Wrath of the White Tigress Read Online Free PDF Page A

together.
    He told her more about the assault on Muhl's keep.  
    "So you remember wounding Lordhak in the leg then disarming him, but what came next?"
    "I think . . . I killed him. Enemies of the people are slain."
    "According to the old code, palymfar set men on trial whenever possible."
    Jaska's face blanked. "I'm sure necessity required such action that night."
    "What happened to Lordhak's family?"
    "I don't recall. Perhaps he sent them away during the attack."
    The White Tigress sighed a low, sad growl. "Jaska, you tortured and then slaughtered them before Lordhak's eyes."
    Jaska tried to stand, but his legs wouldn't bear him up. "I'd never do such a thing!"
    The silver eyes of the White Tigress flared. "It is true that Jaska Bavadi would never commit such an act, but Salahn's Slayer would. Ask anyone in Hareez. The events are legend. You made the servants watch and sent them away to spread word of what happens to those who resist the palymfar."
    "I didn't do any of those things! It's not possible."
    "Jaska, I gained this knowledge through Grandmaster Salahn. I have seen everything through his eyes, including you. And I have scanned your memories. I know what happened." The White Tigress paced around him. "Lordhak had a daughter with long, sable hair twisted into a braid that fell over her right shoulder."
    A ghost of an image appeared within Jaska's mind. "I-I remember her, vaguely."
    "She couldn't speak. Not a sound would come from her."
    Bile stirred within Jaska's stomach. His heart pounded.
    "You remember something terrible now, don't you?" Jaska looked away and nodded. "You cut lines across her flesh with your bagh nakh. You said you would hurt her until she screamed, knowing she could not."
    "But I would never harm a child!"
    "Her mouth contorted, her eyes pleaded. She swung at you, scratched and bit, and you continued to torture her while her parents watched and the other palymfar laughed."
    Jaska saw a flash of frightened, innocent eyes and blade-scored flesh. A mouth that tried to scream and failed. His hands trembled.
    "You still carry a scar where she bit you."
    He raised the sleeve of his right arm and looked at two small sets of scars an inch apart that curved in toward one another. He tried to deny what she said, but memories surfaced matching her words. He wept and the White Tigress curled up against him. He didn't resist her. Her presence was comforting.
    "Everything happened as I said, Jaska, and you will spend the rest of your life tormented by the evils you committed. Over the next few weeks, the memories of what you did will begin to return, as long as you do not replace your qavra.  
    "When the nightmares threaten, you must call on resources deep within where your purity remains. Do not seek solace with Salahn or Mardha, no matter their promises."
    Suddenly, the White Tigress sprang up and then thrashed about as if something had fallen onto her. As if chains weighted her neck and shoulders . . .
    Panting, she spoke quickly. "You must overcome your past. You must defeat Salahn. Zyrella and Ohzikar will help you free Hareez from Salahn's terror. But only you can stop him. If you do not, he will grow in power until he rules the Shadowland, and then he will open the Underworld Gates to retrieve someone lost to him long ago. In doing so, he may destroy the world as we know it."
    The White Tigress roared and struggled. She turned translucent, and her form blurred at the edges. Jaska reached out to her and spoke the only truth he felt certain of. "I know you're not evil and that something is wrong with me. I promise I will seek the truth and follow the palymfar way."
    "Then go to my friend, the Farseer of Vaalshimar. She can help you. I am certain of that. If I had listened to her decades ago, none of this would--"  
    The White Tigress suddenly winced and flattened her ears.  
    "What's wrong?"
    Moaning in pain, she replied, "Your master is binding me, and no matter how hard I fight it, I cannot stop