Light of Epertase 01: Legends Reborn Read Online Free PDF

tried to push himself to his feet but he had nothing left.
    Maybe I should lie down. Rest for just a moment.
    With no more strength to push him, he gave up.
    As he started to close his eyes, he caught a sliver of hope poking through the pounding blizzard. Maybe it was a mirage, maybe it was real, he could no longer tell. He had to try. He could make it, he told himself, for it was Shadows Peak that stood in the distance. But that wasn’t what gave him hope. No, his hope lay with a long-forgotten cave on the mountain’s side. The brutal wind beat at his exposed skin as he willed himself back to his feet one last time.
    He staggered through the whiteness until he reached the cave. A couple of steps into the darkness and he collapsed onto his face. Sleep will be beautiful, he told himself, even if I don’t wake up .
    A frost beetle scurried past. Rasi summoned his remaining strength to snatch it and shove it into his mouth. Too weak to chew, the bitter insect squirmed on the soreness that was his tongue. After several weak attempts, he choked the scurrying beetle down his throat.
    A small stream of melted snow trickled past his head and he slurped it into his mouth. The moonlight at the cave’s entrance disappeared as the whiteness rose. One by one, each of his new and strange straps lay down beside him, beaten and exhausted. His last thoughts were fears of another predator choosing the cave as its refuge as well, but he forced those thoughts from his mind. There was no sense in worrying. If that was his fate, he could not avoid it and he would be food by morning. He had no more fight and faded into unconsciousness.

C HAPTER 6

S AVIOR
    Rasi awakened long enough to wonder if he was alive or dead. Either would suit him fine.
    A glimmer of sunlight peaked through the cave’s entrance as some kind of creature dug at the ever-widening gap of piled snow. Rasi fought his eyelids but lost again.

    R asi opened his eyes, stunned that he was able. A dark blur stood before him. The blur was Death. Rasi smiled. I’ve been waiting for you.
    Like a dream, the cold eyes of death faded, replaced by another’s face. If the cold and starvation hadn’t taken him, he was sure this stranger would.
    Another hallucination? he wondered. The stranger’s warm, gloved hands grasped beneath Rasi’s armpits and pulled his limp body deeper into the cave. He fell asleep again for what he hoped was the last time.

    R asi felt warmth tickle his face and forced his eyelids open against their gooey coating. His mouth was dry like he’d been chewing on cotton. A fire flickered before him.
    He moaned as he lifted his arm.
    “Easy, old friend,” a familiar voice said.
    “Therik?” Rasi mumbled which hurt his throat.
    “It is me. Rest, friend.”
    Just as the gods had brought such a horrible winter upon him, to redeem themselves, they brought his friend, Terik, as a savior.
    As the weeks passed, Rasi’s strength slowly returned. Terik arrived each morning with rations and anti-infection medications.
    One such morning, Terik’s demeanor was somehow different, sadder than usual. For most of the morning he hid what troubled him, but Rasi had been his friend long enough to know something was wrong.
    After a pause, Terik blurted, “This will be my last trip for awhile.” He intentionally kept his eyes away from his old friend. “I fear I may not be able to prevent suspicion if I continue to sneak up here.” He paused. “I brought something for you. I have been taking care of Salient since you left and brought him along today. He is a fine stallion and deserves to be with his owner.”
    Neither man made a sound as they sat by the campfire. There was one subject they had avoided all these days but Rasi could not allow Terik to leave without knowing for sure.
    “Ith it ’rue?” he asked.
    Terik lowered his head for what felt like an eternity. Though Rasi knew the answer, he allowed himself the slightest bit of hope.
    Terik’s answer was as brutal