Wine of the Gods 03: The Black Goats Read Online Free PDF

mages ? And the king's magician is supposed to be a storm mage."
    "Like I said, nothing is pure. Even solid rock has a bit of water, wind and fire in it, but it comes the closest to pure, which is why witches are so powerful. Blood mages, that's water, with some earth and water in it. Storms are wind and water, and fire as well if there's lightning. Wizards can influence lightning even better than a storm mage, and control any ordinary fire. The strongest wizards could pull power down from the sun itself—but  then the sun is another heavenly body, and as such contains the earth powers as well, so it all comes around in a circle."
    "How did you learn all of that?" Bail mentally kicked himself for asking. Lefty's enslavement in Auralia and escape to the Kingdom of the West was a subject best not looked into. He knew what the A uralians did to their slaves. They weren't called savages because of a lack of civilization, but because of their decadence.
    "Nothing to do but read in a harem." Lefty's jaw was clenched.
    "Well, you keep your eyes on them; we'll send the other scouts up the mountains."
    Lefty hunched his shoulders, but nodded. The other scouts would do something foolish if confronted by nine naked women. Lefty was unfortunately immune to that sort of influence.
    So Bail could concentrate on finding this "new pass" the King's Magician had "seen" and not worry about what was at his back.
     
    ***
     
    Answer rung her hands, fretting. The omens were all bad. Three young women of the Crescent Moon, and not a single one of them pregnant. The youngest hadn't even managed to lose her virginity. Mind you, up here in the Valley there weren't any young men to practice their flirting with, so she'd been incredibly heavy-handed. But kicking him in his male parts! She pushed herself to her feet and paced.
    A girl with sixteen, sixteen , moon flows that hadn't shown the faintest sign of reaching out and grasping the power of the earth.
    "This valley was our refuge after the war, after all the pyramids had been shattered and destroyed." The other four women watched her pace, and kept their silence. "It was what we needed, then. Have we missed a sign? Should we have left?"
    "Answer," Blissful's voice was reproving. "You know perfectly well that before the war only half of the girls ever reached power. I've been wondering how you managed to tip the odds."
    Answer shook her head. "Not I. But perhaps some of the old gods had a hand in the matter. Perhaps we're just returning to normal."
    She stopped at the patter of running feet. Question, in her usual brown hunting clothes, peeked through the door. Even excited and out of breath she remembered her manners. Pity about the power.
    "Speak, child."
    "Three riders on the south road. Lots of flash."
    "Hmm." Flash—light reflecting off of metal buttons, buckles, weapons, armor, and metal on the horses’ tack—meant they probably weren't bandits. "Get the Sisters of the Half Moon to their posts, but I want the Crescents down in the street."
    Question bobbed her head and dashed off.
    "All three of them together?" Delight asked.
    "Yes. They've each had a chance without competition; now let’s see how they do with it." She sighed. "Maybe I'm just impatient. The mages are doing well. And the Auld Wulf, Harry and Old Gisele. Although we don't have any idea how they ought to be doing. Who would have thought a magical war could bring down even the gods?"
    "Now , Mother," Happy hugged the old witch. "Let's give the Crescent Moons a little time. It'll work out well in the end. The old gods withdrew from human society centuries ago. They seem quite happy up here, doing very little."
    Blissful nodded. "We should also send out summonings. There were always a few outside women with abilities. We ought to try and attract them."
    Answer nodded. "Perhaps a few charms on the wagons every time we make a trip to town wouldn't hurt. Today, let's see if the Crescents can make some progress."
     
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