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The Yidam nodded.  Ryuhito will not like that.
 Agreed. Crowleygrabbed Will by the back of the neck.  Let s go.
 But wait... Will looked back and through the smoke he saw Tadd go down.  They need us...
The battlefield vanished in a gray haze asCrowley tugged him backward.  No time, Will. We have to
stop the troops from coming through or everyone dies. The shadow man half-carried him forward and
up, then parted the gray mist with a knife-like chop of his hand.  Look sharp.
Will brought his gun up and swept it toward the circle of termite mounds to the south. He was about to
pronounce the way clear when one of the smaller creatures popped up and scrambled toward them. He
fired a burst that started the beastie spinning, andCrowley hit it with another that stitched a line of holes
across its chest. It went down and did not move.
The Yidam raised an eyebrow.  They appeared much more vital than that to me before.
Crowleygrunted as he knelt beside what looked like a firepit and dirt clearing surrounding it.
 Chlorophyll, remember? They re feeding off Ryuhito, and in the dark their batteries run down. He has
their metabolism cranked, so in the dark they re dormant. Chances are he doesn t really realize this.
Crowleyfell silent as he studied a set of eight shallow holes scooped out of earth. Set in two rows of
four, each hole had a small pile of pebbles in it. He poked at a couple of the stones,then glanced back at
the termite mounds. He shrugged and thumbed two stones from one hole and pitched them into the
depression opposite their original home.
Will squatted down beside him. Owari?
 Close.It s the control mechanism for the dimensional gate. Crowley picked a red stone out of a hole
and tossed it away. AsWill watched, the stone reappeared in the hole. Primitive, but effective. Now I ve
set it to block more things from coming in.
 Good. Will let the distant sounds of gunfire punctuate his sentence.  Now we can go back and help
the others. He stood and checked his last clip.  I have a dozen bullets left to nail those things.
Crowleyshook his head.  We can t go.
  Why not?
The Yidam shouldered his rifle by its sling.  We have to wait.
The peaceful finality of both men s voices acted like a heavy blanket to smother the vengeful fire in Will s
soul.  We have to wait here to make sure no one reopens the gate, right? As both of them nodded, will
continued,  Which means we re waiting for him.
Ryuhito, riding a helios-disk, streaked up and over the lip of the hill.  Who are you thatdares thwart a
god? The Japanese prince landed and strode forward, the solar glare lighting the hilltop like a halogen
lamp.  Your friends are dying below, and I will kill you here.
As Ryuhito strode casually into range, Will threw a punch at him. The prince parried the blow with little
effort, tossing Will aside like a toy.Where Ryuhito s forearm touched him, Will felt a searing pain. Hitting
the ground, he clutched his burned arm to himself and rolled up onto one knee.
Ryuhito laughed at him.  I am a god, little man. It is not allowed for you to touch me.
The Yidam lunged forward and grabbed Ryuhito s wrists in his powerful upper hands. He lifted the
prince from his feet and held his arms wide apart, but Ryuhito seemed neither concerned nor frightened.
His glow intensified, and smoke began to rise from the Yidam s clothing. The sling on his rifle burned
away, but the Yidam maintained his grip and started to pummel Ryuhito with his lower set of arms.
 It is not possible! I am a god! Ryuhito roared.
 As I have become, as well! The Yidam gnashed his teeth as he rammed his head into Ryuhito s chest.
 To catch a god, you set a god.
The prince gasped aloud and his glare faded just a whit, then it started to build in intensity and focus itself
down through Ryuhito s eyes. The solar light tightened down into twin nova-beams that started the
Yidam s flesh sizzling at their touch. The Yidam screamed in pain, then pulled his clawed thumbs back
and drove them both through Ryuhito s wrists.
The Prince s blood ran like liquid fire over the Yidam s flesh.
Will dashed forward, smelling the bittersweet scent of singeing hair, and grabbed the Yidam s rifle up off
the ground by the barrel. Without looking, without thinking, but trusting in the spirits to guide him as they
had before, he swung the massive rifle around like a baseball bat and smashed Ryuhito in the back of the
head. Light exploded, and the gun ignited, thenWill felt himself spinning like a top through an ocean of
molten gold.
In a heartbeat, everything went dark. Will didn t know if he had fallen or had been knocked unconscious
or what. He felt dazed and dazzled. His hands began to hurt, pulsing with the angry sensations of a bad
bum. He tried to take a step forward, but found he had to stand up first,then he blinked his eyes and saw
shadows moving in a dark gray world.
One more blink and tears ran down his cheeks. He sawCrowley pulling Ryuhito s motionless body off
the Yidam. Will crawled over in their direction and looked up at the shadow man.  Is he dead?
 You cracked his skull, I think, but enough of the rifle stock had combusted that you didn t kill [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]