Rigante Series 04 - Stormrider by David Gemmell Read Free Book Online Page A

knife into its belly.
    A shot thundered. The bear's head jerked up, and then its body sagged and fell across the young Rigante. Kaelin lay very still. The bear's head was on his chest, and he could hear its ragged breathing. Slowly the sound grew more rasping, until it was little more than a whisper. Then it ceased.
    Kaelin eased himself from under the body. As he did so he saw that its right eye had been shot through. He turned. Little Feargol was sitting by the fire, Kaelin's pistol smoking in his hands.
    'Did I kill it, Uncle Kaelin?'
    'You did,' said the man. Feeling was coming back into his arm, and he flexed his fingers. He sank down next to Feargol, and retrieved his pistol. Then he put his hand on the child's shoulder. 'Did I not tell you I had a magic eye? You have killed Hang-lip and avenged your family. You are a hero, Feargol.'
    'I don't want to be a hero any more, Uncle Kaelin,' said the child, tears in his eyes.
    Kaelin drew the boy into a hug. 'I know. We shall go soon. I am very proud of you, little man.
    Your daddy would be too.'
    Feargol began to cry. Kaelin patted the boy's back. 'All right, let us dress warm and take to the snow.'

    A bitter wind blew across the waters of Sorrow Bird Lake, moonlight flickering on the crests of the tiny waves as they lapped against the ice forming around the shoreline. Snow lay thick on the branches of the pine trees bordering the shore, and a heavy silence hung over the winter land. The night sky was brilliantly lit by a full moon, around which stars glittered diamond bright against the impenetrable blackness of the heavens.
    At the centre of the lake was a small, wooded island. Just within the tree line stood a roughly built, sod-roofed hut. Hazy smoke drifted from its cast iron chimney. In the open doorway stood a small, slender woman, a pale blue and green shawl wrapped tightly around her shoulders. Her white hair - normally tied in a single braid - hung loose, the cold breeze rippling through it.
    The Wyrd's spirits were low, and she felt old and alone. The Redeemers had found the path to her spirit, and she was running out of tricks to thwart them. Spirit journeys now were fraught with peril. Despair touched her, and she fought it back.
    Pulling shut the door she walked out to the frozen shore, the snow crunching beneath her booted feet. She shivered, though not with the winter cold. She could feel the dark spirits hovering around her, waiting. By now they would have sent killers to find her, cold-souled men who would ride north and seek to enter Rigante lands. They would not find it easy. Call Jace did not allow strangers to travel the inner passes. The Wyrd sighed. She did not doubt they would find a way.
    Circling the small island she returned to her hut. The fire was burning low, but she did not build it up. Too much heat and she would fall asleep. Then they would find her spirit as it wandered and, in her weary state, snuff out her life like an unwanted candle flame.
    It was most galling. These Redeemers saw themselves as so deadly. They believed themselves all powerful. The truth was that the Wyrd could, if she chose, kill every one of them. Aye, that was tempting! She could become a creature of avenging fire, and burn their souls to damnation. Would it not advance the cause of good to destroy them, she wondered?
    'Aye, and therein lies the path to your own destruction,' she said aloud.
    The power granted to her by the spirit of Riamfada all those years ago had come at a price. 'It is born of love,' he had said, within the tranquil setting of the Wishing Tree woods. 'It is of harmony, and joy. You may use it to heal, to enhance, to bring together. Never to destroy.'
    'I don't want to destroy anything,' she had told him.
    'Let us hope that is always true.'
    Oh, there had been times in the past when she had wished to cause harm. When the Moidart had betrayed Lanovar to his death. When the greedy Bishop of Eldacre had tried to have Maev Ring burned for witchcraft.