Read Online The Black Star (Book 3) by Edward W. Robertson - Free Book Online
Authors: Edward W. Robertson
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cliff. But all he saw was a squashed black body and a settling bloom of dust.
He turned on Ast. "I thought they only came out at night!"
"They do," Ast said.
"Did someone forget to tell me today was one of those night-days?"
"I have never seen nor heard of one hunting during daylight. If they did, we'd never be able to leave the caves."
Dante wiped cold sweat from his brow. "Then how do you explain this?"
The tall man shook his head. "Maybe we've wandered too close to its home. Or maybe it got the smell of you and wouldn't let go."
"Well, we need to get down there for a better look."
"Gross," Lew said. "Why?"
"Because that thing batted away the nether like a stray moth. I need to slice it up to learn how it did that. And also for revenge."
Securing the rope to the cliff and then descending took as long as it always did, but the delay gave Dante the chance to ensure the damn thing was well and truly dead. The rock wall was pale limestone, a sharp departure from the black basalt of the foothills. Once Dante stood on the ground, however, he only had eyes for the body.
Which he approached gingerly. And poked with his sword before coming any closer. It wasn't breathing and blood pooled beneath it. One of its eyes had been smashed in the fall. The other gazed dully at the cold sky.
Lew hung back, nose wrinkled. "Is it..?"
"Smashed into monster-paste?" Dante said. "Thoroughly."
The fetid odor of viscera and interrupted digestion hung in the base of the canyon. The rubble of the bridge lay in jagged piles. The kapper's jaws were beak-like, capable of snapping through an arm or a leg without resistance. Dante knocked on one of the plates, producing a heavy, dull sound.
He cocked his head. "Lew, in the course of your studies, did you ever perform any dissections?"
"No!"
"Sounds like it's time for you to learn."
While Lew busied himself looking horrified, Dante assessed the creature's anatomy. The plates on its back were up to two and a half feet wide. Not the sort of thing Dante felt like lugging up and down the escarpments and cliffs. Those on the skull were much smaller, but skulls being skulls, they'd probably be the most difficult to cut through. The armor around its ankles, however, was more akin to scales than full-on plates, and with a brief test, Dante determined they were also deflective of nether. He got down, set out an array of knives, and began cutting.
The ankle scales overlapped, protecting each other, and it took a lot of time and cussing before he was able to pry one up and saw away at its leather-tough connective tissue. He cut free a thumbnail-sized scale, pocketed it, and detached three more in quick succession. He stood, giving some thought to trying to excavate one of its spiral horns, but again, skulls. Besides resorting to chunks of the fallen bridge, he didn't have any tools for heavy-duty work. Anyway, he wasn't much for trophies.
He gave the body one last look, probing it with the nether, which slipped off the scales but was able to penetrate the eye, nose, mouth, and posterior orifice. No other obvious points of ingress.
He knew there was more to learn, but if he stayed in the ravine any longer, they might not reach the place where the light had fallen until after dark. Dante intended that day's encounter with a kapper to be his last.
They climbed out of the canyon and continued east up a series of steep slopes interrupted by rock-strewn plateaus. During the more strenuous climbs, Dante had a hard time catching his breath; the air had thinned. Between that and his heavy expenditure of the nether, he had difficulty keeping pace with the others. He was happy for the rest when they stopped at an ice-cold stream to fill their skins.
Finally, even the grass had a hard time clinging to the dirt. Peaks reared to right and left; they'd entered the bowl where he thought the light had landed the night before. The valley had little features besides a smattering of boulders that blocked line of
He turned on Ast. "I thought they only came out at night!"
"They do," Ast said.
"Did someone forget to tell me today was one of those night-days?"
"I have never seen nor heard of one hunting during daylight. If they did, we'd never be able to leave the caves."
Dante wiped cold sweat from his brow. "Then how do you explain this?"
The tall man shook his head. "Maybe we've wandered too close to its home. Or maybe it got the smell of you and wouldn't let go."
"Well, we need to get down there for a better look."
"Gross," Lew said. "Why?"
"Because that thing batted away the nether like a stray moth. I need to slice it up to learn how it did that. And also for revenge."
Securing the rope to the cliff and then descending took as long as it always did, but the delay gave Dante the chance to ensure the damn thing was well and truly dead. The rock wall was pale limestone, a sharp departure from the black basalt of the foothills. Once Dante stood on the ground, however, he only had eyes for the body.
Which he approached gingerly. And poked with his sword before coming any closer. It wasn't breathing and blood pooled beneath it. One of its eyes had been smashed in the fall. The other gazed dully at the cold sky.
Lew hung back, nose wrinkled. "Is it..?"
"Smashed into monster-paste?" Dante said. "Thoroughly."
The fetid odor of viscera and interrupted digestion hung in the base of the canyon. The rubble of the bridge lay in jagged piles. The kapper's jaws were beak-like, capable of snapping through an arm or a leg without resistance. Dante knocked on one of the plates, producing a heavy, dull sound.
He cocked his head. "Lew, in the course of your studies, did you ever perform any dissections?"
"No!"
"Sounds like it's time for you to learn."
While Lew busied himself looking horrified, Dante assessed the creature's anatomy. The plates on its back were up to two and a half feet wide. Not the sort of thing Dante felt like lugging up and down the escarpments and cliffs. Those on the skull were much smaller, but skulls being skulls, they'd probably be the most difficult to cut through. The armor around its ankles, however, was more akin to scales than full-on plates, and with a brief test, Dante determined they were also deflective of nether. He got down, set out an array of knives, and began cutting.
The ankle scales overlapped, protecting each other, and it took a lot of time and cussing before he was able to pry one up and saw away at its leather-tough connective tissue. He cut free a thumbnail-sized scale, pocketed it, and detached three more in quick succession. He stood, giving some thought to trying to excavate one of its spiral horns, but again, skulls. Besides resorting to chunks of the fallen bridge, he didn't have any tools for heavy-duty work. Anyway, he wasn't much for trophies.
He gave the body one last look, probing it with the nether, which slipped off the scales but was able to penetrate the eye, nose, mouth, and posterior orifice. No other obvious points of ingress.
He knew there was more to learn, but if he stayed in the ravine any longer, they might not reach the place where the light had fallen until after dark. Dante intended that day's encounter with a kapper to be his last.
They climbed out of the canyon and continued east up a series of steep slopes interrupted by rock-strewn plateaus. During the more strenuous climbs, Dante had a hard time catching his breath; the air had thinned. Between that and his heavy expenditure of the nether, he had difficulty keeping pace with the others. He was happy for the rest when they stopped at an ice-cold stream to fill their skins.
Finally, even the grass had a hard time clinging to the dirt. Peaks reared to right and left; they'd entered the bowl where he thought the light had landed the night before. The valley had little features besides a smattering of boulders that blocked line of
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