Read Online City of Fire (City Trilogy (Mass Market)) by Laurence Yep - Free Book Online
Authors: Laurence Yep
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would have been so easy to snap his neck and then rejoin the battle against Badik, but Bayang prided herself on being a warrior first and last. In carrying out her assassinations, she had never struck her targets from behind.
However, even if her assigned prey faced her again, traditionnow demanded the opposite of duty. Her people lived by a complex code of honor but at its core was one basic tenet as old as her race: If someone saved your life, you must repay the debt. And her prey had just placed her under an obligation that was far older and more imperative than the elders’ commands.
She could not kill her prey until she had repaid him. And then what? Once the debt was settled, once the scale of obligations was balanced, was she going to take the life she had just saved? That seemed too absurd.
What was she to do now?
Scirye
Heart thumping, Scirye turned from the woman and the boys to see Kles flying overhead, screaming defiance. His opponent lay dead with a bloody throat. Somehow he must have evaded the trap and carried out his attack. “Stand back-to-back,” Nishke ordered.
Scirye had been staring in horrified fascination at the dying dragonfly, but her sister’s words woke her as if from a nightmare. She turned and pressed her back against her sister’s when there was a gigantic crash.
Even shatterproof glass could not stand up to a dragon’s tail. Everyone was hunching as bits of glass flew from the case that held Lady Tabiti.
As the dragon hovered, it reached a foreleg into the case. “I’ve gotit!” With a cry of triumph, he held up the archer’s ring clutched between his claws. “There’s no stopping me now!”
And then, with a vengeful malice, the dragon brought his tail down upon the Jade Lady herself. Jade rectangles and gold wire flew in all directions as the dragon pounded the fragile body into dust.
“No!” Nishke cried.
While everyone else’s eyes had been upon the dragon, Nishke had been the only one to charge forward. Desperately she raised the halberd over her head to fend off the thief.
With an evil laugh, the dragon swung his tail so that the heavy column of bone and muscle struck her, tossing her backward like a doll.
Still laughing, the dragon flapped his wings so that clouds of dust flew everywhere as he flew toward the domed ceiling.
He struck the shatterproof panes with his huge paws and his mouth bellowed magical spells that made the listener’s hair stand on end. Finally, the glass broke in a rain of crystal shards and the magical wards dissolved.
With a cry of triumph, the dragon’s massive body soared through the hole and into the sky.
Scirye
Kles circled through the dusty air, the battle rage ebbing away, leaving only the taste of pulverized concrete thick in his mouth. The light flickered wildly as primitive fire elementals, their brains no bigger than gnats, darted about in the air from their broken homes. Voices moaned and a man was whimpering.
When Kles spotted his mistress, her face was white as chalk as she knelt besides her fallen mother. She had retrieved her discarded cloak and folded it into a pillow for her mother, who was unconscious but still breathing.
When the griffin settled upon Scirye’s shoulder, he felt her body still shivering with anger and fear. So he wrapped himself lovingly about the back of her neck, crooning to her as he rubbed his soft feathered cheek against hers.
When she had made her mother comfortable, Scirye turned toward her sister. Nishke lay crumpled against a wall like a broken doll. Her eyes stared blankly, never blinking.
Scirye got up to go to her but saw Prince Etre. A banner proclaiming the glories of the Kushan Empire dangled down from one end just above his head. He was making no effort to stanch the blood flowing from his shoulder, but was staring with a vacant look instead at the shattered case where the Jade Lady had once rested. The other survivors also sat in shock within the wreckage. No one was
However, even if her assigned prey faced her again, traditionnow demanded the opposite of duty. Her people lived by a complex code of honor but at its core was one basic tenet as old as her race: If someone saved your life, you must repay the debt. And her prey had just placed her under an obligation that was far older and more imperative than the elders’ commands.
She could not kill her prey until she had repaid him. And then what? Once the debt was settled, once the scale of obligations was balanced, was she going to take the life she had just saved? That seemed too absurd.
What was she to do now?
Scirye
Heart thumping, Scirye turned from the woman and the boys to see Kles flying overhead, screaming defiance. His opponent lay dead with a bloody throat. Somehow he must have evaded the trap and carried out his attack. “Stand back-to-back,” Nishke ordered.
Scirye had been staring in horrified fascination at the dying dragonfly, but her sister’s words woke her as if from a nightmare. She turned and pressed her back against her sister’s when there was a gigantic crash.
Even shatterproof glass could not stand up to a dragon’s tail. Everyone was hunching as bits of glass flew from the case that held Lady Tabiti.
As the dragon hovered, it reached a foreleg into the case. “I’ve gotit!” With a cry of triumph, he held up the archer’s ring clutched between his claws. “There’s no stopping me now!”
And then, with a vengeful malice, the dragon brought his tail down upon the Jade Lady herself. Jade rectangles and gold wire flew in all directions as the dragon pounded the fragile body into dust.
“No!” Nishke cried.
While everyone else’s eyes had been upon the dragon, Nishke had been the only one to charge forward. Desperately she raised the halberd over her head to fend off the thief.
With an evil laugh, the dragon swung his tail so that the heavy column of bone and muscle struck her, tossing her backward like a doll.
Still laughing, the dragon flapped his wings so that clouds of dust flew everywhere as he flew toward the domed ceiling.
He struck the shatterproof panes with his huge paws and his mouth bellowed magical spells that made the listener’s hair stand on end. Finally, the glass broke in a rain of crystal shards and the magical wards dissolved.
With a cry of triumph, the dragon’s massive body soared through the hole and into the sky.
Scirye
Kles circled through the dusty air, the battle rage ebbing away, leaving only the taste of pulverized concrete thick in his mouth. The light flickered wildly as primitive fire elementals, their brains no bigger than gnats, darted about in the air from their broken homes. Voices moaned and a man was whimpering.
When Kles spotted his mistress, her face was white as chalk as she knelt besides her fallen mother. She had retrieved her discarded cloak and folded it into a pillow for her mother, who was unconscious but still breathing.
When the griffin settled upon Scirye’s shoulder, he felt her body still shivering with anger and fear. So he wrapped himself lovingly about the back of her neck, crooning to her as he rubbed his soft feathered cheek against hers.
When she had made her mother comfortable, Scirye turned toward her sister. Nishke lay crumpled against a wall like a broken doll. Her eyes stared blankly, never blinking.
Scirye got up to go to her but saw Prince Etre. A banner proclaiming the glories of the Kushan Empire dangled down from one end just above his head. He was making no effort to stanch the blood flowing from his shoulder, but was staring with a vacant look instead at the shattered case where the Jade Lady had once rested. The other survivors also sat in shock within the wreckage. No one was
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