Dark Sun: Prism Pentad 4 - Obsidian Oracle Read Online Free PDF

his
     harbinger and let it dissolve, transferring his consciousness into Tithian's form. ' As
     Agis watched, Tithian became a young boy of no more than six or seven, with short-cropped
     auburn hair. His squarish ears stuck out from the sides of his head like half-opened
     hinges, and his hawkish nose seemed much too large for his small head. He had one hand
     raised as if an adult were holding it.
    “This is Agis,” said a man's voice, which the noble dimly recognized as that of Tithian's
     father. “You and he are going to be friends.”
    Young Tithian ran his eyes up and down, as if inspecting a doll, then he scowled. “Father,
     if you can't afford the best, I don't want a friend.”
    The image aged a decade. Now, Tithian was a young man, with a somber brow that always
     seemed furrowed in anger, wearing his hair in a long braided tail. He was dressed in the
     gray robe that he and Agis had worn as novices when they had studied the Way at the same
     academy. His eyes were glazed with exhaustion and pain from a particularly rigorous lesson
     with their master.
    “I don't know what happened, Agis,” said Tithian. “When the agony became more than I could
     bear, I thought of how well you were doing. Then my pain just vanished. Honestly, I didn't
     know I was transferring it to you!”
    Again the image aged, this time only a couple of years. Tithian was wearing the red robe
     of a midlevel student. In his hand was a spiny faro branch, a symbol of passage to denote
     that he had succeeded at an important test of his abilities. “You're my best friend, Agis.
     Of course I shifted some of my pain to you,” he said. “Besides, it's not really cheating.
     After all, we didn't get caught.”
    The image continued to age, showing a constant stream of the king's earlier years. Tithian
     appeared in the black cassock of a king's templar, denying that he had been responsible
     for the murder of his own brother. Later, wearing the gilded robes of a high templar, he
     came to Agis's estate under the pretext of friendship-only to confiscate the noble's
     strongest field slaves. Another time, Tithian admitted, without any trace of shame, that
     he had been using Agis's most trusted servant to spy upon the noble.
    After this last scene, Fylo separated from the figure of Tithian, forming a new construct
     that resembled his own body. “No!” he bellowed, swinging a huge fist at the object of his
     anger. “Tithian liar!”
    The blow knocked the king's image to the ground. Fylo began to kick and trample it,
     apparently determined to destroy the memory altogether.
    “Wait!” Agis cried, through his construct's break. “I need that!”
    Still in the form of a falcon, Agis quickly returned to the king's figure and merged with
     it. He allowed Tithian to melt into the cracks between the cobblestones, then raised
     another construct shaped like himself.
    “Do you believe me now, Fylo?”
    The giant did not answer. Instead, his harbinger turned away and began to walk across the
     deserted plaza. With each step, he grew more translucent, and vanished completely after a
     dozen paces.
    Agis barely had time to turn his attention outward before he felt himself being plunked
     onto his kank's. back. “Go!” boomed the giant, raising his legs to let the noble pass.
     “Leave Fylo alone.”
    Agis urged his mount forward. Once he was safely out of reach, he stopped and looked back.
     “Fylo, don't be so glum,” he called. “Tithian's fellowship was false, but you have a good
     heart. Someday you'll find a true friend.”
    “No,” the giant replied. He gestured at his homely face. “Fylo half-breed. Too ugly for
     father's tribe, too dumb for mother's tribe.”
    “You may not be handsome, but I'd say you're far from dumb,” said Agis. “You recognized
     your mistake with Tithian. That's pretty smart.”
    This seemed to cheer the giant. A thoughtful look came over his face, then he fixed his