Scoundrels' Jig (The Chronicles of Eridia)
Page 22
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Hovering three hundred feet in the air, Ludwig van Beethoven glared down at the large gorgim village. This had to be where that cocksucking bird-thing had gone.
He had woken up twenty minutes ago, feeling rested and refreshed. He figured he must have slept at least three or four hours. It looked as if it had rained at some point during that time, but he had chosen his shelter well and was as dry as an old crone’s snatch. After getting his bearings, he had flown as fast as he could toward the cluster of lights that avian ass-wipe had been heading for.
The lights were fewer than they had been earlier, and the settlement was quiet, its streets virtually empty. Even despicable vermin like the gorgim had to sleep sometimes. Occasionally, though, a grotesque shape would pass through a patch of light below, and then Beethoven’s nose would wrinkle in revulsion.
Unfortunately none of the shapes was that of the infernal bird-thing he sought. The creature was in the village, though. He felt sure of it.
But how would he find it? He didn’t have the time or the patience to search through building after building. He needed some way to locate his quarry quickly.
He ruminated on his problem for a while and then, smiling, flew off to find a good-sized branch with which to make a torch.