Dragonvein Book Four Read Online Free PDF Page B

understand what motivated me to make war on my own kind. Nor can you understand the betrayal I suffered at the hands of the one person I loved the most. Yes, the stories you’ve heard are true. But only from the perspective of the people who eventually cast me down. They were told so that my name would become a curse.” His voice lowered to a mere whisper. “They turned me into a monster. A nightmare to plague the dreams of children.”
    He paused for a moment to look directly into Kat’s eyes. “Tell me, Katyana. When you look at me, do you see a monster?”
    Her face suddenly became etched with pity. “No. I see a man. Nothing more. Arrogant and flawed. But just a man.”
     Martok smiled. “That is a start. Thank you.” He thought he spotted another subtle change in her expression. Was she now seeing him in a new light? “But come,” he continued, pointing to a wide crack in a particularly tall boulder. “We have work to do.”
    After stepping through the opening, the small amount of light trickling in from outside was quickly consumed. In response to the pitch darkness now surrounding them, Martok created a small globe of white light that hovered in the air just a few feet ahead.
    All was well for a few yards, but then the light abruptly disappeared. Martok cast it again, only to see the same thing happen once more. “That’s odd,” he muttered. “Very odd indeed.”
    “What’s wrong?” asked Kat, doing her best to keep the anxiety from her voice.
    “There are no wards that I can detect, and yet magic fails beyond where we are standing.”
    “What do you mean, fails ?”
    Martok drew his sword. “It means exactly that. From here on, it seems we are forced to continue without the protection of magic. Don’t worry though. I was well trained in combat.”
    It was almost possible for him to see her frowning in the darkness when she said: “Why would someone like you need to learn how to fight with a sword?”
    He chuckled. “Relying too heavily on magic alone is foolish. That was a lesson quickly learned in a world where powerful wards and spells can easily strip a mage of their power. My father insisted on me becoming a master of the sword and hand-to-hand combat. I could best every man in his guard by the time I was fifteen. You will be well protected. You have my word.”
    Kat sniffed and drew her dagger. “I lived on my own in the streets of Miltino from the age of nine. I don’t need protecting.”
    He laughed again. “I am sorry for my presumption. Sometimes I forget the troubled life you once led.”
    “Once led?” she mocked, though only light-heartedly. “Things may be different now that I’m older, but they sure as hell aren’t any easier.”
    He was pleased that she had not persisted over him relinquishing control on Ethan’s body. Though Ethan was not to be underestimated - after all, he had been a soldier – his own training was far more extensive. And his skill with a blade unparalleled. He had seen the memories in Ethan’s mind of the war in which he had fought. That he had survived a single day was a testament to his courage. There was no doubt that, with his own make of weapons, the young man was deadly. But Markus had only just begun teaching him the art of weapons used in Lumnia. And those required a completely different set of abilities.
    A few yards further on, he could feel the very last vestiges of his magic draining away. “It will take some time yet for our eyes to adjust,” he told Kat. “We must be cautious.”
    To his considerable surprise, she pushed her way past. “I can see fine. Just stay close.”
    For a moment Martok felt almost humbled with her taking the lead. But this was quickly banished when she took hold of his hand and pulled him firmly along. “Lead on then,” he said.
    The floor of the passage was smooth and had obviously been crafted. For all that, it dipped and turned sharply several times, and it was only Kat’s steadying hold that