Demiourgos Read Online Free Page B

with a scowl growing across her features. “It seems humans are just as vulgar as the stories make them out to be.”
    “They can be, but humans can also be nice people. Take Maudette for instance. She has been matron for a long time. She has raised me since I was a child and I would not have it any other way.” Rose nudged Nina gently with her shoulder by rocking to the side a bit. “Not much experience with humans eh?”
    Nina paused for a moment and looked over at Rose when she felt the nudge; such intimate contact between two people was not unknown between her people. It was the mark of a friend more than anything. “No, I have never before left my home before a few weeks ago. My tutors were all elves and my friends the same. I met a dwarf once, he was nice but he was a little dirty and crude.”
    “Can you tell me about your home?” Rose felt curiosity above all else more keenly than anything. She knew it was because she had never seen the outside world through more than a barred window.
    “We are not permitted to say much because it is a secret.” Nina looked around to make sure no one else was within earshot. “But I don’t mind telling you. It is far into the desert, farther than most can travel so it’s very dangerous. There are a lot of creatures out there that would love to make you a meal and for some of them an elf or human would be just an appetizer.”
    “I can imagine, I’ve read a few books about the creatures of the deep wastes.” Rose said with a curt nod.
    “Well beyond the desert there is a mountain range and on the other side is my home. It is the last forest on the face of this continent; the mountains keep it safe from outsiders and the harsh weather. It goes on for hundreds of miles before it drops off into the Last Sea. My people live in the trees; we use fallen wood and magic to make our homes within them. You would like it Rose, the bridges spanning across them are so high in the air that you can taste the sun as it rises and feel the rain so cold and pure.”
    “A forest?” She whispered harshly, surprised by the story. “Such things are lost to the world!”
    “No, there is one forest left on this continent and one sea, untouched by the magic that devastated the remainder of this land. I hear that beyond us, there are more.” Nina whispered back. “But I digress, that is why we are not permitted to talk about it. We have a very large library as well, stuffed full of volumes from ages past. The curator preserves them for us.”
    “Oh I would love to walk through your library and read until my eyes stopped working from old age.” Rose smiled looked over at Nina again; a strand of hair fell in front of her face. Rose brushed it back behind her ear. “Your home sounds lovely.”
    “Thank you, we take much pride in our heritage.”
    The double doors opened wide and a pair of guards stepped into the room carrying a bone-carved burning bowl on four obsidian legs. The burly armored men closed the door and placed the object in the center of the room. The skinnier of the two pulled a leather pouch off of his belt and dumped the contents into the center of the bowl. Prajma was more like a moss than a weed so it burned quickly and thick. Once it was packed in the guard pulled a piece of metal and stone out of his pouch to light it as they always did at this time.
    “What’s that he’s using?” Nina said as she stood and started heading for the matron’s room.
    “Firesteel.” Rose looked at the red piece of metal and the obsidian stone the guard was holding and realized that Nina had most likely never seen such a thing. The firesteel was a fairly rare metal that was found among the ore mined from the city’s only functioning mine. It sparked fire at the slightest touch of obsidian. “If you touch it to obsidian it sparks flame instantly.”
    “Interesting.” Nina stopped suddenly and Rose spied the reason why. Vishna and her crew were all standing in her way. She was sure