Dying of the Light by George R.R. Martin

Author:George R.R. Martin
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780553900972
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2004-09-28T10:00:00+00:00

The corkscrew road went around and around the tower that was Challenge, sinking slowly and steadily. It took more time than Dirk could have imagined to sink from level 388—where they surprised the second party of Braiths—to level one. A long flight in gray silence.

They encountered no one else, neither Kavalar nor Emereli.

On level 120 a solitary warder blocked their way, turning all its dim eyes on them and commanding them to halt in the voice—still even and cordial—of the Voice of Challenge. But Gwen did not slow, and when she neared, the warder rolled off out of her way, firing no darts and emitting no gas. Its echoing commands chased them down the concourse.

On level fifty-seven the dim lights above them flickered and went out, and for an instant they flew in total darkness. Then Gwen turned on the headlamps and slackened her speed just a bit. Neither of them spoke, but Dirk thought of Bretan Braith and wondered briefly whether the lights had failed or had been turned off. The latter, he guessed; a survivor above had finally called his holdfast-brothers below.

On level one the concourse ended in a great mall and traffic circle. They could see very little of it; only where the beams of the headlamps touched did shapes leap startlingly out of the ocean of pitch that surrounded them. The center of the mall seemed to be a tree of sorts. Dirk caught glimpses of a massive gnarled trunk, a virtual wall of wood, and they could hear leaves rustling above them. The road curved around the great tree and met itself. Gwen followed it, all around the wide circle.

On the far side of the tree a wide gateway stood open to the night and Dirk felt the touch of wind on his face and realized why the leaves had been rustling. As they swept past the gateway, staying on the circle, he looked out. Beyond the gate a white ribbon of road led away from Challenge.

And an aircar was moving low over the road, quickly, toward the city. Toward them. Dirk glimpsed it only for an instant. It was dark—but everything was dark in the meager outworld starlight—and metallic, some misshapen Kavalar beast he could not even begin to identify.

It was not the Ironjades, of that he was sure.

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