Lord of the Clans Read Online Free PDF

fingers closed around it. It fit his palm much better than the stylus had. It felt better, too, almost familiar. He adjusted the grip, trying to do what he had seen Blackmoore do.
    “Very good,” said Blackmoore. To one of the guards, he said, “Look at that, will you? He’s a natural. As I knew he would be. Now, Thrall . . . attack!”
    Thrall whirled. For the first time in his life, his body seemed willing to do what he asked of it. He lifted thesword, and to his surprise, a roar burst forth from his throat. His legs began to pump almost of their own accord, smoothly and swiftly carrying him toward the mock troll. He lifted the sword — oh, it was so easy — and brought it down in a smooth arc across the troll’s body.
    There was a terrible crack and the troll went sailing through the air. Suddenly afraid he had done something terribly wrong, Thrall’s grace turned to clumsiness and he stumbled over his own feet. He hit the earth hard and felt the wooden sword crack underneath him.
    Thrall scrambled to his feet and prostrated himself, sure that some sort of terrible punishment was about to ensue. He had broken the mock troll and destroyed the practice sword. He was so big, so clumsy . . . !
    Loud whoops filled the air. Other than Jaramin, the silent guards, and the occasional visit from Blackmoore, Thrall had not had much interaction with humans. Certainly he had not learned to discern the finer points in their wordless noises, but he had a strange suspicion that these were not sounds of anger. Cautiously he looked up.
    Blackmoore had an enormous smile on his face, as did the guards. One of them was bringing the palms of his hands together to create a loud smacking sound. When he caught sight of Thrall, Blackmoore’s smile widened even more.
    “Did I not say he would surpass all expectations?” cried Blackmoore. “Well done, Thrall! Well done!”
    Thrall blinked, uncertain. “I . . . that wasn’t wrong?” he asked. “The troll and the sword . . . I broke them.”
    “Damn right you did! First time ever swinging a sword and the troll sails across the courtyard!” Blackmoore’s giddiness subsided slightly and he put his arm around the young orc in a friendly manner. Thrall tensed, then relaxed.
    “Suppose you were in the gladiator ring,” Blackmoore said. “Suppose that troll was real, that your sword was real. And suppose the first time you charged, you struck him so hard that he fell that far. Don’t you see that that’s a good thing, Thrall?”
    The orc supposed he did. His large lips wanted to stretch over his teeth in a smile, but he resisted the impulse. Blackmoore had never been so pleased with him, so kind to him, before, and he wished to do nothing to disturb the moment.
    Blackmoore squeezed Thrall’s shoulder, then returned to his men. “You!” he shouted to a guard. “Get that troll back on the pike, and make sure it’s secure enough to withstand my Thrall’s mighty blows. You, get me another practice sword. Hells, get me five of them. Thrall is liable to break them all!”
    Out of the corner of his eye, Thrall saw movement. He turned to see a tall, slender man with curly hair dressed in livery red, black, and gold that marked him as one of Blackmoore’s servants. With him was a very small human being with bright yellow hair. It looked nothing like the guards that Thrall knew. He wonderedif this was a human child. It looked softer, and its garments were not the trousers and tunics the other wore, but a long, flowing garment that brushed the dusty earth. Was this, then, a female child?
    His eyes locked with the blue ones of the child. She did not seem frightened of his ugly appearance at all. On the contrary, she met his gaze evenly, and as he watched, she smiled brightly and waved at him, as if she was happy to see him.
    How could such a thing be? Even as Thrall watched, trying to determine the proper response, the male accompanying her clamped a hand to the little female’s shoulder