The Desert Spear by Peter V. Brett Read Free Book Online

dozens of smaller sandstone walls. These were twenty feet high, with pitted wards cut into their surfaces. Some ran great distances and turned sharp corners, while others were just a single slab or angle. Together they formed a maze studded with hidden pitfalls, designed to trap and hold the alagai for the morning sun.
    'The wall beneath your feet,' Qeran said, stamping his foot, 'shields our women and children, even the khaffit, ' he spit over the side of the wall, 'from the alagai. The other walls,' he swept his hands out over the endlessly twisting walls of the Maze, 'keep the alagai trapped in with us. ' He clenched his fist at that, and the obvious pride he felt was shared by all the boys. Jardir imagined himself running through that maze, spear and shield in hand, and his heart soared. Glory awaited him on that blood-soaked sand.
    They walked along the top of the thick wall until they came to a wooden bridge that could be drawn up with a great crank. This led down to one of the Maze walls, all connected by stone arches or close enough to jump. The Maze walls were thinner, less than a foot thick in some places.
    'The walltops are treacherous for older warriors,' Qeran said, 'apart from the Watchers.' The Watchers were dal'Sharum of the Krevakh and Nanji tribes. They were laddermen, each man carrying an iron-shod ladder twelve feet in length. The ladders could be joined to one another or used alone, and Watchers were so agile they could stand balanced at the top of an unsupported ladder as they surveyed the battlefield. The Krevakh Watchers were subordinate to the Kaji tribe, the Nanji to the Majah.
    'For the next year, you boys will assist the Krevakh Watchers,' Qeran said, 'tracking alagai movements and calling them down to the dal'Sharum in the Maze, as well as running orders back and forth from the kai'Sharum. '
    They spent the rest of the day running the walltops. 'You must know every inch of the Maze as well as you know your spears!' Qeran said as they went. Quick and agile, the nie'Sharum shouted in exhilaration as they leapt from wall to wall and darted over the small arched bridges. Jardir and Abban laughed at the joy of it.
    But Abban's big frame did not lend itself to balance, and on one slender bridge he slipped, falling off the wall. Jardir dove for his hand, but he was not fast enough. 'Nie take me!' he cursed as their fingers brushed slightly and the boy dropped away.
    Abban let out a brief wail before striking the ground, and Jardir could see even from twenty feet above that his legs were broken.
    A braying laugh, like a camel's honk, rang out behind him. Jardir turned to see Jurim slapping his knee.
    'Abban is more camel than cat!' Jurim cried.
    Jardir snarled and clenched a fist, but before he could rise, Drillmaster Qeran appeared. 'You think your training is a joke'' he demanded. Before Jurim could gasp a reply, Qeran grabbed him by his bido and hurled him down after Abban. He screamed as he fell the twenty feet and struck hard, then lay unmoving.
    The drillmaster turned to face the other boys. ' Alagai'sharak is no joke,' he said. 'Better you all die here than shame your brothers in the night.' The boys took a step back, nodding.
    Qeran turned to Jardir. 'Run now and inform Drillmaster Kaval. He 'll send men to bring them to the dama'ting. '
    'It would be faster if we fetched them ourselves,' Jardir dared, knowing Abban's fate might depend on those precious minutes.
    'Only men are allowed in the Maze, nie'Sharum, ' Qeran said. 'Be off before the dal'Sharum are forced to fetch three.'
    Jardir edged as close as he dared when the dama'ting came to speak with Drillmaster Qeran after gruel that evening, straining to hear her quiet words.
    'Jurim broke several bones, and there was much bleeding within, but he will recover,' she said, speaking as if she were discussing nothing more significant than the color of sand. Her veils hid all expression. 'The other, Abban, had his legs broken in many places. He will