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.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlThe All-Power.The Web of the World, Macurdy realized."All of you?" heasked."Or just the more talented?"The old king sized him up shrewdly."Ye know what I'm talking about, don'tye? Yes, all of us.It's a gift given us by the All-Power itself, in the timeof sorting, when we agreed to live in the Earth and delve for things ofbeauty."They could, he went on, travel all day at better than two miles an hour, andsleep anywhere.Or travel at night, for dwarven eyes made use of the leastlight."Even rock gives off light," the king said, "for those who can see it.And trees as well.Weakly 'tis true, but we'll not crash into them in thedarkness.And yer aware that voitik monsters have no effect on us."We'll march north when winter comes.Cross thePomatikRiver behind theinvader's lines, and strike his encampments as we find them.""ThePomatikRiver ?" Macurdy interrupted.He'd never heard of it before."Our trade missions and embassies travel everywhere," Greatsword said, "andour youth are schooled in geography.I recommend it to ye." He chuckled, adeep throaty rumble."And I've made good use of Old One's feathered folk.Weknow where the invader's lines are, and the encampments he's begun buildingagainst the winter." His old eyes gleamed into Macurdy's." 'Twill be a grandwar.Between the two of us, we'll grind them to dust."It would, Macurdy thought, take more than the two of them.It also occurred to him how little he knew of Yuulith's geography.He knewthe Rude Lands, the eastern third of Oz, a small part of theMarches , and alittle corner of theWestern Empire , but not much more.All he knew oftheEastern Empire was, it was east of the Western.He'd correct thatignorance, he told himself.After Five-Day.If there was an after for him.Somehow he'd never worried about dying; itwas, after all, inevitable.His fears had been of failure, not death.Failure,and mistakes that could cost others their lives.The last thing he did before leaving the mountain was accept the uniforms andgear of several rakutur: the half-voitar of the elite company that had chargedonto the footbridge to their death, near the head ofCopper RiverPass.Rakuturwho'd made it across before dying.It was Finn Greatsword who brought the matter up.His people had been puzzledby the dead rakutur.At first they'd thought them Tigers, odd as it seemed.Sothey'd preserved the bodies with a spell, and sent them to the king.The kinghad recognized the difference, or thought he did, and brought it up toMacurdy.Macurdy examined the corpses.The reddish to red hair, the green togreen-hazel eyes, the strong build all resembled a Tigers.But the ears werewrong.A Tiger's ears were ylvin in size and shape.A rakutu's were furry,conspicuously longer, and lay less close to the head.To a degree they couldeven be directed forward like a voitu's, though not aft.But it seemed to Macurdy that Tigers, dressed in facsimiles of rakutikuniforms, could get to places, and carry out missions they otherwise couldnot.Assuming they did, in fact, become his Tigers.Presumably Five-Day wouldsettle that.Page 156ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlOn Five-Day, Vulkan stood on the ridge across the stream from the Cloister'sparade ground.From there he had an overview.The body he wore differed fromthe normal porcine in more than size, brain, and eye color: his distancevision both in magnification and resolution was equivalent to an eagle's.Andof course, he processed information exceedingly well.The review stand was new and freshly painted white, forty inches high andwithout railings.Its purpose was not to provide an elevated vantage forofficers reviewing a parade, but to give people on the ground a view of thedynast.The afternoon was sunny and warm compared to recent days.The Cloister'spersonnel pretty much filled the parade ground, facing the stand, which was onthe west side.The twelve Tiger companies and nine Guards companies stood inranks on the other sides, forming a box.Within that three-sided box waseveryone else, except those with a role in the ceremony
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