The Living Sword Read Online Free PDF

danger spelled out for them. You're better off with Xerxen or Telemachaios, both of them born and raised in the City.”
    “Barsoc himself lived in Linese for five years. He must have gotten to know the city and its people quite well in that time,” Eurik countered. His face was starting to hurt from holding back his laughter.
    “More like every gambling house and thug,” Patheos muttered.
    Eurik finally broke down. A moment later the Linesan joined him with a dry chuckle.
    In the east, the sun sank into the sea.

Chapter 3
    The City
     
    While every book about Linese mentioned the Star of Aleixandros, it was not actually built near the city. In fact, you couldn't see the city even from the top of the tower; the lighthouse merely marked the entrance into Ciroth's Bay. Still, it was a marvel Eurik kept staring at as darkness fell. The Ichiru passed the lighthouse, and still he kept standing there.
    He knew he should go to bed. They wouldn't reach Linese until first light, where this journey would end and another would begin. He would need his mind clear and rested to navigate the biggest city in the world. But he stayed at the railing and stared as the landscape passed them by. Not that there was much of it; only cliff-sides topped with a dark carpet of grass. Ships passed them in the night, from rowed galleys to fat, two-masted tubs crawling their way out of the bay.
    On the shore, cliffs shrank and gave way to sloping hills ending in sandy beaches, and Eurik got his first glimpse of a human house. Several posts with torches illuminated the building and its surroundings. It sat on the top of the hill amidst neat rows of small, identical trees. Like the lighthouse, it was bigger than the houses back on the island. But where the lighthouse had been tall, this house was wide. He didn't recognize the stone it was made from. Something reddish, with a sheen that reflected the light of the torches.
    “There must be a lot of people living there,” Eurik mused.
    “Not as many as you think.”
    Startled, he turned around to look at the silhouette of Hoyashi. “What... what do you mean?”
    The master nodded towards the shore and the house. “While many humans live there, most of them do not call it home. They reside there to serve its owner, who probably only lives there a couple of months in any given year. Most of the building's space is reserved for the owner's comfort while the servants reside somewhere out of sight.”
    “I see.” Eurik's gaze went back to the house. “Then that is a villa. It certainly looks grand.”
    Hoyashi made a sound. “Go to bed, Eurik. We won't reach the truly remarkable sights until tomorrow. There will be more light to see them by, too.”
    He opened his mouth to say ... something, but closed it again when he couldn't figure out what that something was. Inclining his head, he made his way to his sleeping mat. As he closed his eyes, Eurik knew what he'd wanted to say. 'But tomorrow, there will be a sight I won't see again for a long time.'
     
    ***
     
    An unfamiliar sound woke Eurik up. The light filtering through the tent-cloth told him it was morning now, but his waking mind still could not place the distant, vague, a constant murmur. Eurik nearly crawled out of cover when he remembered what was supposed to happen today. “Is that the sound of a city?” he wondered out loud.
    There was only one way to find out, so he rolled up his mat and gathered up Misthell and his pack. He didn't want to disturb the still slumbering Patheos. Chewing on a dried strip of meat, he crawled out of the tent. Once out, Eurik got to his feet and turned towards the bow. A forest of masts and rope surrounded them. It looked like every ship in the world had been gathered in one place.
    Beyond this armada were shapes. They rose higher and higher, regular but not similar; not all of them. His eyes did not comprehend what they saw. They were made out of wood and stone, plastered and painted in several colors, which