The Kallanon Scales Read Free

errand, I need more. Spit it out, or get out.”
    Vannis
straightened in his seat. Quilla stood behind it, marginally taller
than the backrest. Dread settled cold in Torrullin’s stomach.
    The Valleur
kept his voice low. “This information speaks of a twenty-five year
anniversary, and it could be sheer coincidence, granted.” Vannis
raised a hand when Torrullin snorted. “There is something else and
this cannot be. I speak of a blue and green sword.”
    Torrullin’s
chair toppled. He leaned over the desk. “Where?”
    “Not actual
blades. On paper, in black ink.”
    “How long have
you known this?”
    “Since this
morning. We came directly to you,” Quilla said.
    “Torrullin,
say no more on it. Go to Kylan,” Vannis added.
    Gods, the
future sat hot and heavy on his doorstep. Alarming and welcome
simultaneously, for the present could not be borne in current
guise.
    “He is at the
Well,” Quilla murmured.
    “Shall we?”
Torrullin vanished.
     
     
    The Great
Forest
     
    During the time
of Margus, the Well of Crystal Sound was a place of meet and
strength.
    The water
rejuvenated, concealed from evil. Kylan built his and Kisha’s home
on the edge of the clearing. Young when they fought alongside
Torrullin, the childless couple were now middle-aged.
    Torrullin
arrived alongside the Well to find them seated at a table near
their rustic home. He dipped his hands in the water, feeling the
frisson of corrections, and gazed around.
    There the old
grave, covered with forest flowers, the mortal remains of gruff
McSee. There he, Aven, McSee and Lycea exited the Forest that first
night, the start of the game of Universe.
    He shook it
away. Memories like that invariably led to the Pillars of Fire.
    Strolling nearer, he still found it strange to see them age
while he was not a wrinkle older. Many
lives I have had, and now it is different. These are true friends,
and one cannot bear the thought of losing them.
    “Kisha,
Kylan.”
    They looked
up. Kisha’s blond hair was paler, her face showed laugh lines, and
it was lovely. Kylan’s hair was streaked with grey, but his green
eyes were undimmed.
    Kylan said,
“Welcome. It’s been a while.” He gestured to an empty seat.
    “Forgive me, I
have meant to come.”
    “Don’t fret,
we understand.” Kisha crinkled her attractive eyes at him and
fetched a pitcher from the patio.
    The Herbmaster
was serious. “We’re both sorry about you and Saska.”
    “Thank
you.”
    Kisha rejoined
them and poured three glasses of iced tea, saying, “There is a
storm brewing and I’ll be glad when it breaks, this heat drives me
crazy.”
    Torrullin
wondered where Vannis and Quilla were, and realised they would come
when he called. “Tell me.”
    Kylan cleared
his throat. “I understand now. There is pain and loss in our past
and you felt I didn’t need this also.” Torrullin nodded. “Once I
knew it was murder, I wanted to know why, and Kisha agreed with
me.” He held his hand out and she took it.
    Torrullin’s
heart constricted.
    “We turned the
old Mantle archives upside down and then moved on to the Society of
Sorcerers. There is not much we haven’t paged through, and what a
wealth of information, despite floods and fires. Kisha found a
letter from my mother Merle to Thane, the one who was your
predecessor at the Mantle, the one who went on sabbatical.”
    “And stole the
Medaillon.”
    “Yes, him.
This letter was dated when Thane was still in Galilan. My mother
feared for my father’s life because he found something dangerous
not only to the Mantle, but also to Valaris. There was another
letter six months later in which she explained my father Cressel
had a map and a key, but she scratched out the word ‘key’ and
replaced it with ‘talisman’, and there had been another attempt on
his life .”
    “Where was she
writing from?”
    “Farinwood.”
    “Before you
were born?”
    “The first
letter, yes, but by the second I was three months old.”
    “Around the
time