Broken World Book Two - StarSword Read Free Page B

he powered
into the deeper darkness with sleek flukes.
    On the ocean
floor, he found the black object he searched for and picked it up.
Here it was darker than the blackest night, and he might as well
have been blind for all the good his eyes did him. Yet he knew what
the thing was and sensed it, swam to it and grasped it. He did not
pause to ponder the mystery of this, but headed for the surface.
When the distant glimmer of blue told him that the world of sun and
air was close, he changed his shape again, removing the black thing
from his mouth now that he had hands. He continued to rise, the
world that he was about to enter alien after such close contact
with a denizen of the sea. The dark shape of the food beast hung
above him, and a flotilla of predators glided amongst its many
tendrils, nibbling the submerged fronds.
     
    Talsy looked
around at a splash beside the food beast, and her heart pounded as
Chanter emerged from the sea. He threw something black onto the
shore, then drew in a great breath. As lithe as a seal, he hauled
himself out and flopped down, rolled onto his back and clamped a
hand over his eyes. She glanced at Kieran, who stared at the Mujar
with a mixture of shame and anguish. She crept closer to the
motionless Mujar, but some instinct warned her not to touch him,
and instead she murmured his name.
    Chanter's neck
muscles jerked as if someone had thrust a needle into his ear, and
he turned his face away, keeping his eyes covered. Talsy retreated,
dragging Kieran with her. Out of earshot, she turned to him.
    "Best to leave
him."
    "What's wrong
with him?"
    She shook her
head. "I don't know. He was down there a long time. Who knows what
he went through?"
    The warrior
looked doubtful, then glanced around. "What did he throw?"
    Half an hour of
searching amongst the fronds found the object that Chanter had
flung onto the food beast's back, and Kieran stared at it in
amazement.
    "My sword! God,
he went to the bottom of the ocean."
    Talsy shook her
head in wonder as Kieran wiped a thin film of grey mud from the
blade, awestruck by the depths Chanter had plumbed to find the
weapon.
    "Why did he
bring it back?" Kieran asked.
    Talsy could
only shake her head again, and they walked back to where Chanter
lay. Talsy's worry grew, and she crept closer again, whispering his
name. The Mujar turned his head, shading his eyes with the hand
that had covered them. Although he responded to his name as if
forced to by some strange compulsion, his expression was blank and
peaceful, as emotionless as a mask.
    "Are you all
right?" she murmured.
    Chanter closed
his eyes again, and she retreated, pushing Kieran away. They sat in
the sun and watched him. Talsy bit her lip and Kieran wiped the
sword until it was spotless. Two hours passed before the Mujar sat
up as if the effort taxed him greatly. Uncovering his eyes, he
narrowed them to slits against the sunset's gentle golden rays.
Talsy smiled, but he turned away, rose and walked back to the ship.
The chosen shrank from his blank eyes, and, as soon as Talsy and
Kieran had joined him on the deck, the ship moved away from the
massive multi-coloured beast and sailed west again.
    The sun sank
into the sea before them, trailing fingers of deep crimson across
the darkening sky as the dwindling light followed it to its resting
place beneath the waves. Talsy looked back at the food beast
slumbering in its bed of water like a lily pad on a pond. The
fronds that rose like tiny trees gave off an eerie glow. Colours
crept through them, changed their patterns and painted new ones.
What must it be like to do nothing but drift and bask and soak up
goodness from the sea? To be nibbled painlessly by predators, like
a mother feeding her young? Did they think? Did they dream and
speak to each other? Why would such a languorous beast even need a
mind? She pondered the strange beauty of this world until the
darkness behind them swallowed the giant beast.
     
    Chanter spent
the night sitting on the