Of Shadows and Dragons Read Online Free

suggest, then?”
    “We shall arm-wrestle. I shall break you as I break a pig that escapes the pen.”
    Therian wrinkled his nose. “I thought I had detected… something.”
    The man’s face darkened further. “We shall do it right here. All shall see.”
    Therian hesitated. Gruum watched his master with interest. This was not the situation Therian had been seeking. Gruum felt sure the King wanted to lead Fareg off to an alleyway and steal his soul.
    “Gruum, if you would be so kind as to remove yourself,” Therian said.
    Gruum jumped up and stepped out of the way. Fareg took his seat. Therian and he now faced one another, with a corner of the table between them.
    “Here, here,” said another of the patrons nearby. “I came to gamble, not to watch two ruffians grunt at one another.”
    “Perhaps then,” ventured Gruum, “You would like to make a small wager with me sir?”
    The man turned a hostile eye toward Gruum. Both knew full well Gruum would be betting with the man’s own gold.
    “All right,” said the patron at last.
    As Therian and Fareg faced off, the crowded laughed at the thinness of Therian’s arms. Others whispered that Hyboreans had a strange source of strength. Betting began, and soon grew into a firestorm of wagers. Gruum took many bets, gambling on Therian, but they would not let him hold the money. The porter at the door was given the task.
    The contest began, and everyone was shocked to see Therian did not lose instantly. The Hyborean struggled and trembled. His arm looked like a stick in the paw of a forest bear. A second round of betting commenced, at which point Gruum began to dig deeply into the gold he had worked all evening to win.
    When he had put out as much as he dared, he gave Therian a small nod. The King suddenly snapped his arm forward, forcing Fareg’s bulging muscles back.
    “NO!” roared Fareg, throwing his bulk into it. He grunted and strained and caught the smaller man’s onslaught. The two teetered for several seconds. Everyone stared in disbelief.
    Then something cracked . For a moment, Gruum thought it was the sound of the table beneath the two straining men—that it had somehow given way. But then Fareg howled, and Gruum knew the truth.
    Fareg stood, swaying. His arm hung down at an impossible angle. It was broken at the wrist. Gray-white bone shone through wetly. Blood came up in scarlet bubbles.
    “His flesh is not flesh—it is steel,” said Fareg.
    Gruum swept the room with his eyes. He met many hostile stares. The others might be too gentlemanly to come at them now—or perhaps not gentlemanly enough. They would send their men after them in a steaming alley, or in the deep of night while they lay in their beds.
    Therian stood and nodded cordially to Fareg, who nursed his arm. Fareg did not blubber, but tears ran down the big man’s face.
    Gruum, as always, had an excellent sense of timing in matters of exiting an establishment. He was already at the porter’s side, collecting his vast winnings and his weapons. Therian followed him out into the cold night a long minute later.
    Therian turned his face up to the sky. “It’s snowing.”
    Light flakes were coming down now, and the wind was picking up. Soon the cold night would howl and each flake would sting their faces.
    “We’d best be going, sire,” whispered Gruum. He carried a heavy sack full of coins. He was very aware of the many eyes that looked out of the Counting House after them with displeasure.
    “We are going.”
    “Quickly, sire,” insisted Gruum as Therian adjusted the clasp of his cloak just so.
    “They have fear in them now, Gruum,” Therian said. “It is better not to show a growling dog that you even acknowledge its presence.”
    Exasperated and casting frequent glances over his shoulder, Gruum followed his master, who strolled at a leisurely pace down the quiet street. The snow began to fill the cracks between the cobbles until it resembled white grout.
    Gruum relaxed