Kenneth Bulmer by The Key to Venudine

Author:The Key to Venudine
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2011-08-27T12:46:56+00:00

VII

WHATEVER they might one day do together—and for Sir Fezius of Fezanois that day couldn't come quickly enough-clambering down the exposed and naked ladders to the mist-shrouded ground was one activity they would certainly never forget and, buffeted by shrewd winds and clinging for dear life, might never even accomplish.

The wind seemed to take delight in lulling them into lax-ness and then screeching in lunatic glee, coming rampaging around the sharp comer of the black building, blustering and shoving and bellowing, jovially seeking to pry them loose and hurl them into the abyss.

Fezius clung to the iron rail and clung to Lai and swore luridly that by all the devils in Amra's black kingdom he wouldn't be blown off. He'd damn well claw his way down this ladder and fight to the place in this world opposite the Griff Tower in Venudine, Kerrumpitty, yes I If he had to leave strips of his skin all the way, on hands and knees, sobbing—he'd do it. By the sacred name of Amra, he'd do it.

He had so far seen no direct connection from the interlacing walkways above and the squat buildings below. He thought of the buildings as squat only because they appeared so in those portions rising above the mist. He knew they must in reality be exceedingly tall structures. Lai tugged his arm. He looked, unable to hear her voice in the tumult of wind that that moment hurled itself on them from around the comer.

A single thin walkway stretched from the narrow landing beneath them. Like a wire, it extended out from this building to the next, a long thin strand of spider-silk bending to the winds, swaying, sagging, bobbing. Every now and then parts of it vanished as mists clouds rose to envelop the open space with vapors.

He nodded. The pathway pointed in the right direction. If they could cross that swaying bridge over the gulf they would save precious time. Visions of crossing the entire great conglomeration of buildings in this fashion taunted Fezius— taunted him with the enormous effort required.

He grabbed Lai around the waist and she did the same to him. Clipped together, heads bent, their outside hands grasping the slick and moisture-laden outer rail, they started to cross.

If descending the ladders had been a bellowing triumph of fortitude, crossing that hidden and mist-shrouded gulf by that single cable-strand of bridge represented a howling success. The wind did everything to them except hurl them off the bridge. Feeling sick and dizzy, staggering, Fezius held onto Lai and held onto the rail and forced himself to go on, step after step, step after step. He went on.

After what appeared to him a very long time Fezius, leaning against the wind, staggered headlong, taking three or four little steps to regain his balance, grasping the rail and holding fast to Lai, who pitched forward with him. Some time passed in relative silence before Fezius realized he had striven forward against a wind that no longer tore at him.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.