The King's Ring (The Netherworld Gate Book 2) Read Free Page A

acquire them. He also foretold that he would find the cursed sword I told you about. I was foolish. I thought I could find you before Talon would strike.”
    “Can the Goresym still help?” Jaleal asked as he produced the magical stone.
    Phinean’s eyes regained their determination and he nodded. “Come, we have to find him. He will have gone back north, to Bluewater. It’s through the forest.”
    Jaleal leapt to his feet. Phinean started for the road but Jaleal grabbed him. “Why take the road, brother? We are gnomes!” Jaleal ran straight for the nearest tree, half-dragging Phinean behind him. Phinean pulled away at the last second and Jaleal slammed face-first into a great pine tree. His head rang sharply and he stood rigid for a second before falling back to his rump. He rubbed his head and groaned.
    “Why on Terra’s name would you do that?” Phinean asked as he rushed beside Jaleal.
    “Why?” Jaleal repeated sarcastically. “We’re gnomes. Why can’t I use the tree to travel?”
    “Travel with a tree?” Phinean asked.
    Jaleal shook off the ringing in his head and went back to the pine. “Not with the tree, through it,” he explained. He slapped the tree with his right palm and then pressed an ear to it. “I can hear its life force, but I cannot access it.”
    “What are you talking about?” Phinean asked.
    Jaleal turned back, his lips curled down into a frown and his brow knit together. “Haven’t you ever traveled through a tree? We use the roots and branches to speed our journey. It’s a very common thing for gnomes to do.”
    Phinean shook his head. “Maybe where you are from it is, but here no such thing is possible.”
    “What?” Jaleal turned back to the tree and tried to enter it again, albeit much slower than the first time. Again, the tree denied him access. “What evil is this?”
    Phinean stepped in close, shaking his head. “As I told you before. Magic is different here. We are about as far away from the Heart of Terramyr as one can get. The world’s energies do not extend as strongly to this area. I am afraid we will have to walk like everyone else.” Phinean then pointed to Jaleal’s spear. “If you are used to throwing that and recalling it through magic, then I suggest you buy a bow. If you throw it out here, you won’t be able to call it back.”
    “So, no magic works out here?” Jaleal asked in a whisper.
    Phinean shook his head. “That isn’t what I said. It’s just much harder. Imagine you lifted a stone that was ten pounds back in your home. It seems easy enough and you can do it anytime you wish. However, that same stone out here would weigh one hundred pounds, or maybe three times that. So, while magic is possible to perform out here, it takes a different kind of dedication and practice because everything is much more difficult to perform. For those of us who are of the Natural Races, the effects are even greater.”
    “You mean humans and elves could use magic with better effect than gnomes can out here? That can’t be just a matter of distance,” Jaleal posited.
    Phinean shook his head. “It isn’t. It is also a legacy from the Mage Wars. That is a history lesson we don’t have time for, however. Just trust me when I say that magic is much more difficult out here to perform. Those who can cast spells efficiently are rare, and they are very difficult to thwart if their hearts are set on destruction.”
    “So out here, a sorcerer would be very deadly,” Jaleal said.
    “Precisely. Though you may have a good command of magic back where you are from, the natural boost that Terramyr grants to her natural races like us gnomes doesn’t reach us in full. Those who have the gift out here are extremely well trained, and they are very, very cunning in their use of magic. Unless you have spent years practicing your spells under these more difficult circumstances, you would be unable to counter a wizard’s magic out here. Your healing spells will have little