Free The Orb of Truth (The Horn King Series) by Brae Wyckoff Page A

slowly brought the bundle out to inspect. It laid flat in his palm and he slowly unwrapped the supple leather. His eyes widened in amazement as he unveiled the two thieves’ tools Spilf had used to disarm traps and pick locks. They were no longer rusty as he had seen them before, but shined bronze. They were two inches long, skinny, and highly magical. The pair of tools each had eyes and a mouth, and were staring back at the Ordakian. Dulgin peered at what his friend had uncovered.
    “Hi Bridazak! My name is Lester, and this is my brother Ross,” the animated pick introduced himself. Bridazak looked up at Dulgin, smiling incredulously. Dulgin squinted with a blank stare, waiting for something he was supposed to notice, but heard only an uncomfortable silence.
    “Can you see them? They are talking to me.”
    “What are ya talking about, ya blundering fool? Them are just some ugly-looking, rusted tools ya got there. I thought you were in danger or something. Don’t be getting the mad fever on me,” he muttered in frustration as he moved back to the wood he had dropped.
    “Ah, don’t worry about him, he is always grumpy,” Lester chimed in response to the Dwarf. The other pick spoke, “We are now at your service. There is no lock or trap that we can’t get through,” it boasted in a demeanor of pride.
    The items had distinct voices. Lester spoke with a deeper, metallic tone, while Ross had more of a squeaky, tinny whine.
    “So this was his secret. Where did Spilf find you? This is amazing,” Bridazak sputtered.
    Dulgin looked back over at the Ordakian and shook his head. Worrying his friend had lost his sanity, he went back to tending the fire.
    “You can talk to us through your mind Bridazak, so as not to alert anyone around you. That is how we are talking to you right now, and that is why Mr. Grumpy can’t hear us.”
    Bridazak tried it out, “Can you hear me?”
    “Yes, we can hear you.”
    Bridazak slid his satchel over next to him and retrieved the strange wooden box. “Can you find a way inside this?” he asked in his mind.
    “Why, sure we can. Lester’s specialty is finding traps and mine is unlocking the best of locks. We can see anything invisible or illusioned. There is nothing in the entire realm that we can’t bypass or find,” Ross replied.
    Bridazak moved the picks back and forth, side to side, under and over. They studied the container until Lester finally responded, “Except for this. I apologize, but we are unable to locate any opening, lock, or trap. This is not from this realm Bridazak, which means our reputation is still intact.”
    Ross added, “Wow, that was a close call, brother. Good thing it is not from this realm. I can’t imagine our reputation being blemished—like that Dwarf. I would lock myself in a room and throw away the key. Wait, that doesn’t work. I could still get out. Well anyway, just look at that scar on his face. He scares me, Lester.”
    Ross continued talking, but Bridazak tuned out his voice, remembering what Kiratta had told him, “To open this gift you will need to bare your heart to the one that has given it to you.”
    “Bare my heart,” he whispered.
    “What did he say?”
    “Never mind, Ross. Just let our new boss be. He is trying to figure something out, I can tell.”
    “Oh, okay, yeah, I will let him be. Do you think he will be long, Lester?”
    “Ross, this is not the time. Now be quiet so he can concentrate.”
    “Oh, yeah, okay. Good call Lester. We will just be quiet now.”
    Their exchanges didn’t phase the Ordakian as he continued to whisper, “bare my heart.” He closed his eyes and focused on the words.
    “Hey Lester, why did he close his eyes? Is he going to sleep? What about us?”
    “Ross! Be quiet! He is not sleeping.”
    “Oh, okay, good, I just didn’t want him to forget about us. Don’t be so angry with me, Lester.”
    “I’m not angry, but if you keep talking I will be.”
    “Why? What did I do? Don’t be mad,