Kill the Dead by Tanith Lee (beach read book txt) 📕

She pulled forward against the reins.

When they reached the bottom of the slope, he found they were in adry stream bed, and went on leading her over littered pebbles and moss. Thestream opened out, just after noon, into a park-like flatness with the treeselegantly poised at intervals in courtly groups. He investigated the provisionbag and ate. The horse neatly clipped the grass, gardening restfully.

They rode on at a medium pace over nearly flat ground, which stillsloped at an infinitesimal angle downward. The walls of rocky hills ranalongside northeast and south, but miles off. Great clouds swam over, like thekeels of enormous ships in the sky. The afternoon became full-blown, and one byone its petals started to drop away.

Myal saw Dro suddenly conjured before him, walking, a tiny blackfigure, like a speck, then a beetle.

Myal’s reaction was reflexive. He pulled on the reins and the marehalted. Myal shivered, his stomach turned over and sank, all of which annoyedhim. He tapped the horse, and she broke into a whirlwind sprint.

If Dro heard him coming, which seemed likely, he did not lookaround or even bother to get out of the way.

Myal raced past him in a spray of speed and kicked-up clods. Hewheeled the mare about and stopped her in Dro’s path. Myal raised his brows andstared at Dro in the midst of the wide and uninhabited land.

“Well, fancy meeting you.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

“Where did you steal the horse?”

Dro hadgiven no evidence of any particular reaction, and his voice was noncommittal.

Myalsat in the saddle, suddenly depressed.

“I didn’tsteal it. It’s on loan from your girl friend.”

Drosaid nothing.

Myalbegan to feel tired and weak. He remembered he had been delirious with feveronly two days ago, and a wave of shocked self-pity swept over him.

“Itwasn’t my idea,” said Myal, “to follow you. Your redhead persuaded me. Sheseemed to think you might need me.”

Drolaughed, short and sharp.

“Allright,” said Myal. “Screamingly funny.”

He slidoff the horse and stroked her dejectedly. She lowered her head and bit at thegrass. The light was solidifying, fragrant with currents of wind that tasted ofclover or trees. The imminent end of day brought to Myal an imperative desireto communicate. He looked at Dro.

“I haveto send the horse back to the village.”

“Whynot go back with her?”

“I toldyou. I’m heading for Ghyste Mortua. Just like you.”

Dromade a briefly theatrical sweeping gesture to the east, offering Myal thefreedom of the nonexistent road: “Please.”

“Put itthis way,” said Myal desperately. “I owe you some money. Debts worry me.” Hebroke off. He wondered why he was so desperate. Probably it was a simple fearof being left alone by night in this weirdly self-sufficient open country, notrace of a human presence anywhere, save here.

“Irelease you from your debt,” said Dro. He walked by Myal and away. Myal stoodand stared after him, struggling for arguments, and against his own absurdpanic. The black figure grew small again, and smaller, and the light reddened.Myal glanced westward. The sun had lowered in a group of trees. The trees wereon fire, but did not burn, and inch by inch, the sun slipped through the bottomof their cage of branches.

Dro wasabout two hundred yards away.

Themare had shifted her ground. Myal called to her, and she turned to gaze at him.In the copper light, she too was made of copper. When he called again and tooka step in her direction, she tossed her head, kicked up her heels and boundedoff, back the way they had come. In half a minute, she had vanished behindstands of trees. Possibly she had taken his yell as the homeward instruction,but to Myal it looked more like sheer perversity. The bag of provisions wasstill firmly tied to her saddle. Myal turned and looked at Parl Dro, small nowas a black beetle again. Myal began to run after him, on legs that wereuncertain and stiff from riding. His head sang. When Dro had grown back to theheight of Myal’s hand, Myal decelerated into a shaky stride.

PresentlyDro looked over his shoulder. He looked, and looked away, keeping moving. Myalput on another enforced burst of speed. The instrument thumped him on the back,as if encouraging him. Then either Dro had slowed his pace or Myal increasedhis beyond the speed he thought himself capable of, for abruptly he caught upto Dro, and they were walking alongside each other.

“Don’tmind me,” said Myal airily. “I just happen to be going the same way as you.”

“So Isee.”

“Thebloody horse ran off. All the bloody food was in a bloody bag tied on the bloodysaddle. That’s bloody well gone too.”

Drowalked. Myal glanced at him and away.

“Thisseems quite a nice spot to bivouac for the night.”

“Sobivouac.”

“Don’tyou think,” said Myal, “we should stick together? There could be a lot of biganimals about in a place like this after dark. Two of us together would stand abetter chance of–fighting anything off.”

Drowalked. Myal set himself to the task of simply keeping up. The lame stride waspowerful and set its own decided rhythm.

Side byside, unspeaking, they moved over the wild park, and the light closed like adoor behind them.

Darknessswirled from the thickets, the trees, from pockets in the ground. The sky, asmooth sheet of dark lavender, put out a thousand stars.

Therewas a sudden break in the landscape. Around a wall of silent folded poplars,the earth tipped over into one more ravine, this time very shallow, some sevenyards deep at most, about five feet across. A dense stream of night was alreadyflowing there. On the far side, a bare humped hill ascended, with one toweringoak tree flung up from it in a pagoda of leaves.

Therewas a thin noise of water, not in the ravine, but to one side, along the edge.A spring flickered from the rock and over, uselessly, into the gully.

Drocrossed to the spring and kneeled, presumably drinking or filling a flask; inthe gathering dark it was hard to see. When Dro moved away and began to set afire between the poplars, Myal went to the spring in turn and drank. Then hemoved across to watch Dro. The fire was economically constructed. It made useof a