Broken World Book Four - The Staff of Law Read Free Page A

range’s white peaks scraped the clouds. Behind
him, golden grassland stretched to the stone forest they had left
behind, and to his left more woodland clothed the hills. He slid
from his sweating mount and waited for Chanter to come down from
his vigil in the sky. The Aggapae rubbed and brushed the exhausted
animals, soothing them with soft words and caressing hands. Thorn
seemed to be the least tired of the horses, possessing an awesome
stamina. Talsy huddled on the ground and hugged her knees, hiding
her strained, despairing expression. Kieran snorted in irritation
when the Mujar failed to land immediately, and went over to the
girl.
    “ How do you feel?” He squatted beside her.
    “ Like a wet rag that’s just been through a wringer.”
    “ Why doesn’t he do something more drastic? Can’t he see we’re
not going to make it?”
    Talsy raised
her head to gaze at him with hollow eyes. “You mean Chanter? Like
what?”
    “ He could destroy them with a flick of his damned
finger!”
    “ He doesn’t even have to flick a finger to do that, but he
won’t. You know he won’t kill.”
    “ They’re not alive!”
    Talsy shook
her head. “In a way they are. They have souls. If he destroys their
bodies, they’ll be trapped in pools of rock.”
    “ So what?” he demanded. “I did that to a whole bunch of them.
It’s no more than they deserve.”
    “ He won’t do it.”
    “ Then maybe I should. I could go back and burn them with the
sword.”
    “ There are too many,” she said, “and your horse is too tired.
You’d only end up dead.”
    “ If we don’t do something soon, we’re all going to end up
dead.”
    She pulled her
hair back and twisted it to keep it out of her face for a while.
“There are almost a thousand of them. How many do you think you can
kill before they get you?”
    “ Why doesn’t he put a wall around them, a permanent one, and
leave them inside it?”
    She shrugged
as a shadow passed over them. “Ask him.”
    The eagle
landed nearby, and Kieran turned away as the rush of wind that
accompanied Chanter’s transformation kicked up eddies of stinging
dust. His brows were knotted in a black scowl when he faced the
Mujar, and Chanter veered away from him like a wild creature
sensing danger.
    “ We can’t go on like this,” Kieran said. “You’ve got to do
something about those damned Riders.”
    “ What would you have me do?”
    “ I know you won’t kill them, but why won’t you trap them in a
circle of rock?”
    “ Trap them.” Chanter shuddered. “Like Mujar in the
Pits.”
    “ If you don’t, they’re going to catch us and kill
us.”
    The Mujar
turned to stare across the sun-gilded land, his eyes narrowed,
frowning.
    Kieran went
on, “You won’t be killing them, just locking them away, preventing
them from killing others. Once the Staff of Law is restored,
they’ll die anyway.”
    “ The wall will fall if I fly, and there’s much danger on the
land for me now.”
    “ Make it permanent.”
    “ Then they’ll never be free again.”
    “ What does it matter? Once the staff -”
    Chanter swung
to face him. “The staff cannot be restored. This quest is only at
Talsy’s Wish. They’ll remain within the wall until the land
crumbles. If the staff was restored, they would revert to Hashon
Jahar.”
    “ Then they’ll part the rock.”
    “ No. If I make it permanent, nothing can part it but
Mujar.”
    Kieran
gestured. “What does it matter? Return and free them then, if you
wish. At least it’ll give us a chance to escape.”
    “ Perhaps. But if I lock them away they’ll lose power and feed
off each other to survive. They need sustenance, diabolical though
they are. Without it they’ll grow weak.”
    “ How can you pity those things? They shouldn’t even exist! They
would drain you without a moment’s remorse if they caught
you.”
    “ Does that mean I should be like them?” Chanter glared at
Kieran, his eyes intense. “Compassion is the greatest of