The Game of Fates Read Online Free PDF Page A

poured a clear, light brown colored drink into each of the silver
cups.
    “Ah,
sweet bark cider,” Khazak said as he held the cup up to his nose.  “I never
tire of it.”
    “If
you’d like, I’ll send a keg of it back on the next caravan,” Lord Krall said.
    “You’re
a generous lord, sire,” Khazak said.
    Lord
Krall cut to the point.  “Hmm… Well, so what is this other matter that you
wished to discuss with me?  When shall I be let in on the secret, eh?”
    Durik
and Khazak Mail Fist looked at each other briefly.  Khazak gave a look as if to
say ‘did you want to mention it or shall I?’  Durik looked back uncomfortably,
so Khazak proceeded.
    “My
Lord, the Kale Gen has decided that it is again time for us to search for our
gen’s stone of power,” Khazak said bluntly.
    Lord
Krall choked on his drink and spat, “What?!  You mean you’re going after the
Kale Stone?  Again?!”  He leaned over and placed his cup on a side table, then
leaned back in his high backed chair.  “Why ever would you do that?” he said
with open arms, “Didn’t you learn your lesson last time you sent a group out to
find it?  That was a disaster!”
    Khazak
Mail Fist nodded, “Yes, sire.  It was a disaster, and Lord Karthan learned a
lot on that expedition.” 
    Durik
was surprised at the revelation that there had been a previous attempt to find
the stone he now sought.  Clearly, there was much he hadn’t been told. 
    Khazak
continued, “However, a record he found of the last Lord Kale’s ill-fated
expedition, linked with things we’ve found through our continued efforts at
exploration beyond the Chop, has led Lord Karthan to a conclusion on its
location.  There is a prophecy recorded in that record by a kobold prophet
named Two-Toes.  In there it clearly states that the Kale Stone will be
gathered to Palacid.”
    Lord
Krall’s eldest son sat forward in his chair.  “Is that your quest, then, Durik,
to find and gain entrance to Palacid, all in an effort to find your gen’s stone
of power?”
    Durik
nodded his head, but doubt was clearly evident on his face.  “My quest really
is to retrieve the Kale Stone, which I believe is to be found below Demon’s
Bridge at the Chop.”  The revelations he had received through his visions had
led him to the conclusion that his quest for the Kale Stone would not actually
lead him to the ancient home of their race’s beginnings that was Palacid.
    Almost
on cue, Lady Karaba spoke in Durik’s support.  “The Kale Stone is not at
Palacid.”
    Lord
Krall was taken aback.  “What do you know of their stone?”
    Lady
Karaba continued calmly.  “The Paladin’s Journal, which Karthan found on his
quest, states the location of the Kale Stone and gives a description of where
it was to be found.  It was not at Palacid.  The visions that Durik has had
only confirm this.  The Kale Gen’s stone of power is located in the mountains
that ring the northern part of our valley, most likely directly below Demon’s
Bridge.”
    Khazak
Mail Fist looked at Lady Karaba with a look of some consternation on his broad,
powerful features.  “I understand that something is calling to Durik… though I
am not so certain that it is the Kale Stone.  I cannot help but think that
perhaps the stone is not to be found there, but rather that either something
else is luring our warriors there or that the Kale Stone has something it wants
Durik’s Company to accomplish there before coming to it.”
    “What
reasoning do you have to support this line of thinking?” Lady Karaba asked.
    Khazak
was a warrior of simpler desires than to get too involved in prophecies and ancient
powers, but his loyalty to Lord Karthan pressed him to continue reasoning. 
“Lord Karthan found a prophecy in the quest journal of the last Lord Kale. 
This prophecy is from a kobold who calls himself the Oracle of the Kobold Gen,
which states that the stone is to be found at Palacid.  Do you have reason to
not