The Bonding (The Song and the Rhythm) by Brian C. Hager Read Free Book Online

anger.
    “Two silvers says he threatens us again.”
    “Three.”
    “Done.” Dart nodded.
    Both peered at Thorne expectantly, waiting for him to yell at them again. It appeared he wanted to very badly, for his face reddened and his hands clenched into fists. He scowled out of his deep blue eyes, but the cousins were unaffected by the weight of his gaze. Sean couldn’t fathom how they managed it. The dwarf finally let out a long, steadying breath and turned away from the two elves. Dart frowned, and Rush, smiling, held out his hand. The brown-haired elf dug into his lessening money pouch and gave his cousin three silver coins. Rush thanked him politely and put them into his own pouch. Sean was confused as to how all this started but decided it wasn’t worth thinking through.
    The elves looked at each other as if they couldn’t understand why everyone was regarding them so angrily. This was only their fourth such disagreement today. Finally, they shrugged and set off to hunt down their meal, muttering to each other about what had occurred and wagering on how long it was going to take them all to calm down.
    Once they’d left, Thorne sighed heavily. “Sometimes I’d like to strangle those two.” He stacked small twigs and moss into a neat pile, then dug in his pockets for his flint and steel.
    Drath chuckled. “All of us would.” They all laughed quietly, expelling their frustration.
    “Do they do this often?” Sean asked as he tried to massage the stiffness out of his legs. Dart had almost won that bet, but his longing for adventure had kept him from falling on his face that first night, just as it had provided the final impetus for him to join these men on their quest.
    “Almost constantly.”
    “How do you put up with it?”
    Merdel shifted from his seat across the growing fire. “Ignore them, mostly, but it’s not easy. Besides, we’d be lost without them.”
    “Why’s that?”
    Drath snorted. “Dart is one of the best trackers and archers I’ve ever seen or heard of. And Rush is…well, Rush is Rush.”
    “What?”
    “He’s a thief.” Thorne muttered sourly, as if he didn’t approve of the elf’s lifestyle, then struck more sparks onto the waiting kindling. He leaned to blow on the embers as the fire was finally lit.
    “Aye.” Merdel nodded. “But Sean already knew that. And Rush is more than that. They’re both thieves, good ones, too. Rush is better, but he also has some special abilities that make him more than just a thief.”
    Sean turned curious eyes on the mage. “Like what?”
    Merdel grinned. “That, my friend, you’ll have to ask Rush. It’s not my place to tell you.”
    The youth frowned. “I don’t think I can endure another one of his elaborate stories. He’s worse than my friend Charlie used to be. Do all elves act like they do?”
    Thorne sat back, satisfied the blaze was steady now. “Thank the gods, no. They’re all a little light in the skull, but not near as much as those two.” He glanced sidelong at Merdel. “Their collective adherence to this Great God nonsense is their most annoyin’ cultural trait, though for some reason with the cousins it no stops them from doin’ what even I know ’tis wrong.”
    Merdel sighed but didn’t, for once, take the bait.
    Sean took out the sword Thorne and Rush had given him their first night of traveling and held it in his hands, admiring its workmanship. The nine-inch hilt, made of woven bone and ivory, was intricately carved with designs both familiar and fanciful. Some were buildings from his world, the one he was about to leave, and some were warriors and landscapes from the world he would visit tomorrow. He still marveled at the method Thorne described was used to weave the hilt.
    One quillon was the pure white of ivory, the other the yellow-white of old bone. The two joined together at the junction of blade and hilt and twisted all the way to the pommel, having been made pliable and then hardened by oils developed by