landed two more kicks, and poked a thumb at Bailey's right eye, but Bailey simply lowered his head, and Dante could hear the bounty hunter's thumb break with a loud cracking sound at it collided with Bailey's skull.
Bennett's struggles became more desperate, and finally Bailey released his grip on Bennett's arm, used both hands to lift the bounty hunter above his head, and hurled him into the wall. There was a strange, undefinable sound as all the air left Bennett's lungs, and he dropped to the floor, where he lay motionless.
Suddenly a cheer went up from the assembled gamblers and drinkers.
"What the hell are they applauding?" asked Dante, staring at the dead bounty hunter.
"They're paying for my protection, remember?" said Bailey, who wasn't even panting from his efforts. "They're cheering because I've just shown them they're getting their money's worth. Bennett came after you, but he could have been any bounty hunter coming after any of them ."
Virgil stuck his head in the door in response to the cheering, and gazed impassively at Bennett's corpse.
"Couldn't wait til tomorrow, huh?" he said.
"Out!" ordered Bailey, and Virgil removed himself from the doorway. Tyrannosaur then ordered two of the men on his staff to remove the body and dispose of it.
"The usual method, sir?" asked one of the men.
"Unless you've got a better way," answered Bailey. He turned back to Dante, who was staring at him intently. "I thought I just solved your problem. Suddenly you look like you've got another one?"
"No." Just a question.
"Good. And don't forget our bargain: I get five verses."
"At the very least," said Dante. Who knows? You may get a hundred or more. It's become clear to me that I can't be an Orpheus without a Santiago. Could I possibly have found you this soon?
7.
Tyrannosaur, Tyrannosaur,
Whatever you give him, he wants more,
The world is his oyster, the stars are his sea;
He fishes for souls, a man on a spree.
That was about as political as the Rhymer ever got to be.
The first three verses were about Bailey's size, his strength, his mastery of martial arts and martial weapons. It glorified his fighting abilities, and in time it made his name a household word.
But it was the fourth verse, the one you see above, that was written with a purpose, for the new Orpheus sought a new Santiago, and the mythic proportions he drew—"the stars are his sea" and "He fishes for souls"—were written expressly to get Tyrannosaur Bailey thinking along those lines, to consider himself as something unique and special, a man not so much on a spree as on a holy mission.
"I like it," said Bailey enthusiastically after Dante had read it aloud to him the morning after he killed Wait-a-bit Bennett. "I don't know that I understand it, especially that last bit, but I like it. You've fulfilled your end of the bargain, Rhymer."
"Maybe I could explain the parts you don't understand," offered Dante.
"Sure, why not?"
"It means you collect lost souls, just as you've been doing here on Devonia. But you don't just collect them here; like the poem says, the stars are your sea."
"Well, that's right," agreed Bailey. "They come from all over."
"I don't see you being so passive, just sitting here and waiting for them to come to you," said Dante, selecting his words carefully. "As a matter of fact, I can see you going out and recruiting them."
"Devonia can't support that many more people," Bailey pointed out.
"Then you'll leave Devonia," said Dante. "Maybe you'll come back here from time to time for spiritual refreshment, but
Bennett's struggles became more desperate, and finally Bailey released his grip on Bennett's arm, used both hands to lift the bounty hunter above his head, and hurled him into the wall. There was a strange, undefinable sound as all the air left Bennett's lungs, and he dropped to the floor, where he lay motionless.
Suddenly a cheer went up from the assembled gamblers and drinkers.
"What the hell are they applauding?" asked Dante, staring at the dead bounty hunter.
"They're paying for my protection, remember?" said Bailey, who wasn't even panting from his efforts. "They're cheering because I've just shown them they're getting their money's worth. Bennett came after you, but he could have been any bounty hunter coming after any of them ."
Virgil stuck his head in the door in response to the cheering, and gazed impassively at Bennett's corpse.
"Couldn't wait til tomorrow, huh?" he said.
"Out!" ordered Bailey, and Virgil removed himself from the doorway. Tyrannosaur then ordered two of the men on his staff to remove the body and dispose of it.
"The usual method, sir?" asked one of the men.
"Unless you've got a better way," answered Bailey. He turned back to Dante, who was staring at him intently. "I thought I just solved your problem. Suddenly you look like you've got another one?"
"No." Just a question.
"Good. And don't forget our bargain: I get five verses."
"At the very least," said Dante. Who knows? You may get a hundred or more. It's become clear to me that I can't be an Orpheus without a Santiago. Could I possibly have found you this soon?
7.
Tyrannosaur, Tyrannosaur,
Whatever you give him, he wants more,
The world is his oyster, the stars are his sea;
He fishes for souls, a man on a spree.
That was about as political as the Rhymer ever got to be.
The first three verses were about Bailey's size, his strength, his mastery of martial arts and martial weapons. It glorified his fighting abilities, and in time it made his name a household word.
But it was the fourth verse, the one you see above, that was written with a purpose, for the new Orpheus sought a new Santiago, and the mythic proportions he drew—"the stars are his sea" and "He fishes for souls"—were written expressly to get Tyrannosaur Bailey thinking along those lines, to consider himself as something unique and special, a man not so much on a spree as on a holy mission.
"I like it," said Bailey enthusiastically after Dante had read it aloud to him the morning after he killed Wait-a-bit Bennett. "I don't know that I understand it, especially that last bit, but I like it. You've fulfilled your end of the bargain, Rhymer."
"Maybe I could explain the parts you don't understand," offered Dante.
"Sure, why not?"
"It means you collect lost souls, just as you've been doing here on Devonia. But you don't just collect them here; like the poem says, the stars are your sea."
"Well, that's right," agreed Bailey. "They come from all over."
"I don't see you being so passive, just sitting here and waiting for them to come to you," said Dante, selecting his words carefully. "As a matter of fact, I can see you going out and recruiting them."
"Devonia can't support that many more people," Bailey pointed out.
"Then you'll leave Devonia," said Dante. "Maybe you'll come back here from time to time for spiritual refreshment, but
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