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smashed his fist against the wall next to the mirror.
All Things Impossible Crown of the Realm Dalton 210
Dis whistled holding his now bleeding knuckles.  I do not care about the pains you inflict
upon yourself, but not me!
 The same pains, the commander sneered.  I worry for your health in this war, I do
hope nothing dreadful happens to you. Vlade recalled when he had been mortally wounded.
He d woken up and then Dis and he shared some sort of magical bind. The other chemmen
had linked their lives because they couldn t sacrifice their leaders, but the one that had done
the lifeline binding had never explained what he had done.
Vlade bit his tongue until the metallic taste of blood filled his mouth. He whirled and spat
at the king s feet.
The king raised his hand to his own bloody mouth.
 The same pains, Dis, I ve always wondered what magic binds us.
The other shrugged.  I have my suspicions, but because of this spy who may be a
chemmen traitor, I find that I can no longer trust you.
Vlade stopped. He stopped moving, blinking and even breathing for a moment. He
rallied,  Check our prisoners!
 They still must be there, Vlade.
The commander paced.  What if this traitor let them out?
 We don t know if there is a traitor! Dis yelled.
 What if they ve escaped? Enemies may be loose in our city!
Dis smiled serenely and spoke with soothing poison on his lips.  They will not survive.
This is our world. Regardless, we have verified information of where the princes are, right
where we can kill them. Your epic still has a pulse, Vlade. Pull all of our army to Moonrise
Castle, where the last of the elvish leaders have trapped themselves. You can witness their
agony in the glory of color  it has been days too long since I have seen men die in red blood.
If there are outsiders in our city, do not fret  let the darkness have them.
 You see things? Boison whispered loudly from below.
Kelin looked down.  I see a lot. Nothing of Der, Jakkobb or Carak. He leaned against
the metal support halfway up the windmill. Where could they be? He d never noticed when
they d gotten separated in their mad dash.
Overhead, the giant blades hung unmoving in the lifeless air. The windmill s original
intent eluded him because it was ten times bigger than any mill he d ever seen. His father s mill
back in Riversbridge was water-powered and used to grind flour. This one had massive chains
disappearing into the ground below, and he guessed it was probably for some type of well, but
he had no idea how deep the water would have to be to require this construction. It didn t seem
to matter anyway, there wasn t any wind.
Around him, he could see the forest, the city and the endless patchwork of farmlands.
Perhaps this windmill was indeed used to draw up water, he mused. Dry ditches led away from
this mill into the fields, where other massive mills dotted the landscape. Each field had been
divided by a perfect square of ditches.
But, none of the windmills were turning, and Kelin couldn t see any plants higher than
his knees. He wasn t sure if they were green or not, but he doubted it. He thought back to the
forest, where the leaves fell or hardly grew and all the trees were twisted and withered.
All Things Impossible Crown of the Realm Dalton 211
They couldn t live here much longer. Darkreign was rotting underneath the chemmen s
boots. This war against the elves wasn t just about revenge, at least not for the ordinary
chemman. He gripped the metal of the support so hard that several of his fingernails bent.
They d killed their world.
Slowly, he turned his head toward the city and Zazocorma opened up like a split belly. A
linear riverbed drove its way through the heart of the city. The metropolis was constructed of
squares. The streets marched straightly and intersected at every corner. Kelin s eyes watered.
He had never seen anything like that. He was used to winding, curling streets that followed the
paths of cows long gone. The villages and town had grown up around them. He d never
imagined a city that had been planned. The overall design of the buildings was rectangular and
anything but frightening. It didn t ring true with the ancient horrors of the chemmen. At least, it
wasn t frightening if you didn t know what went on in those buildings.
He tightened his jaw. He had seen and felt their horrors, and now he had seen that
they d killed their world. And to think, they had been human once. Kelin had seen the humans
in Duelingar and Second Acron and they came in a variety of heights, shapes and colors. That
was a normal part about being human. The chemmen all looked the same. What frightened
him was that the chemmen had once been human and they had accomplished such horrors.
The elves, dwarves and other races who had achieved so-called civilizations had never done
anything as vile as the storm-readers. And now, along with millions of innocent lives, they d [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]