A Memory of Fire (The Dragon War, Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

rolled. Blasts tore the door open, and
outside, he saw them. Men torn apart. Limbs and heads severed. Men
screaming, clutching at spilling entrails and stubs. Beras the Brute
swinging his axe at Erry, and so much blood, and—
    No. Leresy growled and blasted flames down into the water. No more memories. No more pain.
    His heart thrashed, and he
wondered if Erry was right. Why did he need to return? Why not
leave Requiem—all that fire and pain—behind?
    Or course, he knew the answer.
    I've
left Requiem. But she did not leave me. She will not until I can
return and slay those ghosts.
    He looked over at Erry who flew
beside him, grumbling and muttering to herself. He didn't want to
leave her. He didn't want to lose her. She was the only good thing
he had left, but the ghosts of his pain tainted her too. When he
looked at her, he still saw Beras with his axe.
    So
I will slay those ghosts, he
swore, flames crackling inside him. For us.
    They
flew until they saw a group of islets ahead, a dozen or more rising
like a spine ridge, leafy with palms. The two dragons made their way
forward, and Leresy lowered his altitude.
    "I told you," Erry
said, "damn too many islands here. How are you going to find
the right one?"
    He glided toward the first
island. "Well, Bantis said he was digging, so we find the
island with the big hole."
    The first island he flew over
seemed a poor candidate—nothing but palm trees upon a cliff. The
second was barren, a mere pile of mossy rocks. He had flown over ten
islands, and his wings were aching with weariness, when he saw the
distant patch of green.
    "There's another one there,
farther off," he said. "Erry, come on."
    She panted. "Can't we land
on one of these? My wings hurt more than a mare in heat locked up
with stallions."
    "We'll rest once we find
what we seek."
    His own wings ached, and every
breath felt like a saw in his lungs, but he forced himself onward.
The sea streamed below. The distant islet lay miles away from the
others, an isolated rock no larger a humble house. When he flew
above, he twisted his jaw into a grin.
    "Here we are. Genesis
Isle."
    A rocky hill rose upon the
island. A hole had been blasted into the hillside, forming a cave.
Rocks and dust littered the slope. Leresy glided down and landed
upon the shore.
    Erry landed beside him, shifted
back into a human, and plopped herself down onto the sand. She lay
back, closed her eyes, and let the waves wet her toes.
    "Bloody stars, I'm tired.
I'm going to lie here while you go searching for your toy."
    He
shifted back too, reached down, and grabbed her hands. "You're
searching with me. We'll lie on the sand later. Both of us."
    She gave him a sidelong look.
"Oh you'd like that, wouldn't you? Bet you're after another
treasure here. An island all to ourselves..." She reached down
to his breeches, teased him with a caress, then slapped his face.
"But since you tossed away my conch, no treasure for you today."
    He sighed, grabbed her wrist,
and pulled her after him. "Help me dig."
    She growled and cussed but
followed. They climbed the hillside between boulders and fallen
trees. Items lay strewn across the slope, gray with dust. Leresy
saw a wheeled cannon, a few shovels, and barrels of gunpowder.
    "Hello, what are you then?"
he said and leaned down by a fallen tree.
    He lifted a shaft of sanded wood
the length of a sword. A metal pipe was mounted upon it. A trigger,
like that of a crossbow, fit his finger.
    "Is this your secret
weapon?" Erry said. She leaned down and lifted another one of
the contraptions. "What is it? It looks like a crossbow, just
without the bow."
    Leresy hefted the device,
sniffed at it, smelled gunpowder, and smiled.
    "Very nice," he said
and caressed the wood. "Very good work that Bantis did."
    Erry glowered, holding her own
shaft. "Leresy, are you going to tell me what this is?"
    He pointed the muzzle at her.
"Can't you see? It's a hand cannon."
    She glowered and shoved the
barrel aside. "Well, don't point