Three Kings (Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

a thicker tuft of fur at the end. He had never heard of such a beast in all his days and knew it to be a rare find. Months ago it would have been a great prize to kill and later adorn his home with the fur and bones. But now, with the understanding that all life was precious, he could not help but believe that this rare, beautiful, and deadly creature was no different to a man. If it were as rare as he believed it to be, perhaps its life was even more valuable than his own. This line of thinking brought with it another problem entirely.
    He knew that the beast’s lifespan without its will was short. Its body could live on in this state, but only for a finite amount of time, and there was no way to know how long that was. With limited options, Gnak felt inward for Jen’s essence, and reassuring himself with her presence, he pondered his dilemma.
    He could restore the beast but it would likely attack him again. He could leave the beast in its current state, but likely for only a day or so before it died. Or, he could replace its will with that of another. Such a transition from one creature to another took time to establish, and might allow him to escape, but the consequences of such a combination could be more dangerous than the beast on its own. Gnak shuddered at the thought of his father’s essence in the great white beast. No. If he were to replace the beast’s essence with another it would have to be one he trusted, but that only left Jen and Bota, the man who once served as his second in command.
    No matter what his current situation was, however, he did not want to place Jen within the body of an animal. It simply felt like an improper way to treat the small girl who had died so that he could live, and become greater than he had been before meeting her. This left only Bota, but with the circumstances of his death, Gnak had a feeling that the man might have a slightly different attitude towards Gnak now that he had been used as the subject of a test. There was only one thing he could do.
    Kneeling down, he brushed his hand across the beast’s soft fur and reached up to pet its face. It was truly a magnificent animal. Sliding his hand up under the creature’s chin, he tilted the massive head back to peer in the black depths of its eyes. Then, in one clean motion, he thrust one blade into the exposed neck and further still, up into the brain within its skull. Without so much as a twitch, the light faded from the beast’s eyes as gurgling sounds escaped its mouth and warm blood seeped in sickening quantity from the wound. Shaking his head Gnak rose, wiping the blood from his blade upon the white fur of the beast. There was no better way to deal with the creature and the circumstance of their meeting than this. It had to be done. At least he had killed the animal both honorably and painlessly. It was the best he could do.
    With a blade in his hand, in case another of the beasts stirred somewhere in the mist, he peered down at the wounds in his chest. Though they were not too serious, wide rends in his flesh bled freely. With the rush that came from battle, pain was no consequence, but he knew that something had to be done about the wounds. Unslinging the bundle of supplies from his back, he dropped it upon the ground and fought with the mist as he tried to untie its bindings with fingers of bone.
    Though with limited vision and his unnatural fingers, the task was difficult to say the least; eventually he managed to not only open the bundle, but also locate the small container he sought. Smelling the reek of sulfur and a multitude of spicy scents, he pulled the wooden stopper from the small hollowed out horn of some unfortunate animal and peered inside.
    Within the small confines of the horn was a familiar looking paste of a semi-transparent green color. Though it stunk beyond an acceptable measure, Gnak scooped a portion of the paste out with the boney tip of one finger, and raised it to his face. Taking one long pull