Sorceress of Faith. Robin D. Owens

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ right. But I’d better tell you what’s going on, anyway.”

      “That’s a very good idea.”

      9

      “Let me tell you why you were Summoned,” Alexa said.

      “As long as you don’t expect me to stay,” Marian cautioned.

      “Too bad. Lladrana needs all the help it can get, and I can tell by your aura that you’d be a lot of help.” Alexa slipped from her rock to sit on the sun-warmed ground.

      Marian did the same and tried not to think about bugs.

      Her expression completely serious, Alexa said, “The fact is, Lladrana is in deep trouble. There are monsters invading from the north.” She shot Marian a glance. “I’m not talking about other people with differing belief systems, but real, live, evil monsters. The Lladranans usually call them ‘horrors.’”

      Bossgond’s images of monsters came to Marian.

      Alexa frowned. “Watch.” With a sharp indrawn breath and narrowed eyes, the air between them hazed. A huge, vicious-looking creature hulked into view. It had long, sharp teeth that dripped saliva. Curving, knifelike claws extended from its lifted forepaws.

      “Render,” Alexa said. She kept the image up and rotated it, until Marian had to swallow hard.

      The second monster was worse. Bigger even than the render, it had putrid yellow fur, horns and spines along its arms, head and back.

      “Slayer. It can shoot the spines. They’re poisonous, of course.”

      “Of course,” Marian said faintly, wondering if she was turning a shade of green.

      The slayer vanished and a third horror appeared. Worse. This one had lizardlike gray skin, a round knobby head with burning red eyes and a hole for a nose. Each shoulder sported an arm and two tentacles with suction cups.

      “Soul-sucker,” Alexa said. “But it really just drains your life-force.” She waved a hand.

      Just? Marian thought she squeaked, but Alexa showed no evidence of hearing her.

      The next horror that appeared metamorphosed between two shapes. A black weblike substance and a dark manlike thing with rudimentary head, arms and legs.

      “It has a penis, too,” Alexa said unsteadily. “Sangvile. One tried to rape me as it sucked my Power from me.”

      The thing turned its head and its burning gaze struck Marian like a blow.

      This vision disappeared once quickly, as if Alexa didn’t like remembering it. Marian couldn’t think how anyone could survive an attempted rape by the hideous being.

      “Dreeth,” Alexa said on a sigh, and something Marian recognized formed. At her exclamation, Alexa smiled.

      “They look like pteradons, don’t they?” Alexa said.

      “More like a quetzalcoatluses with big bellies.”

      “Quetzalcoatlus. That sounds like the Aztec god.”

      “Yes, they were the largest of the flying dinosaurs.” In her studies, she’d found that many cultures had stories of dragons.

      “Okay. They’re dreeths here, as big as a house. A couple of them nearly fell on me as they died. Bad,” Alexa said so casually that Marian stared at her in pure amazement.

      She sorted out the implications. “You battle these things?”

      “Pretty much every week.” Alexa stroked the scar on her face.

      Marian couldn’t imagine it. “You?”

      Alexa met her gaze with fathomless eyes. “The Marshalls Summoned me to be one of them, the best magical warriors in the business.” She shrugged. “Like Joan of Arc.”

      “Must have been a shock.”

      “Yeah. In Denver I’d taken one personal defense course from the free university, several years ago. Big change in lifestyle.” Now she smiled. She waved a hand down her body and suddenly Marian saw a rope of purple and silver. The link throbbed with life and vibrated with a pretty melody. “But I’m well compensated. This is my bond with my Shield, Bastien. As for financial reward, I have wealth and an estate—you’ll get your pick of land, too, if you stay. And Bastien—” she grinned “—he’s rather like a certain rogue mercenary with a spaceship in the movies.” She sighed. “I miss the movies.”

      “You—they—the Marshalls, don’t expect me to become one of them, do they?”

      “Nope. The Marshalls Summoned you for the Tower Community, the Sorcerers and Sorceresses—the major ones are called Circlets.” Alexa grinned again. “No wonder they reached Boulder. Mostly scholars, I think. Though Jaquar is one prime man.”

      Marian hadn’t forgotten the hunk who’d appeared in the pentacle with her.

      “He’s had it rough, lately, though. The sangvile ate his parents.”

      “Ate his parents!”

      Alexa waved her hand. “Okay, to be exact, the sangvile drained his parents of their Power, turning them into husks that crumbled into gray dust.”

      That didn’t sound any better.

      “He’s really grieving. I’m sorry for that,” Alexa said quietly. “I know what he’s feeling.”

      Not wanting to think about the man or his hurt, Marian said, “So the Tower Summoned me.”

      “The Tower had the Marshalls of the Castle Community Summon you,” Alexa corrected. “The Circlets do not play well together.”

      “What do they expect me to do?” Marian asked plaintively.

      “I don’t know. But there’s plenty of work. The Marshalls are just dealing with the monsters as they invade. That doesn’t address the underlying problem of where they’re coming from or why, or how to stop them.”

      Another image coalesced between them, this one of a topographical map. “The country of Lladrana. Note the northern border,” said Alexa.

      Marian studied it. Bright yellow glowed at points, and between the lights wove a blue line.

      “Magical fence posts and shield along the boundary,” Alexa said, explaining further Marian’s vision from Bossgond. She always preferred the maximum amount of facts, and appreciated Alexa’s visit. “The old fence posts were wearing out, the shield failing, and the Marshalls didn’t know how to make new fence posts or power the boundary. That was my task.”

      “Sounds incredible.”

      “Yup, but I did it.” Alexa beamed with pride. “Now we know how to create fence posts and the boundary, but it isn’t easy or quick. You can see we still have big gaps in the border. Thus the continued fighting—building up the army, СКАЧАТЬ