Джеффри Лорд - Gladiators Of Hapanu

No doubt he meant other, perhaps, hostile tribes. Fortunately Blade could not only reassure him but tell the truth at the same time. «No. I saw no other living men of any tribe or people, and only two dead ones. One was of the Forest People, the other-I do not know if he was truly a man, but-«

«Was he taller than you, and hairy like an animal?»

«Yes.»

«Ah, then you found one of the Treemen. Where, and how did he die?»

Blade described his discovery of the two bodies and watched Swebon's eyes widen. Then the chief sighed. «I thank you for this news, though it is not good. At least now we know for certain that the Treemen took Cran.»

«I am sorry to have been the bringer of bad news,» said Blade. Then he decided that a small diplomatic lie might be useful. «I do not know the proper death rites of the Fak'si, so I said only the prayers for a warrior of the English over his body. We believe that no honorable warrior can be hurt by such a prayer, even if he is not helped by it.»

«Cran was an honorable warrior,» said Swebon quietly. «And so are you. Blade, I still do not know as much about you or the English as I must. But I begin to like you, and think well of your people.»

«I am honored,» said Blade.

Swebon laughed. «Good. And now that you have been honored, you will be fed. He waved one of his men forward. «Bring a chief's portion to Richard Blade of the English when the meat is ready. Until we are home he sits by me and is as my brother.»

That put any fears of possible treachery out of Blade's mind. He was able to eat in peace, too hungry to care that the meat was half raw. After the meal, he followed Swebon's example in rubbing some of the grease into his feet and hands. Then he lay down and slept more peacefully and far more comfortably than he had the night before.

It was still well before dawn when someone shook Blade. He came awake with his fists clenched, and nearly knocked his waker into the ashes of the campfire before realizing that it was Swebon. The chief laughed.

«What did you think I was, Blade?»

Blade sat up. «I don't know, but I am a warrior on whom few men can lay a hand peacefully.» That sounded pompous, but it was also a way to perhaps prevent «accidents.»

Swebon nodded, apparently satisfied with Blade's explanation. «That is proper and honorable for a warrior. But I swear I meant you no harm. I called to you, but you did not wake up. I feared your spirit might be sleeping as well as your body.»

«Well, they are both awake now,» said Blade, standing up and stretching. «Are we moving on?»

«Yes. I think that if we leave now, we can be home this day, before the Horned Ones come out.»

Blade looked around. In the pale light he could see men gathering up their weapons and gear. One of the canoes was already afloat, and a gang was pushing a second back into the water. It was on the tip of Blade's tongue to ask, «What about the Horned Ones now, when they haven't gone to sleep for the day? But that might sound timid. Swebon was probably eager to get home, and he certainly knew the creatures' habits much better than Blade.

Nonetheless, Blade borrowed a knife from one of the men and cut points on the main piece of the jaw-bracer. When he climbed into Swebon's canoe, he unhooked it from his belt and laid it in the bottom of the canoe, ready to hand. Then all the paddlers started chanting together and the canoes swung out into the river.

As they'd done yesterday, the canoes moved in a single line. They moved more slowly, and the men sitting in the bows as lookouts seemed more alert. No doubt Swebon realized that moving in the twilight before dawn needed extra precautions. With nothing to do but listen to the chanting and watch dawn break, Blade leaned back and relaxed.

Slowly the river turned from black to golden-brown and the ghosts of trees on the banks turned solid. Sometimes Blade heard the Horned Ones calling in the distance, but mostly he heard only the water and the rising chorus of birds. The breeze rose until it was making ripples on the water and blowing away the insects. Blade saw the lookouts beginning to relax. In another few minutes it would be full daylight. If they hadn't run into any of the Horned Ones by now, they weren't likely to. Swebon seemed half asleep.

Then the lookout in the bow of the chief's canoe gave a shout that was almost a scream. The paddlers froze with their paddles in midair, unable to tell from the cry what they should do. Swebon lunged for his spear and Blade snatched up the jaw-bracer.

With a thud and a crunch of wood the canoe stopped so violently that everyone was thrown forward. Most of the men lost their grip on paddles or weapons, and two went straight overboard with yells of surprise. Blade picked himself up just as the yells of the swimmers changed from surprise to sheer terror. One look over the side told him why.

The biggest Horned One Blade had ever seen was rising out of the water underneath the canoe. Its head was toward the swimmers and the jaws were opening. As the beast rose higher out of the water, Blade heard the seams between the sections of the canoe cracking. Then the canoe split in half, spilling everyone into the water.

As the canoe came apart, Blade leaped to his feet and sprang into the air like a diver taking off from a high board. He landed squarely on the Horned One's head. Blade weighed two hundred and ten pounds, and the impact of his landing forced the creature's head under the water and closed its jaws. The two desperate swimmers thrashed off in opposite directions, safe for the moment.

The Horned One swiftly got over its surprise. As if Blade was no more than a bird who'd foolishly landed on its head, it popped to the surface again. Water poured off its back and the river turned to foam as it thrashed its tail. It turned and at the same time raised its head. Blade gripped a horn with one hand and the jaw-bracer with the other, waiting for the creature to open its mouth and give him his opportunity.

An arrow whistled past, and another sank into the scaly skin inches from Blade's thigh. He swore, and heard Swebon shout, «Don't shoot, you'll hit Blade!» Then the Horned One reacted to the pain of the second arrow, hissed, and opened its jaws in a gape wide enough to swallow a cow.

Blade hurled himself forward, losing skin to the rough scales but reaching the creature's nose. With one hand he clutched a horn, with the other he shoved the jaw-bracer into place. The Horned One shook its head, and Blade slid sideways to hang in midair like a man on a trapeze, inches from the jagged six-inch teeth.

Then the Horned One snapped its mouth shut-or tried to. The points of the jaw-bracer dug into tender flesh, jamming the teeth a good foot apart. The creature hissed again at the sudden pain in an unexpected place, and Blade was nearly suffocated by the foul breath blowing past him.

Now all the Horned One's attention seemed to be on the jaw-bracer, and none of it on Blade. He swung far to one side, then swung back like a pendulum. Finally he hooked one leg over one of the horns behind the eyes and perched there. He didn't know what the creature was going to do next. He only knew that he had to do something first.

Without knowing if anyone would hear him, Blade roared, «Throw me a spear!» A moment later he was nearly knocked from his perch by a rain of spears coming at him from all directions. Several of them left bruises as they sailed past, and one sliced a shallow gash in the back of his thigh. That spear was the one he caught.

He didn't know for certain what a Horned One's vulnerable points might be. He did know that any animal, no matter how large or thick-skinned, was vulnerable in the eyes. Blade braced himself, raised the spear as high as he could, then thrust it into the Horned One's left eye with all his strength and weight behind the thrust.