|
ther heated bath. My last conscious thought, as
I luxuriated in the huge bed and clean sheets that were now my
right, was a delirious joy at the quality of the plumbing system
of the castle.
I awoke when I realized that I was lying on stone, and not
sheets. Sensing motion about me, I leapt up into a cloud of
incense, and weaved about an empty-handed blow at me. Unbidden,
my motions were swept into a rhythm of chantings and beatings of
drums, and I hop-scotched over intricate chalk lines in the dimly
lit, smoke-filled room. Lashing out with a foot I caught my
assailant in the side, crashing him to the ground. He was up in
an instant, and rushed me. I took a stance, and felt the power
flow up from the earth into me, filling me strangely, rushing
into every hollow drained by the High Mass. The fight became a
dance, and my opponent could not touch me; every time I struck
him, his power exploded out as if he were a powder puff, entering
me. His steps grew weaker, and I drained him dry, leaving him
lifeless upon the floor.
I felt an exaltation. I had, through skill, taken another's
power, strength, and life for my own. I was the conqueror. I
stepped into a larger circle, delirious with my new power, and
confronted another man, wearing no clothes as I did but his face
c
|
