Spellbreakers by Katherine Wyvern Read Free Book Online Page B

it would be terribly interesting for you.”
    “Indeed it would. But it is said that only a pure
spirit can approach them. And I am not as pure as all that.”
    “Uhm, listen, how do you mean, pure?”
    “Why are you asking, princess?”
    “Ah, uhm, well, you know...”
    Dee observed her quite intently for a little while, and
then he sighed.
    “I will only say that I do not think carnal purity was
the meaning of it. That hardly matters at all on this plane of things. It is more
a matter of ... let us say, cosmic harmony. I doubt you can have done anything
to endanger that.”
    “Have you?” asked Leal, both relieved and curious.
    “As a member of my Order, you could say that I have
tried hard enough. War magic is not something that ever appealed to the Faded,
and my Order’s almost sole purpose was to bend magic to belligerent uses. The
fact that I failed to achieve a single live spell does not mean that I would be
forgiven for trying. And last but not least, if Kjetil Alversen Hawkeneye is
over there, the appeal of a charming young princess is more likely to win his
assistance than that of a gristly old magician. That’s heroes for you. Come on,
you must go. The night is growing old.”
    Leal examined the small fern fruit with some suspicion.
It was hard to tell its color in the semi-darkness. Perhaps a
very pale grey, but almost blue in the moonlight. It felt fuzzy but
hard, like a green apricot. She gingerly bit into it. Much to her surprise it
was neither bitter nor sour, but of a tart, spicy sweetness. The seed—only one—was
perfectly smooth on her tongue and slipped out of the bitten pulp cleanly. She
chewed the pulp carefully and then swallowed the whole. Nothing much changed.
    She unbuckled her leather jerkin and her belt, took
off her boots, and laid everything, jerkin, belt, pouch, knife and boots in a
neat heap at the head of the jetty. Then with a significant cough she started
undoing the laces of her suede bodice. Dee turned around, staring very
pointedly at the gorge’s entrance. Leal undressed completely; she did not like
the idea of riding back in wet clothes. Her breeches were wet enough already.
And if these Faded beings were so pure and so detached
they would not stand on ceremony, right?
    She walked out on the stepping stones, the last of
which was partly awash. The water was cold, even in July. At the very last
moment, before she dove in the dark water, she felt a moment of dizziness. She
almost cried out in alarm, but before the cry passed her lips, she was in the
water, and the lake closed over her head.

Chapter Four
     
    She sank down and down, in a black, endless forever.
    There was nothing but peace in the call of the deep
black waters. No fear, no pain, nothing but a blessed silence.
    A way out, out of the hassle and strife of the world. Indeed.
    Oh, but wait. I am not tired of the strife.
    I am not giving up!
      Leal finally
felt the urge to breathe. She kicked upwards, towards the light.
    She broke the surface of the water and sucked in a
long gulping breath. She scanned the lake to make sure of the direction and
gasped in alarm. A shimmering mist floated over the lapping waves. She could
still see the island, far off in front of her, but the lake-shore was shrouded
in the white haze, wholly invisible. She blinked. How could such a misty
weather have come up in the seconds (surely it was seconds, right?) that she
had been underwater? I hope this is all part of the magic, she thought, and
not something sinister. She set out for the island, swimming in long even
strokes.
    It seemed a long swim, much longer than she had
anticipated. The water of the lake changed from deep black to phosphorescent
green as she advanced. The bottom of the lake was full of bright light.
    She was growing very tired and very cold by the time
she reached the island. Her feet touched a loose bottom of sand and pebbles,
then water weeds, and then she was standing and wading towards a beach shadowed
by