Triumph of the Darksword - Margaret Weis [52]
“I have laid a geas on the giant,” said the Duuk-tsarith, as his companion removed the magical shield from around the Prince and the Cardinal. “I told the thing that it must hunt down whatever it was that hurt it. Since this geas goes along with the giants natural inclination, we should have no trouble with it.”
“Excellent,” Garald replied. He glanced to the east, where the columns of smoke were growing larger, thicker, and more numerous. “We must hurry.”
“Certainly, milord.” Speaking a series of words, the warlock used his magic to lift the Prince and Cardinal into the air and set them down gently upon the giant’s huge shoulders.
Settling himself as best he could, Garald wrinkled his nose at the smell of the giant’s unwashed body dressed in animal hides. The giant was intensely curious about its riders, and there was several moments’ delay as it twisted its head this way and that in an effort to get a close look at them. Its breath was even more foul smelling than its skin. Garald gagged and Cardinal Radisovik covered his nose with the sleeve of his robes when the grinning, broken-toothed mouth turned in his direction.
At last, however, the Duuk-tsarith, with a sharp command, was able to goad the giant into lumbering motion. Pointing toward the smoke to indicate the direction in which they wished to travel, the warlocks flew ahead of the giant, guiding its clumsy footsteps.
Garald had been somewhat afraid that, despite the geas, the giant would refuse to go anywhere near smoke, considering the painful burn it had sustained. Perhaps, however, the giant did not connect smoke with fire, for it stomped forward without hesitation, gabbling away in its unintelligible language that sounded very much like the prattlings of a toddler in a state of wild excitement.
Only half-listening to it, Garald realized suddenly that the giant was attempting to tell them what had happened. Repeatedly, it gestured to its hurt arm—once with such force that the Prince was nearly thrown off. Clinging precariously to his seat, both hands tangled in the giants matted, filthy hair, Garald regretted bitterly that no one had ever attempted to communicate with these oversized humans. Mutated for the purposes of war, they had been abandoned by their masters, left to roam the wilds until needed again. Locked in this huge head were the answers to Garald’s questions, for he had no doubt that the giant had been attacked by whatever it was that had massacred the people of Merilon.
They covered the miles of territory between the broken Gameboard and the columns of smoke swiftly, the giant hurrying forward with such enthusiasm and excitement that the Duuk-tsarith were forced to order it sternly to slow down or risk losing its passengers.
Inspecting the Field of Glory from his observation point, Garald saw more bodies, and his lips tightened grimly as his anger grew. He also saw additional indications of the foe—long snakelike tracks of churned-up earth that led overland, heading toward the east. The enemy stopped for nothing, apparently. Large trees had been uprooted and pushed aside, smaller ones snapped in two, vegetation plowed down or set afire. It was mainly on either side of these tracks that the bodies of his people could be seen.
At one point, near what was left of a smoldering grove of trees, Garald caught sight of a bright flash—metal gleaming in the sun. He turned to examine it, risking a fall from his precarious perch on the shoulder of the giant. It appeared to be a body of a human and, if it had not seemed too fantastic, the Prince could have sworn that the body had skin of metal.
Garald’s first thought was to stop and investigate, but he was forced to abandon this idea. The giant—under the influence of the geas and its own mounting excitement—would be difficult to bring to a halt and would probably charge off on its own if left by itself. By the time the Prince reached this decision, the giant had carried them far past the thing; Garald, looking back, couldn’t see any sign of the grove of trees, let alone a body