The Cradle of the Gods (The Soulstone Prophecy Book 1) by Thomas Quinn Miller

Author:Thomas Quinn Miller
Language: eng
Format: azw3, mobi, epub
Publisher: Creativia
Published: 2014-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

25

Discoveries

Riff watched Ghile and the other initiates dash into the Redwood like fleeing rabbits. Those men who were not blood relations of the initiates and still young enough to think chasing them through the forest seemed good sport yelled and banged their shields to drive the initiates on. They kept one eye on the forest and another on Mother Brambles, waiting for her to unleash them.

All muscle and no brain.

They knew as well as he did she would allow the initiates a good head start. But they slathered and whined, wanting to give chase, all the same. The similarities between him and the hunters chafed his pride.

Riff turned and made his way through the throng. He needed to find Master Almoriz. He, too, had done as he was told and kept an eye on Ghile. Riff liked Ghile well enough. He felt beholden to look out for him after Adon had been culled even without Master Almoriz's direction. He and Adon had always gotten along well on his visits and Adon had been the closest thing Riff had to a true friend.

He didn't think Master Almoriz had meant for him to follow Ghile into the wood. He wasn't about to strip down to his waist and be painted up like the rest of those louts. He had already taken the test and that was one time too many. He was not volunteering to spend a night crawling through the wood chasing boys out of hiding holes and trees. That was not his idea of an evening well spent.

He still wished the old sorcerer would explain to him what was going on. He had told Master Almoriz how he had found Ghile on the floor of that hidden shrine. The inhabitants of the Cradle feared the ancient ruins and if that wasn't enough to keep them away, dwarven law prohibited humans from trespassing in them.

There were not enough dwarves in the Cradle to do more than guard the Bastion and count the tithes the cradlers poured into it. Riff had no respect for the little walking blocks of stone. Dwarves were a necessary evil as far as he was concerned.

Master Almoriz always sent him into the ruins when they were staying in Last Hamlet. He always found good stones and the occasional cache of metal bits there, but little else. He usually just found a nice place to catch a nap.

He had long since come to the conclusion that there was nothing of interest in those ruins. He thought he had scoured them thoroughly enough on previous visits. He could not believe Adon's lanky little brother had found a hidden shrine to some forgotten stonechosen.

He had heard the screaming somewhere deeper in the ruins. He recalled feeling a twinge of jealousy when he came upon the trap door hanging open in the middle of the room.

The room was a crossroads of sorts and he had passed through it many times. How could he have missed the trap door? He made a mental note to pry off the metal handle after he got to the bottom of those screams.

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