The Iron Tempest Read Online Free PDF Page B

have made an eagle dizzy. Then the creature folded its wings and plummeted toward the ground like a meteor, like a falcon that had just spotted a succulent rabbit or pigeon.
    “Gradasso set his lance, but he was obviously unused to combating a foe who came from above. He had scarcely acted, when the black knight was upon him with his own lance aimed at Gradasso’s helmet. At the last second, Gradasso swung his shield between his helmet and the point of the lance, which shattered at the impact. Gradasso tossed his shield aside and pulled his sword free, but he only swung and swiped at empty air as the flying monster hovered over his head, raising a whirlwind of dust from the beating of its mighty wings. Suddenly, the black horse shot back into the air, swooped and dived at Rashid, catching him entirely by surprise.”
    “No!” Bradamant gasped, involuntarily pressing her hands over her mouth. “He wasn’t . . .?”
    “No. Although Rashid had been distracted by watching Gradasso, he was able to duck just in time and the black knight caught him only a glancing blow.”
    “Thank God!”
    “He was almost thrown from his horse, and by the time he recovered himself the flying horse was already high above his head.
    “This one-sided battle went on like this for some time. The black knight would first strike at one of the paladins, then at the other, flying away each time before he could receive a return blow. The flying horse was so fast that it almost seemed invisible. Most of the time it was just a dark blur, like a whirlwind. The fray would have gone on for another hour had it not grown too dark to see.
    “It’s almost too embarrassing to tell someone else about all of this. It all seems so impossible, sitting here by this placid pool, in the midst of these green trees.”
    “I have no reason to disbelieve you,” replied Bradamant.
    “You haven’t heard the most unbelievable part, yet.
    “During all of this time, never had the aerial horseman used his shield. He had one hanging from his saddle, but it was covered with an envelope of black silk. I thought that he had done this to prevent anyone seeing his arms and thereby identifying him. I couldn’t have been more wrong. It had been covered because it was too dangerous to leave uncovered.
    “As the flying horse hovered with thundering wings over the two hapless combatants, the black knight tore the cover from his shield. It was as though the sun had suddenly reappeared in the zenith. I can’t describe such a dazzling brilliance, except to say that whoever so much as glanced at it fell down stunned, as senseless as though he had been poleaxed. Even I, more than a mile away, lost consciousness for more than an hour.”
    “But Rashid! What happened to him?”
    “I have no idea. When I came to, the battlefield was empty. There was not a sign of Rashid, Gradasso, the dwarf, the horses or the donkey.”
    “The black knight must have taken them.”
    “That was my conclusion, too, though for all I could tell the monster had eaten them. But there was nothing I could do. My last hope had been crushed. If two of the most valorous warriors in all of Europe and Afric proved powerless, what could I do?”
    “Cheer up, sir,” she said. “My arrival may prove a Godsend to you and you’ll soon think this day your lucky one. We’ll depart immediately for this magical castle, in which is secreted treasures dearest to both of us. If Providence is on our side, our efforts won’t have been in vain.”
    This stilted speech did not cheer Pinabel; he sneered contemptuously. “You’d have me go all the way back to that place, would you? Have you any idea of how difficult that’d be? Of course, it’d be little enough to me , since I’ve lost everything else that matters, but what about you? You’d only go to all that trouble just to end up a prisoner yourself.”
    “That’s my worry.”
    “So be it. Just don’t blame me; I tried to warn you.”
    The Count rose from the