Read Online The Lodestone Trilogy (Limited Edition) (The Lodestone Series) by Mark Whiteway - Free Book Online Page A

sharply with two of her fingers. It shot forward across the table, hitting Lyall in the midriff and landing in his lap. She put her hand to her mouth.
    “I said ‘slightly,’” he chided.
    He put the disc back on the table. “They move in the opposite direction to whatever force is applied to them. When you understand how they operate, you can use lodestones in various different ways. The Keltar`s flying cloak is just one example.”
    “The flying cloak–tell me how it works.” Her voice was insistent.
    “Is he trying to get you up in one of those things?” It was Alondo, cap and all, smiling as ever. He was standing at the kitchen door.
    “I gave you the chance.”
    “The chance to break my neck. Thanks for that.” He turned towards Shann and covered his mouth conspiratorially, “If I were you, I wouldn’t go near one of those things.”
    “Don’t you have anything pressing to do?”
    Alondo looked at the backs of his hands, pulled up a spare stool and sat down next to Shann, grinning from ear to ear. “Not right now.”
    Lyall raised his eyes heavenward. Then he addressed Shann, doing his best to ignore his friend. “The power of the Keltar, the power of the Prophet himself–it derives from the lodestones. I intend to take that power away.”
    Her expression was rapt. “How?”
    “Do you know the fortress of Gort?”
    Gort. Death and despair. The very name was enough to send a shiver down her spine, even though she had never set eyes on it. Raising itself up like a ravenous beast from the desolate sands of the Southern Desert, it devoured those who passed through its cavernous maw. Travellers spoke of it as being built from the bleached bones of those who had expired from heat and exhaustion.
    “I know that most of the ‘tributes’ are sent there.”
    “Do you know why?”
    Shann shook her head.
    “Lodestones.” Registering her look of incomprehension, he continued. “The stones fall all over the world, but how do you find them? If a stone were to fall in the mountains, or even here in the valley, how would you distinguish it from other stones? However, suppose you had a smooth, featureless landscape. Any stone that fell from above would easily show up as a dark shape on the surface.”
    “Like in the desert.”
    “Exactly. However, the Prophet needs people to scour the desert and collect the stones. That’s what the ‘tributes’ are there for. The fortress has a compound attached to it, where they are kept and sent out, sometimes to die. But the Prophet maintains his supply of the stones. I intend to go there and free the ‘tributes.’ We will need others who are prepared to join us. We will also be cutting off the Prophet’s source of supply, so it will be a double victory.”
    “I want to go with you, to help free them. I want to make it stop–the Keltar, the Prophet–” Lyall and Alondo were looking at each other with amused expressions. “You’re making fun of me .”
    Lyall’s face straightened. “No, no, we’re not. Look, Shann, what we are proposing to do is highly dangerous. There’s a good chance we won’t succeed.”
    “Shann, think about this.” It was Alondo. “We can arrange to look after you, and return you home after the hue and cry has died down. You shouldn’t risk your life any further.”
    Her slight frame and delicate face were resolute. “No. I’ve decided; I’m coming with you.”
    Lyall’s blue eyes were looking directly into hers, as if locked in a battle of wills. After a moment, his shoulders slumped. “Well…we’ll talk about it.”
    That night she dreamed of flying, soaring above Gort. The desert fortress reared up towards her, soaked in Ail-Mazzoth`s crimson light. Far below her parents stood with their backs to her. She cried out and her father turned, but it was no longer her father. It was a tall man with sandy hair and diamond blue eyes. She heard him speak.
    “I can make it stop, Shann.”
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Chapter 5

    Alondo regarded