Ascension Read Online Free Page A

swords hanging from racks along the walls.
From what I hear, these weapons are used in abundance by the guards
who watch over the mines. There was also strong odor in the air,
which I attributed to the fact that the guards find themselves too
high of rank to share a latrine with us. They must have one dug
somewhere nearby. Sweeping the room with my eyes, it occurred to me
that the room was lit by candles as well. I looked for the telltale
crack in the wall, and saw just a faint blue glow coming through
the ceiling. I wondered if this was what the sun looked like, or if
I was seeing the moon. Puzzled, I dropped my hands and looked
around for a brighter light. As I turned to search, I saw a group
of men sitting around a table, all looking at me with wide eyes. I
took a few steps back into the shadow of the opening.
    “ Oy! What are you
doing in here? I thought this room was off limits to you
people. ” A large-bellied man about my
father ’ s age
spoke to me, his voice shaking me out of my startled
paralysis.
    “ I…I…I ’ m looking for the
messenger. ” I managed to form a complete
sentence with my suddenly heavy tongue.
    “ What would a
girl like you want with the messenger? Not a soul in Ahrenia would
dream of sending a message to a Nether, I can tell you that right
now. Go on and leave this room. ” The man
grumbled as he turned back around to face the table. Upon it were
small, rectangular pieces of paper, thicker than the scrolls my
father picked up for me, with small numbers and symbols on
them.
    A pale man at the
same table peered up at me with a familiar glint in his eyes, which
were shadowed by eyebrows thicker than the hair on his head. “ Hold on a moment, Gethro. Don ’ t be havin ’ her leave too quick, now. These
old card games are getting dull, and I ’ ve been achin ’ for some real entertainment for
a while now. Hey lassie, ” he mentioned me
over to him by opening his legs and patting his thigh, but my feet
remained planted in the ground, “ why
don ’ t you come
over here and join me? You could be my good luck
charm. ”
    “ Isaac, I would
quit running your mouth before you get ahead of yourself. What with
you being so drunk and all, I doubt you would get very far before
that alcohol gets the best of you. You ’ d just end up wasting
her. ”
    The men at the
table sniggered, and the man named Isaac stood angrily, looking
like he was about to fight, when he stumbled on his feet and
instead fell into the mat behind him in a sprawl, which only
heightened the men ’ s laughter.
    Hoping I could use the guards
current good humor to my advantage, I asked again.
    “ I need to speak
to the messenger. I believe I know something that may interest
him. ”
    This raised their attention. The
large man, Gethro, turned back around to face me, leaning his arm
against the back of his chair, one eyebrow raised.
    “ Is that so? Why
don ’ t you tell
us and we will decide for ourselves. ”
    With that, I stepped further into
the room and into the candlelight. I felt the energy in the air
shift as I came into view, the candlelight flickering across my
face, illuminating that which I had been forced to hide for so
long.
    “ I ’ ve come to ask for evaluation.
If the messenger sees me fit, I wish to offer my services to the
King and work on the surface. ”
    Gethro stood from
his chair and walked towards me. “ Alright. You say you want to see the messenger? Fine.
I ’ ll take you
to the messenger. ” He grabbed me by the
arm and roughly directed me towards another opening on the left
side of the room. Pushing aside the curtain, he shoved me in front
of him and into the room.
    The room was much
darker than the one we had just left, and it took a few seconds for
my eyes to adjust until I could make out the man at the end of the
room. The tall, well-dressed man I assumed to be the
King ’ s
messenger was writing on a scroll at his table. He was much younger
than I thought he would be, only a few years