The Oath of Stonekeep by Troy Denning

Author:Troy Denning [Denning, Troy]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9780425170656
Amazon: 0425170659
Publisher: Berkley
Published: 1999-10-02T06:00:00+00:00

“Faerie cake!” cried a weak, chirrupy voice. “Let us eat cake!”

The chamber exploded into a series of happy trills and gleeful twitters.

“Wait!” cried the queen. “Where is the human?”

“The hero!”

“The strong man!”

A confused murmur rustled through the chamber. When Cassius tried to call out, green snow filled his mouth, and he started to cough.

“There!”

“Down under the eggs!”

A dull rumble echoed through the room, and the weight quickly vanished from atop Cassius’s body. Several small hands caught him beneath the arms and pulled him to a seated position. A fan of brilliant yellow light was shining on the snow around him, bleaching its green hue and causing it to melt.

The queen came over and offered him a faerie cake. “We thank you.” She gestured behind him. “Bink and Wink thank you, too.”

Cassius accepted the cake, then turned around to see a pair of haggard-looking faeries standing in the archway. Both were so white that he could practically see through their gaunt bodies. The female’s wings were withered and cracked, and they both had deep, sunken eyes that made them look more like shargas than faeries.

In front of the archway lay six or seven huge golden eggs with leathery shells, each nearly as high as Cassius’s waist. They were rocking back and forth and emitting sharp scraping sounds, as though something inside were attempting to break free.

“The enkavs!” Cassius gasped.

“In what?” Wink narrowed her eyes at him.

“Enkavs,” said Flip. “What he’s looking for.”

Cassius barely heard the exchange. In the vast chamber beyond the archway lay more eggs than he could fathom.

all rocking back and forth and emitting the same sounds as those outside. They were stacked two high in much of the room, and so deep that he could see nothing but eggs and the source of the golden light in which they were bathed. In the middle of the chamber, with its blade stuck firmly in the ceiling, hung the most magnificent sword Cassius had ever seen.

It had to be the Sun Sword Pendaran had warned him about, and Cassius wanted it the moment he laid eyes on it. He rose to his feet and stepped toward the archway without thinking, drawn toward the glowing weapon by some inborn power lust he had never before felt.

“Not so fast, fella!” Bink dashed in front of Cassius, his sunken eyes burning with menace. The faerie raised a tiny sword and pointed the tip at the duke’s chest. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Bink!” scolded the queen. “That’s no way to treat your savior. He didn’t have to come down here and rescue you.” The interruption brought Cassius back to his senses. He backed away, then turned to the queen. “No, Bink is right. I didn’t come for the Sun Sword.”

“You didn’t?” Wink appeared at Bink’s side, her eyes even darker and more menacing than those of her companion. “Then what do you want?”

Cassius pointed at the eggs.

“No!” Bink and Wink shouted the word at once, their voices suddenly low and gravelly. “Them’s our

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