SpringFire Read Online Free PDF

and I wished that maejic extended to reading minds, not only being able to converse with animals.
    When she’d fallen asleep again, I got my cloak and went outside. Opening my senses, I could now feel the life of the forest. Last night’s meditation seemed to have done the trick.
    I stepped into the woods and walked in among the trees. The slow life that pulsed through them felt much as it did at home, although there was a slightly different flavor that I couldn’t quite define.
    The smaller branches of the trees seemed to bend a little toward me, as if in greeting. I smiled as I raised my hands high above my head, touching the leaves I could reach. A ripple of gladness flowed out across the forest, and a tide of welcome returned.
    Then a wave of hunger that had nothing to do with my own appetite washed over me. A mind-bending hunger that bordered on starvation. The scent of blood and flesh and bone. I put a hand to my head in a vain effort to dispel the feeling. Instead, it grew stronger.
    I stumbled back to the cave, wondering what was wrong with me. Xyla stood half in, half out, and I caught her sense of anticipation. A moment later, with a dragging, almost crashing sound, Grey came out of the woods, pulling the carcass of a huge animal that I didn’t recognize. I didn’t mind Xyla eating, of course, but I didn’t like to watch it, either, so I went into the cave. Grey followed, leaving Xyla to her meal, and I made some tea for him.
    “That was fast,” I said. “I didn’t expect to see you back until this afternoon.”
    “I know. It was uncanny. There was no sign of any prey at all, much less something big enough for a dragon. Then, all of a sudden, there it was. Almost like magic.”
    “Or maybe maejic?” I laughed, then stopped abruptly at that thought.
    He gave me a gentle smile. “Maybe.”
    “This is good. Is there more?” Xyla asked in a plaintive tone.
    Grey rose to his feet. “No rest for the weary, I see. Hope I get that lucky again. This bow isn’t up to any real hunting.”

    By evening, Xyla was sleeping soundly, having eaten the first beast plus two more that Grey brought back. She still seemed weak, and she spoke very little, but there was at least some improvement.
    Traz had returned near nightfall with enough meat for supper. I asked him what he’d been doing all day, but he just made a vague, meaningless noise and turned back to tending the meal as it cooked.
    I watched him closely and saw that he kept stroking the stones we’d used to make a ring around the fire, as if trying to memorize their shapes or their texture. I almost asked him about it, but he sat with hunched shoulders, suggesting that he wished to be left alone.
    Then, not long after we’d finished eating supper, we all heard footsteps approaching the cave.

    We turn our attention now to the most enduring of the creation myths, that of Etos.
    It is said that his was the first power, the first life, the first being, and all power, life, and being sprang from him.
    Before Etos, the world was black and void. He filled the world with his presence, and thereby filled it with color. Color covered the face of the earth, then reached into its soul and brought forth sound. Color and sound danced, and brought forth scent. Color, sound, and scent meditated and brought forth taste. These four laughed and brought forth touch.
    And Etos was well-pleased.
    And he sang of his pleasure.
    And brought forth life.
    And when he was finished, he settled deep into the ether to watch his creation live and dance and meditate and laugh and die and return to the earth from whence it sprang.
    ~from the lecture notes of Tandor

“H’lo? Who’s there?”
    Grey was on his feet, knife in hand, in a flash. He stalked to the mouth of the cave, staying in the shadows.
    A figure took a step inside. “H’lo?” the voice said again. “I know you’re there.”
    I could understand the words, but they were spoken with a strange, unfamiliar accent.
    Grey