Read Online City of Scars (The Skullborn Trilogy, Book 1) by Steven Montano - Free Book Online

                      
    “Who is it?”  Dane asked.
    “A half-Allaji woman named Ijanna Taivorkan, better known as the Dream Witch.  Have you heard of her?”
    Dane had to think for a moment.  “Yes.”
    “What have you heard?”
    “She’s a Bloodspeaker who got herself into trouble with Mez’zah Chorg and the Phage.  She’s powerful, and she has prophetic dreams.”
    “That she does.  There are many who’d like to get their hands on Ijanna, but so far she’s managed to elude them all.  That’s where you come in.”
    Dane cursed to himself.  He was completely out of touch with the flow of information through Ebonmark, so finding reliable leads wouldn’t be easy.  And Ijanna wouldn’t be easy prey: from what he’d heard she didn’t just elude bounty hunters but sent pieces of them back to their employers.
    “Where was she last seen?” Dane asked.  He’d have to go digging in the seedier parts of the city.  Vellexa would be of some use, if she didn’t stick a knife in him first.  If he could get enough first-hand information about Ijanna he might be able to track her with the Veil, in which case he wouldn’t need Vellexa’s help at all…but he knew things wouldn’t be that easy.  They never were.
    “You know where she was last seen,” the Count said .  “Because you were the last one who saw her.”
    Dane hesitated.  “The Chul…that woman I saved from the Chul.”
    “Good to see you’re not a complete simpleton,” the Count said mockingly .  “The Chul, Empress Azaean and the Phage are all searching for Ijanna, but I don’t want anyone to get their hands on her before I do.  Time is short.”
    “It always is,” Dane said with a bitter laugh.  “So what’s this all about?  Why is this woman on the top of everyone’s wish list?”
    For a moment the air was silent.  Dane felt his heart pounding in his chest.
    “You disappoint me,” the Count said at last. “According to your reputation you don’t ask questions so likely to get you killed.”
    “Usually that’s true,” Dane said.  “But I get the sense you want to tell me.  Otherwise you wouldn’t have brought me to the Cauldron, not when Vellexa or those other two idiots could have told me this back at the Red Witch.  I think you want me to be impressed, maybe even intimidated, but above all I think you want me to know exactly why she’s so important to you.”
    Dane didn’t bother focusing on the Veil or keeping a hand close to his weapon.  If the Count had wanted to kill him he would’ve done it already.
    “You’re smart, Azander,” the Count said in a slow and calculating tone. “Maybe too smart for your own good.  You’re correct, of course.  I’m the leader of the Black Guild.  You know of our power, so I don’t need to bother trying to intimidate you.  The facts are simple: you’ll be sufficiently rewarded if you succeed, and most violently disposed of should you fail.”
    Dane had dealt with the Guild before, and he knew the cartel was ridiculously powerful and influential in both Empires.  “Why me?” he asked.  “You must have the resources of a city-state at your disposal…what do you need me for?”
    “The fact that I do should illustrate how desperate I am,” the Count said. “I need someone with your special talents.  I cannot broker failure.”
    “Go on,” Dane said with a nod.
    “Ijanna – the Dream Witch – is much more than she seems.  She’s the rarest sort of Bloodspeaker, born with a near limitless reservoir of the Veil in her blood.  She is most precious.”
    Dane had never heard of such a thing, and part of him didn’t even believe it was possible.  Nature was rife with checks and balances.  A Bloodspeaker’s own life force fueled their magic, and every effect they created brought them closer to the grave.  Veilwardens, who drew on the Veil from its source, had fewer restrictions, but they required years of training to produce