Warriors Of Latan

Chapter 12

Richard Blade was still alive, but it wasn't because the Hungry Waters didn't live up to their name. As he'd once said, «I suppose I'm too stupid to know when I'm supposed to lie down and die. So I never do.»

The spray threw off his judgment of the height of the cliff, so he hit the water before he was ready. He went deep, striking the bottom and swallowing a throatful of icy water before he started to rise. Then he shot to the surface like a cork, just in time for a wave to submerge him again. This bobbing up and down went on for quite a while, and if Blade hadn't been able to get a breath each time he surfaced he would probably have drowned.

Finally he reached a calmer part of the river. It turned out to be calmer only because the water boomed through a stretch of the canyon as straight as a pipe. Blade slammed against rocks several times, fortunately receiving only glancing blows. He wasn't hurt except for some bruises and loss of a certain amount of skin, but he was soon bleeding enough to notice. At least he didn't have to worry about the blood attracting sharks!

He'd just started to catch his breath when he went over a waterfall. It must have been a good thirty feet high, straight down into a pool so deep Blade didn't worry about hitting bottom. He shot down and down and down into it, until the light began to fade and he started wondering if he would get back to the surface before his breath ran out. Or was he going to be sucked into an underwater cave, just for variety?

Neither happened. His head popped into fresh air, and he trod water until his lungs were back to normal. Then he looked around. The pool was broad enough to slow down the current. It was also far enough downstream from where he'd jumped that the runners' path was nowhere in sight. He still swam underwater most of the way to the far bank, in case some of the runners who'd seen his accident left the path to look for him.

As soon as he felt bottom under his feet, he stood with only his head out of the water, scanning the runners' side of the river. The slope on his side was gentle, but as bare of covering as a stripteaser at the end of her act. Anybody who reached the other bank before Blade got over the crest would see him standing out like a fly on a plate.

No sign of anyone, though. Blade swam the last few yards to shore underwater, surfaced, took several deep breaths, then charged out of the water. He didn't slow down until he was over the crest of the slope, then looked back at the opposite bank from the cover of a boulder.

He saw nobody, and he'd heard no shouts as he ran. Blade checked his plastic harness and wrist bracers and found himself grinning. Except for these bits of plastic he was practically back to where he'd been in the early days of the Project-alone and nearly naked, in a land full of dangers, both human and natural.

This time, though, he knew most of the dangers, including the Rutari and the Great Hunters. He knew where he was going and roughly how far he had to go to get there. He could even hope for a friendly reception when he arrived. Considering how easily he'd survived so many bare-arsed landings in entirely new Dimensions, there was nothing to worry about now.

Or at least nothing to worry about as far as his own survival was concerned. Leaving Cheeky behind was another matter.

On the morning of the fourth day after he climbed out of the Hungry Waters, Blade was perched in the branches of one of the blue-leaved trees, watching the camp of what he assumed was an Uchendi hunting party. At least they weren't Rutari, and Blade hadn't heard of a third major tribe in this Dimension.

Five of the six hunters in the party had left at dawn, just after Blade settled into place. They'd left a hunter who was lying down with a bandaged leg, a small boy, and a good-looking if somewhat plump young woman. Blade could tell this because the Uchendi wore about as much as the Rutari. The girl wore a leather headband, sandals with throngs to the knee, and something like a set of dyed leather swimming trunks. This left a lot of well-rounded bronzed skin exposed to Blade's eyes.

The girl and the boy had just finished changing the bandage on the injured hunter's leg. The boy went off toward the bank of a nearby stream, carrying a sack. The girl built up the fire until a large clay pot was bubbling nicely, then started dropping the bones of yesterday's kill into the water. When the pot was full, she banked up the fire to keep it simmering, then picked up a bulging sack and went to feed the hunters' mounts.

