The Inferior Read Online Free PDF Page A

with me. Aim for the joints. If you get behind one, strike at the base of the neck. They hate that.’
    The hunters formed themselves into a line and stepped across to the middle of the square, where their longer reach could be used to best advantage. The four beasts got their backs to a wall, but instead of edging away, as Stopmouth had hoped, they gripped their spears and charged, concentrating their attack on the centre of the human formation.
    Linebrow’s spear snapped against Armourback shell. He had no such defence of his own and he cried out in terror and then pain, folding onto the ground like a dropped blanket. Rockface’s weapon broke too, but he swayed aside at the last moment and used his knife to slice his attacker’s throat.
    At the edges of the line Stopmouth and Waterjumper escaped the charge by leaping away and keeping their distance. But when the three surviving enemies pulled back, Linebrow was beyond help and Burnthouse’s right arm dangled at his side. He fell onto his behind, staring at his useless limb.
    Rockface patted him on the back and took his spear for himself. ‘We can win, boys,’ he said. He had a manic grin on his face. He knelt next to the Armourback he’d killed and popped an eyeball free. He waved it at the enemy before eating it. ‘I’ll eat you too!’ he shouted, and to Stopmouth’s amazement, he laughed. The pause in the fighting had given the young man’s terror a chance to grow. His palms sweated on the shaft of his spear. He knew that if they stayed here, they’d die, and that he himself could escape only if he ran.
    Too late. The Armourbacks were charging again. Stopmouth braced his spear against the ground and tried to aim the tip towards the neck joint of his attacker. His weapon hit armour instead. To his surprise, it crunched straight through the beast’s shell and stopped it dead. The creature’s arms twitched so fast they seemed to blur. And then it dropped, taking his spear with it. He tried to pull it free and panicked when the shaft came loose without the tip. But the other beasts seemed to have forgotten about him. Nearby, Waterjumper sat with bloody hands over his stomach and a look of surprise on his face. Only Rockface was still fighting. The two remaining Armourbacks had backed him into a corner and jabbed at him almost playfully.
    With shaking hands, Stopmouth unhooked his sling and grabbed a few stones. He aimed for the base of the neck.
Crack!
A perfect hit! One of the creatures dropped soundlessly. His next missile hit shell instead, but now the last Armourback knew he was there, and when it half turned towards him, Rockface shoved a dagger deep into its neck.
    ‘Good boy!’ he shouted. ‘They hate someone at their backs! They hate it!’ Then he saw the first Armourback, which Stopmouth had killed by punching straight through its armour.
    ‘How?’ he asked.
    ‘Th-the s-spear-p-p-point. Sh-sh-shell.’
    ‘Speak plainly, boy.’
    ‘Ar-Armourback sh-shell. I m-made it f-f-from—’
    ‘Never mind,’ said Rockface. ‘You can tell me later.’
    Rockface walked over to the wall where Waterjumper and Burnthouse sat side by side in the dust. Waterjumper groaned and held his hands over his belly.
    ‘Let’s have a look there, Little Chief,’ said Rockface. He tried to pry Waterjumper’s hands away from the wound. The boy resisted but had no strength. ‘It’s not as bad as you think, Little Chief. Don’t look at it, hey? I want you to watch the Roof while I bind it. Tell us if you see any Globes.’
    Without warning Rockface plunged his knife into Waterjumper’s left eye. The boy twitched once and relaxed.
    ‘I don’t need any help like that,’ said Burnthouse weakly. He’d pulled moss from the wall of the building behind him to stem the bleeding in his arm.
    ‘You’ll hunt again, Burnthouse. Your wife will keep marking your Tally so long as we can get you home. What are you doing, Stopmouth? Get over here, boy.’
    ‘A m-minute.’