[Anthologies] - Crucible Of War by Marc Gascoigne; Christian Dunn

Author:Marc Gascoigne; Christian Dunn [Dunn, Marc Gascoigne; Christian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Black Library
Published: 2012-03-15T22:12:45+00:00

TWICE ICA'S STRETCH wings hissed as fabric tore, and twice he found himself lurching impossibly to the left or right, preparing for the terminal descent to the waves below.

Twice the voice in his mind said, 'Yes - let me die!' And twice he righted himself, somehow finding the stability to continue. The Ghostmountain no longer loomed across the horizon of the world. This close, it was the world.

'Where will we land, brother?' Ica called ahead to where Dalus effortlessly hung aloft. His brother didn't reply. Ica called out again, louder this time, 'I said, where wi—'

'I heard.' Dalus looked back, piercing his twin with a stare. 'And how should I know?' Then he adjusted his shoulders, dipped forward and streaked ahead.

At times the wind seemed to reach underneath Ica, a seemingly gentle hand to cradle his exposed form, only to hurl him high into the air, or drop away from underneath, leaving him tumbling and helpless. At such moments only fatalistic momentum - the certainty that it made no difference whether one went on or gave in - allowed him to struggle against the pockets and troughs of resistance to stay level.

Every second brought him closer to the Ghostmountain until it seemed to become a planet, tumbling across the horizon of Gathis, to inevitably collide, showering all of existence in chaotic planetary viscera and arterial lava. Ica found himself wishing it would, that he could ride the crest of that fiery cataclysm and burn out in the air, an insignificant spark.

In his abstract state he barely felt the fingers of power that once more delved into his mind. He could barely summon the energy to retch, gagging uselessly at the psychic contact. The voice of Librarian Thryn entered his brain again, stabbing at the back of his eyeballs.

'There…' it hissed, and unbidden his eyes swivelled to a craggy rockface, where - if he winced against the stinging air and focused - he could make out a shadowy recess above a flat ledge. Another cave. Ahead he could see Dalus reacting similarly, face turning to the distant platform.

So the twins tilted their exhausted, ruined bodies towards the ledge, and clumsily, awkwardly, descended.

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