The Griffin's War (Fallen Moon Trilogy) Read Online Free PDF Page A

around Erian, but he sidestepped. “This is for my father,” he said, and punched Arenadd in the stomach as hard as he could.
    Arenadd lurched backward and would have fallen if the guards hadn’t pulled him back. They shoved Erian out of the way and hauled their prisoner toward the platform. He struggled along between them, wheezing.
    Erian let the little group pass and fell into step behind them. They didn’t stop him; they all knew who he was. This was his right.
    As Erian reached the top of the stairs, he heard someone coming up behind him. He hopped up the last few steps and turned, backing off to get out of the way.
    “Elkin!” he blurted.
    She offered him a faint smile. “Good morning, Lord Erian.”
    He could feel himself blushing. “I, uh, I . . .” He coughed. “I want to see this properly. If you don’t mind.”
    “Of course you may,” she said briefly, and walked toward the front of the platform.
    Erian stayed where he was and watched her. He had never felt so awkward in his life.
    The Mighty Kraal hadn’t come up onto the platform; there was no room for him there. He had stayed where he was at the forefront of the assembled griffiners, watching in silence.
    Erian couldn’t see Senneck from here.
    Arenadd had been taken to stand just below the noose. Two guards kept hold of him, while one of the others took up his station by the lever.
    Elkin stood at the front of the platform, to one side so the crowd could see the condemned man. “Arenadd Taranisäii,” she began, “also known as Arren Cardockson of Eagleholm, you have been found guilty of the following crimes.” She began to list them all, patiently reciting each one from memory.
    “. . . treason, sedition and consorting with rebels,” she finished eventually, her quiet, clear voice carrying over the crowd quite well. “For these crimes, the Master of Law for the territory of Malvern, acting under authority from myself as Mistress of Malvern’s Eyrie, has laid down the sentence of death by hanging.” She glanced at Arenadd. “Under our laws, as a former griffiner you have the right to speak before the sentence is carried out. Speak now, or I will assume that you have waived that right.”
    Arenadd’s pale face had turned even paler, but his open eye was alight. “I swear,” he said. And then again, much louder: “I swear. I swear on my dead heart that no Southerner will ever have power over me again.”
    The crowd was staring at him. Nobody spoke.
    “And the same goes for the rest of you!” Arenadd yelled. “You cowards! Will you let the Southerners grind you into the mud forever? Or will you do something about it?”
    The eerie silence broke, and the crowd of Northerners began to shout. In anger or agreement—who knew?
    Elkin had already nodded to the guards. One of them took the noose and put it over Arenadd’s head, pulling it tight. He fought back then, hurling himself bodily at them and head-butting one in the face. He kicked the other one in the kneecap before both men retreated out of his reach. There was no need to hold him any more.
    Elkin didn’t wait for things to calm down. “Sentence will now be carried out,” she said, her voice lost in the uproar.
    The crowd had not stopped shouting. Erian thought he could make out one thing, repeated by many voices. Dark Lord, Dark Lord, Dark Lord .
    Arenadd spat at the guard by the lever. “Pull the damn thing and be done with it.”
    “Gryphus will burn you forever!” Erian shouted as the guard obeyed.
    The trapdoor opened, and Arenadd fell. The noose pulled him up short with a hideous crack and a jerk, and after a brief struggle he hung there, swinging gently back and forth.

3
     
    The Night God’s Promise
     
    D eath, for Arenadd, was darkness.
    He felt the brief lurch of his stomach as the trapdoor gave way beneath him. Felt his neck break. Heard it—that sick, muffled crack. There was no time for pain.
    He felt his body convulse as utter blackness swallowed him, and