Crystal Gorge: Book Three of the Dreamers by David Eddings & Leigh Eddings

Author:David Eddings & Leigh Eddings
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Tags: Fiction, Fantasy, epic, Action & Adventure, Contemporary
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2007-10-15T03:24:11+00:00

‘That’s one of the peculiarities of this time of the year,’ Tladan said without smiling. ‘Winter doesn’t seem to like long days, for some reason.’

‘I’ve never actually seen it,’ Athlan said, ‘but I’ve heard that one of the Reindeer tribes lives so far to the north that the sun sets in the late autumn and doesn’t come back up until early spring in their territory.

She makes up for it in mid-summer, though. She doesn’t go down at all, so the people live out about a month or so without any nights. There’s nothing but broad daylight up there for about forty days.’

‘That might make it a little hard to get any sleep,’ Chief Two-Hands said.

‘They catch up on their sleep the following winter, most likely,’ Athlan said, peering down the river bed.

‘As close as I can tell, Keselo’s set up his engines about two miles down that dry wash. They appear to be on the outer edge of the wash. Isn’t that quite a ways away from where he’ll be setting the grass on fire?’

file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry%20krui...-%20The%20Dreamers%2003%20-%20Crystal%20Gorge.html (232 of 306)19-2-2006 20:08:58

Crystal Gorge

‘I think his catapults might surprise you, Athlan,’ Rabbit said. ‘The Trogites were throwing fire-balls a good half-mile in Veltan-Land during the last war.’ He looked at Longbow. ‘Did Ekial give you any idea of just when he was going to sweep in and herd the ordinary Atazaks out from in front of the ones who carry spears?’ he asked.

‘I think he’ll want just a little more light,’ Longbow replied. ‘He wants to be sure that he’s got all of them. Then too, Keselo will need to be able to see the bison before he starts his fires. We want those fires behind the herd, not right in the middle.’

The Tonthakan archers were sending their arrows over the unarmed Atazak commoners, and a fair number of the “Guardians of Divinity” had begun to sprout arrow feathers in places nobody wants penetrated.

‘I thought we were going to let the bison trample those stupid Atazaks,’ Chief Two-Hands said.

‘Not until Ekial can get the ordinaries to a safe place,’ Longbow explained. ‘Athlan and I talked it over, and it seemed to us that a brief arrow-shower would persuade the “Guardians of Divinity” to pull back.

They won’t be in Ekial’s way now, so he won’t encounter any interference when he herds the ordinaries off to safety. Then, too, if the “Guardians” are back down the east slope a ways, the bison will have enough time and distance ahead of them to build up their speed. A running trample should work better than a walking one. Excuse me a moment.’ He lifted his horn and blew the agreed-upon signal. ‘Ekial will move now,’ he told the others. ‘We’re not sure just how fast the ordinaries can move. They probably haven’t been eating too well, so they might be just a little weak.’

Prince Ekial and his men were surprisingly gentle as they escorted the unfortunate ‘ordinaries’ out of harm’s way. Ekail frequently assumed a pose of blunt brutality, but Longbow had been quite certain that it was nothing more than a pose.

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