Broken World Book Two - StarSword Read Free

have."
    Kieran stared
at her, shaking his head. "The gods of this world? What are you
talking about?"
    Since Chanter
had told her to explain it to Kieran, she sat down and patted the
space beside her.

 
     
    Chapter Two
     
    Chanter swam
down into the cool depths, retaining his man form and sweeping the
water with powerful strokes of his arms. The predator's soft
whimpering cries guided him to it, while the food beast's deep
moans of sympathy carried through the water like a giant organ's
deepest note. These creatures lived in harmony, shared the same
language and were guided by the same laws. The food beast shared
the predator's pain and groaned with mammoth anguish. The Truemen
beasts were beautiful and swift, their shapes a pleasure to take
on, but the creatures of this world were as much his brothers as
they were each other's, and had a different kind of enchantment
about them. The magic of the harmless, the wonder of the gentle,
fearless and fragile.
    Finding that he
was not catching up with the sinking predator, Chanter took on the
sleek powerful form of a dolphin. He powered downwards, and soon
the predator came into sight, a vaguely ray-shaped beast with vast
filmy wings streaked with the many colours that marked all the
creatures of this world. Others gathered around it, whimpering in
sympathy as the food beast high above gave voice to deep moans.
Reaching it, he changed back to man form and slid his arms around
the silky, bulbous body, filled with joy as a mind-link formed
between them. His rapport with a brother of this world was far
stronger than with any of the engineered beasts given to the Lowmen
savages.
    The predator
gave its name in a rush of sweet emotion, a calling so pure and
poignant that no word could contain it. A spasm of its pain swept
through Chanter as it opened its mind to him, then the predator's
concern for his sanity stemmed it. He drifted with it as the blue
depths grew darker, the predator transfixed by the pain. Chanter
rubbed his cheek against its silken skin, caressing its perfect
curves as he sought to gain the knowledge necessary to heal it. His
mind was filled with God-given knowledge about Lowman beasts, so he
could take on their form, but about his kin, whose shape he was
forbidden to wear, he knew almost nothing.
    An intricate
pattern ridged the predator's skin, so slight that only his
sensitive fingertips could detect it. The pattern held a key, a
simple repeated convolution that guided the beast's life force
along it like tiny shocks of Crayash, sparkles of power that warmed
its skin and fended off the deep's cold. The wound had disrupted
this circle of warmth, and it leaked away from the torn edges. As
they sank deeper into the dark depths, he was able to discern the
flickering sparkles that travelled over the beast's skin, and
decode the pattern unique to this animal. The creature twitched
with pain that shot through Chanter as well, so closely was he
linked to it now. Sparked by the pain, a million glimmers passed
along the predator's skin and flashed out to the vast wings in a
display of subdued shining beauty that filled in the missing spaces
of gossamer skin so thin they were invisible in the sea.
    Invoking
Shissar, he strived to heal the wound that the warrior's black
sword had inflicted, convulsing as he shared the predator's
suffering. The beast's pure emotion rinsed his mind and washed away
the harshness of Lowmen's cruelties, bringing back the blessed
simplicity of this world. The injury healed slowly, not such a
simple thing to cure as Lowmen's flesh, or his own, which mirrored
theirs. The predator's metabolism was alien, reminding him of what
he had lost by becoming so like the Lowmen and their beasts. The
sword had slashed fragile skin and pierced tender flesh, torn a
million gossamer nerves and damaged countless tiny organs.
    The wound would
be fatal unless he could heal it. The predator lacked any natural
ability to heal, in a world where nothing should have harmed