Dark Sun: Prism Pentad 4 - Obsidian Oracle Read Online Free Page A

the memories, but he soon
     realized that they were acting on their own. Behind the six giants, a hairless rodent
     crawled over the rocky edge of the cliff. The beast had squat legs ending in curled claws,
     with loose folds of scaly hide and a ridge of bony plates protecting its back. Only the
     head did not seem particularly vicious, for beneath its squarish ears were Fylo's bulging
     eyes and wispy beard.
    The rodent construct rushed Agis's mekillot, but two giants seized its tail as it passed,
     bringing the beast to an instant halt. It straggled to continue forward, its curled daws
     clattering on the stony ground.
    “Fylo not make good tembo,” scoffed one of the giants, dragging the rodent backward. “His
     face too ugly!”
    Taking advantage of the distraction, Agis moved forward, away from the cliff edge. The
     four giants who were not busy with Fylo charged. The noble stopped his harbinger, then
     waited until they reached him before lashing out. He snagged one in his bill-shaped mouth
     and, with a flick of the lizard's head, snapped the victim's back.
    His attack did not even slow the other giants. The remaining three slammed into, the
     mekillot's flank and shoved it toward the cliff edge, angrily shouting,
    
    
     “Go
    
    
     'way, stupid lizard!”
    The noble tried to counter, dropping the crippled giant in his construct's mouth and
     planting the beast's huge legs firmly on the rocky ground. He pushed back with all his
     unimaginable strength, but the effort was to no avail. Slowly, inexorably, the giants
     drove the behemoth toward the precipice.
    On the other side of the rocky summit, Fylo was faring no better. The two giants that had
     grasped his tail were dragging him away, laughing cruelly and saying, “Fylo too stupid to
     be tembo-too weak!”
    As his foes pushed him to within a few yards of the cliff edge, Agis visualized the top of
     the crag turning to a dustsink, leaving only a narrow rim of rock around the outer edge. A
     terrific swell of energy coursed through his body, then the stony ground of the summit
     dissolved into a powdery muck. The memory giants cried out in surprise, as did Fylo, and
     they all tried to leap for the solid ground ringing the pit. The agitation only caused the
     surface to become even less firm, and they sank to their waists almost immediately.
    Although the mekillot's stubby legs disappeared into the muck as quickly as those of the
     giants, Agis was prepared for the surprise and began to change form instantly. His
     construct's shell, already half-submerged, was replaced by oily black scales. The bulk
     faded from his torso, until his body became slender and ribbonlike, with a wedge-shaped
     head at one end and a ridge of spiked fins running along the serpentine spine.
    As Fylo and the giants continued to sink, Agis's eel slithered across the dust to the
     rocky rim, coiling up on the solid ground just in time to see the heads of his foes
     vanishing into the mire. The noble allowed himself a deep sigh, confident that he had won
     the battle. His efforts had tired him terribly, but he still had enough strength to take
     control of the island.
    Outside the giant's mind, a horrible groan rumbled through the canyon, then Fylo's grip
     loosened, and Agis nearly slipped from his captor's grasp. The noble saved himself from a
     long fall only by throwing his arms over the giant's trembling finger.
    “Release me,” Agis said, looking into a bloodshot eye. “Now that I've captured one memory,
     it's only a matter of time before I control your whole mind. All I have to do is shape the
     island into your image, and-”
    “No,” Fylo hissed, his lips quivering with fatigue.
    “You can't win,” the noble said. “Losing a harbinger isn't so different from losing a
     limb-save that it's spiritual energy instead of blood gushing from the wound. You can't
     fight me any longer.”
    “Fylo not done!” the giant roared.
    Inside