Read Online Hammers in the Wind by Christian Warren Freed - Free Book Online

advantage. Unfortunately he hadn’t counted on the additional security Badron had ordered across the kingdom. The gate house, normally holding only one or two old men at the most, was filled with guards. Not the grisly old men who were more for show than anything else, but young men with fast reflexes and the desire for justice. All of them were heavily armed and sober. He frowned. If what Dorl and Coll said was true, nowhere was safe in Delranan.
    “How am I going to do this?” he murmured.
    The answer, not the one he necessarily wanted, was evident. Skuld’s dark brown eyes shifted back to the cold waters lapping against the shore. He shivered. It looked really, really cold. Skuld suddenly doubted his eagerness to join this adventure. He was no soldier, no great warrior capable of bright and terrible deeds. So why was he about to crawl into freezing waters only to risk beheading by the ship’s captain? Was it really all for the vague promise of money? All thoughts fled as the frigid waters swelled up past his thighs.
    The cold stole his breath. His lungs constricted violently. Muscles rebelled. Skuld cleared his head and pushed on. Guard patrolled the pier, but made little notice of the waters. No one in their right mind would try swimming at this time of year. So they failed to notice the smallish head floating on the surface. Skuld pushed himself faster. The cold was already getting to him. Hypothermia was already moving through his system. It took much longer than he wanted, from a combination of cold and the fear of discovery, but Skuld finally managed a handhold on the side of the Bane.
    He couldn’t stop from chattering. His body trembled. Darkness closed in around the corners of his sight. Much longer and the guards were going to find a body washing ashore at dawn. Skuld pulled himself up by the anchor chain. The sound of the incoming waves masked his climb. After what felt like hours Skuld poked his head over the edge. Relief washed through his numb body. Not a guard in sight! He used the last of his strength to climb onto the deck where he collapsed. He wished the warmth back, but it was slow in coming. He knew he was going to die if he didn’t move fast. Heavy footsteps shook him from his thoughts. Rolling onto his stomach, the thief searched for the man responsible for the footsteps. A drunken deckhand stumbled up the gangway. Skuld lay directly in his path.
    Using the last bit of energy, he pushed off the deck and half slid down the stairs leading to the crew quarters. The drunken mate stumbled closer. Skuld wasn’t going to make it. He moved faster, until he felt the hardness of a door at his back. His heart fell. The only thing he could pray for was that this was to a storeroom. Terror and relief clashed within him. Footsteps thumped closer. Skuld reached behind, fumbled with the knob. The door swung open, surprisingly quiet for such an old ship.
    Skuld ducked inside and shut the door. Darkness shrouded everything. He listened for the sound breathing. His heart pounded, threatening to give him away. Nothing happened. The deckhand stumbled back to the crew quarters and collapsed on his hammock. Skuld was safe for now. Impossibly dark, he felt his way through the room. Burlap sacks and barrels filled the floor. Skuld allowed a deep breath. He had stumbled into one of the ship’s storerooms. Exhausted, he rearranged a few stacks of rice and lay down to sleep. The easy part was over.

SEVEN
    Bahr strolled through the mostly empty streets of Chadra with much on his mind, forgetting the sell swords at his side. Events were moving too fast to get a good feeling for what was happening. He felt like he was being swept away in a roiling sea without a sail or oars. The old sailor knew better than to give in to these types of thoughts. He just couldn’t help it. Death stalked the land openly. Ever hungry, the end of all things hungered for fresh souls. He knew it. Bahr had made the mistake of cheating death more