Broken World Book Two - StarSword Read Online Free Page A

He leant against the railing.
"Their world is so perfect that to become lost in it is the
ultimate wish of any being with feelings. Because I am Mujar, I was
able to communicate my need to be free, and it released me. And you
Lowmen think Mujar have no emotions."
    "Yet you cannot
love," Talsy grumbled.
    He turned to
her. "You will never understand Mujar. Even you, who have become so
close to me, will never see what Mujar are. I said that I could
never love you in the way you wished, which is the coarse, bestial
manner of Lowmen. This does not mean I'm incapable of it. Mujar
are..." He paused, frowning. "I talk too much. The predator...
affected me."
     
    Talsy glanced
at Kieran, unsure that he should ask more questions when Chanter
was in such a strange mood. The warrior had no such reservations,
however.
    "Why did you
bring my sword back?"
    "You'll need
it."
    "How did you
find it?"
    The Mujar
turned his back to the railing and leant against it. "That sword is
a weapon of the Hashon Jahar. Did you know that?"
    "No." Kieran
looked down at the weapon with sudden loathing. "I picked it up
during the battle that destroyed my village. If it's one of theirs,
I don't want it."
    "Keep it,"
Chanter said. "It's a good weapon."
    "Does it have
special powers?"
    "Your three
questions are answered, but no, it doesn't, except that it's
indestructible."
    Kieran shook
his head. "You didn't answer my last question. I asked how you
found it."
    "And I told
you, it's a weapon of the Hashon Jahar, that's how I found it. I
could sense its... lack of life. Nothing is quite so dead as the
Black Riders and their apparel. That sword is like a void, sucking
in the life force around it."
    Chanter pushed
himself away from the railing and moved further along it, where he
paused to glance back at Talsy. She opened her mouth, but he sprang
into the air and vanished in a rush of wind and beating wings. A
white gull winged away in his place, rising on the wind. Talsy
watched the bird until it dwindled to a tiny speck, then turned to
Kieran.
    "Something
terrible happened to him down there."
    "Or
wonderful."
    "If only you
hadn't attacked the predator."
    He snorted. "If
only you hadn't screamed like you were being eaten alive."
    "Moron. I got a
fright. I didn't ask you to come charging in like a damned dire
bear guarding a cub."
    "Yeah?" He
glared at her. "Well, if I'd stopped to ask you whether something
was actually eating you, or whether you were just squealing like a
silly little girl, it might have been too late."
    "Chanter would
have known if I had been in danger. I don't need you playing the
hairy Neanderthal!"
    "Great, in
future I won't bother!" Kieran marched away, his shoulders
stiff.
    Talsy could not
resist shouting after him, "And you're scared of him, you great big
bully!"
    Kieran stopped
and half turned, then thought better of it and stormed off to his
perch in the bows. Talsy stared out across the sea, wishing Chanter
would explain all the mysteries of this world, which she had
thought she understood until now. Especially Mujar. What were they?
Why did they hide their identity so well?
    The following
morning, Chanter returned, and the ship sailed on across a glassy
sea. Since the food beast’s fronds did not need to be cooked,
Sheera was able to spend more time with Talsy. Kieran remained
morosely in the bows, ignoring her as much as possible and glaring
at her when he could not. Chanter seemed his usual self, perhaps a
little withdrawn after his burst of extraordinary
loquaciousness.
    For another
week, the stone ship sailed an endless sea, carrying its Trueman
burden of chosen to the distant, unknown western continent. The
ship's speed and course never varied, guided by a wind and current
that a Mujar controlled. The youngsters played games on the deck,
and tried to persuade Kieran to join in, but the warrior remained
aloof. Talsy played with them a few times, enjoying the
distraction, and Chanter smiled at her antics. The food beast’s
bounty