind troops, shambling, dead-eyed men, some with lolling heads,
all mindlessly stabbing and chopping under the direction of the Believers who
controlled them.
Mirengard cut them down so easily it was sickening. As quickly as he could,
Dain broke through their line, and suddenly there were no more knights ahead
of him. The darsteed raced right up to the very boundaries of the protection
spell shimmering around Muncel and his generals.
For the first time in his life, Dain came face-to-face with his uncle. He saw
a sour-faced man with a coward s eyes, stooped in posture, and filled with
hatred.
A rage not his own filled Dain. He wanted to seize this man by the throat and
throttle the life from him.
Realizing that these were his father s feelings rather than his, Dain pointed
his gory sword at Muncel.
  Tis over! he shouted.  Surrender now or 
 Nay, pretender! Muncel shouted back.  You have lost by coming here.
 My men are defeating your monsters, Dain said.  Your Netheran knights have
already deserted you.
Soon you ll be 
 You have lost! Muncel shouted, shaking his fists and laughing wildly.  They
said you would come to the trap, and so you have. You always do, foolish boy.
Dain frowned, staring at the man in puzzlement, for he saw no trap. Lord Omas
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caught up with him, and the rest of his men were breaking through now. But a
cyclone suddenly spun into existence between
Dain and his men, cutting off the Agyas. The trap he had not seen sprang shut.
Muncel stepped aside, and as the protection spell dropped, three magemons with
rounded shoulders and moon-shaped faces stood revealed. Their mouths were
bloodstained and they stank of rotten meat.
Standing shoulder to shoulder, they stared at Dain with their weird,
compelling eyes, and an involuntary shudder went through him. He felt suddenly
light-headed and cold.
In a flash, he remembered the two previous times he d felt this way, as though
he were sinking into a place where all the life was being drained from him.
 The Chief Believer has no need for you now, Muncel said with glee, rubbing
his hands together.
 When I give him you have brought from hiding, his Great Plan will be
accomplished without you. And now these magemons can complete their spell, as
they promised me. You are dead, pretender! Dead!
At last Dain understood what Samderaudin had meant by the last part of his
prophecy, about the reach of Ashnod being long, about the consequences of
exchanging Truthseeker which had protected him from this spell for Mirengard,
which could not.
The terrible coldness sank through his limbs. It slowed his heart, smothered
his lungs. Gritting his teeth, he spurred the darsteed forward, intending to
strike Muncel down, but the darsteed took no more than a couple of steps
before it stopped and would not budge.
 Sire! Lord Omas yelled in alarm.  What s amiss? What are they doing to you?
 Attack, Dain commanded.
Lord Omas charged the magemons, only to be knocked from his saddle by an
invisible force.
Despite his efforts to resist, Dain felt his life being stolen bit by bit. His
energy drained from him until he could no longer stay astride the darsteed. He
felt himself sway, then the next thing he knew was the jolt of impact as he [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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