Ravensoul Read Online Free PDF Page A

freshly dead and using them. Didn’t have to wait too long in the north alleys to find a host.’ The merchant paused. ‘Are you getting this so far?’
    ‘What? Sorry. Just trying to work out how it is you could describe my vision to me.’
    ‘Because we sent it.’
    ‘Who?’
    ‘The Raven’s dead.’ The merchant stared into Sol’s eyes. Desperation and bottomless pain flooded out. ‘We need you, Unknown. They are come and we cannot stop them.’
    Sol bit back on the threat of tears.
    ‘I’m losing my mind,’ he whispered.
    ‘No you’re not, Unknown. This is real.’
    Sol’s vision was blurred. He wiped a hand across his eyes. He couldn’t stop himself. With Diera, it was too fraught. With this stranger, as natural as sunlight.
    ‘Don’t you know how much I want that to be true? Every day I walk past those paintings and I crave the company of the men and women I see. I want it so much I see movement within the frames. I crave our bond and to live by our code once more. The pride of standing in line with them. The sheer energy of our battle. The closeness that comes with facing death together day by day and living till morning yet again. The knowledge that any of them would die for me and that I would do the same for them. Things I can only embrace now when I sleep.
    ‘I want to tell them so much. About my joy that I can see my sons grow up; that I awake each morning and see my wife. That I am living everything I dreamed of but that it is just a puff of smoke rising from the embers of the life I had, and to which I can never return. That on some days, too many days, I wish I too had fallen that day. A hero to live on in the memory, not growing fat behind a bar and dreaming of glories past.’
    The merchant was silent. He drained his glass. Sol did likewise and refilled them both. He cleared his throat and stood up, needing to fill his hands with something, anything. The Raven’s Rest felt a little gloomy. Apt in one sense but no good for the custom Sol expected through the door later. King or not, he still had an inn to run.
    The fire needed laying but that would wait. He lifted a lantern from its alcove and retrieved flint and steel from his pocket. He was aware of the merchant’s gaze on his back.
    ‘Don’t repeat any of that,’ said Sol.
    ‘You’ll be able to tell them all personally before long. And you’ll wish you couldn’t.’
    ‘Why would I wish that?’
    Sol struck sparks onto the oiled taper which sputtered to yellow life.
    ‘Because with the best will in the world, Unknown, we are not happy to see you. Not here, not in this dimension. We’re dead, big man, and we want to stay that way. But we’ve been attacked. Our dimension has been plundered and we are cast out. It hurts and it is lonely.’
    ‘And you want my help to get you back where you belong, is that it?’
    ‘If only it was that simple.’
    The Unknown chuckled. ‘Sorry, I shouldn’t laugh. If you’re telling the truth, that is. It’s just that—’
    ‘Nothing’s ever that simple with The Raven.’
    Sol nodded, feeling the warmth of familiarity return. It felt like grasping an elusive childhood memory. He put the taper to the lantern wick, trimmed the wick to stop the flare of flame and replaced the glass before returning the lantern to its alcove. The light cast garish shadows in the dim room.
    ‘Looks like I’ll have to light the whole lot n—’
    The taper dropped from Sol’s fingers. The merchant was casting a shadow on the opposite wall. It spoke of a powerful upper body, long hair tied into waving braids and a thick fist wrapped around the goblet. It was utterly at odds with the man sat at the table and Sol knew the silhouette so well.
    ‘Gods burning, Hirad, it is you.’
    Sol’s heart slammed in his chest and he shuddered throughout his body. His face felt hot and for a moment he thought he might faint. He strode to the table and stopped only when Hirad held up a hand.
    ‘Best not hug me, big man.