The lizard-horses of the Uchendi had even longer legs than those of the Rutari; they reminded Blade more of spiders than of anything intended for riding by human beings. The girl had to reach up to feed them, but she seemed to have a way with them, cooing and clucking until they lowered their heads to nibble their food from her hand. Blade watched her move among the animals, admiring the way her black braids swung down her back and the springiness of her breasts-

A high-pitched scream came from the stream. The girl whirled and the hunter sat up in time to see the boy sprinting frantically back toward the camp. His eyes and mouth were wide with terror, and he had good reason for it. Behind him lumbered one of the Great Hunters. It didn't look like a full-grown specimen, but it was still taller than Blade and probably strong enough to strangle him one-handed. Devouring the three Uchendi would only whet his hearty appetite.

Blade swung down to a lower branch, then dropped to the ground on the far side of the tree and began searching for some large round stones. He had the only weapon that would give any of them a chance against the Great Hunter. It wasn't a very good chance, but the other choices were either running like a rabbit or watching the Great Hunter slaughter the Uchendi.

His hands closed on a stone of about the right size. It was heavier than he expected, but the Kaldakan plastic of his harness was strong enough to hurtle it. Blade started tugging one of the straps into shape. Between the heat of his body and the warmth of the morning it was almost too hard to shape. He was sweating by the time he had a useable sling.

Meanwhile the Great Hunter hadn't noticed Blade or attacked the Uchendi. It lurched toward the lizard-horses. When they caught its scent and heard its cry, they went mad. Rearing and hissing, they broke their tethers and headed for the trees at a gallop. The Great Hunter lumbered after them for a few yards until the beast's slow wits discovered that it could never catch such swift prey. It turned back toward the three Uchendi.

By then Blade was ready with his improvised sling and four stones for it. He dropped the first one into place, stepped from behind the tree, then whirled the sling until it was a blur and let fly.

The stone whistled straight into the Great Hunter's chest, hard enough to make it grunt and stagger. A second one made it stop and look wildly around, trying to find this mysterious enemy. Blade picked up the third stone and took a more careful sight on the Great Hunter. He could bounce stones this size off the beast all day without doing damage, unless he hit it in the head.

As Blade whirled the sling for the third time, the injured hunter staggered to his feet. He was using his spear as a sort of crutch, and in his free hand held a short spiked club.

«Run, Eye of Crystal!»

«I will not leave you, River Over Stones!»

«Do you wish my company in the Sky Hunt?»

«If that is our fate-«

They nearly met their fate in the next moment. The Great Hunter charged, and River Over Stones raised his club. The movement drew the Great Hunter's eye. It turned, giving Blade a perfect shot. He released the sling, the stone flew free, and suddenly the Great Hunter was clawing at its throat, gasping, and trying to scream.

Then it was trying to breathe. A moment later it was down on the ground, writhing and coughing blood as shattered bones pierced flesh. The girl snatched the club from her companion's hand, dashed up to the Great Hunter, and brought the club down with both hands on its head. Its body arched in one final convulsion, then slumped limp in death.

Blade quickly reshaped the sling into a harness, then held his hands palms up and away from his body and stepped out into clear sight of the three Uchendi. They shifted their wide-eyed gaze from him to the dead Great Hunter, then back to him. River Over Stones raised his free hand in a vague salute, as if he didn't quite know what Blade was or how to greet him but knew he had to be polite to anybody who'd just saved his life.

Blade grinned. He knew he must look only a little less dangerous than the Great Hunter itself-gaunt, filthy, shaggy haired, and apparently able to slay Great Hunters by magic. He raised a hand in reply to River's gesture.

«Greetings. I am of the English. The name you may call me is Blade. Are you of the Uchendi?»

Eye of Crystal nodded. «You-the English? Where are they? Beyond the Rutari?» She sounded curious rather than suspicious.

«Yes,» said Blade. «I entered Latan through lands of the Rutari. They asked me to do things unlawful for a warrior of the English, so I did not stay with them.»

«The Rutari ask things unlawful for a mad dog!» snapped River.

That was a promising beginning to his stay among the Uchendi, Blade thought. He was just about to agree, when the boy cried out.

Four men were coming out of the nearest stretch of forest. They were carrying something like a wild boar covered with green scales on a litter improvised from four lances and a leather cloak. When they saw Blade, they dropped their kill and ran toward the campfire, swinging their lances. Before Blade or the Uchendi could take a step or say a word, the four hunters were upon them. Suddenly Blade found four sharp bronze points aimed at his stomach.