Dragon Age Book 2:The Calling by David Gaider

Author:David Gaider
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Tags: Traitors, Epic, Magic, Fantasy Fiction, General, Fantasy, Imaginary Wars and Battles, War & Military, Fiction
ISBN: 9780765324092
Publisher: Macmillan
Published: 2009-10-13T04:00:00+00:00

It didn’t take long for Maric to discover what the murmur they’d heard at the underground lake had actually been. The sound arose again behind them as the group passed through a long and narrow cavern lined with stalagmites. Now that it wasn’t coupled with the echoes of dripping water it was much clearer, and sounded almost as if there were people hidden in the shadows whispering to each other under their breath.

“What is that?” he asked, stopping to look behind them. All he could see, however, was more impenetrable darkness and more rocks. The sound stopped immediately, as if reacting to the sudden scrutiny. He tried to peer into the darkness, half expecting to see bodies scurrying out of sight. But there was nothing.

Kell paused beside him, also turning to look. Maric wondered if the hunter’s strange eyes saw more than his did. Hafter stopped at the same time, sniffing experimentally at the air and uttering a low and menacing growl. Finally Kell pointed at one of the stalagmites just on the edges of the light given off by Fiona’s staff.

Maric watched, but didn’t see anything unusual about it. Just as he was about to ask, he suddenly noticed movement. The “stalagmite” unfolded, revealing a serpentine creature with a long and wormlike neck that ended in a maw full of sharp teeth. Its mottled skin was almost perfectly camouflaged to match the stone around it. It spun on them and hissed threateningly from afar, and then bounded off into the shadows with alarming speed.

Hafter growled again, eager to chase after the creature. The hunter restrained it with a small gesture. “The dwarves call them deep stalkers,” he whispered. “Were we fewer, or they more numerous, they would have already ambushed us.” He pointed to several other stalagmites nearby, and now Maric began to see the subtle differences. He noticed where the creature’s limbs folded up under its carapace, where it tucked its long neck under its body. Hidden in plain sight, the disguise was almost perfect. He could have reached out and poked them, they were so close.

“They’re just going to let us pass?”

“They will follow, for a time, hoping for one of us to stray. The sound you hear is them communicating to each other, telling of intruders to their domain.”

“We heard that back at the lake.”

The hunter looked at him with amusement. “Then you’re lucky you did not remain there longer. No doubt they were calling for more.”

“Lucky,” Maric repeated. Duncan had sat there by himself next to that lake, no doubt presenting an enviable target to these deep stalkers. He was the lucky one, probably.

They continued on in silence. A pall hung over the group now, and they all seemed eager to find their way back to the Deep Roads, if such a route existed. Utha stopped as soon as they left the cavern, kneeling and putting her hand to the ground. She had done this several times already, closing her eyes as if she could feel something within the stone that none of the others could.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.