Description
My Links
»
»
»
»
|
Alberico couldn't hold it allIt just kept coming...
| Alberico couldn't hold it allIt just kept coming and coming, monotonous as rain or surf, without alteration in rhythm or degreeSimple power, hugely pouring forth
Soon, far too soon, too early in the day, the Barbadians began to feel as if they were fighting uphill, even on a level plain, as if the sun actually was fiercer above their heads than on the men they fought, as if their confidence and courage were seeping away with the sweat that poured from them, soaking through their clothing and armor
Only the sheer weight of numbers kept them level, kept that Senzian plain in balance all morning longHis eyes closed, sitting in the great, canopied chair they had brought for him, Alberico mopped at his face and hair continuously with water-soaked cloths and he fought Brandin of Ygrath through that morning with all his power and all the courage to which he could lay claim
But shortly after noon, cursing himself, cursing the maggot-eaten soul of Scalvaia d'Astibar who had so nearly killed him nine months ago, and who had knock off chanel watches weakened him enough, after all, to be killing him now, cursing his Emperor for living too long as a useless, senescent, emaciated shell, Alberico of Barbadior confronted the bleak, pitiless reality that all his gods were indeed leaving him here under the burning sun of this far-off landAs the messages began streaming back from the crumbling front ranks of his army, he began preparing himself, in the way of his people, for death
Then the miracle happened
At first, his mind too punishingly battered, he couldn't even grasp what was taking placeOnly that the colossal weight of magic pouring down from the hill was suddenly, inexplicably, lighteningIt was a fraction, a half of what it had been only a moment beforeAlberico could sustain itEasily! That level of magic was less than his own, even weakened as he was nowHe could even push forward against that, instead of only defendingHe could attack! If that was all that Brandin had left, if the Ygrathen had suddenly reached the end of his reserves
Wildly mind-scanning the valley rolex oyster and the hills around for a clue, Alberico suddenly came upon the third matrix of magic, and abruptly realized, with a glory flowering out of the morning's ashes in his heart, that the horned god was with him yet after all, and the Night Queen in her riding
There were wizards of the Palm here, and they were helping him! They hated the Ygrathen as much as he! Somehow, for whatever incomprehensible reason, they were on his side against the man who was King of Ygrath, whatever he might pretend to call himself now
"I am winning!" he shouted to his messengers"Tell the captains at the front, revive their spiritsTell them I am beating the Ygrathen back!"
He heard sudden glad cries around himOpened his eyes to see messengers sprinting forward across the valleyHe reached out toward those wizards, four or five, he judged, by their strength, perhaps six of them, seeking to merge with their minds and their power
But in that he was balkedHe knew exactly where they wereHe could even see where they were, a ridge of land just south of louis vuitton fake bags buy the Ygrathen's hill, but they would not let him join with them or know who they wereThey must still be afraid of what he did to wizards when he found them
What he did to wizards? He would glory in them! He would give them land and wealth and power, honor here and in BarbadiorRiches beyond their starved, pinched dreamsThey would see!
No matter that they did not open to him! It truly mattered notSo long as they stayed, and lent their powers to his defense there was no need to mergeTogether they were a match for BrandinAnd all they had to do was be a match: Alberico knew he still had more than twice the army in the field that the other had
But even as hope was pouring back into his soul with these thoughts, he felt the weight beginning to returnUnbelievably, the Ygrathen's power growing againFrantically he checked: the wizards on their ridge were still with himYet Brandin was still pushing forwardHe was so strong! So accursedly, unimaginably strongEven against all of them he was exerting his might, tapping deeper into women rolex watches his wellspring of sorceryHow deep could he go? How much more did he have?
Alberico realized, the knowledge like ice amid the inferno of war, the savage heat of the day, that he had no ideaWhich left him only the one courseThe only one he'd ever had from the moment the battle had begun
He closed his eyes again, the better to focus and concentrate, and he set himself, with all the power in him, to resist againTo resist, to hold, to keep the wall intact
"By the seven sisters of the god!" Rhamanus swore passionately"They are regaining the ground they lost!"
"Something has happened," Brandin rasped in the same momentThey had erected a canopy above him for shade and had brought a chair for him to sit uponHe was standing though, one hand on the back of the chair for support at times, the better to look down on the course of battle below
Dianora was standing close to him, in case he needed her, for water or comfort, for anything at all that she could give, but she was trying not to look downShe didn't want to see any more men handbags louis vuitton d |
Posted: 10:40 PM, Monday, May 3, 2010 |
|
|
|