City of Torment (Abolethic Sovereignty) by Bruce R. Cordell

Author:Bruce R. Cordell [Cordell, Bruce R.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9780786956142
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Publishing
Published: 2010-01-14T00:00:00+00:00

Raidon held his place in the circle. The planking trembled with the energy of the wizard’s ritual, communicating its presence by touch. The circle’s influence flowed from the deck into him, tingling at first, but leaving in its wake a feeling of … something larger than himself. While his body stood in the circle, he sensed a newly forged link to a second body, a phantom form whose shape was that of a great sphere. A sphere whose surface was forged by schooling creatures plucked from the Elemental Chaos.

With hardly more effort or forethought than it took to move his own limbs, he propelled the sphere down through the darkening waters. And Green Siren plunged farther and farther into the cold depths of the sea.

Raidon shook free from the illusion, though not completely. He thought it unwise to risk losing contact with the ritual, but he wanted to keep tabs on the ship and the protective globe with his own eyes. The hollow in which the ship rode remained perfectly intact. The tiny gleamtail tailfins worked tirelessly. Whatever property allowed the creatures to swim the variable landscapes of the Chaos was being lent to the ship and crew.

“I ain’t never seen the like,” murmured Captain Thoster. Raidon didn’t start at the comment, even though he had failed to notice the man standing so close, just beyond the edge of the ritual circle.

“How do you suppose the little monsters are keeping the air fresh enough for my crew?”

Raidon said, “Ask Seren, Captain. I have to concentrate, or I’ll lose the way.”

Thoster grunted and moved off, muttering that he should check the rum supply.

Raidon promptly dismissed the captain from his awareness. What he’d said was true. It was proving difficult to simultaneously direct the gleamtail-shrouded Green Siren while also following the guidance of the Cerulean Sign. With his hand upon the symbol, he could faintly sense the direction in which Xxiphu lay. But the more he focused on that guidance, the less he was able to feel the phantom shape of the protective sphere he steered. He had to juggle both perceptions in his mind, moving back and forth between them quickly enough that he wouldn’t quite lose hold of either.

Raidon’s straight-line dive toward the sea floor shallowed until Green Siren’s trajectory angled west and down in equal measure. A couple of times Raidon noticed other aquatic creatures nearby. Some were nearly as large as the encapsulated ship, but all moved quickly away from the plunging vessel.

Finally they approached the sea floor. He sensed it as a slightly denser plain of substance, but really no different from the water above it, at least from the perspective of a gleamtail jack.

Green Siren plunged into it. Keel-first, the ship burrowed downward.

The silt and stone parted as if they were nothing more than filmy veils.

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.