Sea of Death: Blade of the Flame - Book 3 Read Online Free Page B

feet, and a hinged jaw.
    But what made Solus stand apart from others of his kind were the crystals of various sizes, shapes, and colors embedded in the surface of his body. The crystals weren’t simply decoration. They possessed the ability to absorb, channel, and intensify psionic energy. Solus was a psiforged, capable of astounding feats of psychic prowess—telekinesis, telepathy, illusion-casting and more. But he was untrained in the use of his abilities and thus potentially a great danger to those around him. Keeping his true nature concealed was necessary to prevent others from focusing their attention—and more importantly, their thoughts—on him. Until he learned a greater measure of control over his powers, the fewer minds he came in close contact with, the better.
    “I’ll stick with the stench,” Ghaji said. “Nothing personal, but I’d rather not have my head explode if something goes wrong.”
    Hinto came next in the circle after Solus.
    “That’s not fair! Solus has gotten a lot better as using his powers!” Hinto smiled mischievously. “Though as homely as you are, Greenie, I doubt anyone would notice if your head
did
explode!”
    Though in his early adulthood, Hinto stood no taller than a child, but he was of average height for a halfling. His skin was nut-brown,the result of a lifetime spent sailing the Lhaazar, and he wore a long-knife tucked under his belt, a weapon he wielded as if it were a sword built specially for someone his size. He wore a red bandana on his head, along with a long-sleeved shirt and pants, both woven from thick brown material. Sturdy boots, a scarf, and glove with the tips of the fingers cut off completed his outfit. A hardy Lhaazarite, he didn’t bother wearing a fur cloak. As he’d said before they left Perhata, “I don’t need one. It’s not full winter yet.”
    Ghaji glared at the halfling sailor. “You’re not exactly what I’d call handsome. And neither is your jewel-encrusted friend.”
    Hinto patted Solus’s hand. “Don’t mind him. He’s always in a sour mood.”
    Hinto never strayed far from Solus’s side. Ever since the construct had joined the companions, the instant bond the two had formed had only grown stronger. And, as Solus’s eyesight had been damaged beyond Tresslar’s ability to repair, the halfling served as the psiforged’s eyes. His physical eyes, at any rate, as Solus had senses other than sight with which to navigate his environment.
    The last member of the circle—standing between Hinto and Ghaji, which at the moment wasn’t the safest place aboard
Welby’s Pride
—was Asenka.
    “I, for one, think a man covered by jewels is
quite
attractive,” she said. “Even if he isn’t human.” She gave Diran a quick wink to show she was joking. She and Diran weren’t lovers, not yet, but they were more than friends. Diran wondered if their relationship would continue to grow and deepen, and he surprised himself when he realized that he hoped it would.
    Asenka had close-cropped strawberry-blond hair and a tattoo of a scorpion on the back of her right hand. Instead of the red cloak she normally wore with her uniform of black tabard over mail armor, she had on a fur cloak as protection against the cold. She was armed with a long sword, and though at first glance she didn’t appear muscular enough to wield it effectively, Diran had seen her use the weapon to good effect on more than one occasion. Asenka served as commander of the Sea Scorpions, Baron Mahir’s elite cadre of warriors, and it was she who had delivered Diran’s proposition to the baron: thepriest and his companions would travel to Kolbyr and see if they might be able to lift the curse that had hung over the ruling house for a hundred years. Mahir had been skeptical at first. After all, the Barons of Kolbyr had doubtless attempted to have the curse removed numerous times over the years, and without success. Not only would another attempt most likely prove futile, the fact