Stained Glass Monsters Read Online Free PDF Page B

related to the Grand Summoning –
they've been occurring innocuously for so long that we have no
explanation as yet."
    Lieutenant Danress sighed, then moved
back to watch Lady Weston doing nothing visible. It was almost full
dark now, the moon not yet risen, and the night broken only by the
lanterns held by the militia and Ferumguard. Kendall shook her
head, tried not to think about Night Roamers, and went to sit in
Lady Weston's carriage.
    She didn't want any part of this, and
maybe would have taken the chance of ditching the Sentene once they
reached Sark if not for the memory of Ma Lippon's face as she
herded her brood down the road toward Morebly. Lippons had been
living in Falk since forever, just like the Stocktons. Ma Lippon
might've been bossier than anyone could care for, so sure she knew
what was right. But Kendall would no more have seen her turned out
of her home than she would have struck the sun from the sky. Ma
Lippon belonged in Falk, and Falk wasn't there any more.
    Kendall made a practice of looking after
herself, of not poking her nose into other people's doings. This
wasn't her business. Not her job to fix wrongs or try and protect
kingdoms. Not her problem if the Lippons no longer had a home to go
to.
    But if she had the chance she'd point
out the woman who knew about the Grand Summoning, all the same.

Chapter Five
    There was something more than strange
about Captain Faille. Kendall hadn't noticed anything except his
weird voice during the fuss and turmoil of evacuating Falk, but
this morning in Sark she'd seen that his hair was blond not grey; a
pale, clear yellow like wine. Or so she'd thought, but inside the
carriage it had looked grey again, transparent and faded. It was
very fine, reminding Kendall a little of feathers: short, soft and
following the shape of his skull. When they had the door closed and
no handy magelight uncovered so that it was all gloom inside, it
had been hard to see him at all. Unlike Danress with her bright
hair, he faded most completely into his corner, till only the
Montjuste Phoenix reminded Kendall anyone was there at all.
    Kendall had been debating whether it was
only imagination when one of the Ferumguard knocked on the outside
of the carriage, and the driver drew them up. Both Sentene got out
to see what was going on, and Captain Faille paused a moment just
outside the door to say something to Lady Weston. Kendall could
only stare, for his hair was most definitely blond now, sunshine
gold, and his eyes were yellow disks, the pupil drowned. Lit from
within, like there was a candle inside him.
    That certainly wasn't imagination,
though Kendall rubbed at her own eyes as if that would change what
she'd seen. She glanced surreptitiously at the Grand Magister, who
had been busy making notes in a journal, but must surely have seen
it as well.
    "Lady Weston?"
    "Yes, child?"
    "Why does Captain Faille keep changing
colours?"
    The Grand Magister hesitated, though she
didn't seem surprised. "Faille has, quite a number of the Sentene
have non-human ancestry. Have you heard of the Kellian?"
    The word was vaguely familiar. "Wasn't
that the name of the Black Queen's bodyguards?"
    "Just so. They were a magical construct,
a variation of a flesh golem. Their descendents are rather more
human, but retain many of the properties of the Kellian. It makes
them ideal for dealing with strays from the Eferum, for those
creatures are difficult to find or combat without the ability to
sense Efera in some form. Others among the Sentene are descended
from higher Eferum-Get."
    Kendall was incredulous. "Stalkers can
have children? With people?"
    "Not those particularly. Most Eferum-Get
have little intelligence, and the Life Stealers don't even have any
substance. Stalkers are monstrous animals. But occasionally
something different emerges into our world. These are not unlike
humans. Travellers, they're known as. They appear in our world for
only a few days, and have a tendency to take an interest in,