contained a sheet of parchment crowded with symbols and handwriting.
“The problem is to deliver the agent to the target and have it react at that precise moment. Not sooner, not later. I have been thinking about glass, or pottery. A way must be found to create something strong enough to withstand the forces generated by launch from a catapult but weak enough to shatter on landing”
Hawkmoon put the tube inside his tunic. “Your dream of joining the Rangers is about come true... ”
Rite of Passage.
The women longed for him though it could never be. His blood was tainted. His grandfather did not see the eyes with their strange cast. ... Chatto was all that remained of his daughter. Other clans had Dhampir, but not like Chatto.
Certain of the Dhampirii were women. Despite their beauty they would never find husbands…. Most of them never saw old age. Either they died in combat or the craving broke them at last. When they felt it coming they took their own lives or asked to be put down.. The practice of raising infected children was dying out as the Gypsies became more civilized.
Gowreen had died in an attack four years after his son was born. In latter times talk had grown of changing their routes. Some wondered about settling down ; giving up their travelling ways.. Where would they live? Neither town nor village would have them...
Shaleen’s gate was a week past. The guards let them through without hindrance. They were bound for a mountain called Halvas, better known as the Mountain of Trial. It was in Reiver country set aside as a place of combat between Traveller and Wampyrhh.
There was talk about Chatto around the campfires; him and a certain girl... She had brothers and they were not happy. Sooner or later they would want to do something. A bolt dipped in paste from the Shaleen spider, if it failed to kill him, would paralyze long enough to take his head.. Whatever happened on the mountain Chatto would not be coming home. Darran felt the heart squeeze in his chest He jerked the reins in anger making the horse stumble.
Halvas loomed in the afternoon, fourteen days beyond the Gate. They stopped at the foot of the mountain. Chatto bid farewell to Zek who would leave them to say their goodbyes. They climbed the trail to a false summit, where they stopped. His grandfather fussed with gear and food. Did he think he had enough for the coming days? What about his tools? He had a small axe. Good little weapon…
He touched the old man on the shoulder. “Go down, Grandfather Set up camp and wait. I will be down in a few days. Any longer and I won’t be coming.”
Darran looked at his grandson in the fading light. The sun caught the gleam of amber in his eyes. It took him back eighteen years. Anya whispered to him with her last breath.
“Don’t let them harm the boy. He will be mighty”
When Chatto was seven revenants found their way into camp. They went to the back of the Lupari’s tent and made a hole in it.. They were pulling out little Sheba when Chatto ran at them and darted a burning torch in the face of the one holding her. It shrieked, dropping the child. Chatto gathered her up and bolted. The commotion brought the men running.
“Here,” His grandfather handed him a capsule. “Put this in your mouth. Wedge it in the space where the tooth is missing.”
“I have no use for a suicide pill”.
“It is not for suicide. If you are restrained break it and spit. It will give you a moment”.
Chatto examined the object. The tooth had been pulled when he was fourteen. Taking the horse he started up the trail without a backward glance. Darran went back to his kinsman waiting at the ford.
The moons were down. They would not return for ten days The horse was fed, and tethered to a sapling..... The fire would make him easy to
“The problem is to deliver the agent to the target and have it react at that precise moment. Not sooner, not later. I have been thinking about glass, or pottery. A way must be found to create something strong enough to withstand the forces generated by launch from a catapult but weak enough to shatter on landing”
Hawkmoon put the tube inside his tunic. “Your dream of joining the Rangers is about come true... ”
Rite of Passage.
The women longed for him though it could never be. His blood was tainted. His grandfather did not see the eyes with their strange cast. ... Chatto was all that remained of his daughter. Other clans had Dhampir, but not like Chatto.
Certain of the Dhampirii were women. Despite their beauty they would never find husbands…. Most of them never saw old age. Either they died in combat or the craving broke them at last. When they felt it coming they took their own lives or asked to be put down.. The practice of raising infected children was dying out as the Gypsies became more civilized.
Gowreen had died in an attack four years after his son was born. In latter times talk had grown of changing their routes. Some wondered about settling down ; giving up their travelling ways.. Where would they live? Neither town nor village would have them...
Shaleen’s gate was a week past. The guards let them through without hindrance. They were bound for a mountain called Halvas, better known as the Mountain of Trial. It was in Reiver country set aside as a place of combat between Traveller and Wampyrhh.
There was talk about Chatto around the campfires; him and a certain girl... She had brothers and they were not happy. Sooner or later they would want to do something. A bolt dipped in paste from the Shaleen spider, if it failed to kill him, would paralyze long enough to take his head.. Whatever happened on the mountain Chatto would not be coming home. Darran felt the heart squeeze in his chest He jerked the reins in anger making the horse stumble.
Halvas loomed in the afternoon, fourteen days beyond the Gate. They stopped at the foot of the mountain. Chatto bid farewell to Zek who would leave them to say their goodbyes. They climbed the trail to a false summit, where they stopped. His grandfather fussed with gear and food. Did he think he had enough for the coming days? What about his tools? He had a small axe. Good little weapon…
He touched the old man on the shoulder. “Go down, Grandfather Set up camp and wait. I will be down in a few days. Any longer and I won’t be coming.”
Darran looked at his grandson in the fading light. The sun caught the gleam of amber in his eyes. It took him back eighteen years. Anya whispered to him with her last breath.
“Don’t let them harm the boy. He will be mighty”
When Chatto was seven revenants found their way into camp. They went to the back of the Lupari’s tent and made a hole in it.. They were pulling out little Sheba when Chatto ran at them and darted a burning torch in the face of the one holding her. It shrieked, dropping the child. Chatto gathered her up and bolted. The commotion brought the men running.
“Here,” His grandfather handed him a capsule. “Put this in your mouth. Wedge it in the space where the tooth is missing.”
“I have no use for a suicide pill”.
“It is not for suicide. If you are restrained break it and spit. It will give you a moment”.
Chatto examined the object. The tooth had been pulled when he was fourteen. Taking the horse he started up the trail without a backward glance. Darran went back to his kinsman waiting at the ford.
The moons were down. They would not return for ten days The horse was fed, and tethered to a sapling..... The fire would make him easy to
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