[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

right along with the rest of us!"
Chapter Twenty-Two
THE PRISONERS
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
The floor opened beneath Lugh Lamfada, dumping him suddenly down onto
the hard floor below.
He found himself looking up toward the smirking face of Sital Salmhor
as the metal door swung to again, shutting him within the cell.
He got slowly to his feet, rubbing a bruised backside. A faint stirring
within the folds of his tunic reminded him of the Pooka.
"Shaglan! Are you all right?" he asked anxiously.
"As if you care!" the little voice replied irritably. "Jumping about
and nearly falling on me!"
"Sorry. I didn't plan that one myself, They've dropped us into what
must be those cells of theirs."
A small, pink, quivering nose poked out of Lugh's tunic, followed by a
glinting pair of eyes.
"It's not a pleasant sort of place, is it now?" the Pooka commented.
Lugh agreed. In the dim light he could see nothing but the faintly
glistening stone walls. But where were his friends?
"We'll have to look for the others," he said. "Theres a corridor up
ahead. It seems the only way to go. Why dont you stay hidden while I do
a bit of exploring?"
"If you think it's best," Shaglan said resignedly. "But
don't make it much longer. You've been wearing this tunic just a bit
too long for me, lad."
"Very funny," Lugh said, and poked the tiny head back out of sight.
Then he began to move cautiously along the shadowy corridor.
The glowing panels set in the stone roof were coated with ages of grime
and spaced at wide intervals. Between their faint pools of light Lugh
felt his way along the walls in darkness, peering ahead intently,
watching for movement, hearing only the pounding of his own heartbeat.
He proceeded in this way for what seemed like ages, stopping at several
points to listen.
Suddenly, he stumbled.
Something caught his foot and he fell forward before he could catch
himself. He threw his arms forward to soften the impact as his body
crashed down into something that crackled like a pile of dried twigs.
He rolled to one side and found himself looking into the black sockets
of a skull.
That brought him smartly to his feet. He stood looking down at the
skeleton that lay stretched across the passage floor, nearly invisible
in the dark. It was much the worse for his tumble into it, as many of
the brittle bones snapped.
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
"Sorry," he said, and then recalled his passenger. "Shaglan?"
"I'm all right," the little voice replied. "I'm getting used to it.
Where are we now?"
"I don't know," said Lugh, "and I'm not certain I want to."
With some understandable dread, the young warrior crept to a turn in
the corridor and peered around it.
The passage ahead was choked with bones. Whole skeletons lay stretched
upon the floor just before him. Beyond them was an amazing display of
hundreds of individual bones. They had been built into elaborate and
cleverly engineered structures, some reaching up to the ceiling. And in
the midst of these towers sat a pyramid of faintly gleaming skulls
whose scores of eyeless sockets seemed to stare at him.
He was returning this stare in an astonished way when a hand dropped
onto his shoulder.
He whirled around, knocking it away. He found himself racing what
seemed at first to be one of the skeletons sprung to life. But a closer
look told him this was a living man,
168
MASTER OF THE SIDHE
THE PRISONERS
169
although the difference was slight. He had little more meat on his
bones than the dead.
He was very old, Lugh saw, and stooped, his hands knobbed and bent. A
wispy gray beard hung far down his chest. His head was bald save for a
ragged fringe. His clothes were tattered remnants about his frail
limbs. Still, Lugh recognized them with surprise. They had once been a
uniform of the Tower.
He had cowered back in fear as Lugh turned on him, and the young
warrior now addressed him in soothing tones. "I won't hurt you. Who are
you?" The man recovered. Realizing that he wouldn't be struck, he now
took on a shrill, belligerent tone: "Lobais is my name, boy. I came
here to help you, and I didn't plan to be hurt for it!"
"You surprised me," Lugh explained. "I've just been put down here."
"I know! I know! We heard the clang of the doors. That's why I came
after you."
"I'm looking for some friends. Would you know if they're here?"
"Yes, yes," he said impatiently. "I'll take you to them. We'd have been
there now if you hadn't gone wandering into the wrong passage."
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
"What is this place?" Lugh asked. "What it looks like, boy," he
answered curtly. "Not even the dead escape these cells. You're lucky
you didn't find a storage area for the newly dead. That isn't so
pleasant." "Who was it that piled the bones so carefully?" "Me. There's
little else to do down here. Now, come along!"
Lugh was weary of being ordered about, and he didn t know if he could
trust this strange and wretched creature. Still, he didn't wish to be
left here. So as the little man began to shuffle back along the
passageway, he fell in closely behind. They turned back into the main [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]