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I recalled that raft on the lake, Mogaba cursing in the darkness. That had to
be it. He should not have been there. What honest mission could have taken him
ashore? Had he changed allegiances while still holding Dejagore for the good
guys? Was his deal already made when Croaker faced him down? Did he meet the
Howler out there, far enough away that Goblin and One-Eye would not detect the
sorcerer's flying carpet?
Maybe. And if he had that might explain why even Sindawe and Ochiba were
willing to abandon him.
All of us would be dead already and the war long since lost had Longshadow
been in a position to seize that moment.
The cold claws of death may have come closer than ever I had suspected.
I wish I could have had eyewitness evidence, though.
Page 146
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Smoke can be tricked. And he can be driven by a sufficiently-determined will.
From the frontiers of past time I raced toward the night of my despair. I did
not drive him to the center of its evil, though. Instead, I slowed and drifted
into an earlier hour, as the Stranglers first approached the Palace and in
best Deceiver form used two of their number, disguised as holy prostitutes of
Bashra out to perform their obligated random acts of joy, to get close to the
Guards.
But that was not the history I wanted to review. I brought him forward to the
moments of my own interlude upon the sallyport steps. I watched myself emerge
from the Palace, vacantly settle to the stone. The seizure lasted scarcely a
minute, for all the time I spent amongst the horrors of yesteryear.
Now the slick move. The focus upon the woman in the shadows across the way,
behind the hairy Shadar. The lock onto her despite Smoke's increasing anxiety
and spiritual wriggling.
I never got to know Smoke in full life but, by most accounts, he had been a
pure chickenshit, inalterably opposed to anything that might involve even the
most minor risk to anyone in the court wizard or fire marshal rackets.
Cowardice must have run right down to the foundations of his being because he
writhed like a worm on a fishhook the whole time I watched Soulcatcher loot
his library.
She had no trouble with confusion spells. She had none with Stranglers,
either, though she did encounter a band. They just gaped at her briefly, then
decided their best interests ought to lead them elsewhere.
She seemed unaware of my scrutiny, unlike that time in the wheatfield. Could
it be that even she was unaware of the secret of Smoke?
Wouldn't that be lovely?
I watched her for a long time, even after she departed the Palace. Smoke
resisted every second.
Then I went back and had a drink and a snack before I tackled the more
interesting business of tracking Goblin down and, to slake my own curiosity,
having a look at the final falling out between Croaker and Blade. I had been
unable to find witnesses to the actual explosion.
Chapter 96
To track Goblin I went back to the last time I saw the runt myself, then
followed him forward in time. Soon after having helped me out of one of my
plunges into yesterday Goblin walked out of his quarters carrying one modest
bag, hiked to the waterfront, boarded a barge manned by trustworthy Taglians
who had become professional soldiers, and drifted down the river. Right now --
approximately today -- he was in the heart of the delta, transferring the
barge's cargo, himself and most of the Taglians, to a deep-sea vessel wearing
flags and pennons entirely unknown to me. Off on the sodden shore flocks of
Nyueng Bao children and a handful of lazy adults watched as though this
business of outsiders was the greatest entertainment they had encountered in
years. Despite my familiarity with the tribe they all looked inscrutably alien
in their native context, more so than they had in Dejagore where we all had
been out of place.
For no reason clear to me I had never visited Sahra's world. I just welcomed
her into mine and savored the miracle.
Goblin's behavior was less interesting than his whereabouts, which I had now
established. So why not see what life was like for the Nyueng Bao? Uncle Doj
insisted that the delta was paradise.
Possibly, if you were of the mosquito clan. I swear. The fact that I was a
disembodied point of view was all that kept me from being devoured. Goblin was
candyass enough to protect himself and his crew with potent spells, augmented
by bad smells. But the Nyueng Bao had to deal with bloodsucking buzzards able
to carry off small children. I reminded myself that I had seen all the bugs I
wanted coming south through One-Eye's home jungle and it was likely that [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]