The Cities Series 01 - The City of Ravens by Forgotten Realms

Author:Forgotten Realms [Forgotten Realms]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-01-08T16:36:20+00:00

"I see that you were prepared for the possibility of an early solution," Jack murmured to the Master Crafter.

"We have already made arrangements for three more Games," the fellow replied jovially. "It would be a terrible waste to end the Game in its entirety tonight."

"I wager you have another development in mind should your Faceless Lords be unmasked too quickly," Jack observed. The Master Crafter merely smiled and inclined his head. "Your resourcefulness is to be commended. Now regarding the prize—"

"Excuse me," said Illyth. "I think you’ll have to reconsider the next step of the Game."

"I beg your pardon, my lady?" Morran asked.

"The Seven Faceless Lords are standing right over there, in their full robes and masks." Illyth said pointing.

At the other end of the theatre, the robed actors slowly filed in, solemnly proceeding toward the stage.

The Game players looked at each other and whispered or muttered, checking with their neighbors to make sure they had heard the Master Crafter correctly. The marching figures silently surrounded the audience.

"What is this?" Morran muttered under his breath, so quietly that only Jack and Illyth were close enough to hear. "This is not in the script!"

In years of thievery, swindling, pursuit, and evasion, Jack had developed a distinct knack for sensing trouble when he chose to apply himself. The mysterious robed figures stood over the audience, positioned more or less in front of each exit from the room.

"An ambush," he realized. He reached out and caught Illyth's wrist, starting to pull her back from the stage.

As one, each of the robed figures withdrew a slender wand from its sleeve and pointed it toward the crowd. Game players surged up out of their seats, suddenly aware of the danger, while attendants stood frozen in shock and panic.

"Come on!" Jack yelled at Illyth, hauling her into the nearby conductor's box and ducking for cover.

At that moment each figure unleashed great bolts of brilliant lightning through the masked crowd, splitting the air with painful cracks! and then booming thunderclaps a second later. Brilliant blue shadows flickered and pulsed across the walls, leaving bright spots in Jack's eyes even though he was not looking directly at the bolts.

"Tymora's teats!" he cried. "What now?"

Outside people screamed in pain and fear. In the space of a heartbeat, the theatre became a scene of absolute bedlam. Ruthlessly, the robed figures shifted their aim and discharged their lightning wands again, burning great swaths through the seething press of nobles and merchants and Game-attendants who charged, fled, or cowered as their personal courage

demanded. Suddenly the massive bulk of Randall Morran skidded into the conductor box, knocking both Jack and Illyth to the wooden floor.

"My apologies, Sir, Madam," the Master Crafter huffed. He was singed in a couple of places, but mostly unharmed. "Your selection of shelter seemed sound and well advised."

"Morran, what's going on here?" Illyth demanded. "Is this some kind of drastic plot twist?"

"No, fair lady. It seems that someone has taken this occasion to assault the noble and privileged among our Game players.

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.