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.When he lookedup from his concentration on the ground in front of him, Derian thought he saw a faint glow ahead.A bonfire, but built lower than we are.I'll bet anything that whoever it is we're sneaking up on is down in some sortof hollow where they're pretty much out of sight.Late at night, hidden in a hollow somewhere in the middle ofnowhere.Whoever's up to whatever, they don't want anyone to know.They don't figure anyone does know, either, orthey wouldn't risk the fire and the music.The yarimaimalom know, though, and they wanted me to see whatever this is.They probably wanted Firekeeper, but she's not available, so they settled for me.Let's not disgrace the species, DerianCarter.With that admonition, Derian crept forward.The jaguar and puma had been lying side by side for several momentsnow and a space just the right size for Derian had been left pointedly open between them.Trembling despite the factthat they had not offered him the least harm, Derian crept into the space.He wanted a drink, and that of somethingstronger than water.Then he looked through the screening branches and forgot about everything but what he saw.He'd been right about the hollow.What he hadn't expected was the temple.It had the step-pyramid shape that stillcapped the buildings in Heeranenahalm.In this case, the step pyramid was the entire temple.There were no buildingsaround it or beneath it, no meeting rooms or apartments or rooms in which to keep the various animals that seemedindispensable in the Liglimom's religion.It wasn't a very high pyramid, either.If Derian had been standing next to it, another of himself standing on hisshoulders would have been able to see the top.It rose from a squat base with the careful gradations that testified thatthe builders had been working not from plans, but from necessity.They'd made the base as wide as was needed to support the top, and the top had to be wide because it was where all the activity would happen.From what Deriancould see, there needed to be room enough for at least two humans to move around the shining black stone altar at thevery top.At first, Derian had thought this must be a very old temple.Then he realized that the reverse was what was true.This was a very new temple, probably not more than a decade old.That probably explained its roughness.The templesin u-Seeheera had been built before the Plague.Their builders had used magic to help them along.If they hadn't usedmagic, they'd at least had experience on their side.This temple had been built without magic, with trial and error as anarchitect, and again Derian was sure he was right on the sly.His skin began to creep, and this time the sensation wasn't due to the proximity of the two carnivores who lay oneither side of him.If anything, they were a comfort.Why did they bring me here? Why didn't they bring someone like Varjuna or Tiridanti or even that rather sillywoman who likes the bears? Why me? Why now?Derian couldn't ask, though he longed to do so with almost a physical pain.Instead, he settled himself and resolvedto figure out the answers through observation.A ritual of some sort was under way.Derian had the feeling that they were just warming into it.He tried to counthow many people were down there and to see how many there were.Two disdum fussing about on top.The fellow onthe drums.A woman playing very softly on a flute.Then there were what Derian figured was the congregation, acouple dozen men and women settled in prayerful attitudes far enough back from the pyramid that they could see thetop.There wasn't a single bonfire as he had thought originally, but smaller fires set along the steps, so that what wasgoing on at the top could be clearly seen.The centrality of the firelight cast everything else into shadow, so it was awhile before Derian saw the group on the far side managing the animals.To be honest, he didn't focus in on them untila woman in the formal garb of a kidisdu of birds started climbing to the top.She was holding a snowy white cockerelin one hand.The bird was hanging limply, as birds that have had their eyes covered usually do.The congregation started singing something low but fervent.Derian struggled to get a clearer look at the groupclustered with the animals.They were on the far side of the pyramid from him, and that made seeing difficult.Thensuddenly, he realized that what was important wasn't how many there were, but why they were here.The woman holding the cockerel had surrendered it to one of the men at the top and then dropped to her knees onestep shy of the top.She bent her head.The singing rose in intensity.The man now holding the cockerel raised hisvoice in triumphant song.The bird struggled just a little as if suddenly sharing Derian's feeling that something wasn'tright.Then the disdu holding the cockerel nodded to his subordinate.The other brought up a gleaming knife and slashed.Blood went everywhere, splattering the stone and the robes of the three disdum atop the pyramid [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.When he lookedup from his concentration on the ground in front of him, Derian thought he saw a faint glow ahead.A bonfire, but built lower than we are.I'll bet anything that whoever it is we're sneaking up on is down in some sortof hollow where they're pretty much out of sight.Late at night, hidden in a hollow somewhere in the middle ofnowhere.Whoever's up to whatever, they don't want anyone to know.They don't figure anyone does know, either, orthey wouldn't risk the fire and the music.The yarimaimalom know, though, and they wanted me to see whatever this is.They probably wanted Firekeeper, but she's not available, so they settled for me.Let's not disgrace the species, DerianCarter.With that admonition, Derian crept forward.The jaguar and puma had been lying side by side for several momentsnow and a space just the right size for Derian had been left pointedly open between them.Trembling despite the factthat they had not offered him the least harm, Derian crept into the space.He wanted a drink, and that of somethingstronger than water.Then he looked through the screening branches and forgot about everything but what he saw.He'd been right about the hollow.What he hadn't expected was the temple.It had the step-pyramid shape that stillcapped the buildings in Heeranenahalm.In this case, the step pyramid was the entire temple.There were no buildingsaround it or beneath it, no meeting rooms or apartments or rooms in which to keep the various animals that seemedindispensable in the Liglimom's religion.It wasn't a very high pyramid, either.If Derian had been standing next to it, another of himself standing on hisshoulders would have been able to see the top.It rose from a squat base with the careful gradations that testified thatthe builders had been working not from plans, but from necessity.They'd made the base as wide as was needed to support the top, and the top had to be wide because it was where all the activity would happen.From what Deriancould see, there needed to be room enough for at least two humans to move around the shining black stone altar at thevery top.At first, Derian had thought this must be a very old temple.Then he realized that the reverse was what was true.This was a very new temple, probably not more than a decade old.That probably explained its roughness.The templesin u-Seeheera had been built before the Plague.Their builders had used magic to help them along.If they hadn't usedmagic, they'd at least had experience on their side.This temple had been built without magic, with trial and error as anarchitect, and again Derian was sure he was right on the sly.His skin began to creep, and this time the sensation wasn't due to the proximity of the two carnivores who lay oneither side of him.If anything, they were a comfort.Why did they bring me here? Why didn't they bring someone like Varjuna or Tiridanti or even that rather sillywoman who likes the bears? Why me? Why now?Derian couldn't ask, though he longed to do so with almost a physical pain.Instead, he settled himself and resolvedto figure out the answers through observation.A ritual of some sort was under way.Derian had the feeling that they were just warming into it.He tried to counthow many people were down there and to see how many there were.Two disdum fussing about on top.The fellow onthe drums.A woman playing very softly on a flute.Then there were what Derian figured was the congregation, acouple dozen men and women settled in prayerful attitudes far enough back from the pyramid that they could see thetop.There wasn't a single bonfire as he had thought originally, but smaller fires set along the steps, so that what wasgoing on at the top could be clearly seen.The centrality of the firelight cast everything else into shadow, so it was awhile before Derian saw the group on the far side managing the animals.To be honest, he didn't focus in on them untila woman in the formal garb of a kidisdu of birds started climbing to the top.She was holding a snowy white cockerelin one hand.The bird was hanging limply, as birds that have had their eyes covered usually do.The congregation started singing something low but fervent.Derian struggled to get a clearer look at the groupclustered with the animals.They were on the far side of the pyramid from him, and that made seeing difficult.Thensuddenly, he realized that what was important wasn't how many there were, but why they were here.The woman holding the cockerel had surrendered it to one of the men at the top and then dropped to her knees onestep shy of the top.She bent her head.The singing rose in intensity.The man now holding the cockerel raised hisvoice in triumphant song.The bird struggled just a little as if suddenly sharing Derian's feeling that something wasn'tright.Then the disdu holding the cockerel nodded to his subordinate.The other brought up a gleaming knife and slashed.Blood went everywhere, splattering the stone and the robes of the three disdum atop the pyramid [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]