Lament (Scars of the Sundering Book 2) Read Online Free Page B

departure. The
minotaur took the opportunity to rest and study the route to Muncifer. Kale was
happy to see his friend up and moving around again, though he didn’t understand
how Pancras was alive. In the end, Kale was satisfied that the mysteries of
magic were beyond his understanding. Being alive was better than being dead, in
Kale’s opinion, and distancing themselves from Almeria and the dangerous
political games the humans liked to play was the best way the drak could think
of to ensure that all of them remained alive.
    As the weeks passed, the snows of
winter melted, fading crystal white vistas into dirty slush and muddy streets.
The soggy, wet chill soaked into peoples’ bones, and he was grateful for the
chaos that gave him wings and fire-breath, which kept a warm flame within him.
    With the help of Edric and Kali,
Kale visited every tavern, alehouse, and gambling den in Almeria while leaving
his sister to study her grimoire. Though she didn’t say it, he understood she
appreciated the solitude. Pancras kept to himself most of the time, poring over
scrolls and tomes Lady Milena and her brother brought him as he sought an
answer to the question they all wanted answered: why was he alive?
    It was a question Kale intended
to leave to those smarter than he. In truth, he was eager to return to the
road. Of the five of them, only Pancras had been to Muncifer before, and the
stories he told at dinner piqued Kale’s curiosity.
    “Muncifer was once a proud
dwarven city.”
    Edric raised his goblet to this.
    “It was until The Sundering, that
is. When the world broke, Muncifer was exposed. Great rifts and cracks in the
earth opened up. Half of the city fell away into the Maelstrom. When the world
was healed, it remained exposed. Most of the dwarves left, seeking solace with
their brethren living under the mountains.”
    This was a familiar story for
Kale. It nearly destroyed the world. He wasn’t sure what caused it; some said
it was the death of one of the gods, Rannos, the Dragon Father. The fae fled,
arcane energies infusing the world diffused, and whole nations were destroyed.
Since the healing of the world began, magic returned and the fae reappeared,
but in every corner of Calliome, evidence of The Sundering remained. The chaos
rift through which he was thrown before they left Drak-Anor was one such scar.
    “Aye, the dwarves left, and the
minotaurs moved in.” Edric drained his goblet and belched.
    “Minotaurs and humans.” Pancras
reached across the table and helped himself to another slab of meat from the
roast the kitchen sent up. “There were some draks and a few dwarven traders now
and again.”
    “Draks?” Kali perked up. “What
clans?”
    “I don’t know, Kali. I didn’t pay
much attention to draks in those days.”
    Delilah elbowed her brother in
the ribs. “And now he can’t get enough of us.”
    “Are we going to be able to make
it there by Spring’s Dawning, Pancras?” The more the snow melted, the more Kale
worried about their timetable. “It’s a long way away, and it’s getting warmer.”
    “About six weeks away, by my
reckoning.” Edric poured himself another goblet of wine.
    “Spring’s Dawning is marked by
the rise of The Plow, Kale.” Pancras offered half of the slab of meat he had to
Delilah. “Tinian’s Eye is still in the sky, and The Plow doesn’t appear until
that’s been gone several weeks.” The drak sorceress declined with a shake of
her head.
    Terrakaptis taught Kale about the
constellations of stars in the sky, or tried to. There were so many to
remember, each with their own story, and Kale had trouble recalling all of
them. “Do you really think the humans will let us leave?”
    Pancras glanced at each of them
as he thought for a moment. “Yes, I believe they will. The princess has been
very gracious these last few weeks.”
    Pancras’s confidence assuaged
Kale’s concerns. He couldn’t overlook, though, that it was his friendship with
Kali that