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thing!"
"But, sir-" Comos tried to explain.
Slith glowered. "At least if a Bozak buys it on sentry duty, he'd have
exploded, and we'd have had some warning! Lucky for you I was nearby.
The murdering elven scout party is now fertilizing daisies not fifty
feet from here. I'm assuming command. You'll act as my aide. Clear?"
"Yes, s-s-sir!" stammered the unhappy Comos, through rattling teeth.
Slith glanced around, noticed the rest of Recce Troop standing around,
doing nothing, watching the two officers.
"Just what in the Abyss do you think you're looking at?" Slith shouted
at them. "No one told you to stop working! Form a defensive perimeter!
Move!"
Recce Troop began to slog off in the direction of the tree line.
Suddenly one draconian groaned and sagged to the ground. Another fell,
clutching an arrow in his midriff. More arrows whined through the
trees, sounding like evil wasps.
"Get going, you maggots!" Slith hollered. "Enemy to your front!"
Across the river, Kang stood on a tree stump at the water's edge and
surveyed the work. All of the pontoons were constructed, and crossbeams
were being nailed into place. As a section was readied, it was pushed
into the water, moving the entire floating bridge closer to the
opposite bank. The end of the bridge was secured to the rope that Recce
Troop had shot across, ensuring that the bridge was not swept
downriver.
Sivak draconians, balancing on the beams, nailed halflogs into place,
creating a walkway. Several held short bows, their attention on the air
and the land, keeping watch.
Kang was more worried now than ever. The bridge was nearing completion,
and not one problem had occurred. Surely it can't be this easy, he
thought.
He was right. From across the far side of the river, he heard what
sounded like Slith's rumbling voice, the words: "Enemy to the front. "
"Damn!" Kang peered across the water, trying desperately to see. He
could hear the clash of blades, more shouts. And then a huge black
shape drifted overhead in the darkness, blacker than black. It was
flying above the river, and it could only be one thing.
Kang jumped down from his perch. He raced over to accost the human,
standing on the river's edge. "Second Aide, I take it that is one of
our dragons?"
Rajak shook his head. "No, couldn't be one of ours, Bridge Master. Our
dragons are grounded except to intercept enemy... " The human's voice
trailed off. "Holy Mother Takhisis!" Kang swore.
Rajak turned and sprinted to the rear, heading back to Lord Ariakas's
command tent.
Kang jumped onto the partially completed bridge, made his way to the
center. Pounding his feet, he urged the engineers on.
"Faster! Move it! We've got the enemy on our... Blessed Abyss!
Incoming!"
The darkness suddenly coalesced into the form of a huge silver dragon.
So that's how it disguised itself. Magical darkness spell! Kang
realized.
The dragon now shone bright silver. It swept forward. Its outstretched
hind talons raked across the bridge. The damage the dragon did was
light, but it carried off two Bozaks in its claws. Kang recognized
Comos, screaming curses as the dragon's talons dug into his scaly
flesh.
The Bridge Commander swore. The dragon had captured prisoners alive.
Torture couldn't make a draconian talk, but give that wretch Comos a
couple of drams of elven wine and...
Kang was blinded by a flash, then deafened by an explosion, followed
quickly by another. It took him a moment to realize what had happened.
The two Bozaks had blown apart in midair! The force of the blast ripped
the underbelly of the silver dragon wide open. It screamed, rolled over
onto its back, and plunged into the river.
"Not bad shooting, eh, Bridge Master?"
Subcommander Slith, holding an elven bow, was grinning at Kang.
The Bridge Master stared at him in wordless astonishment.
Slith shrugged. "Couldn't have that lizard-livered Comos and that other
officer blabbing about our bridge, could we, sir? So I shot them. These
arrows are from an elven officer, and I guess they don't miss. I
remembered that with you Bozaks, your bones explode when you're dead-
begging your pardon, sir. Nothing personal. It's just that I figured if
those two went up, they'd take the dragon with 'em. "
Kang found his voice. "Slith! Where in the Queen's name did you come
from? How in the Abyss did you get over here?"
"The bridge has reached the opposite shore. Recce Troop is securing the
other side as we speak. We're being overrun by elves over there. That's
what I sent Comos to tell you. "
Kang hadn't realized they'd made this much progress. He peered across
the river, could see his troops all over the opposite bank. He could
also see the flash of metal, hear those nerve-grating songs those
cursed elves sang when they went into battle. He looked back at the
near bank. The first engineering troop was just finishing the planking.
Good for Gloth. He had not permitted his men to stop work, even when
the dragon attacked.
Kang was suddenly, deeply, righteously angry.
Sprinting onto the bridge, he rallied his forces. "Keep First Troop
working!" he yelled at Gloth. "The rest of you, come with me! We're not
going to let any Queen-cursed, pointy-eared, sing-songy, gimpy-legged
elves take our bridge! Are we?"
The draconians answered with one resounding voice. "No, sir!"
The engineers working on the bridge did not go armed; swords would only
get in their way. Now they grabbed anything that could be used to kill:
hammers, mallets, axes, spikes. Wielding their crude weapons, the
draconians swarmed across the bridge-their bridge. Elven arrows picked
off more than a few, but the draconians surged on.
By all the gods in the dark pantheon, their bridge would stand.
The force of the draconian onslaught smashed the elven line. Soon, the
far bank was awash with elven and draconian blood.
Kang, hacking the head off an elf warrior, heard the elven trumpets [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]