Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal Author Quest Read Online Free PDF Page B

sword and advanced slowly. His fear had calmed him and he felt outside himself, outside the danger.
    Another footstep.
    Kairn was certain it had come from the left. He turned and charged forward hastily, but there was no tunnel. He bounced hard off the wall and fell, his sword clanging against the ground. He scrambled on all fours to recover it in the darkness. His hands found the blade and he anxiously grasped it. The sharp edges tore into his palms. He dropped the sword and felt the blood racing down his wrists.
    â€œWho goes there?” a voice shouted. Kairn was too dizzy to know from where.
    He picked up his sword—this time by the grip. “The warrior Kairn of Hallis, son of Kiff, subject of Queen Silva, servant of skekSo, successor to the Imperial Guardian. Show your face if you dare stand opposite me.”
    The sound of a gasping rush of air answered him. Suddenly the tunnel was full of blinding light. Kairn squeezed his eyes shut; he felt like a Grottan Gelfling at the rise of the first sun. He covered his eyes and slashed his sword through the cold tunnel air.
    â€œPut out that light!” Kairn screamed. No one obeyed.
    Overriding every instinct, he wrenched his arm away from his eyes and readied himself to attack whoever was in front of him. As he searched the tunnel through his squinting eyes, however, he realized violence was quite unnecessary.
    â€œFather!” Kairn cried.
    At the opposite end of the tunnel, a weathered Gelfling stood, holding a torch whose light gradually became tolerable to Kairn. Kiff wore the same robe as Kairn, but his was soiled and hung loosely from his bony shoulders. He also wore nearly the same armor as Kairn, but his was dull and speckled with scrapes and scratches, nicks and dents. Kairn sheathed his sword and ran toward him.
    â€œWelcome to my palace, Kairn!” he said with a laugh that crackled like the rusty grind of wagon wheels on the first day of spring. He opened his arms wide to receive his son. Their armor clacked together as they embraced. Kairn pressed his cheek against the cool black stone of his father’s breastplate. He hadn’t seen him in nearly a trine, and he was quite relieved to find his father rather than whatever he feared had been prowling in that tunnel.
    Kiff patted him on the back and whispered, “Good to see you, my boy. Welcome, welcome, welcome.”
    He sounded gentler than usual, Kairn thought.
    Kiff led his son into a small room hidden cleverly off the tunnel. On the far side a simple blanket covered the rocky ground, and on the near side a tin pan leaned against a fire pit. The room was cold and smelled of charcoal. Kiff wedged the torch into a small gap in the wall and bent down to grab small cloths, which he used to tenderly wipe away the small stream of blood running from Kairn’s hands. Once he had finished dressing the wounds, Kiff said, “Please, sit.”
    Kairn hesitated to sit on the dirty blanket in his fine robe and armor, but he would never disrespect his father.
    â€œStrange home for the Imperial Guardian, no?” Kiff asked with a wry smile. “But I’m an old soldier, used to this hard living.”
    Kairn started to speak several times but couldn’t. “I’m sorry. I just don’t understand,” he finally stuttered.
    Kiff leaned across him and filled two chipped clay cups with water from a dusty jug. Kairn ignored the specks of dirt swimming in the water. “These tunnels are awfully dangerous places to take an evening stroll. Were you scared?” Kiff asked.
    â€œOf course not. I’ve been trained. I’ve spent the last trine traveling as a warrior,” Kairn said. At times he thought of Kiff more as his commander than his father.
    Kiff smiled and shook his head. “You can be scared. Why, I’ve been scared for you this past trine, and I have more faith in you than you do in yourself.”
    â€œThank you. I’ve missed you,