Elements 03 - Monsters of the Earth (59 page)
He plucked the thin fabric away from his ribs and grinned like a frog. “Very modest keep,” he said wryly. “And as for Rupa…”
His eyes followed the woman. She appeared to be examining an outcrop on the slope above the altar.
“Govinda is a very great magician, beyond any question,” Bhiku said musingly. “But I would not care to guess how powerful Rupa is, or what her real purposes might be. I have heard it said that she is ancient. I am an old man, but it is said that she is older than I am by hundreds of years. To the eye she does not appear old.”
“She looks,” said Varus, “as though she were made of polished chert. Smooth and so hard that steel could strike sparks from her skin.”
“Yes,” said Bhiku. They were speaking with lowered voices, though there was no one near them, nor, in all likelihood, anyone who would have cared about what they were saying if they had been shouting. “It may be that her soul is that hard also.”
Then, in a still softer voice, Bhiku said, “I think that Rupa may be searching for a word that will split this world the way a knife cuts a pat of butter … and that if Rupa should find that word, she will speak it.”
The gardeners stepped away from the vine shoot. One spoke to the officials. The bearded man in blue made a peremptory gesture toward Bhiku, who bowed in obedience and started toward his fellows.
He turned as he walked away and said over his shoulder, “It has been a pleasure to meet you, Gaius Varus. I hope that we may meet again.”
TOR BOOKS BY DAVID DRAKE
Birds of Prey
Bridgehead
Cross the Stars
The Dragon Lord
The Forlorn Hope
Fortress
The Fortress of Glass
From the Heart of Darkness
Goddess of the Ice Realm
The Gods Return
The Jungle
Killer
(with Karl Edward Wagner)
The Legions of Fire
Lord of the Isles
Master of the Cauldron
The Mirror of Worlds
Mistress of the Catacombs
Monsters of the Earth
Out of the Waters
Patriots
Queen of Demons
Servant of the Dragon
Skyripper
Tyrannosaur
The Voyage
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Drake lives in Pittsboro, North Carolina.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
MONSTERS OF THE EARTH
Copyright © 2013 by David Drake
All rights reserved.
Cover art by Donato
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
Tor
®
is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Drake, David, 1945–
Monsters of the Earth / David Drake.—First Edition.
p. cm.—(Book of the Elements; Book 3)
“A Tom Doherty Associates book.”
ISBN 978-0-7653-2080-3 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4299-4884-5 (e-book)
1. Magicians—Fiction. 2. Monsters—Fiction. 3. Romans—Fiction. 4. End of the world—Fiction. 5. Europe—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3554.R196M66 2013
813'.54—dc23
2013022127
eISBN 9781429948845
First Edition: September 2013