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."If we get caught, we leave her behind and fend for ourselves.Ready?"Though she felt immense sorrow for what Xaphira must have endured, Emriana nodded, thankful to have her aunt beside her once more.It's so much easier with someone else by my— "Pilos!" she gasped."What happened to Pilos?"Xaphira paused in her attempt to try to hoist up Lobra."Who? What?""Pilos Darowdryn," Emriana explained as they got the unconscious woman between them and began shuffling their way toward the doorway leading out onto the balcony."He came with me to the Generon to save you.I don't know what happened to him.""And how did you manage to enlist the aid of a Darowdryn?" Xaphira asked as they maneuvered out into the dark of night."After Hetta died, and Grozier took over the house, I went to the Darowdryns for help."Xaphira nearly dropped Lobra."Mother's dead?" she asked, her voice meek, and Emriana could see the woman shivering.You're an idiot! Emriana screamed at herself."Not exactly," she said hastily, "but she's in a ring, which—oh, no! The ring!" The girl nearly dropped Lobra then, realizing she had been separated from her grandmother."Oh, no," she said again, feeling despair wash over her once more."I lost her, Xaphira.I lost Hetta.""Shh," Xaphira said, and Emriana thought she wastrying to comfort her, to tell her it was all right.In the next moment, though, the woman crouched down into the shadows, and Emriana did likewise just as a patrol of House guards stalked past below the balcony.It was not the casual sauntering Emriana was accustomed to seeing in House Matrell guards."They don't look happy," Emriana said once the soldiers had passed."I guess not, after everything that happened tonight," Xaphira said."If I say run, you let go of Lobra and go as fast as you can.Do you understand me? Don't look back, just run for safety.""All right," Emriana said, knowing her aunt was suggesting that they might get separated.Not on your life, she thought silently.Never again.Once they were certain the guards had moved out of earshot, they started down the steps of the balcony, hauling their still-unconscious prisoner between them.CHAPTER 8Horial landed hard on his back, and though the ground was soft and spongy beneath him, the sudden appearance of Edilus directly above him made the mercenary's journey through the magical portal a painful one.As the druid collapsed on top of the sergeant, the weight of both of them together drove Horial down hard against the earth, and the arrow still rammed in his shoulder sank deeper into his flesh.The sergeant gasped and barely refrained from crying out fully."By the gods," he groaned, panting."Get off me," he pleaded, pushing at Edilus with his good arm.The druid scrambled off Horial and stood, muttering in that language the sergeant had heard the Enclave use back in the Nunwood.It sounded like Edilus was cursing."You two be quiet!" Adyan hissed from nearby, his drawl exaggerated with his insistence."You want to draw the entire Generon down on us?"Horial groaned again and tried to sit up, but Edilus was there in front of him, grabbing him by the collar of his tunic."Why, you traitorous wolf? Why did you bring me through the portal with you?"Horial stared at the man, his mouth agape."Why? Because those soldiers were going to kill you!" he hissed."If you want to die so badly, then go back!"Edilus swore again softly."I would if it were possible, but it is not! The passage conveys those who use it in one direction only! I cannot return!""You hate us so much you'd rather die than come with us?" Horial demanded, controlling his voice only a little more than before."I saved your life.Maybe some day, you'll get back to your precious forest and do something worthwhile with what's left of it." And with that, he grabbed Edilus's hand, the one still clutching at his tunic, and slung it off."I'm not kidding!" Adyan said, his voice also a, whisper [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]