Looming Shadow: Journey to Chaos book 2 by Brian Wilkerson Read Free Book Online Page B

and well, but her attitude
swiftly soured. One look at how at Kallen was wrapped around him, asleep no
less, was enough to furrow her brow. Eric laughed nervously and the motion
jostled Kallen.
    She shifted again and,
completely by accident, nuzzled Eric's neck. Emily tapped her foot and Eric
hastily explained the situation and proved it by pointing to Kallen's frozen
state.
    He carried her to the
local hospital and she was immediately assigned a room. The healer diagnosed
her with mana depletion, willpower exhaustion, and a case of frostbite. When
asked what she had been doing, Kallen simply said, “Collecting data. I have a
slot at the Mana Mutation Summit.”
    “You taunted Snol, the
avatar of the goddess of cold,” Eric added. “Why aren't you dead?”
    “All right, Eric, since
we are best friends and all, I will give you a simple and easy-to-understand
explanation.” With one hand, she pointed at her chest with purpose. “I'm Kallen
Selios.”
    The proud girl was much
cheerier during the last week in Mambi. She claimed to have had a breakthrough
in her research and so the trio had a special dinner to celebrate; genuine home-cooked
food instead of instant ramen. Kallen proposed a toast in which she thanked
everyone who helped her to succeed – mostly herself. Eric groaned, but a smile
wormed itself across his face.
    “I would also like to
thank Eric Watley for dragging me out of the snow.” She wrapped her arms around
Eric's neck and stared deeply into his eyes. Eric swallowed convulsively. “And for
saving my life,” she purred.
    Eric's face burned,
Emily slammed down her glass, and Kallen cackled. She withdrew from Eric,
leaving him uncomfortable. “And of course, Emily Tompson, for the wonderful
dinner to celebrate my success.” She gave Emily a peck on the cheek, which made
her blush, and Eric choke on his drink. Kallen had another good laugh before
sitting down to eat.

Chapter 3 Danger in the
Skies
     
    “Ataidar, here we
come!” Kallen said. “Watch your head.”
    In ages past, Mambi was
a bundle of houses in the middle of nowhere. Great distance, sheer cold, and
the presence of large monsters deterred all but the hardiest of settlers. Only
once airships became common did travel to and from become feasible. This made
the Airship Dome Mambi's sole link to the outside world.
    A grand white/light
blue dome that was wide at the base and became slightly narrow towards the top
fanned out into a cone for larger airships. Snowdrifts settled on its slopes
and were only dislodged when hatches opened. Ironically, the day-to-day
business had nothing to do with the airships inside and all to do with the dome
itself.
    A yeti on skis zoomed
over Eric's head and crashed in a landing zone set up twenty feet away. Another
guy, this one human, recorded the distance and signaled the next jumper, also
human. Kallen explained this was Mambi's official sport: dome jumping. They
used to do it on mountains, but the dome was monster-free. Nowadays, the
mountains were only used for “extreme dome jumping.”
    A gust of warm air
ruffled them as the glass doors slid closed. Eric spotted inns and hunter
stores in the terminals, but a curious lack of big box advertisements and gift
shops. The closest thing was a monster head declaring a local butcher shop. So
far north, I guess few companies care .
    The ticketing and
security lines were both empty, but Kallen bypassed them anyway. Off to the
side was a small door guarded by a human and a Fizger. Emily drew a dagger, but
Kallen grabbed her hand before she could throw it.
    “Did you forget what
demons are?”
    “…Sorry.”
    “What are they?”
    Emily thus recited,
“Demons are basically intelligent monsters. The difference between them is
precisely this intelligence. Other names for them are ‘beastfolk,’ ‘mana breed,’
‘meta human,’ and ‘ Chliste ollphéist,’ depending on their nature,
connection to mana, and their origin. Intelligent Fizger are beastfolk.