The Keeper's Shadow Read Online Free PDF

he forget? And Rat was in his vision too. Their first encounter in over a year. This can be no coincidence. But what is the creature’s connection to Ende? “I was under the impression that Rat was a Dirt Eater. They took orders from him.”
    â€œThink back on your meetings with him.”
    â€œThe first time he came to me by himself. I was at my house, after Longlight was destroyed. He warned me to leave. He was right.”
    Without looking up, Ende pours herself another cup of tea. “Has he given you any other good advice?”
    â€œSeveral times. But I’m telling you, he was also with the Dirt Eaters. I’m sure he was one of them.”
    â€œThis is all you know of him?”
    Roan remembers what Haron of Oasis told him. “During the Wars, when my great-grandfather decided to put a stop to the fighting and divide up the rebels, he said the instructions came to him in a dream, from a rat.”
    Ende touches her fingertips together. “The rat comes to those in need, and to those who share a common interest.”
    â€œLike what?”
    â€œThe preservation of the Dreamfield, for one. The Dirt Eaters have only met a small part of the rat. They fear and therefore respect him, thinking him some kind of guardian animus, an aspect of the Dreamfield that can divine the future. Dirt Eater nonsense.”
    Studying Ende’s face, every nuance of her body and voice, Roan can detect nothing but openness and truth. “Once he told me he was many and few. What does that mean?”
    â€œThat, you will have to ask him.”
    Roan is hesitant. “How? How do I move freely in the Dreamfield, without risking being found by the Turned or the Dirt Eaters?”
    â€œYou have the ring. The Badger is a protective spirit. When you breathe yourself into the Dreamfield, put a picture of it squarely in your mind. It will lead you to a safe place. Rat will find you there.”
    Roan considers Ende’s instructions. Why does he see traps everywhere? Why has it become impossible to trust even those who seek to help him? As if sensing his doubts, his white cricket leaps onto his knee and begins to sing. “I see you’ve already made up your mind,” Roan says. Closing his eyes, he slowly sips the air. His thumb passes over the ring Saint gave him and a picture of the enigmatic badger takes shape.
    R OAN DUCKS DEFENSIVELY AS AN AVALANCHE OF BLAZING ROCK CRASHES AROUND HIM . B UT ALMOST IMMEDIATELY HE REALIZES HE IS SOMEHOW PROTECTED FROM THE INFERNO . R EACHING OUT TO EXAMINE THE TRANSPARENT PERIMETER, HE GASPS IN AWE AS HIS HAND PRESSES AGAINST ITS FLEXIBLE SURFACE . G LOWING COALS EVAPORATE INTO DUST OPPOSITE HIS FINGERTIPS . A WARE THAT HE IS NO LONGER ALONE, R OAN DROPS HIS ARM . H E CANNOT KEEP THE SUSPICION FROM HIS VOICE AS HE TWISTS TO SEE R AT LICKING HIS PAWS ON THE GRANITE FLOOR . “H OW DID YOU KNOW I WOULD COME? ”
    â€œI DID NOT KNOW . Y OU ARE NOT THE ONLY ONE UNDER SIEGE , R OAN OF L ONGLIGHT . T HOUGH D ARIUS CANNOT EXTEND HIMSELF PAST HIS BORDERS, STILL HE SENSES THE SHADOWS BEYOND HIS REACH . H IS C ONSTRUCTIONS RIP AT THE FABRIC OF THE D REAMFIELD . N O ONE CAN WALK FREELY NOW . T HIS IS ONE OF THE FEW PLACES THAT CAN BE SAFELY APPROACHED .” R AT’S EYES ARE OPENLY CURIOUS . “D ESPITE THE B ADGER’S PROTECTION, YOU COME AT GREAT RISK . W HY? ”
    â€œE NDE ADVISED ME TO CONSULT YOU .”
    â€œT ELL E NDE TIMES HAVE CHANGED AND SHE MUST NOT PUT SO MUCH STORE IN MY CUNNING . B UT SINCE WE ARE BOTH SAFELY HERE …”
    â€œI HAD A…VISION .”
    R AT CLOSES HIS EYES . “T ELL ME WHAT YOU SAW .”
    â€œS TOWE WAS A TREE THAT BURNED TO GOLDEN ASH . I KILLED A BULL WITH MY HOOK-SWORD . B LOOD RAN DOWN IT AND FELL ON THE CHILDREN, THE FOURTEEN N OVAKIN . I T EASED THEIR PAIN . B UT THEN MY SWORD MELDED TO MY HAND . W ILLUM GATHERED THE ASH THAT WAS S TOWE AND SCATTERED IT OVER THE N OVAKIN . D O YOU KNOW W