Read Online The Titan of Twilight by Troy Denning - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Troy Denning
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that made it easier to battle a troop of grim firbolgs than to help a woman give birth.
Avner cast an envious glance after the front rider. “And Gryffitt, keep one eye on the canyon rim,” he said. “When our border scouts finally show up, we don’t want them thinking the firbolgs are on our side.”
“I’ll let ‘em know who the enemy is.” Gryffitt fastened his parka against the chill wind outside, and then dropped to his belly to crawl out on the rock dump. “Don’t worry about that”
“Avner, I need your help now,” Brianna said.
The young scout reluctantly turned around. “Of course, Majesty,” he said. “What can I do?”
Brianna almost told him that he could start by speaking to her more warmly and trustfully, but stopped herself. Even a queen could not command her subjects to feel certain emotions, especially not subjects she cared about deeply. Besides, he would see soon enough that Galgadayle was wrong.
“I’m going to cast a spell,” Brianna explained. “But you’ll have to be the one to use it.”
As she spoke, the queen sat down on her cloak and pulled her satchel to her side. She withdrew a small, ragged book of mica, then peeled off a single silver sheet The leaf was almost as clear as glass, save that the color of the mineral cast a gray sheen over everything behind it, and the grain caused a faint blurring. Brianna placed the sheaf on the underside of her swollen belly, directly over her womb, then took her goddess’s talisman from around her neck.
“Valorous Hiatea, patron of families and nature, always have I served your cause well and kept your creed close to my heart,” Brianna whispered. “I call upon your magic now, that I may safely bring my own child into the world and abide in the true light of your glory.”
The amulet’s silver flames glowed to life, then suddenly flickered and began to crackle and dance. Brianna touched the talisman to the mica on her belly, then took a moment to gather her concentration and lock her pain safely away in one corner of her mind. Once she felt sure she could ignore any sudden surges of agony, she slowly and confidently uttered the mystical syllables of her spell.
A silver aura flashed around Hiatea’s spear talisman, and the flames stopped dancing. A shimmering, pearly light passed from the amulet into the mica, which vanished in a puff of sparkling white smoke. Brianna felt a scorching heat against her belly. The pain spread deeper and outward, until her whole stomach burned as though someone had spilled boiling water on it. Her skin began to glow with a brilliant sheen. The queen felt her baby kicking and clawing inside her womb, as though it, too, could feel Hiatea’s searing magic.
Though it was not apparent to her, Brianna knew that her flesh was growing silvery and pellucid. She often used this spell on desperately Ill or injured people to look inside and see what was wrong. In Hiatea’s wisdom, however, patients could not look inside their own bodiesas much, the queen suspected, to preserve life’s mystery as to prevent sufferers from seeing their own grotesque injuries and growths. Brianna wished that just this once, the spell would work differently. More than anything, she wanted to see the child in her womb, to confirm for herself what Simon had told her that Galgadayle’s dream was quite mistaken.
Avner’s eyes, growing wider and more uneasy as the glow brightened, remained fixed on her belly. Finally, when the queen’s shining stomach illuminated the tunnel with a flickering gray light, the young scout’s jaw dropped, and Blizzard nickered in astonishment. The mare lowered her nose to the queen’s abdomen and sniffed the skin; her ears pricked forward and her black eyes grew huge with astonishment
Avner pushed the mare’s head aside and, amazingly enough, did not get bitten. “I can see the baby!”
Along with several layers of muscle, membrane, and intestinal walls, the queen’s skin had become as
Avner cast an envious glance after the front rider. “And Gryffitt, keep one eye on the canyon rim,” he said. “When our border scouts finally show up, we don’t want them thinking the firbolgs are on our side.”
“I’ll let ‘em know who the enemy is.” Gryffitt fastened his parka against the chill wind outside, and then dropped to his belly to crawl out on the rock dump. “Don’t worry about that”
“Avner, I need your help now,” Brianna said.
The young scout reluctantly turned around. “Of course, Majesty,” he said. “What can I do?”
Brianna almost told him that he could start by speaking to her more warmly and trustfully, but stopped herself. Even a queen could not command her subjects to feel certain emotions, especially not subjects she cared about deeply. Besides, he would see soon enough that Galgadayle was wrong.
“I’m going to cast a spell,” Brianna explained. “But you’ll have to be the one to use it.”
As she spoke, the queen sat down on her cloak and pulled her satchel to her side. She withdrew a small, ragged book of mica, then peeled off a single silver sheet The leaf was almost as clear as glass, save that the color of the mineral cast a gray sheen over everything behind it, and the grain caused a faint blurring. Brianna placed the sheaf on the underside of her swollen belly, directly over her womb, then took her goddess’s talisman from around her neck.
“Valorous Hiatea, patron of families and nature, always have I served your cause well and kept your creed close to my heart,” Brianna whispered. “I call upon your magic now, that I may safely bring my own child into the world and abide in the true light of your glory.”
The amulet’s silver flames glowed to life, then suddenly flickered and began to crackle and dance. Brianna touched the talisman to the mica on her belly, then took a moment to gather her concentration and lock her pain safely away in one corner of her mind. Once she felt sure she could ignore any sudden surges of agony, she slowly and confidently uttered the mystical syllables of her spell.
A silver aura flashed around Hiatea’s spear talisman, and the flames stopped dancing. A shimmering, pearly light passed from the amulet into the mica, which vanished in a puff of sparkling white smoke. Brianna felt a scorching heat against her belly. The pain spread deeper and outward, until her whole stomach burned as though someone had spilled boiling water on it. Her skin began to glow with a brilliant sheen. The queen felt her baby kicking and clawing inside her womb, as though it, too, could feel Hiatea’s searing magic.
Though it was not apparent to her, Brianna knew that her flesh was growing silvery and pellucid. She often used this spell on desperately Ill or injured people to look inside and see what was wrong. In Hiatea’s wisdom, however, patients could not look inside their own bodiesas much, the queen suspected, to preserve life’s mystery as to prevent sufferers from seeing their own grotesque injuries and growths. Brianna wished that just this once, the spell would work differently. More than anything, she wanted to see the child in her womb, to confirm for herself what Simon had told her that Galgadayle’s dream was quite mistaken.
Avner’s eyes, growing wider and more uneasy as the glow brightened, remained fixed on her belly. Finally, when the queen’s shining stomach illuminated the tunnel with a flickering gray light, the young scout’s jaw dropped, and Blizzard nickered in astonishment. The mare lowered her nose to the queen’s abdomen and sniffed the skin; her ears pricked forward and her black eyes grew huge with astonishment
Avner pushed the mare’s head aside and, amazingly enough, did not get bitten. “I can see the baby!”
Along with several layers of muscle, membrane, and intestinal walls, the queen’s skin had become as
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