Free Secrets of Moth (The Moth Saga, Book 3) by Daniel Arenson Page B

Linee screamed and ducked. Cam landed in the shallow water,
cursed, and drew his sword. As he ran toward his enemy, the fisherman
loaded a new dart and brought the blowgun to his lips again.
    "Cam, duck!" Linee
screamed behind him.
    He obeyed and kept running,
hunched over.
    Another shard of metal flashed.
    Cam
winced, for an instant sure that Izmat had blown his dart. I
will die here in the rushes, far from home, and our quest will fail.
    He grimaced, expecting to feel
poison seep through his neck. Instead, the fisherman gasped and
froze. Cam gasped too. It was not a blowgun dart that had flashed. An
Elorian throwing star pierced Izmat's neck. The fisherman gave a last
gasp, blood spurted, and his blowgun fell into the mud. An instant
later, Izmat followed.
    Cam froze and spun around, sword
raised.
    Linee stood in the boat, holding
a second throwing star. She stared at the fallen man, then back at
Cam.
    "Suntai gave me a few
throwing stars once, and . . . I've been practicing in secret. I
didn't think . . . that I'd ever . . . Oh Idar. Camlin, are you all
right?"
    His mouth hung open. He blinked
a few times, then ran back to the boat, jumped inside, and hugged
her. "Soggy sheep bottoms, you're full of surprises, aren't
you?"
    "I killed someone."
Her voice was barely a whisper.
    He nodded. "And probably
saved our lives. This land is more dangerous than we thought, and
Ferius knows we're here. I'll fetch the man's cloak. At least one of
us can hide under the hood."
    He returned to the body.
Grimacing, he removed the man's cloak, rinsed it in the water, then
brought the garment back to the boat. As the white cotton dried, Cam
rummaged in his pack for his small mirror and razor, then spent a few
moments shaving his head.
    "You look silly,"
Linee said, hugging herself. "I don't like it."
    "Get used to it, because
I'm going to grow a beard too. Ferius knows what we look like."
He nipped his scalp and winced. "Damn!"
    "Well, he'd know you
anywhere, Camlin," Linee said. "You're too short. Maybe you
should grow to normal height to blend in."
    He grumbled. "Maybe you
should grow a brain."
    When his work was done, he
stripped off his old clothes from Arden—a woolen cloak and a tunic.
He removed the half-sun amulet from around his neck—the symbol of
Idarism, the faith of North Timandra—and hid it in his pocket. He
remained in only his breeches. Shirtless and hairless, he looked at
Linee.
    "Do I look Eseerian?"
    She gaped. "Oh, Camlin!
You're skinnier than I am." She placed a hand on his chest. "You
need more muscles. I can feel your ribs. Forget searching for a clock
hand; try searching for a solid meal."
    He muttered and turned away. "Be
quiet. Now grab that hood and cloak. They're dry now. Hide yourself.
I haven't seen anyone else here with blond hair and green eyes."
    Cam grabbed the oar and pushed
the boat away from the bank, leaving the dead man among the rushes.
They sailed on—a bald young man, clad only in breeches, and a young
woman hidden in cloak and hood. They rowed on toward the city,
looking—Cam hoped—like nothing more than two Eseerians returning
home.
    Kahtef grew closer ahead, its
walls looming, its archers gazing down from the battlements. A
hundred boats sailed back and forth around them, and the sun beat
down, glimmering in the water and nearly blinding Cam. They rowed
toward the stone archway that crested the river, welcoming them into
the city.
    "We've been in Eseer for
only a few hours," Cam said as he rowed, "and already one
of Ferius's minions tried to kill us. We'll have to be more careful."
    Sitting at the prow, Linee gazed
at him from inside her hood. "Let's find that zigzagging rodent
as fast as possible and get back to the others."
    "A ziggurat, Linee. Not a
rodent."
    With one more thrust of his oar,
their reed boat sailed between the guard towers . . . and into a city
of light, stone, and steel.

 
 
CHAPTER EIGHT:
THE HENGE

    Through mist and shadow, Koyee
watched the island grow