Taker Of Skulls (Book 5) Read Online Free PDF Page A

said.
    Sasha said, “They’ve just come to see us off.”
    “They your kin?” She nodded. The girl and the little boy were watching him wide-eyed. He seemed to make them nervous. It was something he was used to. He took a copper piece from his purse and flicked it to the boy. He snatched it from the air and gave a quick bright smile.
    “Say thank you, Tam,” said the sad-faced girl.
    “Thank you, sir,” said the boy. He walked over to Sasha and tried to take her hand. She squeezed his fingers and then let his hand go. He clutched her hip and pressed his head against it. Half-angry and half-affectionate she pushed him away then bent down till her head was level with his.
    “While I am gone you’re going to have to look after your Auntie Sal,” she said. “Make sure she does not get into any trouble.”
    The boy looked at her with big eyes, and nodded. He pushed himself against her then. She pushed him away and ruffled her hand through his curly dark hair.
    “Don’t go, Ma,” he said.
    “I’ve got to,” she said. It sounded like she had explained this to him many times. She said it with a kind of weary patience. “We need food. We need money for Aunt’s medicine. We need money for clothes.”
    Kormak looked away not sure what to say. The boy gave him an imploring look.
    “Don’t worry,” he said. “I’ll see your mother comes back.”
    “Promise?” the boy asked.
    “I promise,” Kormak said. As the words came out of his mouth he felt their weight settle on his shoulders, heavier than any pack. The boy ran and grabbed Sasha again.
    Kormak stared down the main street. Karnea and Boreas walked towards them, leading mules with gear slung over their side.
    “It’s time to go,” Sasha said. She gently detached the little boy from her and pushed him into the arms of her sister. The boy was crying. She walked away, standing stiff and straight and she did not look back. Kormak did and saw the little boy waving.

    Kormak looked over his shoulder down the steep rocky slope. Varigston had dwindled to a toy town beneath them, as they followed the Dwarf Road. Tiny figures swarmed in the streets, and moved along the ridge-lines. Smoke rose from chimneys. Temple gongs tolled.
    Sasha saw the direction of his gaze. “Worried about being followed?” she asked. Kormak nodded. “We left some annoyed people back there; from what you told me they seem like they might be the sort to be vengeful.”
    “So do you,” she said. “If you don’t mind me saying so.”
    “I don’t go looking for fights. I get enough in the normal line of things.”
    “You a mercenary?”
    “I prefer to think of myself as a soldier.”
    “You must be a very successful one.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Not many soldiers can afford a dwarf-forged blade. To tell the truth, I thought only Guardians of the Order of the Dawn carried those. Curiously enough they carry them on their backs as well, just like you do. Something about symbolising the burden of their calling. Or so I’ve heard.”
    Kormak shot her an amused glance. Clearly she knew more than she chose to let on.
    “How do you know so much about dwarf-forged blades?”
    “My father was a prospector and a learned man in his own way. We drifted from ruin to ruin when I was growing up. I keep my ears open. I hear stories. I’ve heard the name Kormak before too.”
    “Is that so?”
    “Hero of the Orc Wars, killed more orcs than the Red Plague, saved the life of the King at the battle of Aenar. Outlander too. Supposed to look a bit like you, although the stories make him out to be a giant.”
    “I’ve heard those stories,” he said.
    “You don’t believe them?”
    “I believed them once.”
    “Not any more, eh?”
    “Believing in heroes is for the young.”
    “It’s a pity—this is a land that’s sorely in need of heroes. The Great Comet is in the sky. The shadows lengthen. Civil war in the South. Orc hordes on the move in the east. And we’re here looking for old