[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

momentum interrupted, he fell heavily across the statue. At the same time he felt
and heard tiny fragments of stone pattering down all around him.
Knuckling the grit from his eyes, he rolled to the ground and staggered to his
feet He didn't look behind him to gauge the destruction wrought by the gren. He
knew what he would see those closest to the detonation point would be
mangled lumps of flesh, their eardrums shattered by the brutal decompression,
their eyeballs pulled from their sockets, internal organs burst, blood from
ruptured vessels springing out from every orifice, their lungs flattened wafers of
tissue. Those at the far edge of the implosion's epicenter might be unconscious
due to the sudden and absolute lack of oxygen.
In a sprint Kane reached the tethered horses. They were frightened and began to
neigh and stamp their hooves. He rushed toward the closest one, untying the
length of rawhide attached to the animal's halter and snatching a fistful of mane.
The horse whinnied in fright and rather than try to calm it down, he leaped onto
its bare back and kicked its flanks, letting it bolt. Kane had always loved horses
in general, but from a distance. Because of his ville-bred life, the closest he had
ever come to the beasts was during duty patrols, either in the Pits or in the
Outlands. And those had been dray animals, fairly docile, slow moving and
phlegmatic.
The beast he clung to now was a war pony, fierce, high-spirited and skittish from
the unfamiliar smell and feel of the rider. It went clattering and bucking across
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the courtyard with shrill cries. Kane gripped the halter with one hand, beating
with his free fist at the horse's head.
Snorting in anger, it headed for a crumbled section of wall, running flat out.
Kane bounced and jounced on its back, at first trying to turn, then giving it free
rein. He had blurry glimpses of men streaming by and he barely heard their
shouts over the drumming hoofbeats. He fought to maintain his balance, gritting
his teeth against the spine-compressing jolts.
The horse galloped toward the split in the wall, sand spurting from its hooves.
Kane hung on, dimly aware of the ruins reeling past. The animal reached the
broken heap of rubble spanning the width of the gap in the wall.
Kane felt its muscles sliding and gliding beneath its glossy coat. It leaped high in
the air, higher, it seemed to him, than was necessary to clear the pile of stones,
forelegs tucked beneath its chest, powerful hind legs catapulting it over the
barrier.
Then his mount alighted gracefully outside the wall, but with a jolt that launched
Kane straight up. It was impossible to maintain his grip on the halter or the
mane, so he sailed headlong through the air, toward a cluster of yurts. He tucked
his chin as he hit the ground, not trying to resist the kinetic force of the fall or to
land on his feet. He rolled, reflexively slapping the ground to absorb the
momentum and minimize the chance of having the wind knocked out of him.
Shoulder and lower back throbbing, he rolled twice and came dizzily to his feet.
The horse galloped off, kicking its hind legs joyfully, tossing its head, neighing
loudly, as if throwing Kane off its back was one of the high points of its life.
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Axler, James - Outlanders 02 - Destiny Run
Outraged yells on the other side of the wall started him running again. He
reached beneath his coat and drew his fourteen-inch combat knife. So far he was
ahead of his pursuers, and for the moment none of them was in sight, but he
knew he couldn't keep it that way.
A door flap was thrown back on the nearest yurt, and Boro looked out. Opening
the flap wide, he motioned Kane toward him. Without breaking stride, he
sprinted for the dome, diving through the opening, snatching the man's tunic and
dragging him to the floor.
He pressed the point of the knife to the man's throat. Boro shook his head,
saying, "Nyet, nyet," letting Kane know he had no intention of giving him away.
Hesitantly Kane released him, allowing him to rise and lace the door flap shut.
The sound of pounding feet came from outside the tent, and Boro pointed to the
wall farthest away from the door, where horsehair blankets, rolls of fleece,
cushions and other household articles were piled. Kane crawled quickly to the
heap, lying down in a fetal position as Boro draped him in blankets and covered
him with cushions. He lay motionless as Boro leaned indolently against the pile.
Peering through a small slitlike fold in the musty blanket over his head, he saw
the door flap quiver, shaken from the outside. Before Boro could move, a knife
blade insinuated itself through the hide and severed the leather lacings. A
skullcapped warrior ripped the hanging aside, shouting a fierce question. He [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]