Book 2 of the Empyrean Odyssey - The Fractured Sky by Thomas M. Reid

Author:Thomas M. Reid [Reid, Thomas M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub

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Myshik and Kashada followed close behind Zasian as they moved along the passage between planes. The shadow-mystic's footfalls, already faint, became lost amid the clomping of Myshik's boots.

The walls of the passage remained close at hand on either side of the trio, and Zasian imagined he could have forgone the light and felt his way easily enough. The tunnel twisted and turned occasionally, ascending at times and dipping sharply at others. Once, it grew so narrow that Myshik was forced to slip free from his breastplate to squeeze through.

"What catacomb do you lead us to?" he grumbled as he tugged his armor back on. "You said nothing of tight spaces before."

"We will be free of this confined space soon enough, Morueme," Zasian replied.

As soon as Myshik had donned his armor, they resumed their travels. As if to prove the priest a prophet, they rounded a bend and discovered light seeping from the next turn ahead. Zasian quickened his pace and reached the opening of the tunnel. Stepping free of it, he took in the surroundings.

Much like at the other end, the trio stood within a narrow gorge of rich, dark wood rising up to either side of them. The trail continued out of sight ahead. Also similar to before, gray mist filled the air, casting a pall over the place. Unlike the moist air that hung within the House of the Triad, though, the mist was much more silvery.

Eventually the canyon walls began to drop away from the sides, until at last the priest and his companions stood upon what appeared to be a great ridge of the same woody landscape. Much of the ground was bare, but in spots, the same large, angled trees jutted from it. Lush green tangles of some sort of thick bracken covered other large stretches.

The ridge did not rise from some larger plain, however. Instead, it just fell away to either side, its edges seeming to grow steeper as it faded from view, making the whole thing round, like some gargantuan barrel. The crown of the ridge ran off both ahead of and behind them into the distance, eventually fading from sight into the pervasive silvery light. The narrow gorge from which they had ascended appeared as a crack in the surface behind them.

Zasian halted and took it in for a moment. He scanned the horizon in every direction, as far as he could see. I'm actually standing here, he thought, pleased. I'm actually standing on the World Tree. It is grander than even I could have imagined.

"What is this place?" Myshik asked, peering around in wonder.

"The World Tree," Zasian answered. "Or rather, a single branch of it."

"Where does it lead?" the half-dragon asked. "Why are we here?"

Zasian glanced at his companion, irked. Can't you even appreciate the grandeur of this place? Do you not grasp what a monumental moment this is? He shook his head in disgust. "It leads everywhere," the priest explained with a sigh. "And we are following it to get .

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