[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Two warriors collected the blasters from the table. J.B. winced at the clatter
and the rough handling.
"Now what?" he demanded. "You going to chill us before you ride down on the
Wolf
Soldier encampment?"
"No," Joe answered. "You will ride with us. Your presence is required to spur
on my more superstitious warriors. Their vanity will not allow them to stay
behind while wasicun kagas fight in their stead."
"
Wasicun whats?" J.B. asked.
"White demons," Joe explained.
"If you inspire so little confidence among your troops," Doc ventured, "then
how can you hope to succeed in your military endeavor?"
Joe shrugged. "Do you think me naive, Dr. Tanner? I have traveled far, farther
than any man in this valley, and seen many lands, many people. I have lived
among the whites and read many books. I know the fears of my warriors are
smoke. With your weapons in their hands, they will know it, too."
He spoke sharply to Little Mountain, who gestured toward the door with the
barrel of the scattergun.
"I'll fetch you when I need you," Joe said as they walked past him.
"That," Mildred muttered, "is what we're afraid of."
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Dlands 37- Demons of Eden
ONE OF THE FOUR HUMAN Wolf Soldiers acting as an honor guard pulled aside the
flap, allowing Ryan, Sisoka, Blood-sniffer and Pizi to enter the tepee.
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Ryan began to strip off the wolf skin, then demanded, "Where are my clothes
and weapons?"
Pizi picked up a tied deer-hide bundle from the floor and tossed it to him.
Opening it, Ryan saw all his possessions, including his gun belt, SIG-Sauer, a
spare ammo clip and his panga. Only the golden wafer was missing. He quickly
started to take off the skin of
Deathmaul.
Sisoka helped him to unlace the harness, saying, "I will treat your wounds.
You need a bandage on that arm."
Ryan pulled on his pants and buckled his gun belt around his waist before
allowing
Sisoka to minister to him. He sat on a buffalo robe, and with a bowl of warm
water, a cloth and some sort of stinging, stinking ointment, she cleaned his
scratches and lacerations. The bite on his forearm burned like a hot coal, but
he knew it wasn't as severe as it could have been.
Blood-sniffer sat on his haunches, licking the bite Ryan had inflicted. The
wolf had fought with a restrained savagery, obviously not wanting to kill him
unless there was no other choice.
As she bathed and bandaged his injuries, Sisoka murmured, "Tell us about
yourself, Ryan
Cawdor. You are now a Wolf Soldier, and we need to know of your history, of
your place in the world."
Ryan shifted uncomfortably, feeling the pressure of Pizi's stare against his
back. He rarely spoke of his past, but slowly, reluctantly, drawn out by
Sisoka's gentle encouragement and questions, he began to talk. He told her of
his privileged youth as the third and youngest son of Baron Titus Cawdor in
Front Royal, the largest ville in Virginia. He spoke of losing his mother, his
oldest brother, his father and his left eye to his middle brother, Harvey,
during an assassination attempt. He told of how he was wounded, not only in
body, but in spirit, and how he fled his past and his birthright to ride with
Trader on his war wags, fighting what seemed an endless battle with the human
and inhuman spawn of the Deathlands.
When he spoke of Krysty and Dean, Sisoka's lips pursed momentarily in what he
interpreted as disappointment.
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Dlands 37- Demons of Eden
"I've seen the ruins of all the great cities, the centers of predark
civilization," he said in a monotone. "I've roamed in the unknown regions
south, east and west and even across the sea. I've been a gunner, an explorer,
a father I've been everything except content, and I
hope to be that before I die."
He shrugged his shoulders. "This is as good a life as any and better than
most."
Sisoka shook her head and leaned forward to help him on with his shirt. Her
breasts pressed briefly into his upper arm. "A sad tale."
"Compared to your lives here, mebbe. But to the rest of Deathlands, compared
to some of the suffering I've seen that passes for life, not sad at all."
"In bygone days," Pizi said, "you would have died long before you even saw the
pass to the valley. You found your way here through a traitor's cunning, a
traitor's treachery."
Turning to face him, Ryan said, "According to Touch-the-Sky, you're the
traitors. You refuse to use the powers at your command to heal the earth."
Pizi shook his head vigorously, not in disagreement, but in disbelief.
"Touch-the-Sky is a vain fool. He found us, several seasons ago, and
immediately devoted himself to protecting this valley. He felt he was more
worthy of the guardianship of the Cavern
Keepers society than Sisoka and so attached himself to Towasi, my brother.
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When
Towasi died, the hereditary title of Guardian automatically passed on to
Sisoka, a tradition that has been observed for generations."
"He told me Towasi intended for him to assume the title, because he had no
sons. He said that neither he nor Sisoka had been initiated into the secret
knowledge of how to call upon the cavern's powers. He feels you practice low
laws, not the high laws."
Sisoka snorted. "First of all, Ti-Ra'-Wa is not a patriarchy. The Guardianship
mantle is inherited by the first-born child of the Guardian, regardless of the
sex."
"Were you initiated into the secrets?" Ryan asked.
"There are no secrets," Sisoka declared. "Therefore, no initiation rites."
"Touch-the-Sky believes there are initiation rites, and secrets to learn."
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Dlands 37- Demons of Eden
"We know what he believes," Pizi growled. "The vainglorious fantasy he built
up around the valley and the cavern wouldn't allow him to believe anything
else. Nor does he understand that Ti-Ra'-Wa acts as a balance between the high
and low laws, achieving a balance between the heavens and the earth. He
doesn't know enough about us to even begin to realize he doesn't know enough."
"Didn't his ancestors live here?"
"According to some," Sisoka said, a note of amusement in her voice, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]