Stone & Bone by D. Dalton

Author:D. Dalton [Dalton, D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy
ISBN: 9780578047218
Goodreads: 15783091
Publisher: Smashwords Edition
Published: 2012-07-31T23:00:00+00:00

* * *

"There are too many tracks." Thalon knelt on the road.

"I know." Tom scowled beneath his hood. He carried the sleeping Der as lightly as if she were a leaf. Thistle, Kelin and Der's wounds were healed by the vials. Thistle and Kelin had scoffed at the danger. However, the little bottles of miracles did nothing to help blood loss or exhaustion. Mora dozed on Spike's back while Kelin rode his own horse beside her, keeping a watchful eye. Der's mount that Mora had borrowed had never returned. No one had the strength to attempt to find it.

Thalon crossed his arms. "Why are there this many people on this road? That village can't be too big."

Jakkobb shrugged. "I don't know, do you humans have any wheat festivals or something?"

Kelin licked his lips. "Uh, I've never been here. I don't even know if they grow wheat here, sir."

"What's the name of this place?"

"Daedle's Locke," Tom answered. "It lies right on the river, but it's north of a knickpoint, so there's no shipping on it. The avulsion was south of here."

"A what?" Mora asked.

"I'll just say a waterfall - not a very large one either, but enough to deter any rafts and boats."

"How do you know this?" the knight asked.

Tom shrugged. "I decided to map the area awhile ago. I was bored. It only took a few years to do."

Daedle's Locke bulged into view like a blister on the landscape. The town walls stood besieged by a shantytown of canvas tents. Hundreds of people milled around with no discernible pattern to their actions. Most of them, however, seemed to hover around the river.

"Malfax will be worse than this now," Jakkobb murmured.

Tom smiled cheerfully, fangs and all. "Wonderful, we're walking into a pot of water and it's heating up rather quickly. I wonder, how long until it boils over the river?"

The knight sighed. They walked in silence for a moment.

"Inn's going to be full," Thistle observed.

"Leave that to me," Tom ordered quietly.

They sifted through the open palisade of the village. Traders wheeled their carts around in spaces that filled in with people when they passed. Daedle's Locke had more people than it could fit, and still more streamed in. The inn wasn't hard to locate, it was the only two story structure.

A small beagle barked as loudly as he could when the vampire entered the common room. Tom covertly glanced around, and satisfied no one was watching, hissed at the dog. It squealed and scurried back to the kitchens, tripping its hind feet over its tail stuck fast between its legs. Tom smirked to himself and set Der down on a bench. Then, he found the innkeeper and "talked" to him.

He returned to the others. "I secured us the room upstairs in the back." He took Der back and led the way.

"Won't there already be people there?" Thalon asked from somewhere behind Tom.

"For the moment. I'll 'talk' with them too." He kicked open the unlocked door into the room. Several surprised men looked up at him.

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.