Mythborn: Rise of the Adepts Read Online Free PDF

maintain order and discipline was valuable in its own way. It also stripped Paksen of an ally, should he think to challenge the u’zar. And it was clear to Hemendra that Paksen’s ambition would soon exceed his caution. He nodded permission as Paksen bowed and went to see to his orders.
    His eyes followed the retreating form of the clanfist, flat and empty of emotion. That day, he knew with cold certainty, would be the day Paksen died. For now, though, he would carry the word of the killing back to the men, and sprinkle the waters of doubt into their cups of ambition.
    Behind him, over eight thousand nomads made ready to assault the walls of Bara’cor again. As the Great Sun dipped below the western horizon, he could see the fortress’s minarets, the flags atop unfurled and rippling in the wind: a golden lion on a black field. Hemendra rewrapped the
shahwal,
careful to cover his mouth and nose. Tomorrow the storm would be here in full force and his nomads would hide in its swirling sands.
    “Once again we follow you, Redrobe,” he whispered into the warm desert breeze, but the words came out like a curse.
    Casting one last look around, Hemendra made his way down the dune and back to his tent to perform his evening ablutions. Storms, spells, or not, he vowed, Bara’cor would soon see its last sunset.

T HE M ASTER
    In preparation for close combat,
    Take heed of your opponent’s stance;
    In making a strike, his arms;
    In giving and taking blows, his chest;
    In all else, watch your opponent’s eyes.
    —Tir Combat Academy, Basic Forms & Stances
    S ilbane moved through the wide hallway toward the stairwell that would take him to his quarters. This is insanity, he thought. Using Arek could not be the only answer. There were always other options. Still, the danger to Edyn was great. Were they not pledged to serve that need? And as the lore father had pointed out, his apprentice intended to take the same oath of service as an adept, a Binding Oath. It was not a decision taken lightly.
    In fact, the Binding Oath did much more once uttered, for it combined the true intent of the two who pledged it, heard and enforced by the Way. Breaking the oath had varying degrees of punishment, from something as simple as blindness or deafness, to complete annihilation. A dark cloud would appear, and the person would be forever changed. None had ever escaped its punishment, so the uttering of such an oath was taken with the utmost sincerity.
    Was Arek not already committed by his allegiance to the council, and his intention to test for the rank of adept? Was he not governed by his intention to take this very same oath, whether uttered or not? Silbane did not trust himself to answer that question now.
    Another thing troubling the master was that the other fortresses of the land had been destroyed. This only strengthened the argument that something was happening, and it was not some random testing of strength. There were many other targets, ones more convenient and easier to defeat than an armed and guarded fortress of granite. Regardless of his opinion of nomad strength, Silbane knew that desert warriors armed with horn bows would not survive an assault on a fortress stronghold. At least, not without help. Themun had surely gone through the same line of reasoning, and staged that charade for his benefit. Silbane inwardly cursed, then asked himself, what had been the point?
    He strode up the circular stairway, exiting on a level high above the main training halls. He ignored the bows of respect protocol demanded students and servants offer as he passed, his mind deep in thought. If Bara’cor is the last fortress standing, then the nomads have combined their strength with someone else, and Themun is correct... it did not bode well for the security of the Gate.
    Silbane strode through the double doors to his quarters, which swung silently shut behind him. Placing his things in a corner, he made his way into his personal library. There he