Read Online The Gorgon's Blood Solution by Jeffrey Quyle - Free Book Online Page B

and his hands came together, then parted slowly, and as they did, Marco’s attention was diverted.  A gateway within the yellow dome was lifting – the color difference disappeared at the end of the pier by the dockside, and the Corsairs from the city came bustling through the opening onto the pier, carrying heaps of riches and goods they had stolen.  And carrying people as well.
    There were more than a half dozen people, mostly women, being carried out along the pier towards Marco.  The men who carried them, and the men who carried the other booty, broke apart into small groups, and went to locations convenient to the three different ships that were tied to the pier.  Goods and captives were placed down in heaps, and the screaming captives were roughly handled as they were laid down and bound with stout ropes.  Marco felt his throat tighten and his heart drop as he watched the young women being mistreated, then left in place as the Corsairs left them behind and returned to the city to gather more goods.
    The solitary man on the pier watched the others leave – other than those who remained inside the dome, at the end of the pier – and then he repeated his incantations and gestures, and the yellow dome slid back down to the ground, sealing the pier and the ships off once again.  Marco watched in stunned fear; that man, that very man – the one closest to him – was a sorcerer.  The man was wielding incredible powers.  Marco didn’t understand what the yellow dome was supposed to do, but he did know that it inspired fear and awe in him – awe of the unfathomable power and awe of the man who could control it.
    There was a ruckus at the end of the pier, and Marco turned to see that a group of the local gendarmes of the city had arrived at the dock.  Their identity was not in doubt – they wore the same colorful, extravagant uniforms they wore when they walked about on patrol through the city.  In Marco’s opinion they had no real role in the city other than to try to look pretty to impress girls who they flirted with as they walked by on the streets.   They certainly never seemed to prevent or avenge any crimes that Marco saw.
    Yet now, for the first time ever, he saw them spring into action.  They rushed at the end of the pier, coming to fight the invaders, seeking to set the captives free and to regain the looted treasures.
    The purpose of the dome became evident; when the gendarmes reached the yellow shield they were unable to penetrate it.  They stood and shouted and pounded and gestured on the outside of the dome, while the score of Corsairs on the inside of the dome stood insolently watching them, making no move to battle, only offering obscene gestures.
    Marco watched the stand-off for several minutes, when suddenly a group of the raiding Corsairs returned with more plunder from the city.  The Corsairs dropped their booty and began to fiercely attack the gendarmes from the city side.  Then, as the city’s defenders turned to fight the new arrivals, the sorcerer made a motion and spoke some words.  The dome lifted, and the Corsairs inside the dome stormed out, pinning the gendarmes between the two hostile forces as weapons swung viciously on all sides of the melee.
    The result was a horrific slaughter of the city’s defenders, as they were rapidly cut down.  Marco turned away as the last men were butchered, then looked up again at the sound and feel of men stepping onto the pier.  More piles of plunder and captives appeared at various spots in front of the Corsair ships, and more value was stacked alongside what already existed as the Corsairs left their second round of rewards behind after a few minutes, and went out into the city again for a third round of looting.
    Marco looked at the extravagant piles of valuables that were stacked up on the side of the pier across from him.  His eyes widened in astonishment as he recognized Angelica lying tied up and battered atop a pile of silver and