Free The Destiny of the Dead (The Song of the Tears Book 3) by Ian Irvine Page B

The
caduceus, which had died to a dull orange, flared white-hot again and she felt
the taphloid’s insides wobble. There’s too much Art in this place, she thought,
and too many uncanny devices interfering with one another. Something has to
give, and if it’s my taphloid …
    The air-sled shook violently and tore free, sending clots of
mud spinning in all directions. Klarm curved it around the clearing, looking
for her. Maelys lay down so her pale face would not stand out against the mud,
and prayed. It was all she could do. If he saw her, she was lost.
    Klarm made another circle, closer in. Did he know she was
still in the clearing? Probably – he was the most astute of men. Her only
consolation, as he circled for the third time, was that every minute’s delay
increased Nish’s chances of reaching the militia. He must be well into the
forest by now.
    The air-sled was only a few spans up, with the dwarf
standing at the prow, his head swinging from side to side as he studied every
hump and hollow, every body. He would pass close by and she did not think the
taphloid could conceal her at such short range.
    She held her breath, monitoring his progress by the abrasive
notes from Reaper. Klarm was now so close that she could sense the malevolent
core of the Profane Tear. He must see her. Should she jump up and run, or
attack with her knife? No, Reaper could kill her as brutally as it had slain
the red-haired archer.
    A slow shudder rolled through the sodden ground, lifting her
minutely and letting her down again. Maelys ignored it, forcing herself to
remain as still as the dead, but the ground heaved again, harder this time. Was
it an earthquake?
    Klarm let out a furious oath and the air-sled shot away,
banking in a semi-circle and soaring up over the forest at the river side of
the clearing, out of sight. The flood level had risen visibly there. Maelys
climbed shakily to her feet, faint with relief. Why had Klarm gone that way?
What could be more important than catching Nish?
    There was no way of telling, so she ran, and was almost to
the deer track at the lower edge of the clearing when two people emerged from
the forest near the top of the slope. She recognised them at once, for few men
were as tall as Yggur, while only Tulitine had that elegant, upright carriage.
What were they doing?
    Maelys was running up to intercept them when there came an
ear-shattering roar from the direction Klarm had taken, and a three-span-high
wall of water and torn-up trees swept across the lower side of the clearing and
slammed into the forest where she had been heading. It sheared off the giant
rainforest trees as if they had been weeds, then thundered downriver. The dam
had given way.
    The air-sled went shrieking towards the lower clearing but
she knew Klarm would not reach it in time, and if Nish was still on the forest
path he could not survive. The flood would tear the forest along the river to
pieces then batter its way through the gorge, filling it from top to bottom.
     
     

      SIX

 
 
    Maelys plodded up to Yggur and Tulitine, who were staring
at the churning floodwaters. Every step took an effort now. What was the point
of going on? She didn’t see how Nish could have survived, and soon Klarm would
come back for her.
    ‘Nish, Nish …’ she gasped.
    ‘Where is he?’ said Tulitine.
    ‘Klarm had him,’ Maelys said. She reached them and stopped,
rubbing a lump on the back of her head where the air-sled had struck it. ‘I
managed to free him, and he was running down through the forest …’
    ‘How long ago?’
    ‘About ten minutes, and I’m really afraid. The flood
–’
    ‘I’m sure he’ll be all right,’ said Tulitine. ‘Nish would
have heard it coming.’
    ‘But it was so quick …’ Maelys tried not to imagine what it
would do to a human body; Nish’s body.
    ‘We saw Klarm fly over,’ said Yggur thickly, swaying.
    Tulitine put an arm around him, supporting him.
    ‘What’s happened down there?’ asked