No, I'll bear the weight of it
myself, and not burden you with it. But I'm convinced now that his egg
should not hatch. I had doubts before, unlike our friend Malok, who also
heard the words but is doubly the fanatic now. Perhaps the hatching
cannot be stopped--but I've decided that I am a man and must fight like
one against the fates. So, though I still oppose much that the Satheri
have done, I've gone back to them. We'll be at the camp of the Sather
Karf shortly."
That sewed everything up neatly, Hanson thought. Before, he had been
torn between two alternatives. Now there was only one and he had no
choice; he could never trust the Sons of the Egg with Bork turned
against them. He stared up at the sky, realizing that more than half of
it had already fallen. The rest seemed too weak to last much longer. It
probably didn't make much difference what he did now or who had him;
time was running out for this world.
The light was dimmer by the time they reached the great capital city--or
what was left of it. They had left the sun pyre far to the south. The
air was growing cold already.
The roc flew low over the city. The few people on the streets looked up
and made threatening gestures, but there was no flight of arrows from
the ground. Probably the men below had lost even the strength to hate.
It was hard to see, since there was no electric lighting system now.
Pages:
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111