James Clemens 2 Witch Storm

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Page 93
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
alone.
He pictured his sister Elena s face: freckles on her nose, eyes crinkled as
she concentrated. He had no idea where among all the lands of Alasea his
sister might be now, but he knew Elena was headed to
A loa Glen. If Joach could not find her and warn her away, he could at least
learn in secret what traps were being laid here and try to thwart them.
So Joach continued after the bent back of the darkmage. He knew his best
chance at helping his sister lay in deceit, in masquerading as a slave. He
would fight fire with fire, deception with deception. As
Greshym and the Praetor wore false faces, so would he!
Elena
, he whispered in his skull, / //
not fail you again
.
For a heartbeat, the purple flower appeared in his mind s eye, glowing much
more brightly in his memory that it had in reality. Was it mere chance that
had freed him? Or like the black snakes that hid among the white folds of
A loa Glen, were there perhaps allies of the light maybe others who might help
him hidden in the black shadows?
With Greshym s back turned, Joach glanced furtively around the courtyard.
Shadows and sunlight danced along the paths of the decaying garden. The bright
and the dark mingled together.
If there were others out there who could aid him, how would Joach be able to
recognize them in this play of sunlight and shadow?
Whom could he trust?
Somewhere beyond the high walls of the Edifice, a gull cried a lonely call
across the empty sea. The cry echoed in Joach s chest.
In this matter, he knew he was alone.
The gull s cry swept over the waves toward where Sy-wen s small head bobbed in
the gentle surf. Her eyes followed the bird s flight across the blue sky. As
her webbed ringers swept back and forth in the salty water, keeping her
stationary in the sea, she imagined the various landscapes the gull had flown
over. She pictured towering peaks, forests of dark shadows, and empty meadows
wider than the sea.
Tales were spoken of such places, but she had never seen any of them.
She craned her neck back to view the spread of sky and cloud, her green hair
floating like a halo of kelp around her. The gull disappeared to a dot in the
sun s glare. Sighing, Sy-wen turned her attention back to the churning white
surf where the sea met the shore of the nearby island in an angry rumble.
White froth spewed high in the afternoon sunlight, and black rocks glistened
like the backs of whales while over it all,
the ocean roared as it attacked the stone island, as if angry at the
interruption of its blue expanse.
Sy-wen thrilled at the war of sea and rock. It touched something deep inside
of her, something she could not name. She studied the island. Her eyes rilled
with the views of its green-draped peaks, of its cascading falls of spring-fed
water, of its arched stones of windblown rock. Beyond this one island, others
could be seen like the humped backs of great sea beasts marching toward the
horizon.
Archipelago
.
Even the word that named the maze of islands set her heart to beating. Here
was mystery and lands unknown forbidden territory t for the mer ai. Only the
banished of her people walked those broken shores and sharp rocks.
As she kicked her powerful legs to hold her head above water, she felt the
familiar gentle brush of a warm nose against the back of her thigh. Sadly, she
spread her legs to allow Conch, her mother s mount, to slide under her. Once
she was seated on his familiar back, Conch arched up, raising Sy-wen higher.
Page 94
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Soon only her webbed toes still touched the sea. From atop Conch s back, she
could see past the churning barrier reef to the interior of the island. Above
the foam and spray, she spied the towers and straight-edged buildings of the
lan dwellers, those of her folk banished from the sea so long ago. She raised
her arms wide and caught the sea breezes in her splayed hands. How would it be
to swim through the air like a gull, to fly among those towers and peer in the
windows at those who lived life at the sea s edge? Did they miss the oceans
and cry all night for their long-lost home, as Mother said?
In front of her, Conch s head surfaced. The jade seadragon s scaled neck
sparked, scintillating in the sunlight. He huffed explosively as the scaled
flaps that blocked his nose opened, expelling old air. He rolled one large
black eye toward his rider, blinking his translucent lid open and closed.
Sy-wen shrank under his gaze.
Though not bonded to the dragon as her mother was, Sy-wen had been raised with
the giant and had learned his moods. Conch was frustrated with her. He hated
it when she swam close to the stone islands that dotted the sea. Yet from the
relieved tremble in his throat as he rid himself of his stale air, she also
sensed the great beast s worry and concern.
She rubbed a hand along his long sleek neck, scratching the sensitive nest of
scales by his ear holes. Her touch calmed his irritation. She smiled as he
turned away. Conch had always been such a worrier. Even when she was a child,
he had always watched over her, a constant shadow as she grew into a young
woman.
Yet as much as it pained her, Conch s guardianship would soon end. Sy-wen must
soon bond her own dragon and leave Conch behind. Having already begun her
woman s bleed, she was no longer a child.
For the past ten moons, immature seadragons had already been flocking to her,
drawn by each moon s virginal bleed a flurry of whites, a scattering of reds,
even a few jades like Conch. But she had fought them all off. As an elder s
daughter, she knew her duty and must soon choose, but she was not ready. Not
yet.
Tears suddenly rose to her eyes. She did not want to lose Conch, not ever not
even to bond one of the rare blacks, the mightiest of the seadragons. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Podstrony