Read The Cyber Chronicles Book II: Death Zone for Free Online Page B

hours slogging through the unsavoury swamp, swatting
biting insects and wading scummy pools. They stumbled upon some
Real-reality in the form of a sparkling clear lake, and Purr gave a
cry of delight. He plunged in and emerged with a silver fish
clamped in his jaws, looking like an otter. Sabre collected dead
reeds and built a fire to cook it, and they relaxed for a while,
watching bright birds and pretty insects make their living in the
swamp. The climate was pleasant, and only the biting insects spoilt
the idyll.
     
     
    Gearn stared
at the shimmering barrier, aware of Murdor at his side, eyeing him
with raised brows. The wolf sat closer to the mist, tongue lolling.
Gearn had not bargained on their quarry reaching the Death Zone,
never mind entering it. He had expected the tracks to veer off as
the fugitives tried to go around the Zone, but the trail went
straight into it.
    Murdor
rumbled, "I ain't goin' in there, wizard. Our bargain said nothin'
of goin' into the Death Zone."
    "No, no, of
course not." Gearn dismounted, pondering the problem. He was just
as unwilling to enter the Zone as Murdor. Unstrapping his bag, he
laid out the collection of pots and bottles in the sand. With a few
gestures, he conjured a pile of wood and built a fire. Murdor
watched him, scratching an armpit.
    "What are you
goin' to do?"
    Gearn glanced
up with a frown. "I shall cast a spell to take us past the Zone.
It's complex and lengthy, so leave me alone. If they make it
through, we will pick up their trail on the other side. If not, we
return empty-handed, for even the King cannot blame me if she
perishes in the Death Zone."
    Murdor hawked
and spat, then ambled off to sit in the sand while the wolf settled
in the horse's shade, panting.

 
     
    Chapter Four
     
    Many hours of
trudging through the sucking swamp left Tassin tired, dirty and
insect-bitten. Her hair hung in damp strings and her legs ached in
unison with her throbbing buttocks and face. Sabre called a halt
beside a cleaner pool, and they washed, clothes and all. Her skirt
chafed her legs after that, drying slowly in the humid air. When
they came across a dull grey boulder next to a dead tree, Purr
decided to wait on this bit of Real-reality for the next
Change.
    His timing was
good. Within half an hour, the brown and green flickers came, and
the world Changed. A wave of heat swept over them, as if they had
stepped into a blast furnace, and Tassin groaned. A desert
stretched away in an endless tract of flat, wind-rippled sand. An
occasional odd rock or dead tree broke the sand's monotony, and
these, she assumed, were Real-reality. Sabre sighed and shielded
his eyes from the white sand's glare as he scanned the horizon.
Purr hopped off the rock and ambled away, looking unconcerned, but
Tassin was sick of deserts.
    "This is as
bad as the reality outside."
    Sabre turned
to look at her with narrowed eyes.
    Purr gave his
purring chuckle. "This one's easy. No obstacles, monsters visible
from afar and as many Real-reality pools as before. A little hot,
that's all."
    Tassin's damp
dress soon dried as she followed Sabre and Purr. The mosscat was
almost naked, his body leaner and his eyes shielded by a dark
membrane that dulled their yellow to brown. Bat-like ears shed
heat, and sweat soon beaded his skin. To Tassin, it seemed far
hotter than the desert outside, and she glanced up at the two suns
that blazed in the pale sky, white-hot and virulent. Sweat trickled
down her, and she gulped from a water skin. Sabre dropped back to
walk beside her after a while, and handed her a petticoat from the
pack, which she draped over her burning head, receiving some relief
from the heat in its shade.
    The suns beat
down mercilessly, and as Tassin grew hotter her head swam and her
legs dragged as if they were made of lead. She poured water over
her head, soaking the petticoat and her dress, but it made little
difference. Sweat ran down Sabre's flanks, and she wondered how he
could stand it. When she