Books 7 - 8 by Arthur Slade

Author:Arthur Slade [Slade, Arthur]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dava Enterprises
Published: 2020-05-15T22:00:00+00:00

8

An Icicle in My Heart

I awoke to screaming.

I shot up, eyes open, and hands on the hilts of my daggers, but before I could draw them, Brax grabbed me and said, "Your brother is a fitful sleeper." He motioned with his nose.

The first sunlight, coming through cracks in the walls, was bright enough to show Nameless twitching and scratching at his chest as if he were bound. He let out another guttural scream that shook the rafters. Dust was awake—was always awake as far as I could tell—and looking down at him with what passed as concern. She let out a soft, caring hiss.

"I'd say our little wizard has some hidden demons," Brax said. "What say you?"

"I—I don't know," I lied. I knew that he was dreaming about Corwin. And there was a chance that Corwin would be the one who opened up that single eye and glared at us.

"I'm going to wake him," Brax said.

"That isn't wise." I sat up higher. "I've read about sleepwalkers and how they should—"

Brax shot out his tail and poked Nameless hard in the ribs and then whipped his tail back just as Dust bent her neck and stabbed at it. The bird got a beak full of the dirty floor and let out a bitter hiss.

"Well, that was satisfying on several levels." Brax kept curling and uncurling his tail like he might use it again.

"And it worked," I added. For Nameless opened his eye and wiped at his sweating forehead. He then shook his head and looked up at Dust, who was still hissing in our direction. Nameless glanced across at us.

"My apologies," he said. "Was I snoring?"

"Screaming violently is more like it." Brax slowly settled his tail. "You know, the scream that a torture victim would make as torturers peeled away his flesh."

Nameless frowned. "Screaming? That is very curious. I am usually a dreamless sleeper."

"Do you remember what it was about?" I asked. "Sometimes our dreams are closer to us when we first awake."

Nameless shook his head with so much force I thought he'd pass out. "I remember nothing," he said. "It was nothing. The mind is sometimes a monster all its own."

"Well, that's not a very comforting way of putting it," Brax said.

"Are you sure you remember nothing?" I asked.

Nameless stared directly at me and this time shook his head subtly, suggesting he wanted me to stop asking questions. There was a pinch of anger to his features.

"I just need breakfast," he said, and then he opened his saddlebag and distributed food to us. He handed a large hunk of dried meat to Brax. Within a brief time Nameless also had tea made using the fire. I knew Brax liked tea, but seeing him drink from such a small tin cup looked rather ridiculous.

Brax drained the cup and set it down. "Let me guess your plans." Brax tapped a talon on his jaw, doing his best impression of a teacher. "You two are going to trundle off to Akkadium in your

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.