Free The Ventifact Colossus (The Heroes of Spira Book 1) by Dorian Hart

used to be a bakery, and I’ve already become the house cook, even though we also have a magic box that makes food.
    Abernathy said we have to help keep the kingdom safe, and that it may take a long time. But I bet I can convince him to let me come back and visit. I’ll keep writing to you to let you know how everything is going.
    Love, your son,
    Ernest Carabend
     
    Ernie folded up his letter and stared at it thoughtfully. He didn’t want to worry his mother unduly, and he had gone back and forth in his mind about whether to include any references to Abernathy’s world-threatening monster. His parents had hammered the importance of honesty into him like a blacksmith pounds a blade, but he could stomach small lies of omission to spare his dear mother distress.
    Now he faced another difficulty: how did one send a letter to a small village a hundred miles away? He found Eddings downstairs, scrubbing the kitchen floor.
    “Eddings, could you arrange to have this letter sent to my parents? They’re in the town of White Ferry, at the Roundhill Bakery.”
    “Of course, Master Roundhill.”
    “Oh, good. Thanks, Eddings.”
    “It is my pleasure, sir.”
    Having a butler sure was handy. He didn’t deserve a butler, of course. If anything, he should be the servant.
    He started to ask Eddings if there was anything he needed, but was interrupted by a truly horrific noise, like a songbird being tortured. After ten seconds it hadn’t stopped. Aravia and Grey Wolf were already in the dining room, and they looked every bit as alarmed as Ernie felt. Only Eddings remained undisturbed.
    “That is Abernathy summoning you to the globe room.” The butler gestured toward the stairs. “Announce your arrival and the summoning noise should cease.”
    On the second floor the others had staggered into the hall. Dranko, his face haggard, had his hands clapped to his ears and was moaning, “Make it stop, make it stop!”
    Grey Wolf flipped the painting, flicked the tower, and shouted over the din, “We’re here! What is it?”
    The ear-splitting warble cut off, thank the Gods. They crowded into the small room while the mist inside the globe coalesced into Abernathy’s wrinkled face. There was sweat beaded on the wizard’s spotted cheeks and his hair was mussed.
    “I’m sending you off on your first assignment.”
    A thrill of excitement and fear flowed through Ernie. Mostly fear, he’d have admitted if anyone had asked.
    “Did your monster get out?” he asked. He felt his face flush with embarrassment for having wondered that out loud. Could he sound more pathetic?
    “No, no,” said Abernathy. “But the aspect of our enemy’s assault on the door has…shifted recently, and we need all the information we can get. I’ve already told you the nature of this task, yes? To inspect the door behind which my monster, as you say, is trapped. You will find it unusual, but what I need to know should be simple enough for you to learn.”
    “Where is it?” asked Aravia. “And will you have time to send over some of your spellbooks before we go? You promised me, remember? It’s why I agreed to join your endeavor. Also, my cat is still at Master Serpicore’s house. Can you arrange to have my Pewter brought here?”
    Abernathy sighed. “The door is near the town of Verdshane,” he said. And as for your…”
    A deep chime sounded from within the glass ball, and Abernathy flinched at the noise. When he spoke again, his words came rapidly. “Very quickly now, go to Verdshane, cross-country will be fastest, leave within the hour if you can, there are some ruins north of the town, and one building looks like there’s no way into it, close your eyes and walk through the door with the bear head, inside there’s a magical blue field—don’t touch it—but in that field is a person, floating, and I want you to measure, as precisely as you can from as close as you can get, the distance between that person’s left heel and the floor beneath