Messenger’s Legacy by Peter V. Brett Read Free Book Online Page A

away the cory found the next one, and another a few yards from there, leading it inexorably towards the precipice where the waste cart dumped.
    Mudboy shook his head. It was the third time this particular demon had wandered into the dump and been lured to the exact same spot. Father said cories had brains as tiny as a shelled pea. He shifted his grip on the old broomstick fitted to the head of his father’s spear and slipped his arm into the mended straps of the shield, wondering if this one would ever learn.
    Already the bog demon was beginning to stumble. The rats were poisoned with a mix of skyflower and tampweed. A single rat had little effect, but after five it would be clumsy and slower.
    Slower, but not slow. Even the slowest, stupidest cory could tear him to pieces if he was not swift and precise. He had seen firsthand what they could do.
    You must always respect the
alagai
, my son,
father had said,
but you should never be ruled by your fear of them.
    Mudboy embraced his fear and was moving in an instant, swift and silent as a bird. The demon was looking away, and would never know he was there. It would see only the flash of magic as it struck the shield, and then it would be flying over the edge.
    But as the demon reached for the final rat, it paused, as if remembering. Mudboy picked up speed. It was smarter than he thought. Next time he would need a new trick.
    Even drugged, the demon was fast. Its head snapped around, seeing him coming in time to dig hind claws into the ground, swiping with its front talons.
    Unable to stop in time, Mudboy tumbled into a roll, ducking the talons by inches. He pulled up just short of the precipice and turned just as the bog demon hawked and spat.
    He ducked behind his shield, but the mucky phlegm spattered off the surface, droplets hitting him on the face and body. He could feel it burning, eating away at his flesh.
    Keeping his eyes shut, Mudboy dropped his spear, grabbing damp clumps of soil and rubbing them into his face until the burning cooled. He kept his shield up, but he had lost the advantage, and both of them knew it. The bog demon covered the distance between them in one great hop, landing in front of him with a terrifying croak.
    It struck fast, but the blow skittered off the wards on the shield. With his free hand Mudboy reached into his pocket, grabbing a fistful of hogroot powder. He threw it in the demon’s face as it inhaled to croak at him again.
    The demon choked, clutching its throat, and Mudboy danced around it, putting his shoulder to the shield as he ploughed ahead, knocking it off the ledge.
    He stood at the cliff’s edge, watching as the demon shrieked and tumbled down the steep, garbage-strewn slope into the bog far below. The slime and muck gave no purchase to the demon’s scrabbling talons as it disappeared into the fog.
    The fall couldn’t do any permanent harm to the demon – nothing could, really – but it got it away from his home, which was all that really mattered. Climbing back up would be all but impossible. The cory would shake itself off and wander into the bog. It might be months before he saw this particular demon again, if ever.
    His face was still burning despite the cool mud, and looking down, Mudboy saw droplets of bogspit on his clothes, smoking as they burned. There was a broken half-barrel he used to catch rainwater, and he ran for it, dunking his head and scrubbing away the rest of the muck.
    He touched his face, flinching back at the sting.
    Stupid,
he thought.
Your fault. Careless.
    He’d need to mix a poultice.

    When he saw the moon had set, Mudboy lifted the compress from his face, flexing his jaw experimentally to pull at the skin. It was red and raw where the bogspit struck, but the quick application of mud staved off the worst of it. The piecemeal smock of salvaged leather he wore under his clothes was pockmarked with a dozen tiny holes, some burned clear through the thick hide.
    His mother would have said to keep the