War of Souls 01: The Search for Magic by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman

Author:Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman [Weis, Margaret & Hickman, Tracy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-03-05T06:00:00+00:00

Like a match to tinder, the claim to having the biggest head spread through the gnomes until all one thousand of them were shouting and waving calipers, trying to prove that they had the largest skull around. Artagor roared impotently for quiet. He might as well have shouted at a waterfall.

He raised his ugly blade to strike down the Chief Designer. Before he could do so, Mixun evaded his distracted guards and caught the pirate chiefs wrist.

“Don’t do that,” he said mildly.

Artagor glared and tried to free his hand. To his surprise, the smaller man’s grip was hard to break.

When a trio of sailors closed in to aid their chief, Mixun released him.

For all his previous bluster, Artagor held his temper in check and said, “Who are you, sirrah? I take you for a man of arms. You’re not with these mad tinkers, are you?”

“No indeed,” said Mixun. “They’re with me.”

Raegel gnawed his lip and said nothing. He’d worked with Mixun long enough to know when his partner had a scheme working.

Artagor laid the dull side of his cutlass on his shoulder. “Explain yourself, and be quick.”

“I am Mixundantalus of Sanction, and this is my colleague, Count Raegel.” The redhead gave the pirate chief a jaunty nod. “We hired these gnomes. They work for us.”

“Doin’ what?”

“Harvesting ice, of course.”

Artagor looked from Mixun to the mob of gnomes arrayed around them. The little folk were quieter than they ever had been, standing and watching the humans with clear, unblinking eyes—a thousand pairs. Artagor tugged at his beard.

“It changes nothing,” the pirate declared, unnerved by the gnomes sudden, quiet attention. “You’re all my prisoners. I want all your valuables gathered here”— he stabbed the ice with the point of his blade—

“within the hour. You two will be my guarantees. I want no gnomish nonsense!”

“Of course not,” said Raegel, standing at last. “Take what you will, excellent Artagor.”

The pirates ransacked Nevermind South with brisk, professional thoroughness. The results were disappointing. A small heap of metal trinkets, mostly steel, grew in front of the impatient chief. As time passed and the pile did not progress, he began to roar again.

“What’s this?” he bellowed, gesturing to the modest haul of swag. “All you tinkers, and this is all the metal you’ve got? And you, from Sanction—if you’re the paymaster, where’s your pay chest?”

“The gnomes are working on account,” Raegel said smoothly. “They’re to be paid off when we reach our destination.”

“Which is where?”

Mixun opened his mouth, so Raegel let him answer. “Sancrist Isle, of course.”

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.