Read Online Greatshadow by James Maxey - Free Book Online Page B

basalt platform. I don’t remember ever seeing the ogress outside the Black Swan . Bigsby emerged from the fog right behind her. I wondered what he’d said to her to convince her to leave the bar.
    Aurora glowered at the hunchback. She was easily twice as tall as him. She said, “The dwarf gave me your message. How did you learn my true name?”
    Relic chuckled. “I plucked it from your mind, Aksarna. I have the gift, and the curse, of hearing the thoughts of others.”
    “Do you have the gift of an iron neck?” Aurora asked as her eyes narrowed. “Since you know of my past, you leave me little choice but to strangle you.”
    Infidel spoke up. “The Black Swan knows your past, and you don’t strangle her. Give ol’ Lumpy here five minutes.”
    Aurora looked at Infidel, pausing for a second to study her odd attire and bruised face. “What’s your role in this, princess? ”
    “I think I’m auditioning for the villain.”
    “Infidel has agreed to kill the king’s men once they’ve slain Greatshadow,” said Relic.
    “You know about the mission?” asked Aurora.
    Relic tapped his brow with a gnarled finger.
    “Right, right. Mind-reader,” said the ogress. “Fine. Why have you dragged me out here?”
    “Ivory Blade negotiated with you to hire the Three Goons,” said Relic. “We need you to arrange for him to hire us as well.”
    “You’ve already confessed that you’re planning to kill the king’s men. As of now, that includes the Goons. I’m no traitor.”
    “You’ve been accused of treason in the past. I’ve come to offer you a chance to clear your name.”
    Aurora shook her head. “It doesn’t matter what you offer me. My loyalty lies with the Black Swan. I could never betray her.”
    “You have deeper, older loyalties, Aksarna.”
    “Don’t call me that,” said Aurora. “Aksarna died long ago. Commonground and the Black Swan are all I have now.”
    “You didn’t die,” said Relic. “You failed. The difference is significant. The dead are devoid of hope, but the fallen may dream of redemption. I know you are haunted by the possibility that you could one day return to Qikiqtabruk with the Jagged Heart, restoring the temple and erasing your shame.”
    “The Jagged Heart was destroyed,” said Aurora. “My soul was bound to it. My spirit died when the tip was shattered. It’s only my stubborn body that carries on.”
    “Wrong, wrong, and wrong,” said Relic. “The Jagged Heart was never so much as scratched. Your soul was never bound to it, despite the teachings of your religion. You may have loved it so much that it felt like a part of you, but this attachment was emotional, not supernatural.”
    “I know what I saw.”
    Relic shook his head. “The eyes are the easiest sense to deceive. The weapon was switched in the moments it was out of your sight; the raiders masked the true shard with dream magic. When you reached the raiders, they brandished a duplicate. It is this you saw shattered.”
    Aurora clenched her jaw. She placed her giant hands over her left breast as her eyes grew moist. “You know nothing. I felt it shatter. You can never understand.”
    “Cling to this falsehood if you wish,” said Relic. “But the Jagged Heart still exists. It’s carried by Lord Tower on his quest. With it, he’ll slay Greatshadow.”
    Infidel rapped her knuckles on the basalt column, a sound like a hammer striking brick. “Sorry to interrupt, but what the hell are you two talking about? What’s the Jagged Heart and why is it any more likely to kill Greatshadow than, say, a pointy stick?”
    Aurora contemplated her question. The sea mist beaded on her leather coat, running down in rivulets, pooling at her feet. At last, she said, “The Jagged Heart was a ceremonial harpoon. As High Priestess, I would use it to hunt the spirit whales in the Great Sea Above. The shaft is carved from the tusk of a narwhale; the blade itself is a knife-sharp fragment of pure ice taken from the shattered