Frostborn: The Eightfold Knife Read Online Free PDF Page A

the Watcher hadn’t needed to worry about Calliande going to Urd Morlemoch after all. 

Chapter 3 - Alpha
    Ridmark ran through the trees, Kharlacht keeping pace behind him. 
    A half-overgrown trail wound its way through the trees. If Ridmark’s memory served, it led to the cultivated fields of Aranaeus, though few of the villagers ever ventured far from the safety of their walls. He heard the howls of the beastmen, and caught glimpses of dark shapes racing through the dense trees.
    Quite a few dark shapes. 
    They were hunting something, but not Ridmark or Kharlacht. He didn’t think the lupivirii at the riverbank had expected to find him.  Most likely they had been watching for someone approaching from the west, not the east. That explained why they had failed to notice him until he had crossed the ford. 
    But who were the beastmen hunting?
    The trail led into a wide clearing. Ridmark paused for a moment to get his bearings, and then a figure sprinted from the trees.
    It was a human boy of about fifteen years, old enough to serve as a knight’s squire or a craftsman’s apprentice. He was tall and wiry, with a ragged shock of curly brown hair and brown eyes wide with fear. He staggered into the clearing, breathing hard, and stopped when he saw Ridmark and Kharlacht.
    “Run!” said the boy in Latin. “The wolfmen, they…”
    A half-dozen beastmen crashed into the clearing. The boy backed towards Ridmark and Kharlacht, a heavy club in his right hand. Ridmark saw blood and clumps of fur stuck to the length of wood. Scratches marred the boy’s forearms, and blood stained his tunic and trousers. 
    “Run!” said the boy. “Whoever you are, run! I’ll hold them off! Go…”
    A dozen more beastmen came into the clearing, snarling. They moved into a circle, showing their fangs and growling, but did not move closer. They had expected to find the boy, but they had not anticipated Ridmark or Kharlacht. That would make them hesitate for a few moments while they considered the new threat.
    And then they would kill Ridmark, Kharlacht, and the boy.
    “What is your name?” said Ridmark, raising his staff.
    “Gavin,” said the boy. He took a deep breath. “I’ll charge them, and you can…”
    “Gavin,” said Ridmark, “if you want to live, do exactly as I say.” He scanned the waiting lupivirii. There were at least twenty, with more entering the clearing. Understand?”
    “But…” said Gavin.
    “You will do,” said Ridmark in the voice he had used when he had taken command of the army of Andomhaim at Dun Licinia, “exactly as I command.” He spotted the biggest of the wolfmen, and decided to take a gamble. “Now wait here until I return.”
    Before either Kharlacht or Gavin could stop him, Ridmark strode towards the biggest lupivir. The other beastmen snarled and snapped, but Ridmark ignored them. He stopped a dozen paces from the largest beastman and stared at the creature, meeting the golden eyes with his own.
    The lupivir reared upon his legs, standing nearly nine feet tall, a solid tower of muscle and fur. 
    “You think,” said Ridmark in orcish, “to challenge me?”
    The beastman’s golden eyes narrowed. He did not throw himself at Ridmark. That meant he was at least in partial control of his instincts, was more intelligent than the others. The alphas of the beastmen packs often were smarter than their fellows.
    “You are the challenger, human,” growled the towering lupivir. 
    “I am Ridmark, son of Leogrance, son of Rience, from Taliand in the south,” said Ridmark.
    “And I,” hissed the beastman, “am Rakhaag, son of Balhaag, son of Talhaag, and you stand upon our range.” His nostrils flared. “And I smell the blood of my kin upon you.” 
    “Yes,” said Ridmark. “Two of your kin attacked me when I crossed the river, and I killed them.”
    “Then they should have proven stronger,” said Rakhaag. “You slew them with a sword, I assume? The craven tool of