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.Anciently, open warfare between Patryn and Sartan had been rare.TheSartan maintaining as they did to the mensch that warfare was wrong had theirimage to consider and would generally refuse to be drawn into a fight.Theyfound subtler means to defeat their enemy.But occasionally battle could notbe avoided and a contest would be waged.Such battles were always spectacular,generally deadly.They were held secretly, in private.It would never do forthe mensch to see one of their demigods die.Battle between two such opponents is long and tiring, both mentally andphysically.Some warriors were known to collapse from sheer exhaustion alone.Each opponent must not only prepare his own offense, drawing his magic fromthe countless possibilities that are present at that particular moment, but hemust also prepare a defense against whatever magical attack his opponent mightbe launching.Defense is mainly guesswork, although each side claimed to have developed waysto fathom the mental state of an opponent and therefore be able to anticipatehis next move.Page 185 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlSuch was the battle both were proposing to wage.Haplo had been dreaming ofit, yearning for it, all his life.It was every Patryn's dearest wish, forthough much had been lost to them through the eons, they had held fast to onething: hatred.But now that the moment he'd lived for was finally here, Haplocould not savor it.He tasted nothing but ashes in his mouth.He was consciousof the audience, of the slit red eyes, watching every move.Haplo forced the thought of the dragon from his mind, forced himself toconcentrate.Haplo called upon the magic, felt it answer.Elation surgedthrough him, submerged all fear, all thoughts of the dragons.He was young andstrong, at the height of his power.He was confident of victory.The Sartan had one advantage that the Patryn didn't anticipate.Samah musthave fought in such magical battles before.Haplo had not.The two faced each other."Go on, boy," Haplo said quietly, giving the dog a shove."Go back to Alfred."The animal whimpered, didn't want to leave."Go!" Haplo glared at it.The dog, ears drooping, obeyed."Stop it! Stop this madness!" Alfred cried.He dashed forward with some wild intent of hurling himself bodily between thecombatants.Unfortunately, Alfred wasn't watching where he was going and fell,headlong, over the dog.The two went down in a confused and yelping tangle inthe sand.Haplo cast his spell.The sigla on the Patryn's skin flared blue and red, twisted suddenly into theair, wound together to form a chain of steel that glimmered red in thefirelight.The chain streaked out with the speed of lightning to bind Samah inits strong coils, Patryn rune-magic would render him helpless.Or that was how it was supposed to work.Samah had apparently anticipated the possibility that Haplo would try to takehim prisoner.The Councillor invoked the possibility that when the Patryn'sattack was launched against him, he wouldn't be there to receive it.And hewasn't.The steel chain wrapped around air.Samah stood some distance away, regardingHaplo with disdain, as he might have regarded a child throwing stones at him.The Councillor began to sing and dance.Haplo recognized an attack.He was faced with an agonizing decision, and onethat had to be made in a heartbeat.He could either defend against anattack and to do so would require that he instantly sort through myriadpossibilities open to his enemy or he could launch another attack himself,hoping to catch Samah defenseless, in midspell.Unfortunately, such a maneuverwould leave Haplo defenseless, as well.Frustrated and angry over being thwarted by an enemy he'd considered apushover, Haplo was anxious to end the battle swiftly.His steel chain stillhung in the air.Haplo instantly rearranged the magic, altered the sigla'sform into that of a spear, and hurled it straight at Samah's breast.A shield appeared in Samah's left hand.The spear struck the shield; the chainof Haplo's magic began to fall apart.In the same instant, a gust of wind sprang up off the waters.Taking the shapeand form of a huge fist, the wind smote Haplo, buffeted him, sent him reeling.The Patryn landed heavily on the sandy beach.Groggy and dazed from the blow, Haplo swiftly regained his feet, his bodyreacting with the instincts learned in the Labyrinth, where to give in to evena moment's weakness meant death.Haplo spoke the runes.The sigla on his body flared.He opened his mouth togive the command that would end this bitter contest.His command changed to astartled curse.Something wrapped itself tightly around his ankle.It began tugging at him,trying to yank him off his feet.Page 186 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlHaplo was forced to abandon his spell.He looked to see what had hold of him.A long tentacle of some magical sea creature had reached out of the water.Preoccupied with his own spell-casting, Haplo had not noticed it slidingacross the beach toward him.Now it had him; its coils, shining with Sartanrunes, wound around and around Haplo's ankle, his calf, his leg.The creature's strength was incredible.Haplo fought to free himself, but themore he struggled, the tighter the tentacle grasped.It jerked him off hisfeet, flung him to the sand.Haplo kicked at it, tried to wriggle free
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