The Fading Dream

The Fading Dream Read Online Free PDF

Book: The Fading Dream Read Online Free PDF
Author: Keith Baker
him to the floor, pressing one knee into his chest and the haft of her axe into his throat.
    “Enough,” Thorn hissed. She could feel blood matting her sleeve, and the shard in her neck pulsed like an angry wasp digging into her spine. She wanted to drive her spear into his throat. “You’ve got an appointment across the bridge, you bastard.”
    The man struggled ineffectively, blood flowing from his shoulder and his breath coming in ragged gasps. A moment more and he’d pass out. He met Thorn’s gaze, and his eyes were wild. “The prince will fall,” he rasped. “And Galifar burn until our home has been returned.”
    “You’re not burning anything—” Even as she spoke, Thorn felt an awful spark of doubt. The wand! It had fallen on the floor, across the room …
    But somehow it was back in his hand.
    Fire filled the room. The force of the explosion hurled her off of the man and slammed her against the wall, driving the air from her lungs. There was a sharp
crack
, and in a shower of soot and plaster, both floor and ceiling collapsed. Thorn was caught in the cascade and rolled into a ball as she fell. The chaos took only a moment. Then all was still save for the cries of those injured and trapped by the burning debris.
    Thorn carefully rose to her feet, shifting aside the few pieces of rubble that had fallen on top of her. Smoke and ash filled the air, and her clothes were smoldering; the wood around her was seared, and she could smell blood and burned flesh. Aside from her bruises and scrapes, she was unhurt. Whatever power shielded her from flame had saved her yet again. She should have been blinded and choking on the thick smoke; instead it gave her no more trouble than cool fog, and even though she couldn’t see, she
knew
where the rafters had fallen, her mind painting a picture using the sound of crackling flames and the shifting pressure of air and ash. She returned the axe to its pocket of space within her glove and reached out to Steel with her thoughts. Charred wood shifted as the dagger pulled free and flew to her hand.
    Get out of here immediately
, he told her.
The building could collapse at any moment
.
    “And our friend?”
    Little left of him. What’s there will keep. Best to see to Oargev. It seems I was wrong to question his fears
.
    “Just coming to that conclusion, are you?” Thorn pushed through the rubble as quickly as she could, dodging the chunks of wood that fell from the ceiling. “What’s out there? Are there more of them?”
    No significant mystical signatures. But I didn’t sense the presence of the assassin until he charged the wand for the initial strike
.
    “Lovely.” A moment later she was out of the smoke and back in the clear air of the street, or at least as clear as riverside Wroat ever was. While the walls of the Cyran coach had survived the blast, one of the wheels was shattered, and those horses that had survived were too badly injured to move. One of the King’s Shields was helping Essyn and Oargev out of the battered wagon. The other Shield, Delru, had leaped down from the coach and was scanning the streets. He leveled his crossbow at Thorn as she emerged then lowered it as he recognized her.
    “The Watch and the Wands should be here in minutes,” he said as Thorn approached.
    “We’re not waiting,” she said.
    “Jovi’s not back—”
    “Which means he may have died buying us the time you’re wasting,” Thorn snarled. “This wasn’t the work of one man. Lanner, take point on that alley. Your Highness, stay close to him.”
    Delru grabbed her arm. “We should wait for reinforcements to—”
    “Down!” Thorn saw the spark in the shadows even as Steel cried a warning in her mind. She slammed into Essyn Cadrel, knocking him to the ground and shielding him with her body. The spark became a flash, the raw power of the storm harnessed by arcane skill. Delru’ssilhouette was seared into Thorn’s eyes as the lightning engulfed him, and the shattered
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