Knight Eternal (A Novel of Epic Fantasy) (Harbinger of Doom Volume 3) Read Online Free Page B

of Shantii.”
    Tanch studied the table and his face
paled.
    Ob measured off the
distance and moved the Mage directly behind the Knight Champion—a
smug look on his face.
    “ That’s a reckless move,”
said Tanch’s teammate, Claradon, a large man, clad in a sharp gray
shirt emblazoned with the crest of House Eotrus. “Magic dagger or
not, the Mage doesn’t have much chance of hitting the Knight, and
less of finishing him off, even from behind.”
    “ And next turn, I’ll turn
the Knight around and hack the Mage to pieces,” said
Tanch.
    “ If I kill your stinking
knight, your game is over, as quick as that. You won’t have enough
points left to be a threat.” Ob took a deep drink of ale from his
mug “Start sweating.” He picked up a pair of dice from the
table—one of bone, one of metal. He placed them in an ornately
carved wooden cup, shook it, and tossed the dice on the
tabletop.
    A six came up on each die.
    Ob smashed his hands together. “Yes.”
    “ Arrgh!” went Tanch and
Claradon as they jumped to their feet.
    “ What happened?” said Ob’s
teammate, Dolan, a pale, gaunt man of pointy ears.
    “ Double Doom,” said
Claradon. “An automatic hit and double damage.”
    Ob jotted some numbers on a piece of
parchment with a feather quill. “By my count, your Champion is
down, out, and dead as dead can be.” He handed the calculation over
to Claradon. “Game over.”
    Claradon looked over the numbers and shook
his head in disgust.
    Tanch leaned heavily on
his wooden staff. “My back has been troubling me today; I’m just
not at my best. Even so, it was a lucky shot.”
    “ Not luck, Magic Boy. It
was guts. In Mages and Monsters, just as in real battle, them with
guts win the day more often than not. If you want to play it safe,
you’re hanging with the wrong bunch.” Ob looked over at Theta.
“Ain’t that right, Mr. Fancy Pants?”
    Theta continued to peruse the rulesbook and
didn’t bother to look over. “Is your confidence in your courage,
gnome, or in your dice?”
    “ Bah.” Ob stood atop his
chair and stretched as best he could to reach the Knight Champion
figurine near the table’s center. His fingers fell just short.
Dolan jumped up and reeled the Knight in.
    Claradon’s eyes narrowed and he looked from
Theta to Ob to the Double Doom dice that still sat on the
table.
    “ I thought it was a good
move, Mr. Ob,” said Dolan.
    “ Thanks, boy.”
    Claradon reached to pick up Ob’s dice, but
the gnome’s hand darted out and snatched them away. “Those are my
lucky dice, boy, get your own.”
    Claradon narrowed his
eyes. “Let me see those dice.”
    “ What? Why?”
    “ The dice, Ob.
Now.”
    Ob put them in his pant
pocket, a defiant look plastered to his face.
    Tanch studied the exchange between his
friends. “You cheated,” said the wizard. “Those dice were loaded,
weren’t they?”
    Ob looked taken aback.
    “ I thought it was just
dumb luck, but you actually cheated.”
    “ A wise man makes his own
luck,” said Theta. He closed the rulesbook and turned toward the
others. “You didn’t lose to Ob’s luck; you lost to his skill, and
to your own foolishness. You lost because you counted on him
playing by the rules, and didn’t check that he wasn’t. That kind of
mistake will get you killed out there. Don’t make it
again.”
    “ But he cheated,” said
Claradon.
    “ His mage lives and your
knight is dead with a knife in his back. How it happened really
doesn’t matter.”
    “ You condone this
treachery?” said Tanch.
    Theta laughed. “Not so much in a game, but
for real, when it counts, out there on some battlefield, yes. In
battle, you must do whatever it takes to survive. You must use
whatever edge you have. Don’t play fair, don’t give your opponent a
chance, don’t play by any rules, just win, just survive, that’s all
that matters.” Theta tossed the rulesbook to Claradon. “That’s your
lesson for the day. Don’t forget it.”
    “ How did