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.He could not count the number of dead that encircled him.One, a hundred, twelve hundred.The souls were intertwined, one with another.Impossible to tell where one ended and another began.They flitted in and out of his vision so that he grew dizzy and confused watching them.They did not threaten or attack him, not even those who might have done so in life.An enormous hobgoblin reached out hairy hands, which were suddenly the hands of a beautiful young elven woman, who became a fisherman, who shriveled into a frightened, whimpering dwarf child.The faces of the dead filled Gerard with a nameless horror, for he saw in all of them th misery and hopelessness of the prisoner who lies forgotten in dungeon that is the grave.The sight was so awful that Gerard feared he might go mad He tried to remember the direction to take to reach Solanthus where he could at least feel the touch of a warm hand as oppose to the caress of the dead, but the fall from the horse had disori ented him.He listened for sounds that might give him soim indication which way to go.As in a fog, all sound was distorted He heard steel clash and cries of pain and guessed that sorry where men fought the living, not the dead.But whether th sounds of battle came from in front of him or behind, he could not tell.Then he heard a voice speaking coldly and dispassionately; “Here’s another one.”Two soldiers, living men, wearing the emblem of Neraka rushed at him, the ghostly figures parting like white silke: scarves cut through by a cleaver.The soldiers fell on Gerard attacking without skill, slashing and beating at him with the swords, hoping to overwhelm him with brute force before he could recover from his panicked horror.What they had not counted on was the fact that Gerard was so relieved to see a flesh-and-blood foe, one that could be punched and kicked and bloodied, that he defended himself with spirit.He disarmed one man, sent his sword flying, and drove his fist into the jaw of the other.The two did not stick around to continue the fight.Finding their foe stronger than they had hoped, they ran off, leaving Gerard to his dread jailers, the souls of the dead.Gerard’s hand clenched spasmodically around his sword’s hilt.Fearing another ambush, he looked constantly over his shoulder, afraid to stay where he was, more afraid to move.The souls watched him, surrounded him.A horn call split the air like a scythe.The call came from within the city, sounding the retreat.The call was frantic and short-lived, ending in midnote, but it gave Gerard a sense of where he must go.He had to overcome his instincts, for the last time he’d seen the city walls, they were behind him.The horn call came from in front.He walked forward, slowly, unwilling to touch the souls, though he need not have worried, for though some reached out their hands to him with what seemed pitiful supplication and others reached out their hands in what seemed murderous intent, they were powerless to affect him, other than by the horror and fear they inspired.Still, that was bad enough.When the sight became too awful for him to bear, he involuntarily shut his eyes, hoping to find some relief, but that proved even more harrowing, for then he could feel the touch of the ghostly fingers and hear the whispers of ghostly voices.By this time the foot soldiers had reached the enormous iron gate that pierced the curtain wall.The panic-stricken men beat on the gate, shouted for it to open.The gate remained closed and barred against them.Angry and terrified, they cried out for their comrades within the city to open the gate and let them enter.The soldiers began to shove on the gate and shake it, cursing those within.White light flared.A blast shook the ground, as a section of the wall near the gate exploded.Huge chunks of broken stone rained down on the soldiers massed in front of the closed gate.Hundreds died, crushed to death beneath the rubble.Those who survived lay pinned in the wreckage, begging for help, but no elp came.From inside the city, the gates remained locked and barred.The enemy began to pour through the breech [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]