Dragon Apocalypse (The Berserker and the Pedant Book 2) by Josh Powell Read Free Book Online Page A

a great table, also carved from the ice, with animal skins on the seats to provide some protection from the cold for guests.   A frost giant woman sat at one end of the table and stood up as they came in.   The giant kissed her and turned back to the party.
    “Posdravi.   Ja sam Mirza,” he said, gesturing to himself.   “Mirza.”
    “Your name is Mirza?”   Pellonia asked, gesturing towards him.   She pointed at herself and said, “My name is Pellonia.   Well met, Mirza.”
    The giant nodded and said, “Ovo je Alja,” while gesturing towards the frost giant woman.   “Alja.”
    “Alja,” Pellonia said, nodding her head.   Pellonia introduced the rest of the group and they all sat at the frozen table.   They had a great feast of roasted meat on sticks, served with onions and flat bread, a large pot of stew, and a sweet bread twisted into a spiral and also served on a stick.
    “They sure like their food on a stick,” Maximina said.   “It’s quite tasty though.”
    “Perhaps it keeps the heat of the food off of their hands,” Pellonia remarked, mouth full of sweet bread.   “They are frost giants after all.”
    After dinner, Ohm played more music, including songs of the frost giants, while they sipped on fruit brandy.   The frost giants, Mirza and Alja, were quite charming hosts, and having not had guests in such a long time, were overjoyed.   They were rather overgenerous and made gifts to our heroes.  
    They bestowed upon Gurken a mystical ice axe, Sjekira.   It was made from solid ice that, they assured our friends, would not melt and was enchanted to freeze any foes it struck.
    Pellonia was gifted a bracelet called Narukvica, that bestowed on its wearer an immunity to cold. Whoever wore it would know no chill, no matter how deep the freeze.
    Maximina obtained the mystic hammer Cekic.   Any that struck her in combat would freeze in an instant, and one blow from Cekic would shatter them.
    Ohm turned down any offer of a gift, saying he was perfectly happy with what he had and had no wish to deprive their hosts.   He did eventually relent and accepted some salted cod for Apocalypse, who, to Ohm’s consternation and Pellonia’s delight, purred with satisfaction while consuming it.
    After staying the night and breaking their fast with a small meal, they wished their hosts farewell and continued on to the floating city of Arendal.

C HAPTER S EVEN
    The Berserker and the Bag

    “WHAT’S YOUR OCCUPATION?” asked the man guarding the entrance to Arendal.   He looked out at them through an opening in the wall at the entrance to the city.   Through the gate the could see a spiral staircase starting at the ground and spiraling up and up towards the floating city.   It disappeared into an enormous chunk of earth that the city sat upon.   They’d been waiting in line for over an hour to get to this point.
    “We’re adventurers,” Pellonia said.
    “Adventurers, you say.” He wrote down a rather large number on a piece of parchment.   “There’s a hefty tax on adventurers in the city.   Where are you traveling from?”
    “We come from the dragon’s cave south of the ice wall.”
    “So, you’re dragon slayers then,” he exclaimed, adding a zero to the end of the number.
    “No, we, uh, we didn’t kill any dragons there.”
    “Have you ever killed a dragon?”
    “Well, as to that…”
    “Yes?”
    Pellonia sighed, “Yes, we have.”
    The guard put a big checkmark next to the amount on the paper.”
    “And what professions do each of you have?”
    “A templerager, a… hey Maximina, what’s your profession?”
    “I’m a half-underelven psychic ranger.   With a dash of necromantic wizardry, which is how I learned to use scrolls.   And a rogue, but only for the backstabbing.   Also, some samurai training, enough to use katanas, anyway.”
    “That’s rather a lot of prof—” began the guard.  
    “Also, a smidgen of sorcery. I was once rather enamored by their ability