The Quest for the Trilogy: Boneslicer; Seaspray; Deathwhisper by Mel Odom Read Free Book Online

dwarves come to slake their prodigious thirst.
    â€œThe dwarven … pirates ,” Paunsel whispered.

    Glee touched Wick’s heart then. There was only one ship that came to the Yondering Docks carrying dwarven pirates. Many months had passed since he’d last seen the crew of One-Eyed Peggie . He looked forward to seeing Cap’n Farok, Hallekk, Zeddar, Naght, Jurral, Cook, and even Critter, the foul-tempered rhowdor ship’s mascot.
    But Wick also knew what the ship’s crew was like when they were in their cups. He looked at Paunsel. “Are they fighting someone?”
    â€œNot yet.”
    â€œBut the likelihood is there?”
    Paunsel looked aggrieved. “Yes. Otherwise I wouldn’t have bothered you at your studies, Librarian.” The tavern owner was one of the few in Greydawn Moors who talked respectfully with Librarians.
    Over the years, most of the townsfolk had come to resent the Grandmagister and the Librarians, insisting that the food sent up to the Vault of All Known Knowledge was a burden the rest of the population shouldn’t have to bear. Of course, it was mostly the dwellers that said that. The elven warders who guarded the island’s forests and mountains, the humans who pretended to be pirates out in the Blood-Soaked Sea, and the dwarven guards and craftsmen were more generous.
    Hmmm , Wick thought, for roving across to the Shattered Coast and beyond had taught him to always carefully examine his options. Renewing acquaintances at the cost of becoming embroiled in a battle isn’t all that appetizing. Especially on a full stomach .
    Despite Hallekk and Cobner’s attempts to turn him into a pirate or a warrior, Wick was very much satisfied with being a Librarian. He preferred to do his adventuring in the stacks of romances in Hralbomm’s Wing while avoiding Grandmagister Frollo’s wrath. The Grandmagister was of the opinion that Wick should use his personal reading time more wisely.
    â€œWell?” Paunsel prompted.
    â€œI’m thinking,” Wick replied. He tried drumming his fingers on the tabletop the way Grandmagister Frollo did, but evidently the task wasn’t as easy as he’d believed. Also, the cadence of Taurak Bleiyz’s brave war song was stuck in his head from the book and his fingers kept finding that beat.
    â€œThey’re going to tear up my tavern,” Paunsel said.
    The angry voices in the next room rose to a new, and even more threatening, level. Wick’s ears pricked, listening with more experience than he’d ever intended for the hiss of swords clearing leather.
    â€œWho are they arguing with?” Wick asked. Perhaps if it’s someone Hallekk and the others can easily frighten off, I could go meet them. After all, if they win an argument, their purses will open and the wine will flow . It was a pleasing prospect. But he longed to get Taurak Bleiyz across the spiderweb and safely away from his enemies.
    â€œHumans,” Paunsel sneered. “The crew of Stormrider .”
    Wick knew of the ship and the crew. If ever there were warriors that could evenly meet dwarven warriors, it was Stormrider ’s crew.
    â€œWhat are they arguing about?”
    Paunsel sighed, obviously on the verge of giving up asking for help. “Something
that happened long ago. An alliance or something that met Lord Kharrion’s goblinkin army in the Painted Canyon.”
    â€œAh.” Although Wick didn’t know the story of the battle well, he was a Librarian. A recently promoted Second Level Librarian at that. He thought he could settle an argument between ships’ crews and probably earn himself a few more cups of sparkleberry wine for his troubles. “I can handle this.”
    â€œThank the Old Ones,” Paunsel said, though with far more sarcasm than Wick would have wanted to hear. The tavern keeper waved the Librarian to the main room.
    Wick placed his bookmark within the romance and