Deathwing Read Online Free PDF

Perhaps
     I
     was
     so filled with terror that
     I thought
     of nothing.
     I know that
     I was frozen in place, while Silver Elk turned
     and
     ran.
    "If I had
     been
     afraid before, imagine how I felt when I saw that
     great,
     winged shape
     in
     the
     distance
     and
     heard
     the
     roar of the
     approaching
     thunderbird.
     Picture my horror when I saw it was Deathwing itself, steed
     of the
     Emperor. chooser
     of the
     slain, Winged
     Hunting
     Skeleton.
    "I bitterly regretted
     my folly. I could
     not
     move to save
     myself, and
     waited for Deathwing to strike me with its
     claws
     and release
     my spirit
    "I was surprised
     when the
     thunderbird
     stooped
     to
     earth
     in
     front
     of
     me
     and ceased
     its
     angry
     roaring.
     Still.
     I
     could
     not run. Its
     beak
     gaped,
     disgorging
     the
     massive,
     black-armoured
     forms
     of
     the
     chosen
     dead.
     On
     each
     shoulder,
     they
     bore the
     sign
     of the
     winged blade.
    "I knew then
     that
     I was in the
     realm of spirits,
     for Hawk Talon,
     my
     grandfather's
     grandfather,
     stood
     among
     them.
     I
     had seen
     his face carved
     on the
     roof pole of our family lodge. He looked old and
     grey
     and
     tired,
     but
     there
     was
     still
     a
     family resemblance.
    'To see
     a face so
     familiar and
     so strange
     in that
     dreadful place was somehow reassuring.
     It enabled
     me
     to
     overcome
     my fear. Filled with wonder, I walked forward
     till
     I
     stood
     before
     him:
     that
     terrible,
     grizzled
     old
     man
     whose
     face
     was
     so
     like my own.
    "For a long
     time,
     he
     simply
     stared
     at
     me.
     Then
     he
     smiled
     and started
     to
     laugh.
     He
     clasped
     me
     to
     his
     armoured
     breast and
     shouted
     that
     it was a fortunate
     homecoming. He seemed just
     as
     pleased
     to see
     me as
     I was to see
     him."
    Cloud
     Runner paused,
     comparing
     his ancestor's
     return
     to
     his
     own.
     There
     was
     no
     laughter
     here
     as
     there
     had
     been among those
     Marines
     long ago. He understood
     now how glad the
     old man had
     been
     to see
     a familiar face.
     He
     was
     glad that
     Hawk Talon wasn't
     here now to see
     the destruction
     of their people.
    "Of course,
     I was overwhelmed, standing
     among these
     legendary
     warriors,
     speaking
     with
     my
     ancient
     blood-relative.
     I knew they
     had
     returned
     to choose
     their successors
     in
     the
     Emperor's
     service,
     and
     forgetting
     everything
     else,
     I begged to be allowed to join them.
    "The
     old man looked at me and
     asked
     me whether
     I had
     any
     reason
     to stay
     or
     any
     reason
     to
     regret
     going.
     I
     thought
     of Running
     Deer, and
     I hesitated,
     but
     I
     was
     a
     callow
     youth.
     Visions
     of
     glory
     and
     the
     wonders beyond
     the
     sky
     filled
     me. What
     did
     I
     truly
     know
     of
     life?
     I
     was
     being
     called
     on
     to
     make
     a
     choice
     that
     I
     would
     have
     to
     live
     with
     for
     centuries, although
     I did not
     know it.
    "My ancestor
     did.
     He
     saw
     my
     hesitation
     and
     told
     me
     better
     to stay
     in
     that
     case. I
     would
     have
     nothing
     of
     it,
     and insisted
     that
     they
     put
     me to the
     test.
    'They strapped
     me
     to
     a
     steel
     table
     and opened
     my
     flesh
     with
     metal
     knives.
     I
     had
     endured
     the
     Weasel
     Claw
     ritual
     to prove
     my bravery,
     but
     the
     pain
     was
     as
     nothing
     to
     what
     I
     then
     endured.
     When
     they opened
     my
     flesh,
     they
     implanted things
     which they
     said
     would bond
     with my flesh and
     grant
     me spirit power.
    "For
     weeks.
     I
     lay
     in
     feverish agony
     while
     my
     body