Darkness Falls (Tales of the Wolf) Read Online Free Page A

chamber.
    Several minutes and numerous rooms passed before he let go of the young lad. Darnac had intended to scold the boy harshly, but as always, when he saw the pain in the boy’s eyes from the way his mother treated him, he relented.
    “Galvorn, how many times must I warn you not to interrupt your mother?”
    “But…but I didn’t mean to.”
    “What were you doing in her private chambers anyway?”
    “You were late for our lesson, so I went looking for you. When I heard her voice in the next room, I couldn’t resist peeking.”
    Darnac placed one hand on the boy’s shoulder. “If you want to see your twelfth birthday, you will need to control that urge. She was deadly serious tonight. If she catches you lurking around again…”
    “I know…I know, I’m sorry.”
    Darnac Penumbra was a warrior without equal. He was the Blademaster of Avaris and had yet to meet anyone who could stand toe to toe with him and live. He had fought demons, wizards, monsters, pirates, dwarves, jotens and highlanders but no one had wounded him as deeply as just the simple thought of Galvorn being punished by Lalith.
    He would rather kill the boy outright than let the Dark Lady use her magic on him. It was a problem he wrestled with daily; how to best protect this child from his parents. 
    Shaking his head to clear it from such melancholy thoughts, Darnac gently whacked the boy on the back of the head.
    “That’s for not thinking. If you want to become a true master of the blade, then you must learn to use the six inches between your ears.”
    Galvorn perked up. The whack meant that all was all right. Yes, he had messed up but he was forgiven. “Did I overhear that you are leaving soon?”
    Darnac nodded. “Yes, the invasion starts in three days.”
    “But you’ll miss my birthday.”
    “Oh? Should I complain to your mother? Have her hold up the invasion just because it interferes with your birthday? Do you think that Clotho will understand?”
    “Good point. I hadn’t thought about that.”
    “Again, not thinking, I fear that will be your undoing.”
    Turning his back on his pupil, he moved over to a small cabinet and pulled out a bundle of black fur. Moving over to the fireplace, he sat down and placed the bundle on the ground next to him. Galvorn moved over and sat across from him. Darnac paused and studied the face of the boy in front of him.
    It was a kind face. He had the fine elvish features of the black skin, high cheek bones and pointed ears but the strong square jaw line and coal black hair of his highlander father. He seemed to have an insatiable curiosity, probably from his mother’s side but a knack for acting without thinking, which was so typically Blackfang.
    The Blademaster watched as the boy glanced to the bundle and back to him, to the bundle and back to him. The suspense was killing him. Darnac thought about waiting longer, maybe as long as tomorrow but decided against it. He wanted to enjoy the last few days with his pupil. Taking a deep breath he said, “I was saving this for your birthday but since I won’t be around I thought I would give it to you now.”
    “What is it?”
    “Open it and find out.”
    With a shriek of delight, the young boy tore off the fur wrappings to reveal a faintly curved black mahogany stick. It was heavier than it looked as Galvorn gently picked it up. The wood was highly polished but not slick to the touch. On both ends was the emblem of the crossed sabers in front of a flame, the Blademaster’s personal symbol.
    “What is it?”
    Darnac reached out and grabbed the middle of the stick. “Grip both ends.”
    His pupil did as he was told.
    “Now pull.”
    When he did so, Galvorn found himself holding two beautifully polished blades of silver that were each about three feet long. For a boy of twelve, they would be slightly unwieldy but he would grow into them.
    “I don’t know what to say Kënnári.”
    Darnac smiled at his usage of the dark elf term for beloved