Extraordinary Zoology Read Online Free

polearm. “Do you know how to use it?”
    “I study two things,” she said. “War cleaver is one.”
    “And the other?”
    Kinik reached into one of the big exterior pockets of her greatcoat and withdrew a battered, dog-eared tome. The embossed title, Monsternomicon , was scuffed but still clearly visible.
    Lynus knew that book well. He, Edrea, and numerous others had helped Professor Viktor Pendrake research it. Some of them had died in that effort. Eleven of the woodcuts were from Lynus’ own hand. Only five hundred of these books had been printed on Corvis University’s press three years ago, between the general distress of an undead uprising and an invading army from the east, yet somehow this wandering ogrun had gotten her hands on one of them and walked it all the way back here.
    “I study your book.”
    Pendrake laughed heartily. “You are a student indeed!” he exclaimed. “It’s decided. You shall accompany us, and since my Iosan assistant has set the precedent,” he looked over to Edrea and winked, “I shall, for the time being, waive the usual requirement that those studying under me be registered, tuition-paying students at Corvis University.”
    Pendrake looked to Lynus. “Our expedition’s provisioning must be adjusted to account for another healthy appetite. How quickly can you see to this?”
    And then Lynus realized why the provender bundle looked too large. Corcoran had paid the ogrun in provisions.
    “I think that’s already been taken care of, Professor.”

    Lynus read as he rode, which settled him. Yes, he’d been frustrated earlier, but perhaps that stemmed in part from excitement and anxiety to be headed back into the field. Now they were on the road, and while some peril or another certainly awaited, things felt right.
    Oathammer wanted to walk alongside Aeshnyrr, and Aeshnyrr was amenable to that. This placed Edrea to Lynus’ left, just two arm-lengths away. Over the last few years, the two of them had spent countless hours riding just like this, discussing classes, experiments, and of course the creatures they had encountered, were likely to encounter, and would really rather not run into.
    So far on this trip Edrea hadn’t said much, but Lynus had been reading. That was the other thing that usually happened during the hours on horseback. Lynus’ satchel was always full of books, notebooks, reference materials, maps, and sketches, and lately that included pages upon pages of material destined for a home between the covers of the second edition of the Monsternomicon .
    Horgash and Pendrake rode in front. Horgash’s bison, Greta, seemed even more enormous with the seven-foot-tall trollkin on her back. Pendrake’s mount, Codex, was a large Khardic stallion, but Pendrake’s stature and Codex’s size still weren’t enough to prevent them from appearing almost comically small next to Horgash and Greta.
    Kinik walked in back, her long strides easily keeping up with the horses despite the heavy pack she wore. She stood at eye level with all the riders but Horgash.
    Lynus considered what Horgash had said about the attack on Bednar. He flipped through page after page of large predators, but the damage Horgash described didn’t sound predatory. A Thornwood mauler might flatten a house and trample those living in it, but it would certainly leave tracks. The same went for dire trolls. Kaelram were larger than either of those but less likely to be preying on villages and even less likely to do so without leaving tracks.
    A dragon or a gorgandur could destroy a village almost absentmindedly, but there had been no sightings of dragons anywhere in Cygnar’s skies of late, and gorgandur hadn’t been reported anywhere in western Immoren in decades. Also, it didn’t do to consider chasing either of those, since there was nothing mere men could do but get out of the way of such creatures.
    There were species between mere creatures and mere men, though. If this wasn’t predatory . . . He