Wrath of the White Tigress Read Online Free PDF Page B

considered the sensations he had experienced as he absorbed the White Tigress, trying to figure out what she had done during her brief freedom.  
    "Jaska was near to the White Tigress when she broke away," Salahn said, "but she has hidden the knowledge of what she did deep within her mind."
    "Can you not force her to give up the information?" Mardha asked.
    "Yes, but if I fully open myself to her thoughts and experiences, her personality could corrupt me. This may be a trap to that end. For now, let us concentrate on finding out what Jaska knows. Whatever plans the White Tigress initiated must be stopped, and her priestess must be killed, if Jaska has not seen to this already."
    "I will signal him to make contact," Mardha said, and she went off to the high tower chamber they used specifically for that purpose, where finely attuned crystals enhanced their sensing capabilities.
    Adynarh brought Salahn cold meats, bread, and cheese. By the time he finished them, Mardha returned with vexation on her face and trepidation in her normally precise movements. She said in a distant, stricken whisper, "I couldn't find him, not even a trace."
    Adynarh's jaw fell. "Is that possible?"
    "Anything is possible," Mardha said. "Even that."
    Salahn sat upright. "You made no mistakes?"
    "I performed the contact ritual three times with as much power as I could wield but found no signature. Either his qavra is destroyed or Jaska . . . is dead. I couldn't find his students either, but since I don't have a bond with them, the distance is probably too great."  
    "The White Tigress must have killed him," Adynarh said.
    Mardha paced. "But what would that gain her?"
    "I will search for Jaska myself," Salahn said. Hands arranged into complex mudras, he entered a deep trance. As he strained, the signature of his qavra's sibling came to him faintly. Jaska's spirit did not resonate through it. Salahn broke off his trance. "Just his qavra," he said in disgust. "Nothing else."
    "Maybe he took it off," Adynarh said.  
    "Jaska would never remove it." Salahn locked eyes with Mardha and through their qavra sent a message to her mind. " My sorceries prevent him from removing the qavra and even if he did the magic would call him back. He cannot resist it. "
    " Perhaps if he were injured ," she thought back. " A blow to the head or the neck. "
    " Perhaps, but he would want it back quickly. " Aloud he said, "I am afraid that they have somehow, as impossible as it seems, defeated Jaska. Adynarh, contact the groups closest to Mount Barqeshal. Send them to find out what happened."

The eastern sky brightened as dawn approached while the west remained dark with retreating storm clouds. Along the riverbank, the swollen waters sloshed as they receded. Wind sighed through brakes of reeds and the leaves of three stunted palms. In a nearby stream, Jaska caught two fish barehanded, despite the pain that tunneled deep within his mind and the limited range of motion in his neck and left arm. His barely sealed wounds burned with punctuating waves of needle-sharp stabs.  
    With cold-numbed fingers, he ripped the flesh from the bones of the fish. He swallowed more than chewed for his jaws would barely open. He was exhausted, but he wouldn't let himself fall asleep again. He couldn't bear to face more nightmares of carnage and torture.  
    He needed to get help. Lying here for days would only expose him to enemies and predators. It might also mean succumbing to his injuries. Jaska splashed his face and drank from the stream. Then he gathered a few half-rotten dates that had fallen to the ground and stuffed them into a pocket.  
    He was ready to move on, but where to? He thought of the White Tigress and his promise to seek the truth. He would go to the legendary Farseer of Vaalshimar. But first, he needed his qavra. Not having it exposed him to danger and hampered his abilities. There was no evil within the stone. It was simply a tool. And with it, perhaps the confusion that