Legacy of the Darksword - Margaret Weis [89]
It was up to me.
If I could have, I would have shouted a warning to Eliza. I could not, however, and so, with an inarticulate cry, I pointed toward Mosiah.
At the strange sound of my cry, Eliza looked at me, alarmed and startled.
I pointed again, frantically.
She was just starting to turn when Mosiah reached her. He grabbed hold of the Darksword.
Taken by surprise, she tried valiantly to keep hold of the weapon, but Mosiah was strong and wrested it from her with ease. Then, to my intense astonishment, he turned and, with all his strength, flung the Darksword as far from him as he could manage. He flung it directly into the gate.
The sword disappeared as if it had become one with the darkness.
Gwendolyn reached out to seize hold of Eliza.
Mosiah barreled into the woman, knocking her heavily to the ground.
Eliza screamed, a scream that ended in a strangled gasp.
Gwendolyn vanished. Mosiah wrestled with a being clad in short white robes, white boots, white gloves, and a smiling skull mask beneath a white hood.
“An Interrogator!” Scylla sucked in her breath.
“Run!” Mosiah cried, pinning the white-robed person to the ground. “More will be coming!”
Indeed, we could see the silver shimmer of the D’karn-darah surround us as they sprang up from the tall grass and surged toward us.
“Run where?” Scylla demanded.
The D’karn-darah stood between us and the air car. They were bearing down on us. Mosiah slammed the head of the Interrogator into the ground. The skull mask lolled to one side, lay quiet. Mosiah leapt to his feet and made a scrambling dash toward us.
“The gate!” he gasped. “Run for it!”
The D’karn-darah had formed a semicircle and were closing in on us, though not very fast. It almost looked as if they were herding us toward the gate, which was now the only retreat open to us.
Eliza stood numb with shock, staring at the hideous being that had taken the form of her mother. I caught hold of her hand, pulled her away, nearly dragged her off her feet. Scylla took hold of her from the other side.
“Your Majesty, we must get you safely away from these evil men,” Scylla said firmly. “This way! Through the gate!”
Eliza nodded and started to run, but she stumbled over her long skirts. Scylla and I helped her up and propelled her toward the gate. By now, Mosiah had joined us. We were within a foot or two of the gate, about to enter, when he gave a loud cry and held out his arms, blocking our way. He pointed to what looked like a silver coin, shining on the ground.
“Look out! It’s a stasis mine! Go around! Don’t step on it!”
Glancing back, I saw the D’karn-darah increase their speed.
They had been expecting the stasis mine to stop us. Seeing it had failed, they started to close in. But we had already reached the gate.
What made me think that, once inside the gate, we would be safe from our pursuers? For all I knew, they would come in after us. The most we could hope for was to lose them in the forest’s darkness, but they were so close behind that this hope seemed a forlorn one.
Of course, I now know what drew me forward. A good thing I did not know then, I would never have believed it. As it was, I had no chance to believe or disbelieve. I entered the Eastroad Gate, entered the city of Zith-el , and I knew immediately that Scylla’s theory was right.
Magic was very much alive on Thimhallan.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Magic is the substance and essence of Life—that is the philosophy of this land and all who dwell here. Life and magic are one and the same. They are inseparable and indistinguishable.
DARKSWORD ADVENTURES
I did not recall losing consciousness, yet it seemed to me that I awoke from sleep. Then came a frightening sensation of being compressed, the air squeezed from my lungs, as if some force were trying to flatten me. That sensation ended almost before I was fully aware of it. All I could see around me was a dreamlike