Stardeep Read Online Free PDF

the hallway. No mote distractions. He glanced at a document he’d snatched from the desk: a map of Sathra’s base.
    He was close to retrieving his prize.
    He was close to claiming Angul, the Blade Cerulean.
    The door at the hall’s end opened on a wide warehouse. Wooden crates of various sizes were piled everywhere in haphazard stacks. Dangling lanterns from above provided weak light. The smell of wet stone was strong in the chamber. Gage crept along the outer wall, ready to fight or flee should he be discovered. Voices in the central portion of the room banteted back and fotth. Were they members of Sathra’s Shadow Cadre, or merely brute laborers?
    A man’s rough voice echoed, “Didn’t listen, did ye? Didn’t listen when old Bendar told ye not to take that snake charmer’s coin. Oh, no! And now look what ye got!” A laugh.
    A different voice answered, this one slurred with drink or
    disfigurement. “Damned hedge wizard. How’d I know he could make good on his promise to curse me? I had to slit his throat, though. Passing phantom coin just ain’t good business. He had it coming. I don’t deserve what I got in return, I’ll tell ye that.”
    “Snakes keep finding ye, eh? Even in winter’s cold. Gotta watch whete ye step, eh?”
    A grunt in return.
    “Ha! Old Bendartoldye!”
    Gage left behind the bantering voices as he slipped into a side passage. He caught his breath—a huge form was propped on a stool too small for it, blocking most of the cotridor. An ogre! Tattooed and pierced, Gage recognized it as one of Sathra’s trained guardians. The figure shifted and loosed a hooting snore. Not trained well enough.
    He eased past the creature and tiptoed to the passage’s end. Another look at the map, a grin, and he found the secret catch in the floor. Down the narrow, steep stairs he disappeared, guided by the greenish glowing eye on his left gauntlet.
    He came to the secret sliding panel the map promised, and paused to listen. All was quiet in the chamber beyond. He slid aside the panel and saw a wide vestibule. To one side, broad steps mounted upward. On the other side, a rounded door closed off Sathra’s personal quarters.
    Gage moved along to the iron valve that sealed Sathra’s vault.
    Sathra’s name was inscribed on the rusted surface. Rumors suggested Sathra’s personal quartets served double duty as the treasury vault of the Shadow Tongue criminal organization, but he hadn’t believed them. His skepticism may have been misplaced. Either way, vault or personal quarters, it seemed likely he’d find the sword Angul within. A pitted metallic wheel protruded from the iron door, next to a keyhole. To the side was a pull chain. A few heartbeats examining the wheel
    ‘and keyhole revealed expertly wired elements of a mechanical trap. Mechanical, probably riddled with spells to boot. Sathra could afford to be lavish with her security.
    But Gage was no slouch. He pulled his packet of alchemically hardened, arcane-proofed tools from his belt. It was rare that a mechanism, trap or otherwise, got the better of him. He just needed to study it awhile, get a feel for it…
    The wheel spun, squealing. Someone was behind the door, about to emerge!
    He stood from his crouch, dropping his tools to the Hoot. The sound of the turning wheel covered the noise of his metallic files as they slipped loose from their case and clattered on the floor. He kicked the implements into a corner.
    No place to hide in the vestibule. Up was the only way to go.
    He jumped, right arm straight up. His palm slapped the ceiling. Crunch—the mouth on his gauntlet bit into the stone, as he’d hoped. The little beast would bite anything it could get its mouth on. Hard. The trick was making the glove let go. He’d once used it as a climbing aid, but feeding the demon something tastier than stone with every handhold proved too cumbersome.
    With his gauntlet holding flat against the ceiling, he swung his legs back and forth, and with a stifled