Broken World Book Two - StarSword Read Online Free Page B

remained as fresh in the ship's cool bowels as the day that
they had picked it.
    With no worries
about supplies and nothing to do but watch the calm sea slide by,
life was tranquil and indolent for the chosen, so it was almost
with regret that they sighted the low dark smudge of land on the
horizon. A buzz of excitement and trepidation filled the ship, and
people invaded Kieran’s lonely roost to peer ahead until he quit it
and found another, somewhere that Talsy could not find him. As the
land drew nearer, they passed several rocky islands inhabited by
sea birds and seals.
    The next
morning, ship slowed as it approached a hostile, rocky coastline,
where foaming waves broke over jagged stone spurs waiting to
disembowel an unwary vessel. Chanter turned the ship and sailed up
the coastline in search of a friendlier harbour. At midday, they
reached a sandy cove, and Chanter guided the ship into it, pushing
its bow into the sand.
    The Mujar used
Earthpower to warp the ship's high bow, causing the rock to shimmer
and flow into a ramp leading down to the beach. When everyone had
disembarked, he destroyed the ship that had carried them across the
ocean. It slumped and lost its shape, and the mast oozed down to
mingle with the hull until the vessel was no more than a lump of
wave-washed granite. Turning away, Chanter gazed at the sunlit land
that sloped from the golden beach. Tall trees shaded meadows dotted
with clumps of pale rock, and further inland a forest of giant
red-leafed trees stood, their silver trunks dappled with rosy
shade.
    Chanter headed
for them, and Talsy caught up to walk beside him while the chosen
straggled behind, burdened with their belongings and provisions. At
the edge of the forest, he paused to allow them to rest, and many
flopped down to stretch out on the soft grass and adjust to a
surface that did not constantly move. Talsy found that, after a
month at sea, she swayed to the ship's gentle roll even on dry
land. She sat down and eyed Chanter, who stood gazing around. His
nostrils flared and his brows drew together. She could sense it
too, a kind of frisson that passed through her every few seconds,
like a heartbeat of chill.
    Chanter turned
to her. "There's something wrong here. Can you feel it?"
    She nodded.
"What is it?"
    "Wild
Earthpower, controlled by something, but I don't know what."
    Talsy glanced
at the chosen, who talked, ate or rested, clearly unaware of this
land's strange emanation. Chanter continued to gaze around, his
eyes intent, his expression a mixture of puzzlement and worry.
After a few minutes, he went over to a rock and laid his hand on
it. Talsy braced herself for the Dolana, but what happened next
shocked and frightened her. A flash of Earthpower, so strong that
it became visible in an instant of hard glitter, engulfed him.
Chanter sprang away with a yell of injured surprise. Talsy gasped
and shivered in the chilling aftermath, and many of the chosen
cried out in alarm. In the frozen moment that the Mujar stared at
the rock in shocked disbelief, the land attacked.
    Roots whipped
out of the ground and snagged several of the chosen. Chasms opened
with a dull ripping and swallowed two people. The rest jumped up
with cries of fear. A few brave men tried to extricate the trapped
people, and the rest fled, many more falling foul of the whipping
roots. Kieran drew his sword and chopped through the thick roots
that bound a young girl to the ground, and the severed ends writhed
like infuriated snakes. Those who were trapped screamed in pain and
fear as the roots tightened with deadly intent, and the chasms
started to close. The soil beneath their feet rippled, seeking more
prey, and roots erupted like giant ropes, blindly groping for
victims.
    Talsy stood
frozen with shock, amazed by the sudden chaos and the animation of
nearby trees, whose branches whipped about as if a hurricane lashed
them. She had seen something like it before, and turned to
Chanter.
    "A Kuran!"
    He shook his
head,