The Ventifact Colossus (The Heroes of Spira Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

bookshelf where he took down a jade owl figurine. It was six inches tall and had small rubies for eyes. He handed it to Dranko. “How about this? Are there still jewelers in Tal Hae who will give you coins for it?”
    Dranko’s eyes nearly bulged from his head. Having done a bit of fencing in his day—and not the kind where you poked holes in people—he had a decent sense of the value of things, and even if the gems in the eyes were fake, he could imagine fetching ten gold crescents for this little owl. More, if the rubies were authentic.
    He composed himself. “That’ll do for a start.”
    The chime sounded again from somewhere deep in the tower’s heart. Abernathy flinched at the noise. “I have to go,” he said hurriedly. “Our enemy is ever battering at the door. As soon as I’m able, I’ll visit you at the Greenhouse. Good luck!”
    Before Dranko could even open his mouth to ask one of the dozens of questions he still had, the bearded wizard wiggled his fingers and the library disappeared.
     

 
     
    CHAPTER TWO
     

     
    MORNINGSTAR OF ELL was thankful that the sun had set, but she was annoyed at everything else. She stood in a cluster with the others, looking upon the exterior of Abernathy’s tower and the scrubby park that surrounded it. The goblinoid man, Dranko, stood closest, reeking of cigar smoke and stale alcohol. She took a step away from him, as did Ernie and Grey Wolf.
    Her head still spun from the whirlwind of the last hour. She had been aboard a ship from Port Kymer to Tal Hae, safely ensconced in its hold to avoid the sunlight. The invitation, so vaguely worded, had made her think it was her responsibility to reach the wizard’s home, though it had arrived too late for that to be possible. Morningstar had decided to come anyway, risking the wrath of her church elders and the additional scorn of her sisters by traveling abroad after sunrise.
    She had wanted to tell Abernathy that his arrangement was impossible unless the entire group was willing to travel after nightfall wherever they went, but there hadn’t been time for that. As for the old wizard’s tale of a powerful enemy trapped in a cell, she needed more time to reflect.
    The tall boy with the sword on his back, Tor, was looking every which way, eyes wide, a smile on his face. “I’ve never been this far from home before!”
    “Young man, where are you from?” asked Mrs. Horn.
    “Forquelle.” As soon as the words left his mouth, the boy looked mortified, as if he’d given up some terrible secret.
    “We should go to the Greenhouse, right?” said Ernie.
    While Morningstar was irked at the wizard’s presumption, the Greenhouse was her best option at the moment. She had never been to Tal Hae, and Abernathy was offering her free lodgings. (She briefly considered the local temple—supposedly one of the largest in the kingdom—but she wasn’t emotionally prepared for the questions that introduction would raise. Or, worse, for the possibility that her reputation had preceded her.)
    Grey Wolf gestured to the tower. “I’m giving him one day to make his case. After that I’m on the first ship back to Hae Charagan. I’ll be in enough trouble as it is for abandoning a job.”
    “You’re from the capital?” asked Tor. “I’ve never been there. What’s it like? Is it true that there’s a garden of walking topiaries? And that—”
    Morningstar interrupted him. “Are any of you from this city and know where the Greenhouse is?”
    Dranko answered, “Yeah. I’ve lived most of my life here. I can get us to the Street of Bakers. Follow me.”
    He set off, and Morningstar trailed along with the rest. The walk took them half an hour, from the corner of the city where Abernathy had his residence, through a grocer’s district, then skirting a series of small plazas before turning down a wide street loud with the clanging hammers of smiths. Though the sun was now an hour below the western wall, Tal Hae was full of a thriving