In the Moons of Borea Read Online Free Page B

informed, 'is not normally very gentle with anyone. He's trained for the fight. It seems you've found a firm friend there, Henri.'
    Staring after the towering creature as Kota'na led it away, de Marigny answered, 'I would hate to be his enemy!'
    He took hold of the Texan's arm. 'Hank, I have to get after the time-clock. It's my one way out of here. All explanations, everything I would like to know — questions you must surely be wanting to ask me — will have to wait. The time-clock is — '
    — All important, Henri?' Silberhutte finished it for him. `Yes, I know. To me, too. I'm as much a prisoner here on Borea as you are, and I've been here that much longer.'
    `Then I'll be on my way now, at once.'
    `Now? On your own?' Without malice Silberhutte laughed. 'You don't seem to understand, Henri. There isn't any way you can get the clock back on your own. Even if you could, they'll be miles away by now.'
    `Do you think so? Dragging the time-clock behind them? Why, the thing must weigh a ton, Hank! They'd need to be superhuman.'
    `You didn't see their wolves, then?'
    `I saw their wolf masks but behind them they were only men.'
    `Oh, yes, the wolf-warriors are men, Henri. lthaqua's people, the Children of the Wind. But I was talking about their wolves: creatures big as ponies --- bred as mounts, as beasts of burden - and some bred to kill! We found the party's tracks, and there were wolves with them, big brutes, too. They'd easily pull that clock of yours. Yes, and there are other reasons why we can't simply, go chasing after them. Ithaqua is due back on Borea at any time now, and when he returns we must all be safely back in the plateau.'
    `Hank,' de Marigny answered, 'I accept all you say, though I don't understand half of it as yet, but . . he paused. 'Look, I've no time to explain, so I'll simply show you. You see, Titus Crow used the time-clock to journey to Elysia, and when he returned, he brought back something with him. He brought this.' He opened his cloak wide.
    'Your cloak? I don't see what — '
    'Do you see now?' De Marigny touched the large studs that looked merely decorative where they were set in the leather of the cloak's harness. He rose slowly at first, then shot skyward through the branches of the surrounding trees.
    Now it was Hank Silberhutte's turn to stare in amazement. He knew only too well that Ithaqua could walk on the wind, as could his daughter Armandra. But this was Henri-Laurent de Marigny, a common man of Mother Earth. And yet here he soared aloft on the wind as surely as any hawk!
    'All right, Henri,' he called out to the man who glided now above the treetops, performing intricate aerial manoeuvres. 'You've convinced me. Come on down.'
    De Marigny alighted a moment later to find Silberhutte standing on his own. His three companions kept well back, coming forward only when they were sure that the man in the cloak intended no more immediately foreseeable flights, and they now regarded him with something akin to awe. Morda stood behind them, padding from one gigantic hind foot to the other in seeming agitation. The bear, too, had witnessed de Marigny's flight.
    'I'm convinced,' Silberhutte repeated. 'Convinced that you stand a slight chance . . He reached out to touch the deceptively strong fabric of the cloak. 'What kind of weight can this thing carry?'
    `The weight of two men,' de Marigny answered at once. `It's speed is reduced by extra weight, of course, but even so — ' He paused, stared hard at Silberhutte, then said, `Whatever it is you're thinking, forget it, Hank. You've done enough already.'
    `I've done nothing, old friend. And listen: I've as much interest in the time-clock as you yourself. What's more, I know something of Borea, and a whole lot more about the Children of the Winds. You'll stand a far better chance of getting the clock back with me along. Yes, and while we're on the trail of the clock, I guess we've a lot to talk about. We both have tales to tell.'
    For a moment,