lithoid. Shouts came before we were halfway there, and I was aware of all the stoneguards in the place turning to converge on us.
The nearest operator abandoned his aurochs team and ran towards us, fumbling for a shardcaster that hung from his belt. Yanking my own out with my free hand, I sent half a dozen flints into his face and throat before he could draw. The man collapsed to his knees, scrabbling at the shards embedded in him.
"Go!" shouted Gazelle. "I'll cover you."
There was only time for a nod of appreciation as I sprinted for the menhir, whose grey, grainy surface towered far above my head. I knelt and placed the gourd carefully at its foot, in the spot I'd picked from the bank.
A shadow fell across me, and I turned to see a stoneguard reaching down, the blank granite where its face should be seeming to glare. I tried to twist under its grasp to get away, but a stone hand came down hard on my shoulder, trapping me.
I was dead for sure, but maybe...I made a lunge for the gourd, ready to slam the pebble in with my hand, but the guard's other hand fell on me, yanking me to my feet. I was surrounded by three of the stone creatures when a man came panting up, his elaborately tooled belt proclaiming him the manager.
"Don't kill him," he snapped at the stoneguards. "I want him alive. For now."
He turned away without waiting to check that the creatures had understood. Perhaps it was unthinkable that they hadn't. "Bring him with me," he added without looking back.
I managed to glance around as the stoneguards hustled me along after their boss. I was half expecting to see Gazelle lying dead, or else a prisoner too, but she was nowhere to be seen. So much for covering me. She must have bolted as soon as it looked hopeless. Unless...
What did I really know about Gazelle? She said she was from the resistance, and she had the phrase, but the council of elders could have got hold of that. Perhaps I'd been led straight into a trap.
Not that I could do anything about it. The guards halted, and I found myself facing a stone I hadn't seen before: a level slab, about four feet high, covered with dark stains I wished I didn't recognise. What had Gazelle said about people—maybe including my brother—being given to the Engine? Was I going to join them?
"What's this?" I demanded. It would do no good, but I might as well let him know he couldn't scare me. Even if I wasn't entirely convinced of that myself.
"Our input to the energy-flow." His expression was distant and distasteful. "Your blood will help the Engine run more smoothly. Ironic, I think."
I struggled to stop myself shuddering, from more than fear for my life. Everyone knew that blood could strengthen earth energy, but equally everyone knew the corruption it caused, too. If they'd been regularly running this thing on blood...Well, perhaps that explained a lot.
"Tie him down," the man told the guards.
I struggled against the stone hands, naturally, but I was like a baby in their grasp. My sinews were about to snap as they pushed me down to the slab and fastened hide cords around my hands and feet.
The manager moved up to stand beside me, an obsidian knife in his hand. He raised it.
"Don't you have to recite some mumbo-jumbo?" I demanded, hoping I'd put all the contempt I felt into the question.
He raised his eyebrows. "It's your blood I want—some ingredient of it, at least. I'm a scientist, not a magician."
The knife started down, and I gritted my teeth, trying to prepare for the death-blow. A gasp, and the manager staggered back, clutching at his throat.
Whipping my head around, I found Gazelle, a few paces away, lowering her shardcaster. For a moment she met my eyes, and I thought she was going to come and free me. Instead, she turned and ran for the central lithoid. The guards pursued her, but she was still ahead when, only a couple of paces away, she raised the caster again and fired repeatedly at the gourd.
The roar was louder than a herd of mammoth,
The nearest operator abandoned his aurochs team and ran towards us, fumbling for a shardcaster that hung from his belt. Yanking my own out with my free hand, I sent half a dozen flints into his face and throat before he could draw. The man collapsed to his knees, scrabbling at the shards embedded in him.
"Go!" shouted Gazelle. "I'll cover you."
There was only time for a nod of appreciation as I sprinted for the menhir, whose grey, grainy surface towered far above my head. I knelt and placed the gourd carefully at its foot, in the spot I'd picked from the bank.
A shadow fell across me, and I turned to see a stoneguard reaching down, the blank granite where its face should be seeming to glare. I tried to twist under its grasp to get away, but a stone hand came down hard on my shoulder, trapping me.
I was dead for sure, but maybe...I made a lunge for the gourd, ready to slam the pebble in with my hand, but the guard's other hand fell on me, yanking me to my feet. I was surrounded by three of the stone creatures when a man came panting up, his elaborately tooled belt proclaiming him the manager.
"Don't kill him," he snapped at the stoneguards. "I want him alive. For now."
He turned away without waiting to check that the creatures had understood. Perhaps it was unthinkable that they hadn't. "Bring him with me," he added without looking back.
I managed to glance around as the stoneguards hustled me along after their boss. I was half expecting to see Gazelle lying dead, or else a prisoner too, but she was nowhere to be seen. So much for covering me. She must have bolted as soon as it looked hopeless. Unless...
What did I really know about Gazelle? She said she was from the resistance, and she had the phrase, but the council of elders could have got hold of that. Perhaps I'd been led straight into a trap.
Not that I could do anything about it. The guards halted, and I found myself facing a stone I hadn't seen before: a level slab, about four feet high, covered with dark stains I wished I didn't recognise. What had Gazelle said about people—maybe including my brother—being given to the Engine? Was I going to join them?
"What's this?" I demanded. It would do no good, but I might as well let him know he couldn't scare me. Even if I wasn't entirely convinced of that myself.
"Our input to the energy-flow." His expression was distant and distasteful. "Your blood will help the Engine run more smoothly. Ironic, I think."
I struggled to stop myself shuddering, from more than fear for my life. Everyone knew that blood could strengthen earth energy, but equally everyone knew the corruption it caused, too. If they'd been regularly running this thing on blood...Well, perhaps that explained a lot.
"Tie him down," the man told the guards.
I struggled against the stone hands, naturally, but I was like a baby in their grasp. My sinews were about to snap as they pushed me down to the slab and fastened hide cords around my hands and feet.
The manager moved up to stand beside me, an obsidian knife in his hand. He raised it.
"Don't you have to recite some mumbo-jumbo?" I demanded, hoping I'd put all the contempt I felt into the question.
He raised his eyebrows. "It's your blood I want—some ingredient of it, at least. I'm a scientist, not a magician."
The knife started down, and I gritted my teeth, trying to prepare for the death-blow. A gasp, and the manager staggered back, clutching at his throat.
Whipping my head around, I found Gazelle, a few paces away, lowering her shardcaster. For a moment she met my eyes, and I thought she was going to come and free me. Instead, she turned and ran for the central lithoid. The guards pursued her, but she was still ahead when, only a couple of paces away, she raised the caster again and fired repeatedly at the gourd.
The roar was louder than a herd of mammoth,
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