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heavenly beast descending to preserve the Enlightener as the Cliff of
Judgment delivered its verdict, and the false priests who had condemned him
being smitten to the ground by the Lifemaker's wrath. Once before had the
Enlightener preached the true Word to the people in the marketplace, and the
people had ridiculed him; but such was his wisdom and forebearance that
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ifemaker.txt in place of anger or retribution, he had chosen this way to open
their eyes to the light, and to demonstrate the powerlessness of the priests
before him. This time the people would listen and be grateful for the mercy
that had been shown them.
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"Indeed the Enlightener teaches the true Word of the Lifemaker!" they cried.
"We shall not kill. We shall not enslave. We shall not be enslaved."
"Down with the false priests who teach hatred!"
"Down with the King and his ministers who wage war!"
The roaring of the voices was swollen even louder as the first contingent of
the returning Kroaxian army came round the hill and joined in.
"We have returned to unseat the tyrant! We shall not kill!"
"All Carthogians are our brothers!"
"See, the Enlightener awaits us and has converted the citizens of Pergassos as
he promised! Praise the Enlightener!"
The citizens howled louder, and the crowd began closing in around the
dignitaries' enclosure.
"Our soldiers have returned from the Meracasine. Indeed has the Enlightener
spoken truly!"
"Out with Eskenderom!"
"Out with Frennelech!"
"No more shall we cringe beneath the heels of tyrants!"
"No more shall we tremble at the words of charlatans!"
"Out with them! Out with them!"
In the canopied enclosure, all was chaos as priests and courtiers, officials
and dignitaries, counselors and ministers dashed backward, forward, and in
circles shouting for guards to close ranks and for servants to fetch mounts.
In the middle of the panic, Eskenderom and Frennelech collided. "Traitor!"
Eskenderom screamed into the High Priest's face. "Thou holy vermin! Sump
sludge! What bargain didst thou conclude with thy aliens that they should
cheat me thus?"
"I?" Frennelech howled, outraged. "I? thou royal emetic! Thou pox-blistered
discharge vent! It is through thy contract with the sky-devils that they have
defrauded met"
"What sayest thou? Is this spectacle not thy final triumph that shall take
away my crown and remove me from my realm?"
"Nay. What gibberish dost thou prattle? Is it not the fruitful consummation of
thy design to promote this imposter, thy creation, before the people and
thence to subordinate to royal command all authority hitherto invested in my
office?"
Eskenderom shook his head. "Would I, by my orders to my handpicked agent,
command the disintegration of my own army? What kind of priest's babbling is
this?"
Eskenderom stared at Frennelech; Frennelech stared at Eskenderom. Both arrived
at the same conclusion at the same instant.
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"Zounds! Egad! Forsooth!" Eskenderom shrieked. "I see it now the aliens have
outwitted us both! We have been betrayed!" He raised his fists high in the
air. "Arghh! The leaching-tank scum! The drain-filter dregs! I'll have at
them! I'll smear their jelly bodies across the valley of Gornod.
Mormorel, rally the guard and let us ride now to the camp of the alien
deceivers. All who value honor and dignity, follow me! And if we be blasted to
rivets and strewn across the deserts, then at least it will be said that we
were dismantled gloriously. To Gornod!"
"Have the equerry fetch the mounts," Frennelech called to Jaskillion.
"Muster the Palace Guard and tell them we will ride with the King to the
valley of Gornod to avenge this alien treachery. If the nation of Kroaxia is
to be rent asunder by outworlders' stratagem, its final episode of glory shall
not be Eskenderom's alone. To Gornod!"
Then the voices of the crowd rose to a crescendo. "Angels! See, angels are
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descending! Shining angels descend from the heavens!"
Above, two figures were lowering toward the Enlightener, who had returned to
the execution ledge after casting himself forth and allowing his fall to be
miraculously intercepted, and was now giving thanks at the sacred tree
opposite the top of the stairway. The creature from heaven was watching down
over them protectively, and at the far end of the ledge, the guard commander
seemed to be trying to reorganize his cringing soldiers.
"How is he?" Zambendorf barked, struggling to maintain equilibrium on the
wildly swinging line. The Taloids on the ledge had scattered from the falling
cable when Drew West cut the line to the net from above, and seemed to be
keeping their distance.
"Can't tell," Fellburg answered. "He seems out of it. The net's all caught up
in this junk. We'll have to cut him out."
Zambendorf worked frantically to draw in the magnetic clamp on another line
while Fellburg hacked into the net with a pair of long-handled cutters.
"What's the score?" West's voice said over the intercom from the flyer.
"All a mess Joe's cutting Moses out," Zambendorf answered breathlessly. "Is
the generator hooked up yet, Drew?"
"Ready when you are."
"Hurry it up down there," Abaquaan's voice said on the circuit.
"Watch out behind you," Clarissa warned.
Zambendorf looked round and saw that some of the Taloids seemed to have
recovered and were coming across the ledge, brandishing objects that looked [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]