Frostborn: The Eightfold Knife Read Free Page A

Calliande. “Or, rather, I intend to follow Ridmark Arban there. The truth of my memory, I think, is tied to the return of the Frostborn. The Warden of Urd Morlemoch gave Ridmark warning of their return. My best hope of regaining my memory is…”
    “No!” For the first time the Watcher looked alarmed. “No. You must not go to Urd Morlemoch, Calliande. You must seek out Dragonfall.”
    “Then tell me,” said Calliande, “where it is.”
    “I cannot,” said the Watcher.
    Calliande felt herself scowling in frustration. “Why not?”
    “Because you have forbidden it of me,” said the Watcher. 
    “Then I shall seek out the answers myself,” said Calliande.
    “If you look in Urd Morlemoch for your answers, you will find more than you wanted,” said the Watcher. “Only destruction waits within those walls.”
    Her scowl deepened. “Then tell me who I am. Tell me why I did this to myself. Tell what Dragonfall is. For God’s sake, just tell me where it is!” 
    “I cannot!” said the Watcher, and she saw her frustration mirrored in his expression. “You forbade it.”
    “Then I will follow Ridmark to Urd Morlemoch,” said Calliande.
    The Watcher shook his head. “Folly. You follow him not because the dark elven ruin holds your answers. You follow him in admiration…”
    “Why not?” said Calliande. “He is a valiant man.”
    “He is a branded outcast from the Order of the Soulblade,” said the Watcher.
    “He saved Dun Licinia from Qazarl and the Mhalekites,” said Calliande.
    “And his pride brought about the death of his wife,” said the Watcher. “To follow him is folly, I say. Once again your heart runs before your head…”
    “Do not question me!” said Calliande. “Ridmark saved my life from Qazarl and his minions. He saved the men and women of Dun Licinia. And where was the Order of the Vigilant? If you were supposed to keep watch over me while I slept, you failed! If Ridmark had not come along, Vlazar would have slain me and trapped my power within Shadowbearer’s damned soulstone.”
    The Watcher bowed his head with a sigh, and Calliande felt a stab of guilt. 
    “You are right, mistress,” said the Watcher. “We were tasked to guard you as you slept, to remain vigilant against the return of the Frostborn, and we failed. Forgive me.”
    “No,” said Calliande. “There is nothing to forgive. You struggled valiantly. You left a warning for me.”
    “Thank you. Perhaps you are right to trust Ridmark Arban,” said the Watcher. “But going to Urd Morlemoch is madness. If you do…if you enter those ruins, the consequences will be terrible. You alone, Calliande, you alone stand between the return of the Frostborn and our world. If you perish, there will be no one left to stop them.”
    “Then I shall have to be careful, will I not?” said Calliande. “Tell me about the dangers of Urd Morlemoch. Or have I forbidden you to speak of that as well?”
    “You have not,” said the Watcher. “An undead dark eleven wizard of great power called the Warden rules Urd Morlemoch. For millennia he has thrown back every host that ever assailed the walls of Urd Morlemoch, whether high elven, dark elven, dwarven, orcish, or dvargirish. Not even the urdmordar could force him to submit. And if you go to his stronghold, you will put yourself in the grasp of this creature.”
    “Ridmark bested him once before,” said Calliande.
    “When I was still a living man,” said the Watcher, “the freeholders had a proverb. Lightning never strikes the same tree twice. Perhaps they still speak it.”
    “I will be careful,” said Calliande. “But if I am to find the truth, if I am to locate Dragonfall and my staff, then I must do so myself. That means I must take risks.”
    “I know,” said the Watcher with a sad smile. “Go with God, Calliande. I will aid you, if I can, though I have but little power. Be wary. There will be perils you cannot see. And beware of Shadowbearer. He will never stop