[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.She touched the minds of two of the orcs and retreated instantly by choice.Orcs had such narrow, closed minds filled with horrific dreams fueled by the smell of blood.Xuxa shuddered, re-closing her leathery wings about herself.She still could not sense Baylee, and she was beginning to feel somewhat anxious."I know you can hear me," Jaeleen called out from below, "and I know you're up there."Then do us both a favor, Xuxa flashed at the human woman, and shut up.She intentionally made her telepathic voice loud enough to hurt.Jaeleen loosed an oath, summoning up a colorful, but wholly inaccurate family history for azmyth bats in general, and Xuxa in particular.Xuxa ignored the outburst.Seated in the upper branches of the tree, she had a good field of view.Her night sight stripped away the dark shadows twisting across the land.One of the orcs had closed the distance between itself and Jaeleen to sixteen paces.Feeling disgusted, Xuxa also noted that the human female still did not register the orc.Baylee would never make such a mistake, the azmyth bat knew.She had trained the human ranger to be alert to everything going on around him, and she took pride in Baylee's skills, which were well beyond those of most humans.The orc continued creeping up on Jaeleen.Xuxa briefly considered sending a warning to the human female and letting her fend for herself, but decided not to.In the ensuing fight, Jaeleen might manage to get injured, and Xuxa didn't intend to listen to Baylee berate her for it.And there was a certain amount of territorial pride involved since Baylee had made the woman her charge.Unfurling her wings, Xuxa let herself fall from the branch.She dropped like a stone, emitting her high-pitched squeak too high for either humans or orcs to hear.The sound bounced back up at her from the forest sward, instantly letting her know how near she was to her quarry.She broke her fall at the last possible moment.Her leather wings stretched out and caught the wind, straining her muscles and the tendons of the joints.She rode the breeze, arrowing at her target.In the last moment of its life, the orc noticed the azmyth bat coming at it silently.The orc shifted defensively against the movement, raising its club.Xuxa knew the orc probably hadn't even identified what she was at the time she struck.Not wanting to take a chance on the opportunity presented her, Xuxa screamed again.The sound waves bounced back at her, bringing the orc into clearest focus for her bat senses.She twisted in the air violently, bringing her twin tails stabbing into flesh while her fangs sank deeply into the orc's throat.In a flicker, she unleashed the lightning charge bottled up inside her.Overcome by the onslaught, the orc tumbled to the ground, smoke rising from its twitching body, unable to even manage its own death throes.Xuxa frantically beat against the wind to gain altitude quickly.She swooped around, circling the tree where she had left Jaeleen.Her keen eyes picked the woman out of the darkness.Jaeleen leveled the hand crossbow.Her hard eyes projected anticipation.Miss, Xuxa promised in a whispering voice in the woman's mind, and I won't.Jaeleen snarled an oath and lifted the weapon clear."Have I ever told you how much I hate flying rodents?"Xuxa flew to the top of the tree and took up her search for Baylee again.She remained aware of Jaeleen below.The woman scurried for Baylee's shovel and dropped into the hole the ranger had dug.The shovel's blade bit cleanly into the dark earth.Xuxa shifted along the branch.She could neither sense nor see Baylee, though she was aware of the orcs as they pursued something through the forest.Then her attention was divided as the shovel Jaeleen wielded so vigorously broke through into hollow space.The azmyth bat peered down.Jaeleen dropped to her hands and knees, tossing the shovel to one side.She dug frantically into the earth, enlarging the hole she'd made.Xuxa felt anxious.Baylee had been so close to the prize he had sought.Now it appeared he was to lose not only that prize, but perhaps his life as well because of the treacherous woman below.And even as she thought it, Xuxa knew that Baylee would probably never see it that way.She threw herself into the air.3Baylee ran along a thick-boled branch twenty feet above the forest floor.Moonlight splintered through the leaves and limbs in brief flashes."There!" an orc yelled in one of the few words the ranger recognized.Harsh clucking followed as other orcs took up renewed pursuit.A spear slashed through the trees, burying itself in a tree trunk in front of Baylee.He slapped it away with his free arm and kept moving.Measuring his stride, Baylee hit the last bit of safe footing he guessed that he had on the rapidly thinning branch.He flexed his knees, riding out the spring of the limb as it bent, then threw himself forward
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]