Child of a Mad God by R. A. Salvatore

Author:R. A. Salvatore [R. A. Salvatore]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780765395276
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates
Published: 2018-02-06T05:00:00+00:00

19

HARMONY AND DISCORD

It wouldn’t stop, each shivering note grabbing at the core of life energy and flicking it, like a million tiny fires burning into every reach of the tormented fossa. The creature wailed and threw itself about the debris-filled pit, sending shards of bone flying all about.

The beast leaped straight up, thirty feet, to crack against the ceiling, and tumbled back down into the jumble of sharp-edged skeletons. And it didn’t even try to land on its feet, demanding for pain, shrieking for it. Anything to silence the assault of maddening magic.

And the beast howled and wailed, full voice, trying to overwhelm the discordant twanging that plucked at its life energies and filled it with such agony.

But no matter the demon’s volume, the mountain’s magic sounded clearly. No matter the crashing and churning, the fires burned bright and hot, so agonizingly hot.

The fossa leaped face-first into the wall, crashing hard, chipping the stone with its teeth. It sprang as it bounced away, flying across the tight pit to slam hard into the opposite wall, then back again.

And again, relentlessly, furiously, insanely.

A normal creature would have been killed, bones shattered in the wild rampage, the long falls into spearlike bones. But such assaults couldn’t hurt the fossa.

But that song, that noise, that defiant, incessant twanging of the magic of Fireach Speuer! That, the fossa could not suffer!

After another long fall back into the pit, the creature burrowed deep under the pile of bones, and kept digging furiously when it came to the stone floor, its rending claws sending stone dust flying all about. It dug wildly, paws rolling, face planted firmly against the stone—which it even bit.

The magic had never been like this before, not this intense, not this loud!

The awful mountain sang now with full volume, as if mocking the beast. As if it would obliterate the beast.

In that moment of agony, the fossa hoped it would do just that—better nothingness than this unending torment!

The fossa dug, trying desperately to use the simple exertion, the focus upon its fury and its unending scream, to minimize the taunting notes of Fireach Speuer.

Trying desperately, and futilely.

* * *

The winding ways of tunnels began to mesmerize the young woman. Every wall thick with crystals—huge ones, many larger than even the stone of Usgar in the glade beside the winter encampment. All were shining in various hues, some from the inside, their diamond flecks brought alive through Aoleyn’s call to the magic, while others caught that light and twisted it through their angled sides and colored with the various flecks of gemstones and minerals within.

It was more than warm in here, it was hot, and Aoleyn was glad that she was wearing only a simple shift. And even still, she felt sweat on her brow.

And then there was the music. She could hear such beautiful music! But not with her ears. No, its vibrations were within her, flowing brilliantly, blissfully, elevating her mood and her heart with the song of Usgar.

Aoleyn took in her immediate surroundings.

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.