Read Online Hush (Dragon Apocalypse) by James Maxey - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: James Maxey
Tags: Fantasy
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paid to do by double-teaming Infidel.
Infidel smirked. “Double is outrageous. I’ll offer a five percent bonus if, but only if, we get attacked by... what was the witch’s name again?”
“Purity,” said Gale.
“Right. If Purity attacks, and if I can’t handle things myself, you get a bonus. These Skellings took us by surprise, but out on open water, I could have sunk both vessels before they even got near.”
Gale shook her head. “Five percent isn’t a serious offer. Forty percent is the lowest I can go. The safety of my family is paramount. I’ll not risk their lives for petty sums.”
“And the fee should be paid whether or not we see combat,” said Brand. “Sage is capable of spotting enemies long before they spot us, giving us an edge on evasion. This is a valuable service. We shouldn’t be penalized for being good at our jobs.”
“If she’s so good, why didn’t you see these Skellings coming?”
Gale frowned. “She took note of them. It’s my own fault for not believing they would attack in Commonground. Here, all Wanderers are sworn to come to the defense of other Wanderers.”
“And yet they didn’t,” said Infidel.
Gale gave a weary sigh. “These damn slave wars are ripping the very foundations of Wanderer society to shreds. I’ve blood relatives on at least a dozen ships in this port. That none would come to our aid is a heavy burden. And further proof that defending you against attacks will be a burden that falls completely on my immediate family. A twenty-five percent bonus paid up front would be the absolute bare-bones sum I could consider fair.”
Before Infidel could make a counteroffer, I was distracted. Something was crawling on my right hand. The sensation of being touched was unnerving after my weeks of intangibility. I stretched out my arm and spied a large silver mosquito perched upon my knuckles. I froze, paralyzed by the strangeness of the moment. I was no entomologist, but could any bug be agile enough to alight upon something with no more substance than a cloud? The sensation had to be an illusion. He must be flying in the spot my hand occupied, and it was only my imagination that I could feel him.
It was a fine theory and I might have convinced myself if the creature’s wings had been moving.
Shaking off my paralysis, I brought my hand closer to my eyes. The mosquito wasn’t a living insect, but instead a finely constructed bit of jewelry, with a body of silver and legs of jointed copper wire. Its delicate wings were formed from gold leaf so thin it was translucent. The mosquito had glass eyes that served as tiny mirrors, reflecting my ghostly visage as we stared at one another.
“I... I’ve seen you before,” I whispered.
To my utter astonishment, my phantom breath fogged the delicate wings.
The mosquito didn’t react.
I swallowed hard.
After I’d died, when Infidel had first returned to town, she’d fought an undead giant. The unliving thing had been sewn together out of a two or more corpses, a patchwork monstrosity with inhuman strength in its misshapen limbs. The giant had given Infidel quite a beating, but she’d eventually pounded it to pulp, using its own torn-off arm as a club. When she’d dismantled the torso, she’d found a small cage, and within that cage was a glowing mosquito. This one lacked the inner radiance, but how could it not be the same creature? How many magical mosquitoes were there flying around in this town?
“Wh... what are you?” I asked. I felt certain that some higher intelligence was gazing at me through those glass eyes.
The thing answered me by doing a little dance back and forth. A tongue like a tiny corkscrew worked itself out of the construct’s mouth. I shook my hand to throw the thing off, but too late. The mosquito sank the corkscrew into my skin, and all my frantic hand waving failed to loosen it. I watched as a bead of ruby ichor rose around the tiny hole augered in my wraithful flesh. I reached out
Infidel smirked. “Double is outrageous. I’ll offer a five percent bonus if, but only if, we get attacked by... what was the witch’s name again?”
“Purity,” said Gale.
“Right. If Purity attacks, and if I can’t handle things myself, you get a bonus. These Skellings took us by surprise, but out on open water, I could have sunk both vessels before they even got near.”
Gale shook her head. “Five percent isn’t a serious offer. Forty percent is the lowest I can go. The safety of my family is paramount. I’ll not risk their lives for petty sums.”
“And the fee should be paid whether or not we see combat,” said Brand. “Sage is capable of spotting enemies long before they spot us, giving us an edge on evasion. This is a valuable service. We shouldn’t be penalized for being good at our jobs.”
“If she’s so good, why didn’t you see these Skellings coming?”
Gale frowned. “She took note of them. It’s my own fault for not believing they would attack in Commonground. Here, all Wanderers are sworn to come to the defense of other Wanderers.”
“And yet they didn’t,” said Infidel.
Gale gave a weary sigh. “These damn slave wars are ripping the very foundations of Wanderer society to shreds. I’ve blood relatives on at least a dozen ships in this port. That none would come to our aid is a heavy burden. And further proof that defending you against attacks will be a burden that falls completely on my immediate family. A twenty-five percent bonus paid up front would be the absolute bare-bones sum I could consider fair.”
Before Infidel could make a counteroffer, I was distracted. Something was crawling on my right hand. The sensation of being touched was unnerving after my weeks of intangibility. I stretched out my arm and spied a large silver mosquito perched upon my knuckles. I froze, paralyzed by the strangeness of the moment. I was no entomologist, but could any bug be agile enough to alight upon something with no more substance than a cloud? The sensation had to be an illusion. He must be flying in the spot my hand occupied, and it was only my imagination that I could feel him.
It was a fine theory and I might have convinced myself if the creature’s wings had been moving.
Shaking off my paralysis, I brought my hand closer to my eyes. The mosquito wasn’t a living insect, but instead a finely constructed bit of jewelry, with a body of silver and legs of jointed copper wire. Its delicate wings were formed from gold leaf so thin it was translucent. The mosquito had glass eyes that served as tiny mirrors, reflecting my ghostly visage as we stared at one another.
“I... I’ve seen you before,” I whispered.
To my utter astonishment, my phantom breath fogged the delicate wings.
The mosquito didn’t react.
I swallowed hard.
After I’d died, when Infidel had first returned to town, she’d fought an undead giant. The unliving thing had been sewn together out of a two or more corpses, a patchwork monstrosity with inhuman strength in its misshapen limbs. The giant had given Infidel quite a beating, but she’d eventually pounded it to pulp, using its own torn-off arm as a club. When she’d dismantled the torso, she’d found a small cage, and within that cage was a glowing mosquito. This one lacked the inner radiance, but how could it not be the same creature? How many magical mosquitoes were there flying around in this town?
“Wh... what are you?” I asked. I felt certain that some higher intelligence was gazing at me through those glass eyes.
The thing answered me by doing a little dance back and forth. A tongue like a tiny corkscrew worked itself out of the construct’s mouth. I shook my hand to throw the thing off, but too late. The mosquito sank the corkscrew into my skin, and all my frantic hand waving failed to loosen it. I watched as a bead of ruby ichor rose around the tiny hole augered in my wraithful flesh. I reached out
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