Temple of the Traveler: Book 02 - Dreams of the Fallen Read Online Free PDF Page B

more as he left the field.
    Pinetto was inordinately proud of the wheels he had set in motion until another arrow hit the tree trunk beside his face. The astronomer could see the cocky archer wave at him from below, notching another flight. Cursing, Pinetto crawled down as far as he could between arrows. At the last beat, he placed the tree between himself and the next volley. Even if he could get all the way down before anyone reinforced this lone archer, Pinetto would be trapped against the tree until all of his friends were long gone. To make matters worse, his pouch had snagged on one of the many smaller branches. Pinetto would’ve abandoned the leather sack except for the wizard treasure inside. Crouching to make himself as small as possible, he slipped shaking fingers inside and pulled out the dark stone.
    In the ultraviolet storm light, the life-stone was eerily beautiful. The tiny paw print sparkled like a diamond in the light that still came from the Compass Star. An idea formed.
    Pinetto knew the theory, but had never done the deed. He wrapped his palm around the stone and whispered, “Come on out, little guy.”
    There was no physical reaction. He tried again, exerting his will. The sparkles seemed to swirl like milk in morning tea, but the stone grew colder. It needed more heat. Another arrow skidded past, scratching his leg. Oddly, a stampede of enemy soldiers pursuing his friends intervened, giving him a few moments of safety.
    Pinetto stanched the blood from the deep scratch with his free hand. The blood was warm. Troops were pulling in from all over. So be it, he decided. Pinetto wrapped his blood-soaked hand around the stone and ordered, “Come forth!”
    The effort made him dizzy. What little mana he possessed was squeezed out of him like pulp from an orange. He almost let go of the tree. A shadowy black squirrel perched above his head. The image was so faint that it could have been a reflection in a glass bottle. This was a watershed moment in his life. Pinetto had passed the threshold between idle academic and battle wizard. He wanted to tell all of his friendseight="0">
    Distracted by his unlikely success, he didn’t realize the precariousness of his situation. Angry at being summoned, the creature swatted at Pinetto’s wrist in an attempt to send him to the ground in a hurry. Fortunately, the squirrel grazed the corner of the sky wizard’s protected cloak instead. The summoned animal jumped back in pain, chittering. The novice wizard replied, “I think you’re ugly, too, fellow. But we need each other. I need you to cut the string on that archer’s bow down there right away.”
    The squirrel didn’t move, almost folding its arms. “I have your life-stone, you have to obey.” Nothing. Spirits often wanted some sort of trade. “I could get you some nice acorns, boy.” Nuts didn’t interest the shadowy squirrel. It was staring at his bloody leg, licking its lips.
    Pinetto couldn’t believe he was offering this, but tried to reason like the sky mage. “I’ll pay you a drop of my own blood.” He had its attention now. The tiny ravenous beast’s eyes glittered. It wanted payment in advance. The astronomer removed his torn leggings and squeezed the blood from them onto the crook of the branch. The squirrel lapped up every drop, and even chewed away the bark where blood had touched.
    Once payment had been rendered, the squirrel vanished with amazing speed. The astronomer descended as fast as he could, cursing. He stopped only to free his sesterina-wire-laced cape when it snagged. He couldn’t let that rip. The bowman screamed shortly thereafter. Pinetto ran for the river like all the demons of hell were on his tail. Judging from a few half-eaten corpses he saw on the way, quite a few might have been.
    Pinetto had to take a few detours along the way. He was one of the last men to reach the rallying point before the defensive trenches were finished and planted with spikes. After he hurdled the