The Scorched Earth (The Chaos Born) Read Online Free PDF Page B

the
Gerscheld
,” Norr offered.
    “Maybe they’ll split up to follow the horses that ran off,” Scythe suggested. “Help even our odds.”
    “They won’t,” Jerrod replied. “They’re close enough to sense us now, just as I can sense them.
    “Grab what we can from the horses,” the monk ordered. “We’ll continue on foot.”

Chapter 4
    T HEY WEREN ’ T ABLE to salvage much from the two fallen mounts. Most of the food had been on the animals that had panicked and fled off into the night, and the bedrolls and other camp gear would only slow them down as they continued on foot.
    As far as Keegan was concerned, the only thing of real value was Rexol’s staff. Somehow it had survived unharmed; even the horned gorgon’s skull was undamaged. Whether this was a stroke of luck or an indication of the power trapped within, Keegan couldn’t say. But he was grateful to have the Talisman with him as they marched on through the night.
    Scythe quickly cut several strips of cloth from the bedrolls and wrapped them tightly around Norr’s injured knee, then they set off again. The walked single file, the barbarian leading the way. Even with the support of the wrap, the big man was limping slightly, but his long stride still enabled him to set a pace the others had to work to keep up with. It wasn’t long before they could see the outline of the
Gerscheld
looming ahead of them, a black shape rising fifty feet, set against a twilight sky that heralded the approaching dawn.
    In addition to being significantly larger, the
Gerscheld
was also shaped differently than the other small, rolling hills that dotted the tundra. The
Gerscheld
was wider and flatter. Three of its sides were sheer cliffs, though the face they were approaching didn’t shootstraight up. Instead, it was sloped like a steep ramp leading to the summit.
    By the time they reached the base of the plateau it was light enough for Keegan to make out the uneven path winding through the jagged rocks that covered the sharp incline. An irregular, twisting trail had been carved into the rock face; in places it couldn’t have been more than a few feet wide.
    The path was clearly man-made, and Keegan suspected the
Gerscheld
itself wasn’t a natural formation. To his eyes it appeared the earth had been wrenched apart, then folded back on itself.
    This place probably dates back to the Cataclysm
.
    But if magic had created the
Gerscheld
, there was no lingering trace of its presence. The charge in the air Keegan had felt in the North Forest was absent; like the rest of the Frozen East, this was a place where Chaos was thin.
    Still in single file, they trudged up the path to the top of the plateau. The ground was uneven and the going hard; Keegan had to lean heavily on Rexol’s staff for support during the ascent. Even Jerrod seemed to struggle with the steep incline.
    At least it won’t be easy for the Inquisitors to get to us
.
    Reaching the top, he was surprised to find several dozen large, rectangular stones arranged in a wide circle near the center of the plateau. The stones were all the same size and shape—roughly six feet across, ten feet high, and four feet deep. They stood on end, evenly spaced from each other as if someone had set them there. They were fashioned from a smooth blue mineral unlike anything Keegan had ever seen.
    “What is this place?” Vaaler gasped.
    “I told you,” Norr said. “It was a meeting place for the ancient clan chieftains. During times of conflict, they could come here to parley without fear of an ambush.”
    Keegan saw it was true; from their vantage point they’d have a clear view for miles in every direction once the sun came up.
    “This was once hallowed ground,” the barbarian added. “It was forbidden to spill blood here. But Pertor the Defiler violated the sanctity of the
Gerscheld
when he butchered his rivals during a parley.”
    “The Inquisitors,” Scythe said, interrupting his tale and pointing back the way they