The Sword of the Dragon: Volume 03 - Key of Living Fire by Scott Appleton

Author:Scott Appleton
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: AMG Publishing
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

The building before which Ilfedo now stood was dissimilar to all other structures in the wooden city. Its round base was about eighty feet in diameter, and the walls stood half as high. It sat nestled at the base of a very high cliff, and its roof was adorned in white and beige square tiles. Its pitch was steep, rising to an arrow point some thirty feet higher than the walls.

Perhaps the most curious sight, however, was the mighty metal gears. They were slightly taller than he. The core of each gear had been carved from a dark wood, but an iron band had been wrapped around each, much in the same way that iron forms the outer ring on wagon wheels. To the outer bands had been fixed bronze blocks the size of a man’s head. These teeth fitted between the teeth of each succeeding gear all around the building. From the orange discoloration on the gears’ shafts, where they pierced the building, Ilfedo could see that the contraption had been out of use for a long, long time.

Everett shifted from one foot to the other, staring down the length of his beard at a dead Dewobin on the dirt street. He dropped to his knees. “Be glad I’m not an atheist.” He folded his hands and closed his eyes. “I will remain here and pray that you succeed.”

Ilfedo walked down the winding path to the observatory doors, standing before them in the silence until the Nuvitor shrieked, diving, and landed on his shoulder. “Wait out here, my friend.” Ilfedo stroked the bird’s chest and set it on a post sticking out of the ground. He would rather venture in alone, at first.

As he drew his sword and reached for the door latch, a low rumble filled the building. He grasped the latch, then lifted it and pulled. The door, some twelve feet high, squealed on its hinges and opened barely enough to allow him to squeeze through the opening and into the hazy, dim room beyond.

Dust clouded the air, falling from the arched ceiling rafters. He brushed the dust from his shoulders and sneezed into his elbow. The air felt warmer in here, humid almost. The Living Fire played over his body unimpeded as he scrutinized the walls of the small oval room; he half expected a series of portraits that would spawn the demonic creatures he’d found in the house.

But here the walls were devoid of furnishings and color. Also, his armor shed light, and his sword blazed without dimming. He strode to a smaller door at the far end of the room—the only other door—and opened it.

Something was different about this building.

The room that he gazed into was circular and enormous. Its walls extended to the full size of the building as seen from the exterior. And the cathedral ceiling was fully exposed between rows of tree-thick beams crisscrossing some thirty feet above him. Cobwebs in abundance overflowed the rafters and draped onto the machinery below.

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.