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

after that he couldn’t feel anything. His body and all his senses were gone, and the world around him became an icy void.
    He floated through it in silence, drifting away from life and into absolute nothingness. But one thing had stayed with him.
    The voice.
    Arenadd. Arenadd. Listen to me, Arenadd. Speak to me .
    No sign of anyone. Only a voice that seemed to come from everywhere at once.
    Arenadd. You cannot run from me. You cannot hide from me .
    And, at last, he replied. “Go away.”
    As if his words were a signal, the void changed, and he found himself standing—standing on a surface he couldn’t see, no different from the blackness all about.
    And she was there.
    She looked like a woman, a Northerner like himself. She didn’t seem to have an age. Her only clothing was a silver mantle that covered her shoulders and nothing else. In one hand she held a sickle. She held the other hand out, palm up, and there was the full moon, somehow floating between her fingers.
    The Night God.
    Arenadd tried to back away from her, but there was no space to do it. “I told you to leave me alone.”
    I do not abandon my people, the Night God said. Even if you have done so .
    “You know I only wound up like this to save Skade and Saeddryn. And her friends.” Arenadd remembered something, and wrapped his fingers around his throat. “And now they’ve killed me. Again.”
    You tried to kill the Bastard, the Night God admitted. I am pleased that you tried .
    “Tried, failed. Who cares? It’s not going to do me any good now.”
    Faithless darkman! She pointed the sickle at him. I could have helped you, but you did not listen! Your mind was full of cowardice and doubt. You did not intend to obey me but to try and hide from me, as you have tried since boyhood to hide your own true self .
    “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Arenadd said sourly.
    You have lied to yourself long enough, said the Night God. You are a Northerner. The world would not let you forget, and neither shall I. Accept it .
    “I have.” Arenadd pulled up the sleeve of his robe, showing the spiralling tattoos. “I accepted it when I got these.”
    Then accept me!
    “Why should I? What did you ever do for me? I only ever prayed to you once, and you ignored me.”
    I heard you .
    “And did nothing!” Arenadd raged. “I prayed to you; I asked you to save me! And you let me die . You let me fall hundreds of feet, break every bone in my body and then drown in my own blood! So forgive me if I don’t look overly impressed!”
    The Night God’s expression did not change. She lifted the glowing white orb in her hand and placed it into the black hole where her right eye should have been. Your death was inevitable .
    “You could have stopped it!”
    No. There was nothing I could do . The Night God’s other eye, her black Northern eye, stayed fixed on Arenadd’s face. I am not a part of the solid world. All of my powers are wielded through my people. And that is why I chose you . Her expression grew distant. Many years ago, a man called Padrig was kept in the cell where you suffered. He was tortured until he was near madness, but he would not speak. Rather than betray his people, he ended his own life. In his final moments, he cried out to me. “Help us, Night God. Save us.” I hear every true prayer. I heard his. And I heard another voice. A young man called to me on the final night of his life. When he did so, I knew that a part of him had begun to long for me. And so I chose to give him my greatest blessing. My greatest trust .
    “I was scared witless,” Arenadd mumbled. “Of course I prayed. I couldn’t think of anything else by that point.”
    And so, in your desperation, you came to me. And when I appeared to you at last, you swore to do my bidding .
    “What else was I supposed to do? I thought you would kill me if I didn’t.”
    But you want to obey, said the Night God. You long to obey. I feel it in you .
    Arenadd said