Anderson, Kevin J GameEarth 01 Game Earth

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In his imagination he saw the end of the world, a conflagration caused by the
Outsiders, tired of their Game and burning their master maps.
He tightened his fist around the Water Stone. With the power of the old
Sorcerers and the dead Sentinels, he would fight back. He would not allow
failure to swallow him up, as his parents had.
"Bryl Traveler, do something!" Tears streamed down Ydaim's cheeks, not
caused by the stinging smoke.
The heat of the fire focused Bryl's thoughts. He stared at the rippling
sheets of flame as he slid down from the khelebar's back. Holding the Water
Stone with both hands in front of him, he stepped toward the fire.
Tentatively, he sent a thought into the sapphire, focusing it through the
crystalline facets and unlocking the Sorcerer power.
"I want it to rain!" He envisioned the storm he wanted, and what he
would have to roll to succeed. The higher he rolled, the bigger the storm he
could summon. If he rolled a "1", he forfeited an entire spell for the day.
Kneeling, Bryl tossed the Water Stone to the ground, rolling it on the
unburned leaves. The facet showing "4" came to the top.
It began to rain. The crawling black smoke in the air clumped together
to form thunderclouds that shone pale gray from the firelight and the night. A
violent downpour spilled onto a swath of the flaming forest, but the droplets
hissed into steam before they touched the ground.
Slitting his eyes half-closed, he let the rain continue but reached
forward to pick up the Stone again. He filled his lungs with the smoky air. He
felt larger, stronger.
"This time, I want to turn the wind back."
Bryl shifted his fingers to a different facet of the Stone, then closed
his eyes as he tossed the gem to the ground. A thin line of sweat broke out on
his forehead. A "2". Close ... but close enough.
The wind died without a whisper. The rain continued to fall. But his
manipulation with the Water Stone affected only an area around him. He did not
have the strength and training that Sardun had, his Sorcerer blood was not
pure -- and he had not rolled well. In the rest of Ledaygen, the fire
continued to rage.
The rainstorm extinguished the nearby flames, leaving a black and
steaming moonscape of soggy charcoaled trees and scorched earth. For a moment,
Bryl felt a sense of accomplishment, optimism.
The rain sputtered and stopped as the first spell ended. A few moments
later, he felt the other breeze pick up again, brushing his face with the
smell of heat and burning. The blaze slowed its march but moved forward,
skirting the rain-soaked area. Soon the fire would encircle them.
But he saw in Ydaim Trailwalker's eyes an adamant refusal to give up.
Ydaim would fight for Ledaygen until his heart and lungs burst, and he would
expect Bryl to do the same. If the half-Sorcerer succumbed to hopelessness and
stopped trying, he knew the other khelebar would probably toss him over the
hex-discontinuity as a traitor.
"Come. Let us try a different area with your magic." Ydaim extended his
arm and helped the half-Sorcerer up onto his back. They set off again, racing
toward the edge of the flames.
Since he had used one spell already against the Cyclops, Bryl had only
one attempt left until midnight, when he would receive another day's spell
allotment. As Ydaim carried him across the reeking wet ground, Bryl fixed his
eyes on the flames like blurry hot knives slashing the trees. The forest fire
might be something sent by the Outsiders to stop them from finishing their
quest or as a prelude to their obliteration of Gamearth. Bryl would show them
he was not ready to sit back and Play along.
Before rolling the Water Stone for the last time of the day, he looked
at the moon and the stars through the interlocked branches. It would be close
-- midnight had nearly arrived, and he did not get reimbursed for any spells
he did not use in a day.
He successfully rolled for another rainstorm and drove back the flames
in a wider section. Ydaim clapped and gave him encouragement. But the fire
flanked them again, and Bryl could do nothing to contain it.
After midnight, feeling enthusiastic with four new spells to use, Bryl
imagined summoning a larger storm, a "6" storm with the six-sided Water Stone
-- but he failed. When the "1" came face up on the large sapphire, he had
wasted one of his chances.
"Can't your _dayid_ at least help me make a simple dice roll!" Bryl
shouted, feeling cheated and afraid.
"You did not ask for help." Ydaim shrugged. "The _dayid_ often bends
Rules and works around them. Perhaps this is something it could do."
"Well, tell it to help me then -- I'm going to try one more time.
_Dayid_, give me a six!"
The Water Stone came up with a "2", paused, then kept rolling, one
facet at a time, until it stopped with "6" staring skyward.
Rain came down in sheets. A brisk wind pushed at the fire, driving it
back. The storm spread out, attacking the blaze.
With the _dayid_'s help, Bryl abandoned himself into the power of the
Stone. He cast his remaining two spells -- both sixes -- and spent hours in
the world bounded by the walls of the cube of sapphire. He enjoyed the release
of power. He enjoyed fighting when he no longer felt like the weak contender.
With the Stone he could work magic even though no one had bothered to take the
time training him.
He watched the flames fall back as they tried to run from the rain. He
extinguished the embers, snuffed the little fires. A chunk of Ledaygen
smoldered in wreckage, scarred by the fire, wounded and gasping for its life.
When his last spell ended, Bryl blinked dumbly as he came up for air.
Dawn shot through the darkness. Orange banners streaked across the sky above
the plains in the east. Smoke from Ledaygen rose upward, clotting in the air
like a dark pudding. The half-Sorcerer took a deep breath. His body sagged
with exhaustion.
Vailret stood beside him, looking red-eyed and tired. "Good job, Bryl.
You made a lot of progress."
Bryl blinked but waited a moment before he felt strong enough to speak.
"Progress? That's all?"
Vailret spread his hands. "You fought back the fire, but it's still
burning." Ydaim Trailwalker glared into the distance, clenching his fists.
Without the influence of the magic, the prevailing breeze had picked up again,
stronger now, pushing the fire toward them.
Bryl let his voice drop to a whisper. He held the Water Stone in his
grimy hands, but it was just a colored rock to him now. "I can't do anything
else. I'm helpless until tomorrow."
"Now it's our turn." Vailret indicated the other khelebar he had
brought with him. "The less thick-headed among them have decided the situation
is desperate enough. They're willing to try something else."
Bryl saw the other khelebar carrying oar-shaped shovels made from dead
branches to beat at the flames and dig at the earth. Ydaim went forward to
take one of the shovels. "Noldir Woodcarver shaped these?"
Vailret pulled off his tunic, baring his chest. He looked thin and not
strong enough to fight against the fire, but he shook his head, making sweat
fly from his hair. "You should have seen him -- using his palms to slap off
slices of wood from the ends, like it was butter."
Bryl hauled himself to his feet. His old bones creaked with weariness.
Ydaim Trailwalker looked at him, then at the others and at the shovel in his
hand. Bryl waved in dismissal. "I'll find my own way back to Delrael."
"We have to keep working," Vailret said. "Thilane wouldn't let Del come [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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