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.Tears welled up in her eyes.“Is this a trap? Do I have to stay here until Risto comes?”“Ah! The o’rant girl.” A deep voice filled her mind.A gloating laugh followed the words.“I suspected ten years ago that your existence was a myth.I’m actually gratified that you have come to me.”Who are you?“Wizard Andor Tarum Risto, and you are Kale, the last of the Allerions.”For one second, Kale wanted to ask him about the Allerions.But she realized that evil had access to her mind, and Granny Noon had warned her about the dangers of communicating with the wicked in any form.I stand under Wulder’s authority.As she repeated the words the old emerlindian had given her, she felt Risto receding from her thoughts.I stand under Wulder’s authority.She heard his sinister chortle before his presence completely left her mind.“I stand under Wulder’s authority.” She looked quickly around the room, expecting the evil wizard to appear.“We have to get out of here.Surely, he’s coming.”She pulled away from the egg and fell over, sitting down hard on the stone floor when her hand was released.She tried to jump to her feet, ready to run from the large chamber, but her legs would not obey.Gymn chirped at her.“I can’t take the egg with me!” She turned on Gymn and blistered him with a frustrated glare.“Think of something useful.”Kale clenched her fists and drew her arms inside the moonbeam cape, folding them over her chest.I can’t carry it.What can I do?“Nothing, o’rant girl.” Risto’s voice mocked her.The taunting words sounded as if they came from somewhere in the room.Kale whirled around but saw nothing in the shadows.“I stand under Wulder’s authority,” she shouted.She clapped her hands over her ears and tried to block any word Risto might hurl at her.The cloth of the cape came up as well in her haste to cover her ears.“The cape,” Kale whispered.“If I can get the egg onto the cape, I might be able to push it into a hollow.Then I could carry it!”She whipped the cape off her shoulders and spread it on the floor, lining side up, in front of the cabinet.Gymn flew around her as if inspecting her actions from every angle.“I don’t think I will hurt it if it drops,” she said.“But I’ll try to ease it down just in case.”Kale put her arms around the egg and braced her legs, ready to lift with all her strength.She gave a mighty heave and discovered the egg weighed less than Leetu.She lost her balance and staggered backward.Gymn flipped several times in the air and landed on the floor just as she steadied herself.She carefully lowered the egg onto her cape, then stood shaking her head in amazement.“Weight’s not a problem,” she said after a moment.“But the opening to the hollow is way too small for the meech egg.” With Gymn sitting close, intently watching her struggle, Kale tried to get the hollow opening to stretch.It’s hopeless.“Ah yes, o’rant girl.It is hopeless.But your task is unnecessary at any rate.”Kale wrinkled her brow and tried to think.Her head hurt now as Risto mindspoke.She needed to concentrate on how to solve the problem of moving the egg.The talent that attracted her to dragon eggs would not let her leave without the meech egg.“I would like to discuss my plans with you.Would a new race be such a bad thing? Did Wulder really say new races should not be created? I merely want to supply the world with a work force.”Kale regretted not ever having read the great tomes which told the history of Wulder’s involvement with the world.She knew the general story from tavern songs and bedtime stories.Wulder molded the land and sea and air out of His thoughts.He’d taken a bit of land and sea and air and formed each of the seven high races.But there were many things she did not know.She didn’t know if Wulder had said not to make any more races.The ache in her temples eased a bit.Now she remembered that in all the tavern songs the making of the seven low races resulted in tragedy.A sharp pain streaked behind her eyes.Kale bent over and held her head in her hands.“Did you like cleaning chicken coops? Scrubbing floors? The race of beings I propose will actually get pleasure out of doing things the high races disdain.This is not a bad thing.You are not wise enough to make judgments against me, Kale Allerion.”The way Risto said her last name made Kale shiver.He hated her.She knew it.I stand under Wulder’s authority.I stand under Wulder’s authority.The pain in her head subsided.She sank to the floor, feeling drained.Mistress Meiger’s blue scarf! I can make a sling like the ones I used for carrying an infant while I worked.Gymn dove into a pocket and returned in only a moment with the long strip of soft cloth.Kale tied the bottom two corners of the cape to one end of the scarf and the top two to the other.The large meech egg hung as if in a snug hammock.With the scarf over one shoulder and across her chest, the cape cradled the egg against Kale’s back.She felt no weight to speak of, but the shifting bundle was bulky and cumbersome.“It’s the best we can do, Gymn.Let’s get Metta and get out of here.”Metta continued to fly around the two guards and sing until Kale and Gymn had raced down the corridor away from the room.“It is hopeless, little Allerion.Hopeless.”I stand under Wulder’s authority.Metta caught up with them.Kale wondered how long the effect of the purple dragon’s song would keep the guard immobile.Better to hurry and not waste time wondering.Kale could feel in which direction the masses of Risto’s minions were gathered.She figured she could avoid pockets of concentration.She needed to go higher as quickly as possible to reach a tunnel leading outside.Her plan was to avoid meeting anyone and move upward at all times.At the first corner she met a parade of people moving down the hall as if they all had a common gathering place in mind.Few of these citizens of the underground stronghold were soldiers.The smattering of high races among the bisonbeck women and tradesmen puzzled Kale.She watched for a moment or two before turning back into the tunnel she’d already traveled.She’d have to find another, less crowded passageway.“You see, o’rant girl, not all your people are so stubborn.Some embrace the benefits of joining me in my efforts to make the world a more pleasant place to live, an easier place, a place where individuals struggle less.”I stand under Wulder’s authority.I won’t listen to Risto.If those people are so thrilled to follow him, why aren’t they smiling? Those poor people looked as mesmerized as the guards did when Metta sang to them [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]