The Coldstone Conflict Read Online Free PDF Page B

me from almost certain death, and there are dragons behind us, so please just—”
    “Dragons? Tom! Tom! I told you that was a dragon I saw go over earlier! That’s ten crowns you owe me!”
    A second crewman appeared at the entrance to one of the cabins.
    “Well, I’ll be damned!” he said.
    “Can we please get going,” Vanya demanded. “It’s imperative that my father knows what’s going on here!”
    “I’ll second that,” Effigy agreed, surprised and a little annoyed that a girl so young knew words like “imperative.”
    Several more crewmen appeared and, under orders from the captain, began to release the ship from its moorings.
    “What are you doing here?” Obegarde screamed at Jimmy as the warrior-zombies approached. “I told you to go for the ship!”
    Jimmy gritted his teeth, brandishing a crowbar he’d found wedged inside a barrel-top. “I’m not leaving you behind, Obegarde. Either we both go … or we stay.”
    The vampire didn’t have time to reply before Gape lunged at him with yet another wide strike. Jimmy leaped atop a barrel and managed, much to his own astonishment, to somersault backward over Gordo, landing behind him.
    He swung the crowbar with all his might, catching the dwarf across the back of his head and sending him crashing to the floor.
    Obegarde parried another attack from Gape, cutting the barbarian a vicious slash across the chest as he faltered.
    “Get out! Just go! I can’t watch out for you and defend myself and —”
    He glanced over at Jimmy, who was standing next to the prone figure of Gordo Goldeaxe and looking very pleased with himself.
    “Jimmy …” Obegarde started, his face a mask of horror. “What are you doing? Effigy is going for a ship: follow him! ”
    “What? No way! Look, I’ve dealt with this one pretty well, wouldn’t you s—”
    “No!” Obegarde screamed. “Behind you!”
    Jimmy Quickstint spun around, just in time to see the two dragons drop from the sky and dive toward him.
    The thief’s legs were a blur: he moved so fast that, for a moment, Obegarde was given to wonder if the gods were assisting him. The dragons converged on the spot he’d occupied seconds before, one narrowly avoiding the other as they came to ground.
    Obegarde gasped, but he didn’t have time to fall back before Gape lunged at him once more.
    Jimmy wasn’t hanging around: his escape dash had turned into a determined run for the quay.
    Obegarde summoned all his concentration, then jumped onto Gape’s back and transformed into a snake. Gape screamed as the reptile curled around his neck and chest, constricting flesh and bone. The barbarian blundered around, flailing madly with his free arm, scratching and biting the snake as his strength faded. Eventually, he managed to wriggle free of the serpent’s grip. Snatching hold of its tail, he flung it into the air and snatched up his sword in order to slice it in two. Obegarde, however, was changing form again. The resulting bat flapped over Gape’s sword arm and rose into the air with remarkable speed. The barbarian tried, rather pointlessly, to give chase, but tripped and collided with a stack of barrels.
    Now rain was pelting the harbor in torrents.
    The dragons had mysteriously ceased their pursuit of Jimmy Quickstint. They both hung in the air as if hooked on giant, invisible hangers.
    Obegarde flew after the thief, who was now a fast-accelerating speck on the quayside.
    Gordo, meanwhile, had regained consciousness and scrambled on to his stubby feet. The dwarf managed to regain tight hold of his battle-axe. Turning his head to the sky, he swung it at the dragons in a gesture of defiance.
    “Get after them!” screamed the possessed voice. “Get after them, or face the master’s wrath.”
    The dragons turned in the air and, flapping noisily, headed back toward the city gates.
    “Effigy! Effigy!”
    The ship, finally released from the docks, began to drift … but not before a lone figure had leaped from the quay