Abuud: the One-Eyed God Read Online Free PDF Page A

the lure of the dark side?" Tanya suddenly asked Jenneva.
    "There is no lure of the dark side for me," Jenneva answered. "My Master, Egam, warned me of the lure before I started to study dark magic, but I have never experienced any desire to exert my will over innocents."
    "You mean that you actually studied the dark arts?" questioned Tanya.
    "Oh yes," nodded Jenneva. "They are very powerful, but they also give me an unclean feeling when I use them. It is that feeling that convinces me that I will never succumb to the dark side. I derive no pleasure from using those skills, but my knowledge of them is important to me. It enables me to understand the threats that I might face from those who do use them."
    "My tutor would not even think of teaching me the dark skills," murmured Tanya. "He has fears of people learning them."
    "Interesting," Jenneva replied. "I would like to meet your tutor some day. What is his name?"
    "They are moving the siege engines forward!" Tanya exclaimed.
    Jenneva spun and stared out over the plain. "The siege engines must be stopped," she declared as huge fireballs were tossed by the catapults towards the wall around Tice.
    Jenneva's brow furrowed as she concentrated on her spell. Her arms rose before her as if that would help direct the spell. Suddenly the ground in the center of the plain trembled. Goblins stumbled and struggled to remain erect as the trembling grew in intensity. As the ground rippled, the large moveable towers started toppling over. The towers smashed to the ground and goblins were thrown from their hiding places within.
    As Jenneva turned her attention to the battering rams, she stole a glance at Tanya to see her reaction and was surprised to see the young magician's eyes closed in concentration. As Jenneva looked back at the plain she saw a tremendous dark cloud hovering over the catapults. The cloud erupted into a tremendous downpour as massive amounts of water showered down upon the burning fires around the catapults. Smiling inwardly, Jenneva sent bolts of lighting streaking down into the battering rams. The rams literally exploded, sending shards of wood into the goblins around them.
    "That was an excellent choice," Jenneva said softly. "It made my lightning bolts almost natural."
    Jenneva turned her attention to the southern end of the plain as the goblins in the center swarmed around the remains of the siege engines. The ground at the southern end of the plain began to tremble, but not as it had near the siege engines. This time the ground started to ripple as waves upon the sea. The ripples started out small at the far end of the plain and traveled northward. The waves grew as they traveled and then suddenly died as they approached the center of the plain. Goblins began falling to the ground and scrambling towards the siege engines when they could regain their footing. Some started running towards the forest for protection and Jenneva grumbled.
    "I will take care of them," offered Tanya.
    Jenneva merely nodded as she maintained her concentration on the rippling spell. She smiled to herself as large trees started magically falling from the leading edge of the forest wherever goblins were heading towards the woods. The goblins that had planned on seeking sanctuary in the forest turned and ran northward. Jenneva slowly increased the height of the waves and the goblins on the southern end of the plain fled northward.
    "Time to extend the distance the waves travel," suggested Tanya.
    "Yes," nodded Jenneva. "Some are charging towards Tice. Can you keep them away from the walls?"
    "I can," answered Tanya as she murmured something under her breath.
    Small whirlwinds sprouted outside the walls of Tice. The whirlwinds grew in size and intensity as the goblins approached. By the time the first goblins neared the walls of Tice, the whirlwinds had grown into raging tornados. The large black funnels sucked up anything in the strip before the walls and as the tornados grew in size the size