Immortal by Glenn Beck Read Free Book Online

sack of resin, something stopped him. A heart-wrenching wail came from the cliff top—his name, slurred and changed into a child’s frantic plea for a parent. Krampus, who must be afraid for him.
    â€œThrow it!” Gamos said. “I don’t know if he’ll hold on much longer—I don’t think he understands. Throw it and come up!”
    Krampus wailed again, and the rope felt as if the rescued slave were edging toward the cliff. Agios nearly lost his footing.
    Gamos cried out furiously, “Get back! If you let him fall, I’ll kill you!”
    Krampus was yowling. What would happen to him if Agios let himself die? Pity moved Agios’s heart, and he shouted, “Caspar! Caspar the Scholar!”
    For a few moments there was nothing, and then Agios could see Caspar himself peeking over the side of the cliff.
    â€œDo you have it?” Caspar asked.
    â€œYou know I do.”
    â€œThrow it to me.”
    â€œNo,” Agios shouted back. “I want something from you.”
    Caspar’s eyes narrowed. “Your life is in my hands, friend.”
    â€œMy life means nothing to me.”
    â€œThen what do you want?”
    â€œKrampus.”
    â€œWhat? This slave I bought?” Even at a distance, Agios could tell that Caspar was confused. “What do you want with him?”
    â€œYou don’t want him! You said so. One silver piece wouldn’t have bought a twentieth of the frankincense you took from me. Now I’ve gathered this.” Agios held the bag out. “Sell Krampus to me for what you took and for what I’ve done!”
    Caspar stared at him, his lips pressed together shrewdly. “Tell me if you mean to harm him.”
    â€œI intend to free him.”
    Caspar’s eyes went wide with surprise. “Then you are a better man than I had hoped.” Caspar nodded firmly. “He is yours.”
    â€œSwear it to me.”
    â€œI swear it.”
    Agios could feel a tug on the rope as Gamos began to haul hand over hand. When he reached the lip of the gorge, he threw the sack at Caspar’s chest. He strode to Krampus and took the rope from him. “I’m back. You did well. Come.”
    Caspar’s party walked all the rest of that day and into the night before they came again to the village. Two watchmen there let them enter the place—but one said, “Not this ugly brute.” He threatened Krampus with the point of a spear. Fury rose in Agios, and in one outraged movement he jerked the spear from the guard’s hands and thrust the shaft hard against his throat. The man fell, sputtering, and Agios whipped around to face the second. He had his spear trained on Krampus and wasn’t expecting the punishing blow to his knees as Agios used the weapon like a club.
    â€œIf you ever touch him again, I’ll kill you.” Agios spat, standing over the wounded, uncomprehending men. Then he snapped the shaft of the spear over his knee and tossed the broken pieces at them.
    Turning to Krampus, Agios looked him full in the eye. He wasn’t sure if the giant could understand, but it didn’t matter. “You and I will camp outside the village. Come,” Agios said. And Krampus followed.

Chapter 4

    I loathed how his owners treated that poor man,” Caspar told Agios after they had left the mountain and caught up to the caravan.
    â€œIf you didn’t like it, why didn’t you do something about it?” Agios asked. They were reclining in Caspar’s tent, enjoying a light meal of honeyed cakes and figs from the groves near the base of the mountains. For all his size and clumsiness, Krampus ate very carefully, pulling off small pieces of the dense cake and then licking every crumb from his thick fingers. He stole the occasional glance at Agios, and each time Agios took time himself to smile a little. He wanted the big man to know that he meant no harm.
    Caspar said, “I am not king here. And I am