Taken: The Life of Uktesh Book 3 Read Online Free PDF

stopped for the night he began to run out of strength.  He made the only logical choice and stopped creating a path.  Several hours later and before they made camp for the night, Uktesh saw that the dragons were unchained from the pole and then led to a river where they were allowed to clean their legs and feet of the excrement.  Uktesh was left tied to the dinosaur and given food, which he was fortunately able to finish before the toxic turtle continued its hourly torture upon his nose. 
    He spent most of the night awake, trying to ignore the smell that was impossible to ignore.  He was proud that he only threw up twice during the night.  He was awake as the sun began to lighten the world around him.  He was greeted with a spectacular sunrise, and he didn’t know if it was because of the smell, the loneliness he felt without Laurilli, or the pure beauty of the new day, but he felt tears slide down his cheeks.  That was how Astiau found him minutes later when he walked up holding his nose.  He stopped to laugh and point, as if Uktesh didn’t know who he was laughing at, before he quickly retreated from the smell.  Uktesh smiled and patted the toxic turtle and projected, yes, you’re a good boy, you keep him away and I’ll keep practicing my magic.  
    Uktesh felt the beast rear up on its back legs for a moment and he had to fight to keep his spot.  He leaned back and tried to get some sleep while he could. 
    The torturous trip took twelve days. Halfway through, Uktesh saw a giant tower in the middle of nowhere.  He risked questioning the guards and said, “What’s that?”
    One of the guards said, “That’s a Dungeon. If we were closer we could see that at the base there are camps for House Spelunkers, and if it was a more established Dungeon there might be a whole town built up around it.”
    Uktesh asked, “What’s House Spelunker?”
    The guard said, “Someone who is a part of a House and Dungeon dives for that house.”
    Uktesh said, “And Dungeons are the only way to get those magic clothes?”
    The guard laughed, “Well you could buy one for hundreds of platinum marks, or you could try your luck in a Dungeon.  Some people, though, take their chances and wait to ambush Spelunkers after they return from a Dungeon dive.  It’s pretty stupid, because I wouldn’t want to mess with someone who could survive in a Dungeon, but every once in a while someone must get lucky because there are still those who try.”
    Uktesh asked, “How does someone join a House?
    The guard said, “Find any House, apply, and see if they accept you.”
    Uktesh asked, “Do you need to have a House to be a Spelunker?”
    The guard said, “Yeah. How else would you sell anything you found?”
    Uktesh asked, “What if you didn’t plan on selling any of it?”
    The guard said, “You’d still probably need a House.”
    Uktesh asked, “Could someone start a House?”
    The guard nodded and said, “Sure, but you have to have one hundred gold marks, the signatures of either fifty citizens, ten nobilis, two of the high nobilis classes, or a special allowance from the Emperor.”  Uktesh opened his mouth to ask another question and the said, “Enough. Ask someone else.”
    By the end of the trip Uktesh knew that his sense of smell had forever been dulled by the turtle, but he also had grown in power, as he could now gust the wing and create a path in the muck each time the turtle released its bowel during the day.  Uktesh had tried to cover up the stench with earth, but had nearly passed out from the strain, and hadn’t covered any of the muck. 
    Uktesh knew something had changed when at midday Lord Astiau came riding back to Uktesh, perhaps to mock, perhaps to inform.  His attitude changed when he saw Uktesh seated comfortably on the shell of the dinosaur.  It probably didn’t help that Uktesh was whistling and lounging with his hands behind his head while staring at the sky.  Astiau moved his dinosaur toward