Liberator

Read Online Liberator by Bryan Davis - Free Book Online Page B

Book: Liberator by Bryan Davis Read Free Book Online
Authors: Bryan Davis
Ads: Link
gave up.

Five
    A rush of warm air enveloped Koren’s body. Magnar landed in a run and collapsed in a heap of wings, neck, and tail. Koren spilled off his back, rolled down his scales, and sprawled across a wooden floor, her cheek pressing down and her eyes closed. She clawed at the soft wood. Her fingernails dug in rhythmically in time with her shoulder spasms.
    A jumble of dragon language filtered into her ears. She tried to open her eyes, but the task was just too great. With every passing second, the dizziness grew. Although the warmth eased the muscle contractions, the pain in her lesions and the gnawing in her stomach grew worse and worse.
    Something slid under her abdomen and lifted. With her limbs half-frozen, they stuck out like tree branches, unable to relax. Whatever held her in its grasp carried herin a gentle rocking motion. Whispered words replaced the guttural dragonspeak. “Hold on, child. I will get you warmed up in a moment.”
    It was a man’s voice, a familiar voice, though it seemed impossible to place. His words dissolved to rumbling hums. As if massaged by the soothing tone, her arms and legs relaxed until it seemed that she had melted in his grasp.
    As the man walked, he shifted her body, rolling her to one side, then back again. It seemed that several hands gripped and pulled, shedding her cloak and the clothing underneath. The warm air felt luxurious across her skin, like the bathing pool in Xenith’s room. Was she naked? Maybe. Every sensation seemed magnified out of proportion.
    Soon something soft supported her back, and a blanket of new warmth covered her legs and torso up to her neck. She forced her eyes open. She lay on a strange bed. Unlike her floor mat back at Arxad’s cave, it was elevated, and wooden slats ran along each side, similar to the fences the carpenters built to keep rabbits confined. Above, a tree branch protruded over the bed, ending in a hand-shaped nub, palm pointed at the dark sky. In the dim light, it seemed old and rotting, as if it could break and crash onto the bed at any moment.
    For the first time in several hours, her muscles unknotted, though the gnawing in her stomach continued to eat away her insides. Grimacing, she gave in to her heavy eyelids and let them flutter shut.
    Voices returned, both the man’s and the distinctive tones of a dragon. “She will not survive long enough to test the medicine,” the man said. “It will take too much time toprepare the ingredients and make a new batch. I have the powder and the genetic material, but it would take an hour to energize it, and she might not last that long.”
    “Are you certain?” the dragon asked. “Not even an hour?”
    “I have seen this disease too many times to doubt my prognosis. It has already attacked the vital organs. It’s a wonder that she’s still alive.”
    “There is a way to give her the time you need, but the task is extraordinarily difficult.”
    “Difficulty is not an issue, Alaph. I wish to save this poor girl, and testing the medicine might lead to a final cure that will save dozens of girls just like her.”
    “And your own life,” Alaph said. “Surely you have been close enough to her to contract the disease.”
    “No doubt, but it will be quite a while before I can test the medicine on myself. The disease must take hold first.”
    “Then allow me to explain how to extend her life.” Alaph’s voice lowered. “I told you about Jason’s journey into the star chamber, did I not?”
    “You did. A harrowing journey, indeed.”
    “Exodus is here in the Northlands, so you can get the stardrop material, both for saving her life immediately and for energizing the medicine. I would collect it myself, but I am unable to touch it, and since Deference is not here to care for Koren, I will have to stay and do what I can to keep her alive.”
    “What of the moat and the creatures within?”
    “Resolute will ferry you across, and you may take the dagger mounted next to the trophy

Similar Books