Wolf In Shadow by Gemmell David

Author:Gemmell, David [Gemmell, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780345416858
Publisher: Del Rey
Published: 1997-04-26T23:00:00+00:00

Stones of Power 3 - Wolf in Shadow

CHAPTER EIGHT

Samuel Archer stood in the doorway as the two warriors dragged the corpses out into the open, dumping them by a low wall. There was no dignity in death, he realized, seeing that the dead had fouled themselves and the stench carried even through the rain.

There were some amongst the Guardians who were considered soldiers, men of action. Yet none that Archer could bring to mind could match that chilling quality possessed by the Jerusalem Man. How he had heard the approach of the assassins amid a storm baffled Archer. And without the Stone to mask him with invisibility, Archer himself would have died sitting at the fire. Neither Shannow nor Batik had mentioned the plume of red smoke, which Archer had been quite proud of- a distraction for the Zealots, giving the warriors time to react. He decided he would mention it himself when the opportunity arose.

The palace hall smelt of cordite and death and Archer wandered up the long steps to the balcony. There was a pool of blood by the rail, and the black man recalled how Batik had walked here earlier and heaved the body to the stones below where it had landed with a crunching thud.

Shannow came in out of the rain and removed his leather coat. He knelt for a few seconds at the fire, warming his hands, then took his Bible from his saddlebag.

’Clues as to the whereabouts of Jerusalem?’ asked Archer, sitting beside him.

’No, I find reading eases my mind.’ He shut the Bible. ‘I saw Pendarric in a dream last night. He said he caused the world to drown by using Blood Stones and he warned me that it is about to happen again.’

Through the Hellborn?’

’Yes, I believe so. Do you have anything in the Ark that could help me bring down Abaddon?’

’It’s not my field, Mr Shannow. I am a researcher into things arcane. But there are weapons there.’

’And knowledge?’

’Indeed there is knowledge.’

’I will ride with you, Archer. Now leave me to read in peace.’

Archer wandered to the door and looked out into the rain. Batik joined him.

’You can’t talk to him when the dark moods are upon him, and for a religious man he is in no hurry to share his God.’

’He has much on his mind, Batik.’

’I don’t care about that, just so long as he hears the killers in the night. He’s a remarkable man. All my life I have been taught to fear the Zealots as the greatest warriors hi the world, but they are like children compared with him.’

’Will you stay with him?’

’For a little while, Archer. I have no intention of returning to Babylon and following Shannow as he charges the palace single-handed.’

’A strange attitude for a friend to take?’

’We are not friends, Archer. He has no friends - he does not need friends. Look at him, sitting there like a rock. I am a warrior, yet I am still shaking over the attack. I wonder how many other enemies are closing on us as we speak.

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