Exodus of the Xandim (GOLLANCZ S.F.) Read Online Free PDF Page B

them neatly over the posts. Progressing to more difficult feats, the Wizard used compressed air to break a small boulder into pieces, cleaving it neatly in half with great precision then shattering
it into fragments. To follow, he herded clouds to produce a small, localised shower of rain within the confines of the arena.
    By this time, Yinze was trembling with fatigue, and his fingers were stiff and aching from having played so long without respite. Though he had practised all these individual spells before, he
had never performed them in quick succession. Using any form of magic was tiring to a certain extent, but the powers of Air did not come naturally to him, and required far greater effort than
usual. Most of the spectators had applauded his efforts, and if only the Queen had done the same he might have been buoyed and encouraged, but Queen Pandion had watched his demonstration in stony
and, he felt, judgemental silence, greatly increasing the tension and pressure of the occasion.
    The Wizard, however, had one last trick up his sleeve, to
make
her sit up and take notice. What followed would be the finale and climax of the entire performance – the most
difficult and dangerous spell of all. As he had done in Ardea’s chambers, he sent the music, and the power, coiling around him, to propel him upwards through the air.
    His feet left the ground, and Yinze again felt his stomach clench. Out in the open air, on top of a mountain, he became aware of the dangers of this spell as he never had when performing it in a
smaller, enclosed environment. The wind grew stronger as he rose, pushing him off course, and he had to control his rate of ascent very carefully, so as not to get above the level of the
crater’s encircling walls. Beyond their shelter the wind would be far too strong for him, blowing him off course and out of control, to be dashed to his death against the rocks.
    Though he had mastered simple levitation and gentle descent, he had not yet had time to work out how to manoeuvre effectively in the horizontal plane. To his horror, Yinze felt himself beginning
to drift, moving away from the Royal Balcony and picking up speed. This had never happened before! Though he tried with all the strength of his will, he could not push himself back on course and,
what was worse, he couldn’t stop rising at an increasing speed. Fighting panic, the Wizard kept on playing the harp. If he lost his hold on the spell, he would fall straight to the rocky
floor of the arena, which now seemed a very long way away.
    Yinze knew he should have better control than this. Once again he tried to halt his speeding rate of ascent, and reverse it to bring himself down quickly, but nothing happened. Briefly he
considered calling for help, but the thought of the cringing humiliation, should he have to be rescued, flicked through his mind, at war with the terror. In another moment, the fear had won out. He
looked down to the Royal Balcony, intending to shout to Kea and Ardea, but instead his eyes locked on those of Incondor whose stare burned with concentration – and triumph.
    Not the wind then! This disaster was neither the harp’s fault nor his own. It was deliberate, malicious sabotage.
    The Wizard was consumed by incandescent fury. Fixing all his concentration on his enemy’s smug, sneering features, he threw his total being, all his strength, and all the powers of both
Air and Earth, into a vision of himself planting his fist square into that hated face. Beneath his fingers the harp shrilled an angry, discordant tune, almost playing itself as the magic, fuelled
by his anger, grew stronger.
    The smugness dropped from the winged man’s face as his spell was shattered against the combined powers of Yinze and the harp. Playing faster, the Wizard shot down towards him like a
vengeful comet – but before he could reach the Royal Balcony, Incondor was gone.
    Yinze came to a shuddering halt only inches in front of Queen Pandion,