Lost Empires #02 - Faces of Deception by Troy Denning

Author:Troy Denning [Denning, Troy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-12-24T02:59:10+00:00

Chapter 11

The fall took... how long? To Atreus, it seemed the mere flash of an instant and the endless drag of forever. Beneath him rose the thousand-spoked wheel, stillspinning, as vast and as flat as a dead calm sea. The feathery snow-flake in thecenter hovered motionless, growing neither larger nor smaller, but growing morebrilliant with each passing moment The long plummet made his stomach qualmish and hollow, and the brightening snow-flake filled his eyes with a cold, scratchy ache. The chill air whipped past his face, tickling his flesh, drawing theheat from his body. His joints stiffened and his bones grew as heavy as ice. Heplunged toward the frigid oblivion of the dead, banded by the glare of that feathery, six-pointed star.

An eternity later, the snow-flake melted into a dark-hearted halo. Something pressed itself against Atreus's frozen lips. His numb flesh sensed only the weight,not the touch. Warm air swirled down through his throat and flooded his lungs.His pulse boomed to life. Blood rushed in his ears. The halo grew dim, and he sawSeema's smooth cheek pressed close, her brown eyes staring down at him, herdark hair making a tent around their faces. Her soft lips were pressed against hisand her mouth was working, her hot breath mingling with his. A sense of joyous wonder welled up inside him, and something more primal stirred lower down. Hereached up, twined his fingers into her silky hair, and returned the kiss.

Seema pulled away, her brow arching in surprise.

Atreus took his hand out of Seema's hair, dimly aware that he had made a

terrible mistake. "I, uh... I thought..." he trailed off, fearing he would only make

matters worse. "I didn't mean to—"

"It certainly felt like you meant to!" Seema's cheeks darkened, then she laughed lightly and called over her shoulder, "Have no fear for your friend. He only lured me down here to steal a kiss."

"Not at all!" said Atreus, mortified and struggling to identify where "here" was. "Wewere in Langdarma—"

"You have seen Langdarma?" Seema gasped.

"Yes," Atreus said, thankful to talk about anything but the kiss. "It is... white... and beautiful.. .and we were inside a..."

The image faded even as he tried to describe it. He recalled only the peace,the feeling of falling, and a handsome face in a shimmering mirror. He closed hiseyes, frying to recreate the memory through sheer will, but it was lost, wiped awaywhen he kissed Seema.

Seema clasped his forearm. "You cannot describe Langdarma," she told him, her voice warm and understanding. "Is bliss not different for everyone?"

"I... I don't know," Atreus answered, still confused by his surroundings.

He seemed to be lying in the bottom of a small white well, with Seema crammed in beside him. About six feet above her, Rishi and Yago were kneeling atop the wall, silhouetted against a brilliant blue sky, furiously dragging armfuls ofsnow away from the edge.

As soon as Atreus remembered the snow, comprehension came crashing inlike the avalanche itself. He tried to sit up and found he could not He remainedentombed in snow from the waist down, one arm still twisted around beneath him.

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