The Gods of Garran by Meredith Skye Read Free Book Online Page A

man studied her solemnly, questioning her character. Then a sword slit his throat wide open. The blood flowed. Fire engulfed him.
     
    Asta sat up in bed, realizing that she’d been dreaming. Groggily, she realized she was in Ruben's tent. She pushed the slumbering form of Ruben Drake aside and climbed out of bed. Actually it wasn’t a bed, just a combination of their bedrolls. They were still on the way back to Urrlan, the capital city of Garran.
    Her head hurt from the rum they'd drunk. Was it a good idea to get in a relationship with Ruben? Asta wavered between hate and love where he was concerned. He was handsome and brave. He wore his sandy blond hair long, like a Garran. She had admired him ever since she'd met him, yet actually working with him turned out to be quite different. Was this love or a mistake?
    Maybe she liked Ruben because he was the sort of man her father would hate. He could be cruel. He found it easy to use people, sometimes in despicable ways. The job brought out his violent nature.
    She threw on her tunic, grabbed her cloak and stepped out of the tent. The night was still dark, but a hint of twilight shone on the horizon. The Sunny season had ended, having passed the solstice months ago.
    The Arid season had begun. Now it would be dry and windy until the season of Dusk, where the sun seldom shone. The leaves never changed color here, not much, but the grass and flowers would wither.
    The fire was nothing but embers and the two other tents, with Breehan in one, Jess and Pak in the other, stood silent. Asta sat down and stirred the coals, casting a few sticks into the fire.
    Her mind felt fuzzy. Distracted--and not just from the residual alcohol. She felt as though she was being watched. Then she heard a sound. She stood.
    Without thinking, Asta drew the ooluk sword from its scabbard. She turned it over to look at the sleek, curved metal blade with the white bone pommel and orange crystal stone.
    The night was quiet; all was still.
    Almost, she thought the sword made a very light ringing noise, though when she held it closer, she heard nothing.
    A noise over the hill distracted her. Instinctively, she held the sword tighter as she ventured out to investigate. It was possible they had been seen and followed from town. Or that someone had missed the old man and tracked them somehow. The Garrans were fierce trackers.
    Slowly, Asta crested the hill, ooluk in hand. The sword felt comforting in her hands, more so than any laser had. Her mind felt sharp and her vision keen, despite the fact that it was night.
    Standing at the top of the hill, she scanned the horizon, but saw nothing. There were a few scraggly trees and some low bushes covering these hills. The Garrans considered it a forest. To Asta, remembering her homeworld of Toolash, the whole of Garran was a desert.
    Asta ventured over the hill and down the other side, searching the shadows for some sign of movement. Then it came. A black shadow jumped out at her from the dark.
    Using an instinct she didn’t know she had, Asta swung the sword, cutting the throat of the sechule . The sleek, black feline body fell to the ground at Asta’s feet. Only then did Asta cry out in surprise.
    Nothing else stirred. Asta ran to the top of the hill, but the scuffle hadn’t aroused the sleeping camp.
    Knowing she wouldn’t sleep, Asta spent the remainder of the night skinning the sechule and taking its teeth to make a necklace.
    ^ ^ ^ ^ *
    Once the sun began to rise, the others got up and found Asta. The sechule skin lay next to her on a rock.
    "What's this?" asked Ruben.
    "I couldn't sleep," said Asta. "Caught this prowling around." They'd all been tired last night and hadn't set a watch.
    Ruben was impressed. "You killed it yourself? With that?" he nodded at the ooluk . She had set the sword and scabbard on the ground next to the rock.
    She nodded. "I did."
    They ate a quick breakfast and then began packing up the tents. When Asta began taking down her tent,