Forged In Flame (In Her Name: The First Empress, Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

stretching to the far horizon. Just setting — or rising, for she wasn’t sure which way she was looking — was the Great Moon, its glowing silver face reflected in the countless waves of the sea. 
    Stepping near the edge, she looked down. Far, far below, the waves crashed against the rocky face of the sheer cliff on which she stood. That, she now realized, was the source of the sound she had heard in the clearing. 
    Leaning a bit farther out, she was nearly overcome by a sense of vertigo and would have fallen had not Ayan-Dar clapped his hand on her shoulder, gently pulling her back.
    “Watch your step, child. It is more than a full league to the waters below. And in the quite unlikely event you should survive the fall, the things that dwell in the waters would make short work of your flesh and bone. The water of the oceans means death. Remember that.”
    She came away from the edge, but only by a single pace. She was captivated by the view, her breath coming in shallow gasps as she periodically forgot to breathe. Her life had been spent within the temple walls, and while the view of the lowlands and the mountains of Kui’mar-Gol was beautiful, it was nothing like this, and nothing in the Books of Time could have prepared her for such a sight. “I understand now why you came here for your free time.”
    “I still come here sometimes, when I need a moment of peace.”
    “What are those?” She pointed to small objects, in garish shades of red and green, floating on the ocean. 
    Ayan-Dar laughed. “Those are ships, child! Merchantmen mostly, but warships, as well.”
    “But…they are on the water! Are they not in danger?”
    “Every moment of every day,” he answered, his voice grim. “I rode on such a ship to reach T’lar-Gol, and would lop off my remaining arm before I did so again. But the fools who sail those ships have something no one else in the world does.” He turned and pointed at the huge trees behind them. “The a’in-ka tree. Their wood is tough as iron and more durable, and they secrete a natural repellent that insults the senses of all but the most terrible sea creatures, driving them away. They grow only here, in the kingdom of Ku’ar-Amir. Such is their value that more than one war has been fought over them.”
    “So these people, of all who live on our world, are the only ones who sail ships upon the seas?”
    “No, there are others, many others, on all the continents. There are many who make their livelihood from the sea, catching the smaller creatures to eat and for their oil. But few souls beyond Ku’ar-Amir are brave or foolhardy enough to venture beyond the horizon from land and risk their lives in the deeper realms of the oceans.” He paused for a moment, a thoughtful expression on his face. “There are creatures in the deep that were never tamed by even the greatest of the ancient civilizations before the cataclysms of the Second Age. Creatures that could destroy a warship far larger than any now afloat, or an entire fleet of the vessels you see here, with barely a twitch. To them, even the greatest genoth would barely be worth notice.” He nodded at the ships, most of which were sailing toward the horizon and some distant land, while others were putting into port in what looked like a large city several leagues distant. “Those who sail on Ku’ar-Amir’s ships cross those depths, braving the things that swim below to take what they would to distant lands.”
    “And warriors?”
    “Oh, yes, a great many warriors,” he said. “More than one king or queen has risen from here to expand their realm to the far reaches of the world, for control of the sea conveys a huge advantage over those bound to the land. Ships can move warriors and the robed castes, even engines of war, from one place along a coast to another quickly and in great numbers. They can even take attacking forces up major rivers to attack inland.” He glanced at her. “Something you should perhaps remember