The Coldstone Conflict Read Online Free PDF Page A

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    Nearing exasperation, Nazz turned and made to run again, but this time he tripped and crashed onto the flagstones. He tried several times to get up, but was so tired that he could actually feel his strength ebbing away …
    The dragon he’d hit with the font suddenly moved—incredibly fast for its size. Craning down, it belched forth a jet of flame that lit up the entire sanctuary.
    Nazz the ogre managed one last, terrible scream as the fires of hell consumed him.

Four
    J IMMY AND OBEGARDE STOPPED dead in their tracks. They had reached the top of the Tor, which gave them a magnificent view over the harbor.
    “It’s them,” Obegarde said. “Both of them: they’re guarding the harbor, one at each end.” He turned to Jimmy with a resigned look on his face. “That’s every exit covered; Vanquish must be controlling them.”
    Jimmy sniffed, looked down at his shoes.
    “We’re stuffed, then,” he muttered. “We either hand ourselves in to a dark god, get incinerated by dragonfire, or take on two of the possessed who were legendary warriors before they became undead.”
    The vampire sighed. “I wonder how far Effigy and Nazz got …”
    “I don’t even want to think about it,” said Jimmy, sadly. “But we have to get a message to Burnie, somehow—and that means at least one of us getting out on a ship. Preferably Effigy; he’s the only one who actually knows where Burnie is!”
    “You really think the troglodyte will be able to do something?”
    Jimmy shrugged. “No, but he’s a damn sight smarter than we are—no offense.”
    “Then there’s only one thing for it.” Obegarde took a deep breath, then shook off his cloak. “You go; I have to fight them.”
    “What?” Jimmy boggled at him. “Are you out of your bloody mind? They’ll carve you up!”
    “It’s a diversion! Besides, I’m undead: they’ll have to decapitate me or at the very least stake me. Either way, I’ll last a damn sight longer than you!”
    “But it’s suicide!”
    “So is waiting here to be caught and killed! I’ll go for the pair of them, and you go for the ship.”
    “But it’s—”
    “Deal?”
    “But—”
    “DEAL?”
    “All right, damn it! All right.”
    Obegarde concentrated hard, his nails and teeth elongating as he prepared to move for the harbor. When he finally did shift, it was with such speed that Jimmy, who’d been standing right beside him, could make out nothing more than a blur.
    He watched as the shimmering form flickered along Royal Market, flashed past the treasury and crashed, with surprising force, into the creature that had been Gape Teethgrit. At the opposite end of the harbor, Gordo Goldeaxe turned, like a puppet on a string, and staggered over to join the combat.
    Jimmy wasted no time; he sprinted down Crest Hill, negotiated the south side of Royal Market Place, leaped three barriers blockading the harbor … and did a double-take. Effigy Spatula had appeared at the far end of the docks, a young girl trailing after him. They were heading for the quay.
    Jimmy felt a sudden surge of despondency: Nazz was nowhere to be seen. Could the great ogre really have fallen? It didn’t bear thinking about.
    He returned his attention to the harbor, where Obegarde was struggling with the two possessed warriors.
    Jimmy gritted his teeth and rolled up his sleeves: he couldn’t just leave the vampire to his fate. They’d been through too much together …
    Obegarde spun in the air, slashing at Gordo with his fingernails. The strike cut a line across the dwarf’s armor, but couldn’t penetrate any further. In reply to the attack, Gordo brought up his battle-axe in a wild sweep. The vampire managed to evade the move, but in doing so he fell straight into the arms of Gape. The big barbarian lifted Obegarde over his head and threw him into a stack of barrels.
    There were a few seconds of silence before the vampire exploded out of the stack like a cannonball. This time, he leaped through the air,