Windhaven by George R.R. Martin & Lisa Tuttle

Author:George R.R. Martin & Lisa Tuttle [Martin, George R.R. & Tuttle, Lisa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-08-01T23:46:16+00:00

The sky was clear for a moment, with nothing to see. Kerr was losing badly too; Jon of Culhall had landed now, and Kerr was nowhere in sight. Maris took advantage of the free moment to see how the judges had scored her students.

She was not cheered. Sher's box had seven whites in it, Leya's had five, Damen's eight. Kerr had six against him at the moment, but the judges were dropping in more as minutes went by and he did not appear. "Come on," Maris mumbled under her breath.

"I see someone," the Southern judge said. "Very high, angling down now."

The others lifted their scopes. "Yes," one of them said. Now people on the beach had spotted the incoming flyer as well, and Maris could hear the buzz of speculation.

"Is it Kerr?" Sena said anxiously.

"I'm not sure," the Easterner answered. "Wait."

But it was Shalli who lowered her telescope first, looking stunned. "It's One-Wing," she said, in a small voice.

"Give me that," Sena said, snatching the telescope from her hands. "It is him." She passed the instrument over to Maris, beaming.

It was Val, all right. The wind had picked up quite a bit, and he was using it well, slipping from current to current, riding with a veteran's grace.

"Announce him," Shalli said numbly to the crier.

"Val One-Wing, Val of South Arren!"

The crowd was hushed for a moment, then erupted into noise; wild cheering, groans, cursing. No one was indifferent to Val One-Wing.

Another pair of silvered wings sliced into view from above. Corm, Maris guessed, and a glance through Shalli's telescope confirmed it. But he was behind, too far behind, with no chance of catching up. It was by no means a humiliation for him, but it was clearly a defeat.

"Maris," Shalli said, "I want you to see this, so everyone will know that my judging is fair." She opened her hand, and a single black pebble rested in the hollow of her palm, and as Maris watched she dropped it into the box. Four others followed it.

"Another one," someone said. "No, two."

Val had landed, and was calmly taking off his wings. As always he had refused the help of the land-bound children who crowded around him. Corm came sliding over the beach and cliffs, then swept around in an angry predatory circle, reluctant to come down and face the fact of his defeat. Corm did not take defeat well, Maris knew.

All eyes moved to the two new flyers. "Garth of Skulny," the Outer Islander said, "and his challenger.

She's close behind him."

"Yes, it's Garth," the Landsman put in. He had not been happy when S'Rella challenged one of his flyers; the prospect of losing a pair of wings was something no Landsman relished. "Fly, Garth," he said now, openly partisan. "Hurry."

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