Journey into the Void Read Online Free PDF

his own dangers. She could not wait. Shadamehr was very far gone.
    Adjusting the lanternlight, Alise reached into a hidden pocket she had sewn into her dress and removed a small, slim volume bound in nondescript gray leather. The book appeared quite harmless on the outside. Even when it was opened, one would have to be a student of magic in order to recognize that this small book was worth the price of her life. If the Church discovered her with this book of forbidden spells, she could be sentenced to hang.
    Even as she turned the pages, Alise could feel the heinous magic start to crawl under her skin.
    She read over the spell, felt her stomach roil, and was forced to cover her mouth with her hand, so as not to retch. Simply reciting the words in her mind brought on nausea, made her so weak and dizzy she could barely concentrate. She couldn’t imagine what horror and pain would come with speaking them.
    Alise bent down and kissed Shadamehr gently, tenderly on the lips. Clasping his hand, she pressed his hand to her breast and began to speak the horrible, maggot-ridden words aloud.

T HE ORIGINAL TUBBY TABBY HAD BEEN A FAMOUS TAVERN IN THE city of Old Vinnengael. Two hundred years later, stories were still told of the tavern and its fat owner and his fatter orange cat, in whose honor the tavern was named. The stories had passed into popular legend, and almost every minstrel tale of long-ago heroes always began with a fortuitous meeting in the Tubby Tabby.
    When the city of New Vinnengael was in the planning stages, several would-be tavern owners came to blows in the desire to name their businesses after the legendary tavern. Then one stated that he could prove that he was the ancestor of that same fat owner, and he even produced a fat cat that he claimed was the descendant of that same famous cat. His proof was accepted. On the day the king moved into the palace of the newly constructed city of New Vinnengael, the man opened the Tubby Tabby Two. The tavern had remained in the family, and now the owner’s children’s children ran it. A descendant of the same orange tabby snoozed in the sunshine by day and lounged on the bar by night.
    The tavern had always been a favorite of the members of the Shadamehr family, one of whom had, years ago, secretly helped the owner out of his financial difficulties. The tavern had a back door that led into a very dark alley bounded by a wall that was easy to climb and another door that led to the roof, with other roofs within easy jumping distance. Since the Barons Shadamehr—an eccentric and independent bunch—were tireless champions of the weak and downtrodden, they tended to bethe targets of the strong and powerful, who weren’t at all pleased with Shadamehr meddling and took action to stop it, with the result that such means of hasty egress had proven most welcome to the various barons down through the years.
    Ulaf was quite familiar with the tavern, for he found it an ideal place to meet with the people who kept him informed of what was going on in the world beyond the walls of New Vinnengael. The tavern was also the place where Shadamehr’s people would gather if there was trouble.
    Having found the pecwae, Ulaf shepherded them to the tavern, moving as fast as he could, all the while keeping a watchful eye out for the patrols. The bells rang curfew just as they turned into the block on which the tavern was located.
    The streets were mostly empty. The patrols were already on the march, looking for violators. The patrols were also looking for Baron Shadamehr, but Ulaf had no way of knowing this. He guessed that something had gone wrong, for he’d heard the blowing of the penny whistles used by Shadamehr’s people to alert each other in times of crisis. Ulaf had been about to go find out what was up, when he’d caught a glimpse of the pecwae, disappearing around a corner, and had instead gone after them.
    He was certain to discover what had happened when