The D'Karon Apprentice Read Online Free PDF Page B

feel some obligation to involve
Ether in such trivialities. Twice she had been summoned for no
reason other than to be present at a meal shared between Deacon,
Myranda, Ivy, and Myn. Still, this beckoning was rather insistent,
and the interruptions thus far had been mercifully brief. The
sooner she addressed whatever simple task the human had for her,
the sooner she could return to her pondering.
    She shut her eyes and allowed her substance
to shift, forgoing the solidity of stone for the fluidity of air.
Her consciousness bound together a loose form of churning winds and
allowed the rest of the mass that had been her body to whisk away
as a powerful gust. Now mixing with the frigid breeze around her,
she drifted skyward and set off to the lands to the south. It was
perhaps not accurate that she enjoyed traveling as wind, as
for her it was simply one of her many states of being, but after
spending any reasonable amount of time solid, there was a feeling
of connection to immersing herself in an element that cloaked the
whole of her world. She was completely unrestrained, her body
merely a point of focus, a small part of something that reached the
ends of the globe. If she allowed her focus to slip enough, she
could feel the coolness of the clouds and the prickle of the dry
grass, the solid mountains and the lapping ocean all at once. She
was one, she was all. It was the very definition of freedom, and it
at times was a difficult temptation to resist.
    The land rushed by beneath her, cities coming
and going in the time it would have taken to blink an eye. First
was the bustling capital of Verril, nearly recovered from the
damage done during its liberation. Then came the Rachis Mountains.
She swept over fields and tundra, roads and lakes. In the time it
took the sun to cross half the sky, she left most of the Northern
Alliance behind her and approached the broken city of New Kenvard,
where she could feel what remained of her fellow Chosen awaiting
her. Her windy form touched down, scattering the dusting of snow on
the city streets, and began to draw in sufficient substance to
craft something more suitable for interacting with mortals. Bit by
bit she tightened her focus on the air that made up her body, and
it shifted to bone and tissue, each tiny component held in form
through sheer will. Though this too was more of a struggle than it
had been, it was still the work of moments to slip into the shape
that had become almost second nature to her: that of a beautiful
woman. To finish her transition, she conjured a few layers of fine
garments and topped them with a thick robe.
    Ether glanced around the streets to see a
handful of people staring in awe at the woman who had appeared from
thin air. She gave them a nod of acknowledgment and stepped up to
the door of a building she felt certain contained her
associates.
    “Are you Ether?” asked a tiny voice beside
her.
    The shapeshifter looked down to a young boy,
his face positively aglow with excitement.
    “Obviously,” Ether said wearily.
    “Dana, come here,” warned a young woman, no
doubt the boy’s mother, as she rushed to his side. “Leave Guardian
Ether be.” She looked at Ether. “He’s heard the stories about
you.”
    “Can you really turn into anything ?” he asked, bopping up and down and trying to
squirm away from his mother’s grip.
    “Given the time and the strength, most things
are within my power,” Ether said.
    “Can you turn into a griffin?” he asked.
    “If I can turn into nearly anything, then it
should be clear that I can turn into a griffin. I have been one on
more than one occasion.” She looked at the boy’s mother. “Is there
a reason for these questions?”
    “He’s curious. When I told him we would be
coming to help rebuild New Kenvard, he said he wanted to meet all
of the Guardians of the Realm. He’s spoken to Myranda and Ivy many
times, and Myranda even let him scratch Myn. But he’s been hoping
to see you most of all.” She looked