Free The Quest for the Trilogy: Boneslicer; Seaspray; Deathwhisper by Mel Odom Page B

days of siege.
    â€œWhat happened there,” Hallekk said, “it’s a sore spot that most just can’t keep from pickin’ at. Ye don’t see it come up so much here on Greydawn Moors, but out in the rest of the world?” He shook his big head.
    â€œIt’s a serious problem,” Craugh said. “One that will have to be dealt with sooner or later.”

    Wick studied the wizard. Although he hadn’t yet said what had drawn him to Greydawn Moors, Craugh had come in looking slightly bedraggled, with halfhealed cuts on his face and hands. Obviously he’d been somewhere dangerous doing something dangerous against someone who had been … dangerous.
    Wick was unhappy with his limited mental word choice. Finding new words was somehow beyond him. You’ve got to slow down on the sparkleberry wine , he told himself. It’s making your head as thick as Slops’s mashed potatoes. And they could be used for mortar .
    Cleaning the mess those potatoes made on plates after they’d gotten cold had been one of Wick’s greatest struggles while he served as dishwasher aboard One-Eyed Peggie . He hadn’t known how the dwarven pirates had gotten it through their systems. It had to have been a gastronomical feat.
    But he didn’t say a word when Hallekk filled his tankard again. Trying to match a dwarf in drinking was usually a strategy bound for painful failure and serious regret, but Wick thought himself equal to the task that night. If only the room would occasionally stop spinning.
    â€œEven with Lord Kharrion out of the way,” Craugh said, “the goblinkin have continued to hold sway in the south, and they look to be turning an avaricious eye to the north. Their numbers are on the increase again, and they’ll soon be back up to fighting strength.”
    Hallekk looked at the wizard. “Do ye think they’ll take another run at her? Killin’ out all the other races, I mean?”
    Wick hadn’t thought about that. He’d been to the mainland a few times, and he’d seen how the goblinkin empire had fragmented somewhat, but they’d remained particularly strong in the south. Thinking that they might someday unite and take up the genocidal war once more was frightening. Even the magical fog and enchanted sea monsters in the Blood-Soaked Sea couldn’t protect the Vault of All Known Knowledge forever.
    â€œIf they do, humans, dwarves, and elves will have to find the strength to once more stand united,” Craugh said. “If they don’t, they will all fall.” He sipped his wine. “It would be better if they were able to put the Battle of Fell’s Keep behind them.”
    â€œThey’re still different races,” Wick pointed out. “There’s some natural discord between them anyway.”
    â€œYes, but it’s been my experience that those dislikes can be worked through. Prejudice is an ugly thing that feeds on its own energies. It doesn’t bring anything with it; the perceived hatred of others that are different drains and limits.” Craugh tugged at his beard. “But it would be better if the questions over the Battle of Fell’s Keep were resolved.”
    â€œThere has to be an answer somewheres.” Hallekk fixed Wick with a curious look. “Mayhap in them books of yers.”
    â€œThey’re not mine.” Wick had to work a little harder to make the words come out.
    â€œHaven’t ye got someplace where ye can look up the battle?”
    Wick shook his head and felt it sway sickeningly, thinking just for a moment
that it had somehow come loose from his shoulders. “We’re still sorting out all the journals, memoirs, and histories. If anything was written by anyone who was there, it hasn’t turned up yet.”
    â€œPerhaps,” Craugh suggested, “those manuscripts never made it to the Vault of All Known Knowledge.”
    â€œBut why wouldn’t