The Warrior's Tale by Chris Bunch & Allan Cole

Author:Chris Bunch & Allan Cole [Bunch, Chris & Cole, Allan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780345387349
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Published: 2008-10-07T05:00:00+00:00

'No wonder they haven't come for us yet,' I said. 'They're too busy for revenge.'

Gamelan didn't answer. I looked at him and saw his brow was beetled in concentration. His fingers were curling around and around in his beard.

'It's not possible,' I heard him mutter.

'What isn't possible?' I asked.

He gave a querulous hiss and so I left him alone. We didn't speak the rest of the day. That night as I prepared for bed he was still sitting on the edge of the mattress, toying endlessly with his beard. I started to ask him what was amiss, but thought better of it.

I no sooner closed my eyes than I plummeted into sleep. This time, there was no warning sensation of being pulled at by some dark force. I felt as if I were falling at great speed from a mountainous height. I wanted to scream, to sit bolt upright and break the grip of the dream, but I couldn't. I heard a voice calling my name. It was deep, and harsh and full of evil. I thought I recognized the voice, but couldn't recall who it might be. Rocky ground rushed up at me, but just before my fall ended a hot wind gusted, carrying me up again and then I was sailing through stark, cloudless skies.

I flew like that for what seemed to be a long time. An endless sea, devoid of life, rushed under me. Then up ahead I saw an island. Flame and smoke poured from it and I saw villages on fire and hordes of soldiers making sport with its inhabitants. Men and young boys were being speared, or ripped to pieces. Women and girls were suffering all sorts of degradation. A long line of horse-drawn carts was coming down a hillside road that led to the summit.

I willed myself to move in that direction and a moment later I found myself hovering over the hill. Beneath me was a splendid temple. It had a large golden dome and its vast gardens were decorated with the statues of what were obviously important deities. Soldiers, laden with booty, were pouring out of the temple. I saw others with the temple's priestesses, forcing them to perform all sorts of obscene acts. Then, atop a small knoll at the edge of the garden, I saw The Sarzana. He was seated on a black warhorse. He was laughing and urging the despoilers on. They began to topple the idols, stripping them of any rare metals that might decorate them. Some of the priestesses were dragged to those fallen idols, thrown across them and raped. When the soldiers were done with the women they were killed. I was too numb for anger, or even horror-.

The Sarzana raised his head and looked up towards me. He laughed and the sound of his laughter boomed out as if he were a giant. Then I heard someone laugh in return. It rolled and buffeted me like thunder. It came from above and I craned my head back to see a thick black cloud knuckling under the sky.

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