Dawn of the Dreamsmith (The Raven's Tale Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

felt lost.”
    Brother Merryl listened, keeping his face carefully blank. He still recalled the first time they had sat a number of the novices and initiates, Cole among them, in front of the crystals to observe the results. A few of the other boys had suffered mild headaches. Cole, however, had remained unresponsive for over an hour. He was being carried to the infirmary by two concerned Brothers when he had finally woken.
    “Each time, it gets easier,” the boy continued. “I’m still in the fog, but I know the way now. It is just... tiring,” he finished.
    Brother Merryl smiled and patted the boy’s arm kindly. “If you are well, then we should not keep the elder waiting.”
    They rose and made their way to the keep’s solar. Unlike the climb to the garret, it was a walk that Brother Merryl did not mind. On the west wall of the keep stood a wrought iron gate, beyond which was a bridge, almost a hundred yards in length. At the end of the bridge was a tiny islet, little more than a column of rock that half a hundred men, linking hands, could comfortably encircle. Perched atop this column, assailed on all sides by the sea, stood the Crag’s solar.
    They passed through the gateway, which was habitually left raised when Elder Tobias was in residence. Beyond, the sound of the waves grew louder. They walked in silence, content to gaze upon the vista all around them. Before them the sun sank lazily towards the horizon, leaving behind it a sky of vivid reds and oranges edged with pale violet. The sunset was reflected by the sea far below and Brother Merryl felt as though he had stepped into an oil painting. The sky always seemed much bigger here than on the mainland. He felt the salt tang of the ocean air and breathed it in deeply.
    Across the bridge was the solar, a circle of flagstones hemmed by slender columns as tall as two men. Wooden trellises connected these, and dozens of sea-orchids had been trained to grow along them and down the columns. The bright red, gold and purple blooms perfectly complemented the sky around them. There was no roof of any kind.
    They passed through a small archway leading to the solar. Behind a table carved from a single slab of stone sat a middle-aged man wearing the pale robes of an elder. Before him, a stack of papers sat on the tabletop, secured by a small lead weight. As they approached, he stood and gazed out across the sunset.
    Cole opened his mouth to speak, but Brother Merryl shook his head. In silence, they waited as the sun slowly fell past the line of the ocean, and the sky around them darkened.
    Elder Tobias sighed, then turned and seated himself behind the desk once more. Two servants appeared from behind them and busied themselves lighting torches attached to several of the columns.
    “For twenty years I have served the Order as the head of this college, and that is a sight I have yet to tire of,” said the elder at last.
    Brother Merryl bowed his head in a gesture of assent. “It is truly a wonder to behold.”
    “Stelys, a tiny island a league west of the westernmost shore of the realm,” the elder continued. “And west of that, an even smaller rock, too insignificant in size to merit a name of its own. Beyond us, nothing. Here we sit, three men at the edge of the known world, the last men in the Empire to see this day.” He smiled sadly and stared off into the distance. “It is something to think upon.”
    After a moment, when nothing further was said, Cole coughed impatiently.
    Elder Tobias frowned. “To the matter at hand, then,” he said gruffly, searching among the papers stacked upon the desk. With a satisfied sound he found the parchment he was looking for, and reached across to hand it to Brother Merryl.
    “Do you recognise the seal?” Brother Merryl leaned across to examine the emblem pressed into the blob of wax on the back of the bone-white paper. Then his eyes widened and he nodded. “Read.” As the old man’s eyes scanned the closely written