Legacies Read Online Free

Legacies
Book: Legacies Read Online Free
Author: L. E. Modesitt Jr.
Pages:
Go to
finally spoke. “Here we are—the old road. Don’t have to worry about sinkholes, washouts…and it’s a smoother ride.” Once he had the wagon headed south on the gray stone road, Royalt shifted his weight in the seat and smiled. “Good roads. Have to admit the ancients built good roads.”
    The ever-present red dust had drifted into piles beside the road, now dampened by the mist, and in places, encroached slightly on the gray stones that, even when scratched or cut—and that was hard to do—showed no trace of damage by the next day. The road ran straight as a rifle barrel from north to south between Soulend and Iron Stem. That much Alucius knew. He also knew that not many people lived in Soulend, and that it was much colder than in Iron Stem or in any of the more southern Iron Valleys.
    The boy glanced back over his shoulder. The clouds had lifted some, and the mist-blurred Aerlal Plateau scarcely looked any smaller or any farther away, even after two vingts of travel. If the clouds did not descend again, the plateau would look almost the same from Iron Stem, he knew. His eyes went to the empty gray stone road ahead.
    â€œThis is a good road, isn’t it, Grandfather?”
    â€œThat it is, lad.”
    â€œNot many people travel it.”
    â€œWhen it was built, back before the dark days, there were more people in the world, and it was a road many people traveled.”
    â€œThe dark days were a long time ago,” Alucius pointed out, hoping that his grandsire would offer more than his usually clipped explanation.
    â€œThat they were.” Royalt paused, glancing sideways at the boy. “So long ago and so terrible that we can’t count exactly the years.” He paused again. “They were dark years, because everything changed. Some of the legends say they were dark because the sun did not shine for a year. Others said that was because the Duarchy ran dark with the blood of men and women who fought demons from beyond the skies. Still others claimed that those days were so terrible that no one will ever know what happened except those who died or lived through them.” He cleared his throat once more before continuing. “Life changed. We know that. Iron Stem—do you know where the name came from?”
    â€œFrom the iron mines and the mill, you said. That’s all you said.”
    â€œIron Stem had the mines and the big mill, and the mill used to make iron ingots as big as a man, and they put them on huge wagons and drove them down to Dekhron and put them on barges. The barges carried the iron to Faitel, and the artisans and engineers there formed the iron into tools and weapons and beams that held up buildings all over the Duarchy.”
    â€œAn iron ingot as big as a man?”
    Royalt nodded. “Some were bigger than that. I saw one, when I wasn’t much older than you. They found a stack of them, buried under clay, coated in wax or something. Looked as if they’d been formed maybe a year before.” He laughed. “Took a double team to move each one. Sold them to the Lanachronans. Town had golds for years.”
    â€œWhat happened? Why did the mill stop?”
    â€œThe weather changed. That’s what they say. Some say the soarers did it. Whatever caused it…it takes lots of water to make iron, and it stopped raining. We used to have forests here, like the big trees on the river. You have to have rain for that. People needed the trees and cut them, but new trees didn’t grow. It was too dry. The air got bad in the coal mines, and then there were creatures there, like black sanders…” Royal shrugged. “No coal, no water…and for a long time, no one needed much iron. So many people died everywhere that there were tools and weapons enough for anyone left.”
    â€œThat’s sad,” Alucius said.
    â€œWell…we wouldn’t be herders if it hadn’t changed,” Royalt pointed
Go to

Readers choose

Ben Elton

Alan Garner

Ryan McIlvain

Polly Samson

Heather Rose Jones

Rebecca Hart

Shayne Leighton