Book 1 - The Black Company Read Online Free PDF Page B

its
entirety, branding the carnage on the backs of my eyeballs. The
forvalaka screamed, this time with genuine pain. Point for the
wizards.
    It streaked toward me. I hacked in panic as it whipped past. I
missed. It whirled, took a running start, leapt at the wizards.
They met it with another flashy spell. The forvalaka howled. A man
shrieked. The beast thrashed on the floor like a dying snake. Men
stabbed it with pikes and swords. It regained its feet and streaked
out the exit we had kept open for ourselves,
    "It's coming!" the Captain bellowed to the Lieutenant.
    I sagged, knowing nothing but relief. It was
gone . . . Before my butt hit the floor One-Eye
was dragging me up. "Come on. Croaker. It hit Tom-Tom. You got to
help."
    I staggered over, suddenly aware of a shallow gash down one leg.
"Better clean it good," I muttered. "Those claws are bound to be
filthy."
    Tom-Tom was a twist of human wreckage. His throat had been torn
out, his belly opened. His arms and chest had been ripped to the
bone. Amazingly, he was still alive, but there was nothing I could
do. Nothing any physician could have done. Not even a master
sorcerer, specializing in healing, could have salvaged the little
black man. But One-Eye insisted I try, and try I did till the
Captain dragged me off to attend men less certain of dying. One-Eye
was bellowing at him as I left.
    "Get some lights in here!" I ordered. At the same time the
Captain began assembling the uninjured at the open doorway,
telling them to hold it.
    As the light grew stronger the extent of the debacle became more
evident. We had been decimated. Moreover, a dozen brothers who had
not been with us lay scattered around the chamber. They had been on
duty. Among them were as many more of the Syndic's secretaries and
advisers. "Anybody see the Syndic?" the Captain demanded. "He must
have been here." He and Match and Elmo started searching. I did not
have much chance to follow that. I patched and sewed like a madman,
commandeering all the help I could. The forvalaka left deep claw
wounds which required careful and skillful suturing.
    Somehow, Goblin and Silent managed to calm One-Eye enough so he
could help. Maybe they did something to him. He worked in a daze
barely this side of unconsciousness. I took another look at Tom-Tom
when I got a chance. He was still alive, clutching his little drum.
Damn! That much stubbornness deserved reward. But how? My expertise
simply was not adequate.
    "Yo!" Match shouted. "Captain!" I glanced over. He was tapping a
chest with his sword.
    The chest was of stone. It was a strongbox of a type favored by
Beryl's wealthy. I guess this one weighed five hundred pounds. Its
exterior had been fancifully carved. Most of the decoration had
been demolished. By the tearing of claws? Elmo smashed the lock and
pried the lid open. I glimpsed a man lying atop gold and jewels,
arms around his head, shaking. Elmo and the Captain exchanged grim
looks.
    I was distracted by the Lieutenant's arrival. He had held on
downstairs till he got worried about nothing having happened. The
forvalaka had not gone down.
    "Search the tower," the Captain told him. "Maybe it went up."
There were a couple levels above us.
    When next I glanced at the chest it was closed again. Our
employer was nowhere in evidence. Match was seated atop it,
cleaning his nails with a dagger. I eyed the Captain and Elmo.
There was something the slightest bit odd about them.
    They would not have finished the forvalaka's task for her, would
they? No. The Captain couldn't betray Company ideals that way.
Could he?
    I did not ask.
    The search of the tower revealed nothing but a trail of blood
leading to the tower top, where the forvalaka had lain gathering
strength. It had been badly hurt, but it had escaped by descending
the outer face of the tower.
    Someone suggested we track it. To that the Captain replied,
"We're leaving Beryl. We're no longer employed. We have to get out
before the city turns on us." He sent Match and Elmo