Read Online The Sheening Of The Blades (Book 1) by Kari Cordis - Free Book Online Page A

south.  But the biggest surprise lay on the other side, for no sooner had they crested the pass at Jagstag than a whole new world met them—a world of strange trees and stranger creatures, a world of torpid heat and tempestuous weather.  The few messages that made it back to the people at the Sea were full of excitement, for there were no Tarq and great beauty in the new land.”
    He paused for effect, unneeded as everyone was already waiting for him to say the words.  Even Cerise seemed resigned to her fate.
    “Then the message pigeons stopped coming.  For years, nothing was heard from King Khris.  When word finally came, it was grim and fierce.  They had not found Tarq, as everyone feared, but they had found…dragons.  Great scaled reptiles were these, with maws of fire and huge clawed feet that shook the ground as they walked.  Taller than the trees they were, and full of hate.  So relentlessly did they hunt man that Khristophe called them Steeds of Raemon.  In terror for his people and in great peril, he consulted the Emerald, whose brilliant rays alone seemed to deter the monsters pursuing them.  Laschald, in great sadness at the evil thing Raemon had done, confirmed that the creatures were his watchdogs…and then he gave Khris the secret to their defeat.  To a great valley he took them, deep in the heart of the new land, and there, where seven falls tumbled over sheer rock cliffs, the most beautiful creatures ever seen flew in the spray.  They were gryphons, natural enemies of the dragons and fierce and dangerous beasts.  Laschald taught his people how to tame them, how to ride them, and how to fight with them.  And that is why the King of Cyrrh is called the Skylord, for that is his true Realm, and only by owning it can he hold the gem of a land beneath it.”  He wrapped it up quickly, as Ari was starting to dish out dinner.
    Loren sighed happily, testiness forgotten.
    Cerise clucked her tongue in irritation, delaying her first bite to say, “What is it with you all and your stories?  When there are real issues out there needing our attention.  Now.”
    “ They’re interesting, and they teach us history,” Loren said around his mouthful of beans, good temper restored.
    “ They’re stories, ” she emphasized. “There’s nothing factual about a single bit of that and it all happened thousands of years ago.  We’re here now on important business.” She may have faltered just a bit at that last.  Seeing as they were chasing down the legend of the Empress.
    “ Queen’s business,” Rodge agreed gravely.
    They found the Shepherd by the next afternoon.  A faint trace of activity worn into the grass turned into a faint path that eventually grew distinct enough you could call it a trail.  Near its end they met a grey-haired man coming out of a cozy little hut, similar to the young Addahite’s only smaller and more ornate.  The door was gorgeously carved for a place sitting out in the middle of nowhere.  In fact, it was more than a little disconcerting to travel leagues and leagues through empty, unmarked wilderness—then run smack into a single, solitary individual.
    “ Hello, friends,” he greeted them, with such hearty familiarity that Rodge whispered, “Do these people realize they don’t know us?”
    “ Well met,” Melkin said, casual as if they got together every Tuesday.  In the strangely gracious Addahite speech, he asked, “We come to beg a moment of your time, good Shepherd…”
    The good Shepherd promptly raised a hand, shaking his head.  He had twinkly blue eyes, like a grandfather with a couple treats up his sleeve, and an unhurried, mellow kind of voice.  “You are welcome, but first you must rest and refresh yourselves.  Travel tightens the throat and makes talk an ungenerous thing.”
    He waved them to follow him and led off across the grass to a stand of shushing cedars.  There, the ground grew velvety with moss, and filtered sunlight picked out dainty