Hammer and Axe (The Dwarven Nations) by Dan Parkinson

Author:Dan Parkinson [Parkinson, Dan]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9780786963539
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Publishing
Published: 2012-07-24T00:00:00+00:00

High overhead, a bird wheeled in the morning sunlight—a bird far larger than any who happened to see it from the ground might guess.

Cawe had seen the gathering of wizards in the cove among the southern peaks and wanted no part of them. They were nowhere near Sheercliff, nowhere near the raptor aviaries high in the Anviltops, and they were none of his business. Still, the little creature on his back insisted on a further look around, and now she had spotted the three dwarves from Sheercliff far below. In high-pitched birdsong, she begged and pleaded for Cawe to take her down to them so that she could tell them about the mages gathering in the mountains.

Finally, Cawe relented. No, he would not take her to them. There was too much settlement where they were, too much chance of being seen and challenged by creatures of their kind. Creatures of Cawe’s kind had learned, a long time ago, that the best way for raptors to deal with people of any kind was to simply avoid them. People did not understand giant birds, and most encounters led only to trouble.

Ahead, though, where a great mountain rose against the bright sky, were vast, high areas where no settlements were visible. Huge hawk-eyes roved the landscape there. High on the shoulder of the centermost of the great peaks, a deep, walled valley beckoned—a place where even a raptor might land unnoticed. Cawe set his wings and headed for a secluded landing. He would let the kender off there, and she could find her own way to the dwarves.

The raptor realized that he might never see the little creature again. It was the way of kender, to come and go as they pleased. In many ways, it would be a relief if this kender never returned to the Anviltops. She was often a nuisance.

And yet, the great creature—whose kind were called peak-masters by those who knew of them—admitted to himself that he would probably miss Shillitec Medina Quickfoot when she was gone. The sedate, reclusive life of the raptor—after having associated with a kender for a time—was likely to be a bit dull.

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.