[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
They saw you! They re surrounding you! Run!.. when the sergeant s calm whisper
brought him back to his senses:
42
The Last Ring-bearer
Ready! On my mark no earlier! run as fast as you can. Take the pack, the crutches,
and the weapons; I ll take the baron. This is our one and only chance.
Meanwhile the troop had arrived at the outpost and the usual commotion ensued: cursing
riders were pushing their way through the throng of milling foot soldiers, their commander
was arguing with the local one, the guttural shouts of the Easterlings mingled with the
Elves alarmed trilling, the roof suddenly sported three silhouettes rather than one and then
unbelieving Haladdin heard a quiet: Now!
He had never run so fast in his life, never mind failing strength. He made it to the blind
zone under the dilapidated wall in a flash, dropped his burden and still managed to get back
to help Tzerlag, who was halfway there, lugging the baron on his back. The scout shook his
head no time, it d take longer to switch. Faster, faster! Oh One, how much longer will
those dumb sentries stare at the new arrivals a second? three? ten? They got to the ruins,
expecting an alarm any moment, and dropped to the ground immediately; Tangorn must
have been in bad shape, as he did not even moan. Scraping their faces and hands on the
bactrian thornbush, they scrambled into a wide crack in the wall and suddenly found
themselves in an almost intact room. All its walls were whole, only the ceiling sported a
large gap through which they could see the rapidly graying dawn sky; the entrance was
entirely blocked with a mound of broken bricks. Only then did Haladdin realize: they ve
made it after all! Now they had the best hideout possible, just like a duck sitting on her eggs
right under a falcon s nest.
He leaned against a wall and closed his eyes just for a moment, and immediately gentle
waves carried him away, whispering: it s all over, rest for just a few minutes, you ve earned
them& up, down, up, down& what are these waves? Tzerlag? Why is he shaking my
shoulder so furiously? Oh damn! Thanks, friend of course I have to attend to Tangorn
immediately. Nor do I have a few minutes to rest the cola s effect will wear off soon, and
then I ll just plain fall apart& where s that damn medkit?
Chapter 14
Mordor, Morgai plateau
April 21, 3019
Evening came. The molten gold of the sun was still boiling in the cauldron formed by two
peaks of the Mountains of Shadow, sharp burning sparks escaping it from time to time, but a
transparent purplish haze was already encroaching on the foothills colored by the sunset.
The cold blue of the sky, almost azure at its eastern end, contrasted beautifully with
yellowish-pink (the color of a Khandian melon) sedimentary crags of Morgai, cut by deep
ink-black gorges. The sides of the flattop clay foothills adjoining the plateau were draped in
ash-gray serge and salsola, dotted here and there with splashes of red patches of wild
tulips.
Haladdin was of two minds about those flowers. Just as every tulip was beautiful
individually, so did the half-acre patches they formed seem unnatural and ominous. It must
have been because their color exactly matched that of bright red arterial blood when in the
43
The Last Ring-bearer
sun, and crimson vein blood when in the shade, like right now. Serge and tulips; ash and
blood. Perhaps he would have discerned different connotations at another time.
About a mile and a half left. Tzerlag, walking in the lead, turned to his companions and
nodded towards a bright patch of green oozing out of a large dale onto the yellow clay of the
foothills. What do you say, Baron we stop for a break now or make one final push and
then settle down decent-like?
Guys, enough coddling me already, the Gondorian answered somewhat irritably. He
could already use his leg almost normally, although he still used crutches, and had even
insisted on carrying part of the load. I ll never get back into normal shape that way.
All complaints to the doctor, please, I ve no responsibility here. What does medicine
recommend, eh?
Chew some cola, of course, Haladdin quipped.
Aw, get lost!
The joke was indeed of doubtful quality: none of them could recall the finale of their forced
march to the ruins at the outpost without shuddering. Cola does not give a body new
strength, it only mobilizes the reserves it already has. Such mobilization can occur
spontaneously, when a man jumps a dozen yards to save his life, or pulls a half-ton stone out
of the ground with his bare hands; cola allows one to perform such feats on demand, and
then comes the payback: having exhausted his reserves in a critical minute, the person turns
into jelly for a day and a half, both physically and mentally.
That was exactly what happened to them that morning, right after Haladdin managed to
patch up Tangorn s thigh. The baron soon got the shakes, as the fever of his wound
combined with opium withdrawal; he needed urgent help, but neither the doctor nor the
scout could so much as move an eye, like beached jellyfish. Some ten hours later Tzerlag
did manage to get up, but all he could do was give the wounded man the rest of the Elvish
wine and cover him with all the cloaks they had; Haladdin came back to life too late to nip
the baron s illness in the bud. He did manage to prevent overall sepsis, but the wound
developed a large local inflammation; Tangorn ran a fever and became loudly delirious,
which was the worst part enemy soldiers used the back of the ruins as a latrine and were
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]