Fistandantilus Reborn - Douglas Niles [77]
Instead, he tried to pay attention, to pick out the features of the hillside before him. A thin trickle of water drained down this smooth ravine, providing lubrication for a plummeting, headlong slide. Danyal had a fearful thought of Foryth coming to a halt below only to be smashed by the lad’s uncontrolled plunge. Or what if this gully debouched into a waterfall and dumped them unceremoniously onto a waiting pile of jagged, unforgiving rocks?
But the slide seemed to continue smoothly for a very long way.
Through the bouncing and scraping and the rushing of the wind, Dan gradually became aware of another body plunging along the gully behind him, and he guessed-and fervently hoped-that Emilo had accompanied them. He had to pray the Render wouldn’t have recommended the route if he didn’t have some hope of its success. Still, the lad was far from enjoying the slide as he skidded through a patch of mud, then felt a rough surface of rock scrape him painfully on the back.
And suddenly he was airborne, floating, falling, certain that he was doomed, yet even then some deep-seated instinct kept him from crying out.
He smacked into water that was icy cold and deep. The force of the impact knocked the breath from his lungs, but he was immediately stroking for the surface, kicking desperately until his face broke free and he could draw a deep lungful of air.
Another figure splashed into the water beside him, and only when Emilo popped to the surface, treading water easily, did Danyal hear the churning, choking sounds a short distance away. The two swimmers each grabbed one of Foryth’s flailing arms and thrashed through the chilly pool until they could pull the historian onto a sandy bank. All three lay for several minutes, gasping for breath, slowly absorbing the awareness of their changed circumstances.
Danyal noticed heavy evergreens drooping overhead, and the lad felt certain they were concealed from the road on the mountainside so far above. He waded into the shallow water to look upward and saw the ridgeline, where the road was, silhouetted high against the night sky.
“My guess is that they’ll figure we kept running and chase along that road for a long distance,” Emilo explained. “The chute we came down is pretty much invisible at night, though if they’re still up there at dawn, they won’t have much trouble spotting our trail.”
“Perhaps by dawn, then, we should be somewhere else,” Danyal suggested. “And thanks for rescuing us.”
He shivered, and the chill came from more than his wet garments.
Indeed, as he considered the prospects of a long captivity, with Zack and his knife waiting always in the shadows, the lad didn’t have any doubts but that the kender had indeed saved their lives.
CHAPTER 26
A Mysterious Affliction First Kirinor, Reapember 374 AC Danyal was startled by a sudden movement in the shadows of the pines.
He whirled, reaching for the fishing knife that he no longer wore at his belt. Then, as his eyes focused in the dim light, he gasped in shock.
“A girl!”
She was hiding in the deep shadow of a streamside boulder but, seeing she was discovered, came hesitantly forth, taking Emilo’s arm in a protective gesture.
“This is Mirabeth,” said the kender with grave formality. “She was waiting here for us.”
There was something familiar about the slight figure, who stood a little taller than Emilo. Danyal saw the top-knot that split into two long tails, one over each shoulder, and he was certain.
“You’re not a girl. You’re the kendermaid who tamed Nightmare, who showed me where the apples were!”
“Yes… that was me.” Again he heard the musical voice, soft and hushed but still delightful to his ear.
“Remarkable! Simply remarkable. Now, wait-I must get this down,” declared Foryth, fumbling in his pouch for the tools of his trade.