第102节

sighting at Yama-Shita through the V made by her thumbs.

There was another sudden rumble of earth-thunder. A jet of smoke burst

from the ground in front of her, then it split apart, becoming a ragged

fissure that raced away across the field towards the centre of the

grandstand. The earth heaved, throwing the advancing samurai to the

ground, then, an instant later, the quake struck the packed stand,

causing the tiers to fall in on each other as the supporting structure

collapsed.

The detachment of mounted samurai who had started to gallop along the

northern edge of the field hauled on their reins and milled about in

confusion. Drawing his sword, their leader wheeled his horse around on

its rear legs, shouting at his men to rally and attack the white-clad

figure.

Clearwater flung her left arm out sideways towards the stone wall, then

slowly swept her outstretched fingers upwards. The wall shivered as it

responded to her call. It rippled along its length like a grey-brown

snake stirring from sleep. It cracked and rattled as the stones worked

themselves loose and then flew into the air like fallen leaves swept up

in a whirlwind. And with her right hand, she summoned the wall behind

the pavilion to come to her aid.

?. . The eagles shah be his golden arrows, the stones of the earth

his hammer and a nation shall be forged from the fires of War.

The Plainfolk shall be as a bright sword in the hands of Talisman,

their Saviour!

Man and horse were utterly overwhelmed by the airborne avalanche. But

the stones continued to fly, further and faster and in ever greater

numbers, raining down from both sides upon the rest of YamaShita's

troops, into the wreckage of the grandstand, and on to the access road

beyond where Min-Orota's line-officers were making another attempt to

marshal their demoralised troops.

On the field in front of the stand, the shaken samurai rose on unsteady

feet and summoned up their courage.

Several warriors had been felled by stones from the wall.

More were flying in their direction. Men were going down on all sides,

but they could not retreat. Drawing their bows, the surviving archers

loosed several flights of arrows at the she-devil - for they were now

close enough to see her long hair flowing in the wind like dark wings

on either side of her chalk-white face.

Once again Clearwater brought her outstretched hands together level

with her shoulders, drawing the shifting vaporous planes of light

around her into a vertical wedge whose point lay beyond her

fingertips.

As the speeding arrows reached her, they were deflected to either side

of her body. Hhawww! The archers fired another volley. And again

they bounced off in all directions! It was as if she was protected by

an invisible wall! Throwing aside their bows, the samurai now reduced

by the hail of stones to a third of their number - pressed forward

cautiously, brandishing their swords and calling on AmeratsuoOmikami to

aid them.

Clearwater turned her outstretched palms towards the ground and splayed

her fingers as the tips of her thumbs came together. A second chilling

cry burst from her lips, more frightening than the first. The

advancing samurai found themselves rooted to the spot. The ground

under their feet trembled, making their bodies quiver and their teeth

rattle. Their swords fell from their twitching fingers. Their

stomachs churned, their hearts pounded faster and faster and their

heads felt as if they were about to burst. The weak-walled blood

vessels - the fatal legacy of their defective gene structure - gave way

as they were struck down by massive multiple haemorrhages. Veins split

open, causing their faces and hands to turn greyish purple. Blood

oozed from their eyes and noses as major arteries ruptured, flooding

their brains and plunging them into a dark bottomless pit.

All were dead before they hit the ground.

'Lord Yama-Shita, his rich clothes bloodied and torn, stumbled from the

wrecked grandstand in time to see the white-fa