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promised land, a new Eden, their weapons enacting the role of serpents.
"We must go on and quickly," Joe declared, "or more of the Wolf Soldiers will be here."
Kneeling, he lashed rawhide thongs around the fore and hind paws of the unconscious
wolf. With a wide strip of leather, he muzzled the beast, securing its jaws tightly.
As he tightened the knot, the wolf stirred slowly, its eyes opening. It didn't move, but a
low whine escaped its black-rimmed lips. Its eyes blazed with fear, then with such a
potent rage that Ryan felt his belly turn a cold flip-flop.
The ground suddenly trembled under the impact of many hooves.
"Riders," Jak declared.
Ryan and the others raised their weapons as the dull thudding grew in volume.
"Wait," Joe said. "They are my people."
Illumined by the white disk of the moon, a band of horsemen galloped toward them from
the distant, flickering firelight. The half-dozen men wore buckskin leggings, and, like the
Wolf Soldiers, were armed with lances, bows and arrows.
They pulled up their horses sharply, and a burly man slid from his steed and strode
toward Joe. They clasped forearms and spoke in rapid-fire Lakota. Ryan recognized him
as Little Mountain. Joe gestured for the others to step forward.
"This is Little Mountain, who brought me word of your arrival in Amicus. He will escort
us to the village. We must hurry. The Wolf Soldiers are massing for another attack."
The warriors exchanged fierce, gloating words, nodding toward the bound and muzzled
Blood-sniffer. Twice, Ryan heard them say "Sisoka."
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Dlands 37- Demons of Eden
Before he and his friends remounted, they ran quick examinations on their wounds. J.B.
had taken a cut on his left arm, but it was superficial. Doc was bruised from his fall,
though not really injured. However, his eyes were disconcerted as he gazed at the bound
wolf.
"Loup-garou," he whispered.
Jak, who knew the legends of the Cajun people, was startled. "Men that change to
wolves? Old story for old stupes, Doc. Surprised at you."
Overhearing the exchange, Joe said sharply, "Mount up!"
Everyone swung onto horseback. Blood-sniffer was slung across Little Mountain's pony
and tied to the saddle with thongs.
As they trotted across the rolling sward, Ryan knew there was no way he could reconcile
the valley of Ti-Ra'-Wa with the rest of Deathlands. This hidden pocket of Earth had
existed long before the nuking and sky dark, its people living an ancient way of life,
unaffected by the outside world. Or perhaps not—the old ways seemed to be moving
toward a climax of conflict as a direct result of the presence of him and his friends. They
had brought Deathlands to the valley.
He doubted the intelligent animals were the mutated spawns of radiation. Biochemical
warfare and fallout had created a host of genetically twisted monsters across the
devastated face of America, Europe and the eastern republics, but the beasts of Ti-Ra'-Wa
appeared to be throwbacks, survivors of a dim time in prehistory when humanity and
animals had coexisted as equals.
He didn't really believe that, and he hoped the uncanny community of beasts and men had
another explanation than that the animals were as intelligent as humans.
The party rode down a gentle slope toward a collection of structures near the banks of the
valley's timber-bordered river. Ryan had expected tepees or bark lodges, but what he saw
was so dumbfounding, he suspected hallucination.
The village was built into the forest, in some ways a part of the forest. Massive hollow
tree trunks served as lodgings, giant boughs were like arboreal footpaths and low-hanging
branches were so intertwined they formed roofs and shelters. Light shone from within
many of the trees, through windows that didn't look cut, but formed out of the living
wood.
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Dlands 37- Demons of Eden [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]