Drenai Saga 02 - The King Beyond the Gate Read Online Free PDF

withering under the purifying ice.
    Ceska and his demon-spawned legions would fade away like the nightmares of childhood, and joy would return to the Drenai like the gift of dawn.
    Tenaka removed a pot from his pack and placed it on the fire, scooping handfuls of snow into the container until it was half-full with warming water. Then, from a small canvas sack he poured a generous mixture of oats into the liquid, adding salt. Renya watched him in silence, fixing her gaze on his slanted violet eyes. Once again, sitting with him by the fire, she felt at peace.
    “Why are you here?” she asked.
    “To kill Ceska,” he replied, stirring the porridge with a wooden spoon.
    “
Why
are you here?” she repeated.
    Moments passed, but she knew he was not ignoring her and waited, enjoying the warmth and the closeness.
    “I have nowhere else to go. My friends are dead. My wife … I have nothing. The reality is that I have always had … nothing.”
    “You had friends … a wife.”
    “Yes. It’s not easy to explain. There was a wise man once, in Ventria, near where I lived. I spoke with him often about life, and love, and friendship. He chided me, made me angry. He talked about clay diamonds.” Tenaka shook his head and lapsed into silence.
    “Clay diamonds?” she asked.
    “It doesn’t matter. Tell me about Aulin.”
    “I do not know what he planned to tell you.”
    “I accept that,” he said. “Just tell me of the man.” Using two sticks, he lifted the pot from the flames and set it on the ground to cool. She leaned forward, adding fresh wood to the fire.
    “He was a peaceful man, a Source priest. But he was also an arcanist and liked nothing better than to scour the land for relics of the Elders. He gained a name for his abilities. He told me that when Ceska first came to power, he supported him, believed all the promises about a better future. But then the terror began. And the Joinings …”
    “Ceska always loved sorcery,” Tenaka said.
    “You knew him?”
    “Yes. Go on.”
    “Aulin was one of the first to explore the Graven site. He found the hidden door below the forest and the machines that lay there. He told me his research proved the machines had been created to heal certain diseases suffered by the Elders. But instead of using them in this fashion, Ceska’s adepts created the Joinings. At first they were used only in the arenas, tearing each other to pieces to thrill the crowds, but soon they began appearing on the streets of Drenan wearing armor and the markings of Ceska’s guard.
    “Aulin blamed himself and journeyed to Delnoch, ostensibly to examine the chamber of light beneath the keep. From there he bribed a sentry and tried to escape through the Sathuli lands. But the chase began, and we were forced south instead.”
    “Where do you come into the story?” he asked.
    “You did not ask about me but about Aulin.”
    “I am asking now.”
    “May I have some porridge?”
    He nodded, tested the pot, and handed it to her. She ate in silence and then passed the remains to Tenaka. Finishing the meal, the warrior leaned back against the cold rock.
    “There is a mystery around you, lady. But I will leave it lie. The world would be a sad place without mysteries.”
    “The world
is
a sad place,” she said, “full of death and terror. Why is evil so much stronger than love?”
    “Who says that it is?” he responded.
    “You have not been living among the Drenai. Men like Aulin are hunted down like criminals; farmers are butchered for failing to reach absurd crop levels; the arenas are packed with baying crowds who laugh while animals rip and tear women and children. It is vile! All of it.”
    “It will pass,” he said gently. “And now it is time to sleep.” He held out his hand to her, but she shrank back, her dark eyes suddenly fearful. “I will not harm you, but we must let the fire die. We will share warmth, but that is all we will share. Trust me.”
    “I can sleep alone,” she