The Gray Wolf Throne Read Online Free PDF

intend to use it to destroy them,” Crow said matter-of-factly. “That is the reason for my existence.”

    Han was lost. “when you say you are a ghost of your former 27

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    self, what does that mean, exactly?”

    Crow’s image shimmered, dissolved, and then reassembled itself. “This is all that remains of me,” he said. “i am an illusion. i exist in your head, Alister. And in Aediion, the meeting place of wizards. not in the world you consider real.”

    “you’re saying you’re . . . dead?” Han stared at Crow. “That doesn’t make sense.” At least, it didn’t fit in very well with what he’d been taught at temple. But then he’d never claimed to be a theologian.

    Crow shrugged. “what is death? The loss of a body? The loss of the animating spark? if that’s the case, i am dead.

    “or is life the persistence of memory and emotion, volition and desire?” Crow went on, as if in a debate with himself. “if that’s the case, i am very much alive.”

    “But you have no body,” Han said.

    Crow smiled. “precisely. i have no corporeal body, nothing beyond what i conjure up in Aediion. And a body is required in order to get things done in the real world. A body is necessary in order to take revenge on the Bayars. Specifically, a wizard’s body, since that would allow me to use my considerable knowledge of magic.”

    “And that’s where i came in,” Han said. “i could provide the flash you needed.”

    “That’s where you came in.” Crow eyed Han critically, head cocked. “you seemed perfect. you are extremely powerful—
    surprisingly so. you’d had little to no training, which made you vulnerable to my influence and eager to spend time with me. you hated the Bayars, and, given your tawdry background, i assumed that you were ruthless and unprincipled. All good.” 28

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    “All good?” Han asked, rolling his eyes. This was a bit more honesty than he needed.

    Crow nodded. “At first i was able to take control of you fairly easily, particularly when you were actively using your amulet. i even provided support at times, when you seemed in danger of being prematurely killed.”

    “you mean the thorn hedge, when we were chased across the border into Delphi,” Han said. “And when we escaped from prince Gerard at Ardenscourt.” Han had immolated several of Montaigne’s soldiers with seemingly little participation on his own part.

    “yes,” Crow said. “But eventually, as you became more adept, you put up rudimentary barriers that kept me out. Very frustrat-ing. i looked for a way back in.”

    “And then i came to Aediion,” Han said.

    “To my delight, you did.” Crow threw him a sidelong glance.
    “in Aediion, you were still vulnerable to whatever illusion i conjured up. i could still get into your mind. we could have actual conversations, and i could teach you. That opened a realm of possibilities.”

    “But . . .” Han frowned. “There were still times, even after we began meeting, that you possessed me in real life, right?” he said. He’d found himself on the upper floors of the Bayar Library amid old dusty books. He’d discovered a map of Gray Lady and a list of incantations in his pocket. Scribbled notes that were now tucked away in his saddlebags. “i kept losing big chunks of time on the days we met.”

    “At the end of our tutoring sessions, when you were nearly drained of magic, the barriers came down. i could take possession 29

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    of you and cross over with you when you left the dreamworld,” Crow said, without a trace of apology.

    “is that why you worked me so hard?” Han asked. “To wear me down so you could seize control?”

    “well, that and, of course, we had considerable work to do,” Crow said. He shrugged. “Unfortunately, you were useless for magical tasks in your depleted condition, or i might have gone after the Bayars then and there.