Enemy Within the Skull by E. C. Tubb

Author:E. C. Tubb [Tubb, E. C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science fiction
ISBN: 9780575107762
Publisher: DAW Books
Published: 2011-09-29T07:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

It was, thought Yuah Taiyan, like walking through hell. The old hell of burning fires and endless torments, of eternal thirst and constant anguish. It had commenced the moment he had left the tunnel which penetrated the thorn barrier, the heat rising from naked stone to blast at his eyes and suck moisture from his body. He had tried to follow the advice he had been given, walking slowly, careful were he trod, even finding a stone to suck as he headed toward the north. But the day had passed and a night and now it was another day. He ached with fatigue, the stone long since discarded, one ankle puffed from the sting of some venomous insect. Twice he had almost fallen into the lair of a fren, only his talent enabling him to escape with its warning of danger. And now, he thought, he was going mad.

Tiredly he shook his head, trying to rid it of the ceaseless noise of running water, of cool lakes, fountains, icy glaciers, gentle rain. The pulse of the sea merged with the pound of his heart, the rush of blood in his ears becoming the gush of water from a faucet. The concept of thirst-quenching seemed to fill the universe.

He tripped and fell, the shock of impact just another blow, the ache of bruised flesh just another pain to add to the rest. His lips were cracked, his tongue swollen, his skin febrile, burning to the touch. Squinting, he looked at the sky. The sun was where? North? South? East? West? South, he decided. It had to be south. If not he had been wandering in circles, lost in a maze of narrow canyons, of trails which ran nowhere, of crevasses which closed to reopen in writhing abandon.

Painfully he climbed to his feet. They were bare as was his body aside from the cloth around his loins, blistered from the burning stone despite the training of the past. A wise man would have used the cloth to bind his feet, but he was no longer capable of logical thought To run, to keep moving, to find the one place where he would be safe: that was all he could think about.

A boulder rose before him and he climbed it, freezing as he reached the summit, mind numbed with a cold ferocity. It was loud, dangerously so; something lurked in the shadows beyond. He turned and moved slowly over the scorching surface, whimpering at the pain from his feet. If he waited night would come and it would be cool. Stars would shine, but starlight gave rise to monstrous shadows which could hide lurking danger. And with the noise in his mind it was hard to concentrate.

The noise!

Tinkling ice and frosted glasses of sweet, white wine. Fruit juice tart and refreshing to the tongue. A waterfall. Showers which stung, like needles, the cool, cool depths of a limpid river. Ponds crusted with lilies and tankards covered with foam. Pearls of rain trickling down a window.

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