Nyal's Story (The Oldest Living Vampire Saga) by Duncan Joseph

Author:Duncan, Joseph [Duncan, Joseph]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Cobra E-books
Published: 2013-07-24T04:00:00+00:00

7

She told little Maia that their men would bring back her sisters, but they did not. The men managed to save three of the tribe’s children, and returned them in relatively good health—and they brought back the heads of three Foul Ones, which they planned to place upon spears at the perimeter of the village to deter any further raids-- but not Nyal’s granddaughters. Not Korte-Anthe and sweet little Ganni.

When Nyal learned that her granddaughters had not been saved, she fell to her knees. She didn’t shout or cry or beat at her breasts with her fists, but the strength went out of her legs. All she could think of was the unkind thought that had flashed through her mind when she saw Ypp’ham’s grandson lying dead beside the path—Not one of mine, thank the ancestors!

Was she being punished for that flash of selfish relief?

Korte-Anthe and Ganni’s parents were beyond consoling. Their mother did wail and beat at her breasts with her fists. One of her husbands bent to lift her from the ground, but Breyya spat like a cat and raked his face with her nails. Nyal was ordinarily disgusted by Breyya’s displays—she had always been such a stormy child!-- but her daughter’s fit was justified this day. It took both of her husbands to drag her, kicking and screaming, to their hut.

Nyal spotted Gilad standing near the back of the crowd. She rose laboriously and limped to him.

“Can you do nothing for the girls, Gilad?” she said pleadingly to him. “Is it truly hopeless?”

Gilad was exhausted, his body smeared with dirt and dried blood. He had killed one of the Foul Ones himself, and bore the badges of his victory: a gash on the upper arm where the beast had slashed him with his blade, and several scratch marks on his chest and the left side of his face. The wounds to his face looked as if they were already becoming infected.

Gilad glanced toward the west, where the sun had fattened like an overripe fruit. He appeared reluctant to answer his grandmother. Finally, he sighed. “I lost their trail, Grandmother. They are very good at hiding their tracks.”

“Then they are gone,” Nyal whispered.

If Gilad could not track them then no one could.

He shrugged miserably.

“I hope they perish quickly,” Nyal said. Her face was grim, drained of all color. She looked as pale as Eyya had the night she passed away.

She didn’t want to imagine all the terrible thing those devils would do to her granddaughters, but she was helpless to stop the visions from capering through her mind. Again, she wondered why Gon had not interceded in their battle. Where had he been? Why had he abandoned them in their moment of need?

And then her mind seized on a thought.

Perhaps he simply had not seen the raiders coming. Perhaps he did not know that his granddaughters had been taken. He was no god. He could not see all things. He was simply a man who had been terribly cursed.

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.