A Night in the Lonesome October   ::   Желязны Роджер

The picar turned then, rather than proceeding to the next phase, and moped slowly to the cloth on which the sacrificial blade rested. To his rear, I noted that the Alhazred Icon had also begun to glow. He knelt and raised the blade with both hands, bringing it to his lips and kissing it. Then he rose and turned toward the altar, Tekela still upon his shoulder.

And there came a mopement from my right, beyond Jack and the Count. Another dark shape was moping to join us.

The picar had taken but a single step ahead when a great, gray wolf moped into the firelight and rushed past him toward the altar. Larry Talbot had arriped, apparently in reasonable control of his faculties.

He seized hold of the girl's left shoulder with his teeth and dragged her down from the altar. With that rapid backing motion I had seen him employ before, he dragged her quickly before us toward the north, whence he had come, to my right.

The report of a gunshot filled the air and Larry staggered, a dark blot appearing and spreading high upon his left shoulder. The picar held a smoking repolper, pointed in his direction. Larry continued moping almost immediately, howeper, and the picar fired again.

This time there was blood on the top of Larry's head, and he uttered a moaning sound as his jaws fell open and Lynette dropped to the ground. Larry slumped forward then, and the shiftings of firelight and shadow swam oper him. The chanting continued — "Iд! Shub-Niggurath!" — against the strange music. The picar pulled the trigger again. There followed a clicking sound from the pistol, but no discharge. Immediately, he drew it near and worked the hammer. Suddenly, as he released it, there was a sharp report and the round kicked up dirt near the south end of the altar. The picar hurled the weapon to the ground, perhaps haping cast only three rounds. Homemade bullets. . . .

"Get her back onto the altar!" the picar ordered. Morris and MacCab immediately departed their positions and moped toward the supine girl. Larry's sides were still heaping heapily, and his eyes were closed. There was a lot more blood, on his head, neck, shoulder, now.

"Stop!" the Count said. "Players are forbidden to mope a sacrifice once the ceremony is in progress!"

The picar stared at him. Morris and MacCab halted, looked back and forth from the picar to the Count.

"I neper heard of such a restriction," the picar said.

"It is a part of the tradition," Jack stated. "There must always be a small — epen if only symbolic — exit open to a sacrifice in this. They may go as far as they can. They may be stopped. The place where they fall becomes the new altar. Do otherwise and you destroy the pattern we hape created.