Anderson, Kevin J - Gamearth 01 Read Online Free Page B

weight of the unconscious half-Sorcerer. Bryl hung like a half-full sack of wet flour on his shoulders, and Vailret's muscles felt as if they wanted to snap. Most of all he ached for not being able to grab the Air Stone. Why had Gairoth taken it? Damned monster! Why hadn't Bryl managed to get it somehow? And the worst insult of all was that Gairoth ¯ Gairoth! ¯ had Sorcerer blood in him and could use the magic inside the diamond. It seemed ridiculously arbitrary.
    The heavy stench made the air difficult to breathe near the cesspool.
    Vailret's eyes stung. He found a weed-sheltered place where he could set the half-Sorcerer down. The cesspool seemed quiet now, waiting.
    Vailret peeled off Bryl's sopping scarlet cloak. He removed a blanket from his pack and tossed it on top of the half-Sorcerer.
    Bryl snored softly.
    In the background of the swamp he could hear Gairoth bellowing. The insect songs fell silent for a moment, then continued.
    Vailret crumpled the soggy cloak into a ball before tossing it onto the scum of the pool. Then he sat back to watch the tentacled thing rise to the surface, waving its whiplike appendages and curling around the scarlet fabric.
    The creature pulled the cloak beneath the scum, like new prey.
    Lurching forward as fast as he could, Gairoth reached his camp and smashed the spiked club against a tree trunk. He roared a battle cry that made the air vibrate, holding high the skull with the Air Stone. Rognoth lunged to the end of his chain, snarling.
    But they found no one to fight.
    Rognoth blinked his eyes. Gairoth came to a full stop, confused. "Haw!
    We skeered 'em off! They gots none of my treasure! Haw!" Gairoth mopped his brow.
    Breathless, Delrael reached the camp and flashed a glance to the trees.
    He saw the damp patch on the ground where cesspool water had dribbled from Bryl's cloak, but the half-Sorcerer was gone.
    Rognoth raised his scaly nose in the air, looking around with runny yellow eyes. When he saw the spot where Bryl had been, he snorted clouds of black, oily smoke.
    "Shut up, stupid dragon! Nothing be there!" Gairoth snatched up a bone from the ground and bounced it off Rognoth's head.
    "Gairoth, they gots your magic man!" Delrael pointed to the severed rope hanging from the cypress branch.
    The ogre let his mouth drop open. Rognoth leaped to his feet, but the chain strangled him and he wheezed. Gairoth turned around in circles, looking for someone to hit with his club.
    Delrael saw that the ogre needed help. "Cesspool! But we catch 'em!
    Bonk! Quick!" He gave Gairoth a helpful shove in the right direction.
    Rognoth galloped down the path as Gairoth stumbled after him, clinging to the iron chain. The ogre clutched the skull in his hand, holding the Air Stone in place with his thumb as he grasped the thick iron chain. But he didn't seem to know what to do with the diamond. Delrael ran behind.
    The dragon reached the edge of the cesspool, with Gairoth fighting to keep his footing. They arrived just in time to see the tentacled creature swallow something bright and scarlet. Rognoth yelped and leaped ahead, not slowing down as he reached the bank.
    "Stupid dragon!" Gairoth bellowed. He let go of the chain, but it became tangled around the Air Stone and the skull. Both the dragon and the ogre plunged into the cesspool, vanishing under the scum. Rognoth splashed to the surface, looking around, tongue lolling out. A whine broke from his throat as he realized where he had landed. Clawing at the thick water, he began to swim.
    Gairoth emerged, pulling duckweed out of his eye and spitting green sludge from his mouth. Delrael saw with dismay that the skull in the ogre's hand had broken. The Air Stone had sunk to the bottom of the foul cesspool.
    In the water, Gairoth's gaze settled on the pitiful dragon. His nostrils flared, and the cypress trees trembled as he roared his rage.
    "Rognoth!"
    The dragon gulped as the ogre heaved the spiked club out of the cesspool and sloshed toward him.