登陆注册
5421800000112

第112章

Now a low cry of fear rose from the impi, and some turned to fly, but Faku, the captain, a great and brave man, shouted to them, "Stand firm, children of the king, stand firm, these are no Esedowana, these are but the Wolf-Brethren and their pack. What! will ye run from dogs, ye who have laughed at the spears of men? Ring round! Stand fast!"The soldiers heard the voice of their captain, and they obeyed his voice, forming a double circle, a ring within a ring. They looked to the right, there, Groan-Maker aloft, the wolf fangs on his brow, the worn wolf-hide streaming on the wind, Bulalio rushed upon them like a storm, and with him came his red-eyed company. They looked to the left --ah, well they know that mighty Watcher! Have they not heard his strokes down by the river, and well they know the giant who wields it like a wand, the Wolf King, with the strength of ten! Wow! They are here! See the people black and grey, hear them howl their war-chant!

Look how they leap like water--leap in a foam of fangs against the hedge of spears! The circle is broken; Groan-Maker has broken it! Ha!

Galazi also is through the double ring; now must men stand back to back or perish!

How long did it last? Who can say? Time flies fast when blows fall thick. At length the brethren are beaten back; they break out as they broke in, and are gone, with such of their wolf-folk as were left alive. Yet that impi was somewhat the worse, but one-third of those lived who looked on the sun without the forest; the rest lay smitten, torn, mangled, dead, hidden under the heaps of bodies of wild beasts.

"Now this is a battle of evil spirits that live in the shapes of wolves, and as for the Wolf-Brethren, they are sorcerers of the rarest," said Faku the captain, "and such sorcerers I love, for they fight furiously. Yet I will slay them or be slain. At the least, if there be few of us left, the most of the wolves are dead also, and the arms of the wizards grow weary."So he moved forward up the mountain with those of the soldiers who remained, and all the way the wolves harried them, pulling down a man here and a man there; but though they heard and saw them cheering on their pack the Wolf-Brethren attacked them no more, for they saved their strength for the last fight of all.

The road was long up the mountain, and the soldiers knew little of the path, and ever the ghost-wolves harried on their flanks. So it was evening before they came to the feet of the stone Witch, and began to climb to the platform of her knees. There, on her knees as it were, they saw the Wolf-Brethren standing side by side, such a pair as were not elsewhere in the world, and they seemed afire, for the sunset beat upon them, and the wolves crept round their feet, red with blood and fire.

"A glorious pair!" quoth great Faku; "would that I fought with them rather than against them! Yet, they must die!" Then he began to climb to the knees of the Witch.

Now Umslopogaas glanced up at the stone face of her who sat aloft, and it was alight with the sunset.

"Said I not that the old Witch should smile at this fray?" he cried.

"Lo! she smiles! Up, Galazi, let us spend the remnant of our people on the foe, and fight this fight out, man to man, with no beast to spoil it! Ho! Blood and Greysnout! ho! Deathgrip! ho! wood-dwellers grey and black, at them, my children!"The wolves heard; they were few and they were sorry to see, with weariness and wounds, but still they were fierce. With a howl, for the last time they leaped down upon the foe, tearing, harrying, and killing till they themselves were dead by the spear, every one of them except Deathgrip, who crept back sorely wounded to die with Galazi.

同类推荐
  • 医学实在易

    医学实在易

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 阿毗达磨俱舍论本颂

    阿毗达磨俱舍论本颂

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • The Garden Of Allah

    The Garden Of Allah

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Passages from an Old Volume of Life

    Passages from an Old Volume of Life

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 游城南记

    游城南记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 岁月与你暖时光

    岁月与你暖时光

    短篇暖文,随意写的。关于学霸与学霸之间的爱情。
  • 那年桃花朵朵开

    那年桃花朵朵开

    一曲笙歌,一树繁华,一场华丽丽的坑爹穿越,幸运星护身的她内心深处的黑暗是否会觉醒,他们的出现究竟哪一个才会是陪她笑看天下的人,一夜之间,桃花全部争相绽放,竟是一片的血红,那个她爱的人,冷漠,冰凉,他手握玄剑,血泊之中躺着的却是她最爱的娘,她应该怎样面对……---------我好喜欢你,可我也后悔遇见你。
  • 不死玄尊

    不死玄尊

    一个少年,天生绝脉,十年寸功未进。他从岐山走出,凤鸣岐山,搅动天下。一路来,他征战四方,机遇不断,一路来,他睥睨纵横,桃运连连。清新可人的邻家碧玉,娇媚动人的天下神偷,果决高贵的魔教圣女,端庄大方的皇家公主,侠义心肠的宗门侠女……
  • 众经目录

    众经目录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 圣人

    圣人

    天空之上,万千星辰正在急遽运动着,而这运动也完全违背了现代物理学理论。如果让哪位物理学家看见,一定会感叹世界之大无奇不有。而现代物理学也将要变天了!一次偶然的机遇让济羽陷入混沌的宇宙中。且看济羽有着何种的遭遇。
  • 暗战绝杀

    暗战绝杀

    这是一个发生在湘西境内,以前无人涉猎的故事。这是涌动在湘西边陲的“暗战”,是呼啸在沅水江边的“风声”,是飘逸在古镇弄巷的“旗袍”!寒光血腥与巫风傩同舞,高格伟德在偏锋走剑时展露。要读懂神秘湘西,窥视人性秘笈,请翻开这部长篇抗日谍战传奇。
  • 神欲轮回

    神欲轮回

    命运,是掌握在自己手里的。虽然蓦然回首,发现自己原来一直没有摆脱命运的枷锁,那就不再以之为枷锁,继续掌握自己的命运吧。
  • 洪荒之万道天尊

    洪荒之万道天尊

    魂穿混沌初开之际,在混沌游历不知岁月,发现开天的秘密,而林皇羽到底何去何从。盘古和大道的争锋,到底是为了什么?
  • 在天上

    在天上

    吴文君,女,浙江海宁人,浙江省作家协会会员,上海首届作家研究生班学员,鲁迅文学院第十七届中青年作家高研班学员,作品发表在《北京文学》、《大家》、《收获》、《上海文学》、《中国作家》、《钟山》、《山花》等多家文学期刊。
  • 豪奢之路

    豪奢之路

    本书讲的是一个老实沉稳的青梅,一步一步上当受骗的故事。