Ocean Of Fear (Book 6) Read Online Free PDF

If they were going to ambush us, they would have done so by now.”
    “Or they are waiting for something,” Kormak said, looking out from the sterncastle. Nothing was visible in the woods. The drummer kept up the beat, the oars rose and fell, the warship moved against the current like a water bug on the surface of a pond.
    “What would they be waiting for?”
    Kormak remembered the Great Trees and the elves that served them. In the past he had spoken with those alien beings but he did not like to guess as to their motives or plans. “I don’t know,” he said.

    The day passed. The wounded lay contemplating their bloodied limbs and making coarse jokes at the expense of the comrades who had shot them. The sailors went about the business of the ship. Frater Jonas sat on a bench and studied the text of The Book of the Sun as if he expected a visitation of Angels to come test him on his knowledge of scripture. Zamara dozed in his chair on the command deck, preserving his strength in case another crisis came upon them in the night. Terves stood at his shoulder watching him with the patience of an old family retainer.
    The river snaked through the forest, and they travelled on hour after hour, through an unbreaking monotony of green. Now and again a sentinel bellowed a warning but by the time all eyes had focused, the elves, if elves they were, had gone.
    In the early evening, another shout rang out. A canoe emerged from beyond an island in the river, moving down river towards the ship. On the prow stood a tall elf, arms wide and fingers outstretched so that they could see he had no weapon.  
    The crossbowmen fitted quarrels into their arbalests. Zamara hunched down as he made his way to the prow. It was a poor risk to expose himself to the arrows of an enemy. He was the commander.
    “Greetings, men of the Sun,” said the elves in unison. They spoke Solari well but in an antique form.
    “Greetings,” said Zamara. “What would you have of us?”
    “I bring word for one aboard your ship. I would speak with him alone.”
    “Who among my crew has had dealings with the elves?”
    “The Treekiller.”
    Kormak showed himself and the elves’ heads all swivelled to look at him. They performed the act with an eerie precision, as if a single mind coordinated their actions.
    “What would you speak of?” Kormak said.
    “Matters not for the ears of your companions.”
    Zamara looked at him. “It might be a trap. How could they have known you were aboard? And why do they call you Treekiller? It does not sound like the name they would give a friend.”
    “It is a long story,” Kormak said.
    “Join me on the island, Treekiller, and we will have words, you and I.”
    “I’ll talk with them,” Kormak said. “We may as well know what they want.”
    “Very well, but I’ll have my men cover you. If there’s a problem dive into the water and swim for it.”
    Kormak looked at the half dozen elves. “If there’s a problem I will kill them myself.”

    Kormak stepped out of the small boat and walked down the beach to reach the elves. They were tall and slender with fine ash-blonde hair, swept back to reveal pointed ears. They looked as alike as identical twins. The similarity was much greater than anything he had seen among other elvish nations.  
    “Gilean of Kayoga sends greetings,” said one elf.
    “And I greet her back. To whom do I speak?”
    “I am Ralan. I speak for Tumitha. We are her children.”
    Kormak bowed his head. “What does the Great Tree wish of me?”
    “She wishes to understand what you are doing here. Do you pursue someone?”
    “A man from the sea, a sorcerer. He came this way on a ship not unlike my own.”
    The elves nodded in unison. “We know this man. He passed through our lands. He had that with him which caused Tumitha unease.”
    “What would that be?”
      “A creature not even close to being a man. It was of a race unseen in these parts for five thousand winters.”
    “One of the