It swayed and then broke, peeling away from the tree Tavi scrambled down, trailing the long branch with its flaming leaves, the oil-soaked blanket, and when he had reached the forest floor, he ran toward Kitai
The thing crouched over her saw him coming and turned toward him with a hiss, its mandibles spreading wide, along with its chitmous arms Though its eyes glittered and reflected the light of the fire from a thousand facets, it had a horribly slime-covered, unfinished look to it, as though it hadn't finished becoming whatever it was to be Half-born, half-alive, the huge wasp-thing rattled its wings in a furious buzzing sound and whistled to the Keepers around them
Tavi screamed and swung the branch in a broad, clumsy arc, fire trailing
The thing hissed and drew back from the flames, jerking its wings back sharply
Tavi seized on the advantage, shoving forward with the branch and driving the hissing monstrosity back from Kitai's still form The girl lay, pale and silent, her eyes open but unmoving, her chest heaving in labored breaths Tavi slipped an arm beneath her and, in a rush of terror, hauled her up onto his shoulder He staggered beneath her weight, but grasped the branch and spun about, wildly swinging the blazing wood and leaves and blanket about him
The creature leapt lightly away from him, landing on the wall several yards down from the ropes, horrible eyes focused intently on him
Oh crows, Tavi thought It knows It knows I'm going for the ropes
If he didn't move, he was finished Even if the creature didn't leap on him, he would shortly be drowning in Keepers Even his terrified strength was be ginning to fade, his body to burn under all the effort He had to get Kitai to the ropes, at least He could tie her foot and Doroga could haul her up
Doroga Tavi looked up to the top of the cliff and saw Doroga's pale form there, staring down at them Then the Gargant headman shouted, "Courage, valleyboy'" and vanished back over the lip of the cliff
There was still a chance Shoving the branch in front of him along the ground, he rushed toward the creature, which scuttled nimbly up the wall, a crab-like sideways motion Tavi looked above it, to an outcropping of rock No good He had to get it to move toward him, toward the ropes
Tavi ground his teeth in frustration on the blade of the knife "Oh furies, Kitai I hope this works " Gracelessly, he dumped the girl onto the ground, then leapt toward and grabbed the nearest rope and started climbing
The creature let out a whistle and scuttled toward him He knew that he did not have a chance of escaping it, or of fighting it, there on the ropes, but he took the knife from his teeth and swiped it at the thing
It paused, hesitating just out of his reach Its horrible head tilted, as though assessing this new threat
"Doroga'" Tavi screamed "There it is, there it is'"
From above came a slow and tortured scream, bellowing in Doroga's basso, filled with anger and defiance
Tavi would never have believed that a man could lift a boulder that large But Doroga appeared at the top of the cliff again, bearing a stone the
size of a coffin over his head, arms and shoulders and thighs bulging with effort He flexed the whole of his body, a ponderous motion, and the huge stone hurtled down toward the creature
Its head abruptly whirled on its neck, whipping around to face directly behind it The creature moved, its wings buzzing, but it was not fast enough to wholly escape the plummeting stone It flashed by Tavi, missing him by the breadth of a few fingers The creature leapt away from the wall, but the stone crushed against it, sending it spinning out of the air to land on the ground many yards away The stone itself hit the ground and shattered, chips of rock flying, glowing slime from within the croach hurled into the air as from a fountain
Hot pain flashed along Tavi's leg, and he looked down to see his trousers cut by a flying piece of stone, blood on his leg From above came Doroga's defiant howl of triumph, a bellowing roar that shook the walls of the chasm
The creature let out another whistle, this one higher, filled with fury and, Tavi thought, with sudden fear It staggered but could not rise and instead began dragging itself back into the