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over the edge of the roof I looked over and saw him, in the moonlight, making
his way downward, hand by hand, foot by foot, using the clefts projections and
niches in the ornate carvings of the exterior corner beams of the Blue Tooth's
hall. Swiftly, my arm scorched from the fire which had torn at my sleeve, hear
pounding, breathing heavily, I followed him.
Chapter 15 On the Height of the Torvaldsberg
It was noon, on the snowy slopes of the Torvaldsberg.
Ivar and I looked behind us. We could see them following, four of them, like
black dots.
"Let us rest," said Ivar.
I shut my eyes against the glare of the sun on the snow. He sat down, with his
back against a rock. I, too, sat down, crosslegged, as a warrior sits.
We had climbed down from the roof of the Blue Tooth's burning hall, using the
projections and relief of the ornately carved corner beams. Climbing down, I
had seen Kurii moving about, but near the front of the hall. In the light of
the burning hall, here and there, scattered in the dirt of the courtyard, we
saw sprawled, scattered bodies, and parts of bodies. Some Kurii, squatting
among them, fed. In one corner of the stockade, huddled together, their white
bodies, now stripped, red in the light of the flames, were the bond-maids, in
their leather collars, leashed, the straps in the furred fists of their
master. Several Kurii, not feeding, carrying shields, axes, moved to and fro.
We dropped to the courtyard, unseen. We slipped behind the hall, keeping,
where possible, buildings between us and the yard. We reached the palisade,
climbed to its catwalk and, unnoticed, leaped over.
I opened my eyes, and looked down into the valley. The four dots were larger
now.
The Forkbeard, after our escape from the stockade of Svein Blue Tooth, had
been intent upon reaching his camp. It had been dangerous, furtive work. To
our astonishment the countryside was swarming with Kurii. I could not
conJecture their numbers. There might have been hundreds; there might have
been thousands. They seemed everywhere . Twice we were pursued, but, in the
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midst of the scents, and distracted by fresh blood, our pursuers turned aside.
We saw, at one point, two
Kurii fighting over a body. Sometimes we threw ourselves to the ground, among
the fallen. Once a
Kur passed within a yard of my hand. It howled with pleasure at the moons, and
then was gone. As many as four or five times we crept within yards of feeding
Kurii, oblivious to our presence. The
file:///F|/rah/John%20Norman/Norman,%20John...20Earth%2009%20-%20Marauders%20o
f%20Gor.txt (100 of 136) [1/20/03 3:30:07 AM]
file:///F|/rah/John%20Norman/Norman,%20John%20-%20Counter%20Earth%2009%20-%20M
arauders%20of%20Gor.txt attack had been simultaneously launched, obviously, on
the hall and the surrounding thing-camps.
Even more to our astonishment than the Kurii, and their numbers, about, was
the presence of men, wearing yellow scarves, among them, men whom they did not
attack. My fists clenched in rage.
Kurii, as is often the case, had enlisted human allies.
"Look," had said the Forkbeard, pointing from a height, on which we lay prone,
to the beach.
Offshore, some few yards, among the other ships, lay new ships, many of them,
strange ships. They lay black, rocking, on the sparkling water. One ship was
prominent among them. It was large. It had eighty oars. "Black Sleen," said
Ivar, "the ship of Thorgard of Scagnar!"
There were hundreds of Kurii between us and the ships.
Ivar and I had looked at one another.
We now understood the meaning of the Kur we had seen on Black Sleen, long ago,
who had accompanied
Thorgard of Scagnar into his holding. We had seen the beast from the darkness,
from our longboat, when we were escaping Scagnar. Thorgard's daughter hooded
and secured, bound hand and foot, lying between our feet.
Kurii are land animls, not fond of water. In their march south, the fleet of
Thorgard of Scagnar would cover their western flank. More importantly, it
would give them the means of communication with the Gorean islands, and, if
desirable, a means whereby their invasion might be accomplished.
The fleet, further, could, if necessary, provision the advancing horde and,
if necessary, if danger should threaten, evacuate large portions of it. The
Kurii march would have its sea arm, its naval support. Kurii, as I have
indicated, are rational animals. The strategies seemed elementary, but sound.
The full extent of the strategy, however, I suspected, was known only on the
steel worlds, the steel worlds in space on which it had doubtless been
constructed and from which, perhaps, it might be conducted. If Kurii native to
Gor could, within the laws of Priest-K;ngs, not violating technology
restrictions, much advance the Kurii cause on the planet, those on the ships
had little to lose and much to gain. It was even possible that Priest-Kings, a
usually consistent form of life, might permit the Kurii conquest of Gor rather
than surrender their accustomed neutrality. I could imagine the words on
Misk's translator, one after the other, ticked off mechanically, "We have
given our word." But if Priest-Kings, eventually, should halt the invasion,
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