Read Online The Quest for the Trilogy: Boneslicer; Seaspray; Deathwhisper by Mel Odom - Free Book Online

appreciated his skills as a raconteur. He’d come alive then in ways he knew Grandmagister Frollo would never have approved of.
    â€œTeldane’s Bounty had fallen by that time,” Wick continued. “Lord Kharrion’s evil spell had wreaked havoc on the mainland. He’d sent a plague of locusts, followed by a killing blight that stripped the orchards and farms that grew there.
Ships had gone down to watery graves with thousands of men, women, and children aboard, most of them freezing in the wintry waters of the Gentlewind Sea after Lord Kharrion had summoned mountains up from the sea to break apart the land.”
    A sad quietness held sway over the tavern crowd. Wick knew that Paunsel would hold him accountable for slowing the flow of wine and ale in the tavern. But Wick was consumed by the tale, as were his listeners.
    â€œThose deaths were not in vain,” Wick said. “For the first time since the beginning of the Cataclysm, dwarves, humans, and elves set aside their differences and came together for one purpose. Though there had been talk of working together to make the world a better place, that course had never taken root. But they could agree to save the world. And they set about that task.”
    â€œBut it was almost too late,” someone said.
    â€œSilverleaves Glen fell in the next year,” Wick said, remembering the poor, cursed creature he had met on his first voyage aboard One-Eyed Peggie . “Lord Kharrion destroyed the elven tree village, Cloud Heights, and killed King Amalryn and his beautiful queen, N’riya.”
    The elven warders in the back room lowered their proud heads in sympathy. All the elves had known about Silverleaves Glen.
    â€œFurthermore,” Wick said, “the Goblin Lord put to death the three princes. He reserved a far harsher fate for the nine princesses, breaking them and warping them into creatures he could use. They became Embyrs, beings of flame who lived only to destroy, and who had no memory of what they had been or what they had done.”
    â€œAye,” a human sailor said. “I’ve heard tell of ’em, all right. They’re still out there, still killin’ an’ destroyin’. Made all of fire, they are, an’ terrible vengeful. They find a ship at sea, like as not they’ll burn her to the waterline just outta spite.”
    The crew of One-Eyed Peggie said nothing. They had seen an Embyr up close and been some of those fortunate enough to have survived such an encounter. Wick had managed to save them all by touching, if only briefly, the Embyr’s angry heart.
    Wick strode along the countertop, knowing that he held captive every eye in the room. “The goblinkin came roaring up out of the Western Empire, destroying everything in their path. Lord Kharrion designed a pincer movement, one that would trap those retreating overland from the south in the narrow confines of the Painted Canyon as it passed through the Unmerciful Shards, that range of the Misty Mountains where the dragonkind spawn.”
    Hallekk handed Wick a tankard of sparkleberry wine and he quaffed it down, warming to the story.
    â€œFor those of you who don’t know, the goblinkin first took over the south,” Wick continued. “They came up from Gaheral’s Wastelands, where vile things were said to run rampant after the wizard unwittingly unleashed bloodthirsty creatures from other worlds.” He shrugged. “Or mayhap they were created when Gaheral’s Wild Magic finally turned on him as everyone believed would happen.”
    â€œThey had driven them goblinkin there over the years,” Hallekk said. “Beat ’em back until they had no place to go but the Wastelands.”
    â€œBefore Lord Kharrion showed up in their midst, yes,” Wick agreed. “But the
Wastelands turned out to be a boon to the goblinkin. The harsh territory killed off all the weaker ones, leaving only those strong