The Hunter Victorious Read Online Free PDF Page B

the gods and disaster waits for those who are godless. Nor
     will the gods hesitate to strike down those who do not believe in them. The gods saved me and destroyed my world because I
     was the only true believer. You
must
follow your gods and obey their wishes or you and your world will meet the same fate as my world. I may be an outsider, but
     I am a believer.”
    Carn’s mutilated face was crimson with the passion of his words and his eyes glittered with feverish intensity. His handsopened and closed into fists as he spoke, and it was clear that he believed every word he uttered.
    “Would that your faith was so strong, Saxo,” Otir Vaeng said softly as he placed his arm around Carn’s shoulders and shook
     him gently, a gesture that spoke of friendship and trust and more. “Take care that you do not bring the wrath of the gods
     down upon yourself.” The threat was implicit and the old man said nothing more, merely stared sadly at the man who was his
     king.
    “The volva has spoken,” said Otir Vaeng, his hand sweeping toward the woman on the throne. “The wishes of the gods are clear.
     We must rid ourselves of outsiders, of disbelievers, of those who are not worthy of Valhalla. Hunt them out from among us.
     Only then will we and our world be safe.”
    Braldt started suddenly as Brandtson gripped his hand and silently drew him out and away, back the way they had come, unseen
     by those around them who pressed forward and were voicing their agreement in loud tones, anxious to prove their loyalty to
     their king.
    Once they had turned the corner of the narrow corridor, Brandtson gripped Braldt even more tightly and together they fled
     from the madness behind them.

4

    Braldt and Brandtson hurried down the side of the mountain , anxious to be gone before the gathering broke up. Although it was almost a certainty that everyone would use the interior
     path to avoid the bitter cold, it was possible that some would choose the outer balustrade. Brandtson had taken a great risk
     in bringing Braldt with him, for Braldt was the one who Otir Vaeng most wanted dead. Brandtson did not think that Braldt would
     accept the seriousness of the situation unless he heard the king’s words with his own ears.
    Braldt followed his grandfather, all but oblivious to the bone-biting cold and the driving sleet which made the slippery path
     all the more dangerous. He had known that Otir Vaeng was his enemy, but this madness was beyond belief. Men who changed their
     shape at will and became wild animals, priestesses sacrificing animals to fire, and now an exhortation to kill all those who
     did not believe as they did! What it amounted to was the open sanction of murder of hundreds, perhaps thousands of innocent
     people.
    Braldt’s mind was awhirl with confusion, but one thing he was sure was that if there really were gods, it seemed oddly providential
     that their wishes always seemed to coincide with the desires of those in power. He had seen it on his own world, the manipulation
     of the people by the priests, and on Rototara, where the numerous gods belonging to variouscivilizations often clashed in their desires. And now here again on Valhalla.
    Perhaps there were a multitude of gods who belonged to the multitudes of races, but if that were so, the religious netherworld
     must be a crowded place, and how did those gods interact with each other? The Duroni believed in the gods of nature, believing
     that each natural element was controlled by its own deity.
    The Rototarans, a reptilian race who spent the greater portion of their lives in hibernation, believed in a shadowy deity
     whom they referred to as “the True God.” Braldt had little or no understanding of the Rototaran god, but from what little
     he did know, he was certain that it was not the same god as the Duroni worshiped.
    Another race of beings from some distant point in the galaxy believed in a god by the name of Yantra, whose long list of musings
     guided the