The Quest for the Trilogy: Boneslicer; Seaspray; Deathwhisper Read Free

soon enough. But if you aren’t ready for them, they’ll destroy you.”
    That declaration set off another wave of hostility.
    An elf stood up in the front row. His two great wolves roused with him, growling fiercely as they stood with their forelegs on the arms of his chair and rose nearly to their master’s shoulders.
    He was an elven warder, marked by his green leathers, bow, and pointed ears as well as the animal companions he kept. His long hair was the color of poplar bark and stood out against the golden skin. Amethyst eyes glinted like stone. Thin and beautiful and arrogant, the elf leaned on his unstrung bow and gazed at the assembly.
    â€œQuiet,” he said. “I wish to hear what the halfer has to say.”
    A group of rough-hewn sailors stood up in the back. “We don’t take no orders ’cept from our cap’n, elf ,” one of their number said. He made the word a curse.
    The elf smiled lazily. “You’ll do well to take orders from me, human. Or at least not feel so emboldened in my presence. Your continued survival could count on that.”
    A dwarf stood up only a few feet from the elf. His gnarled hand held a battle-axe that was taller than he was. Scars marked his face and arms, offering testimony to a warrior’s life and not a miner’s. His fierce beard looked like the hide ripped from a bear but was stippled through with gray. “That’ll be enough threats, Oryn.”

    Still smiling casually, the elf turned to face the dwarf. “Really, Faldraak? You should know me well enough to know that I don’t make threats. I make promises.”
    â€œAn’ you don’t have sense enough to come in from the rain,” Faldraak accused. “Are you prepared to fight a crew of humans?”
    â€œI am,” Oryn replied. “The only question is whether or not I have to fight a dwarf as well.”
    Several other elves stood up. “Oryn won’t fight alone,” one of them promised.
    Armor clanking, a dozen dwarves flanked Faldraak.
    â€œFight!” someone in the back yelled. “There’s gonna be a fight between the elves and the dwarves!”
    Unable to bear it any longer, Juhg gave in to his anger. “ Stop! ” Amplified by the construction of the stage, his voice rang out over the assembly hall with shocking loudness. Before he knew it, he’d abandoned the lectern and stood at the stage’s edge.
    The crowd turned on Juhg at once, as if suddenly realizing their presence and the discomfort between them there was his entire fault.
    Too late, Juhg realized that he should have stayed behind the lectern. At least it would have offered some shelter against arrows and throwing knives. Still, his fear wasn’t enough to quiet the anger that moved within him.
    â€œLook at you!” he accused. “Ready to fight each other over a few harsh words!” He stood on trembling legs but found he couldn’t back away from his own fight with them. “Is this the kind of world you want to give each other? One where you have to fight each other instead of the goblinkin?”
    No one said anything. All eyes were upon him.
    â€œBecause that’s how it was before Lord Kharrion gathered the goblinkin tribes, you know,” Juhg said. “Before he came among them, they were wary and distrustful of each other. They preyed on each other, thieving and murdering among themselves because they didn’t like fighting humans, dwarves, or elves. But Kharrion taught them to work together. And they very nearly destroyed the world .”
    The audience stood quietly listening to Juhg for the first time in three days.
    â€œNow that the goblinkin aren’t the threat they used to be,” Juhg said, “maybe you can go back to killing each other over territory nobody wants or needs. Or to feel secure. Or over harsh words. Or any of other reasons people have found to go to war over since groups first