Free Echoes of the Great Song by David Gemmell Page B

hovel he calls his palace and cut out his entrails. Then I will make him eat them. Be so kind as to repeat that back to me.'
    The man did so. 'Splendid,' said Viruk, clapping him on the shoulder. 'Now pick up that head. I'm sure the king will be glad to get it back. It will be something to bury, at least.'
    Walking back to the wagons he glanced into the back of the first. It was filled with sacks of grain. 'What is in the others?' he asked his sergeant.
    'Mostly the same, lord. The last wagon contains some plunder. But it is worth little.'
    'Well, take them back to the city.' Then he strolled out to one of the surviving horses and stepped into the saddle.
    'Where are you going, lord?' asked his sergeant.
    'Just for a ride, dear boy. I fancy there may be a few more raiders close by. Wouldn't want to see you brave lads attacked on the way back, would I?'
    Gathering his zhi-bow the Avatar galloped his horse away to the east.
    'He's a lunatic,' said the man standing beside the sergeant.
    'Yes he is,' snapped the sergeant. 'But we're all alive. I'll settle for that.'
    The prisoner rode up to the sergeant. 'Do I go now?' he asked.
    'I should,' advised the sergeant. The captain can be very ... changeable. He may decide he doesn't want the message sent. And then ...' he gestured to the bodies.
    Swinging his horse the Mud-man rode away.

    Viruk felt energized in a way no crystal could ever supply. His body was vibrant with power, and the air he breathed tasted fresher and cleaner. Even the shoddy horse he now rode felt like a prime charger. Life was good today. Recalling with delight the expression on the leader's face as he loosed the first bolt, Viruk laughed aloud.
    He wondered what the man had felt in that one dreadful moment when he knew that his life was about to end in an explosion of fire and pain. Did he know regret? Despair? Anger? Did he wonder why he had spent so long grooming that ludicrous wax beard? Probably not, thought Viruk. His expression had been one of disbelief. Even so, the short battle had been wonderfully invigorating.
    He imagined the river king's face when the messenger arrived with his brother's head. The man would be furious. It was likely he would kill the messenger - especially when he heard the message. Viruk hoped not. He had taken an instant liking to the little potter.
    Viruk's action would not find favour with the High Council. They would call it provocative. But he didn't care. All-out war with the tribes was becoming increasingly inevitable. Every Avatar warrior knew it. Just as they knew the outcome.
    Without the zhi-bows the cities would fall within days. Viruk hefted his own bow, checking the power. It was low. Perhaps five bolts remained.
    Viruk rode on, crossing the rich farmland, ignoring the burnt-out buildings. The raiders had cut a wide swathe through the valleys. With only fifty zhi-bows left in the city most of the garrison troops had been withdrawn, leaving the farmers helpless against raids. Viruk did not agree with the policy. It invited the Mud People and other tribes to enter the corn valleys, disrupting trade and causing shortages of food in the five cities.
    But then Viruk had chosen not to be part of the policy-making team. He preferred life as a soldier-captain, free to ride the wild lands, fighting and killing. Now he almost regretted his decision. The Questors had given their short-sighted orders and Questor General Rael loyally saw them carried out. Rael should forget about tradition and strip the Questors of their power, thought Viruk.
    But he wouldn't. Rael, for all his skills, was a prisoner to tradition, chained by a code of honour that had died with the tidal waves that destroyed the home world. He should have declared himself Avatar Prime. Then perhaps the outlook would have been less grim.
    Viruk rode to the crest of a hill and looked down upon the walled village of Pacepta. The raiders had bypassed it to strike at lone farms, and Viruk, hungry now, decided to ride