Song of the Dragon Read Online Free PDF Page B

between the dwarves?”
    We kill without cause. We kill without thought.
    Five notes . . . Five notes . . .
    â€œWhat difference does it . . .”
    â€œAnd this room,” the Proxi continued. “The floor is cleaner than any plate I’ve ever eaten from in the Centurai barracks of our great Lord Timuran. No dust. No dirt. But where are the chairs? Where are the tables? There are images of them carved into the wall facing the archway, but there’s not a stick of either to be found inside. Look, Drakis! See! There are hooks in the ceiling above the counter, but where are the pots, the pans, the kettles, or the spoons? Where are the tools ? Where are the kegs and the stores of grain or tubers or roots or whatever the dwarves fed upon?”
    â€œStop it, Braun! I don’t care . . .”
    The Proxi turned again to face Drakis. “Where are the children who squealed through the streets with joy, Drakis? Where are the women who breathed life into this place? Where are the gray-bearded elder dwarves with their frail bodies and their wisdom aged like fine wine?”
    â€œI don’t . . . I don’t know!” Drakis answered.
    â€œNo, you don’t ,” Braun said, stepping toward him with a strange twisted smile on his face. “ You don’t know . . . I don’t know . . . but at least I’m beginning to understand just how much I don’t know!”
    Drakis reached behind him, feeling for the archway as he carefully backed away from the wild-eyed Proxi.
    â€œIt’s all unraveling, Drakis,” Braun said softly. His tongue flicked to the corner of his mouth, drawing in the spittle that had formed there. “Here in the darkness I can see . . . here in these rooms that are so like you and me. Perhaps it is the distance from the Aether Well of House Timuran, perhaps it is the three days we have gone without renewing our Devotions. Maybe it has something to do with being so deep beneath the mountain of the dwarves. I don’t know, but whatever it is, the cords, soft and silken as they have been, are unraveling from my mind, and I am beginning to see the picture of truth at last.”
    Drakis felt the edge of the archway with his left hand and carefully stepped back into it, His right hand slowly reached across his body almost without conscious thought, his palm resting on the hilt of his sword. “Braun, we’re warriors . . . Impress Warriors of House Timuran . . .”
    â€œNo, Drakis, you’re wrong,” Braun breathed through clenched teeth. He would not stop advancing. “Who are you, Drakis? Why do you fight so well? What makes you so determined to live?”
    â€œI fight . . .” Drakis swallowed, taking another step back through the archway. “I fight for the glory of Rhonas, for her Emperor, and for the glory of House Timuran!”
    â€œPretty speech, hollow words,” Braun spoke, his words dripping disdain. “You dance like a marionette and vomit out the words spoken by others behind the curtain. I’ve seen what’s back there. You take a peek at the truth and tell me. It’s just us here . . . you and me buried in our crypt, and there should be no lies between the dead. You know the answer! Tell me!”
    Drakis’ breath was coming hard.
    Five notes . . .
    For the love of her . . . For the loss of her . . .
    â€œTell me!”
    He suddenly thought of Mala—his beautiful Mala working in the foundations of the magnificent palace of Sha-Timuran. Her image floated before him in his mind; she reached up with her hand to wipe the sweat from her clean-shaven head before she returned to scrubbing the path stones beneath the graceful towers of their master’s citadel that floated above the garden. He could almost catch the glint of her emerald eyes, feel the curve of her cheek in his hand. He had to return to her—for her and with the honor that they both so desperately needed. She was unaware of the