Two (The Godslayer Cycle Book 2) Read Online Free Page B

Witness visibly thought about it before he relented.  “I sensed something shift.  I cannot explain it better than that.  I just... felt something I never had before.  It drew my attention like nothing ever had before – as though something more important than anything ever before had happened.  And it came upon me without me ever knowing it was coming.  It...  scared me.”
    The admission caused the Witness to draw back physically in his seat.  A master of body language, Dart could tell that this topic was not something the man felt comfortable with.  More than just sensing something he never had before, the fact that he would admit to something as simple as fear was a form of surrender for him.  And it reflected in every nuance of his body as he related his story.
    “I knew I had to witness whatever it was, even though I had no idea what it would be.  That is something I have not felt for over six hundred years – not knowing what was coming.  So I followed it – whatever it was – here.  This is where the change happened, or somewhere very close to here.  Regardless, it affected this entire town.  I knew it as soon as I came here.  This was where I first saw the paths dividing.”
    “ You keep saying that.  Paths.  What does that mean exactly?”
    The Witness blanched.  “It is a word I use.  It is not entirely real, just that...  When a person has a future, there are different places and directions he may be in by the time his future becomes his present.  It is like whether a man takes a left or right branch in a road – I can see him potentially on both roads at the same time, as it is possible he could take either way.  Normally, I will see one that is less...  wispy, I suppose is the best way to describe it.  This would be the choice he is more likely to take, but it is not always the one he does.  The closer these potential futures – what I call paths – approach the present, the more...  solid they become, until the future is the present and it is one firm image that I see.”
    Dart was becoming excited, and she knew it was visibly showing.  Yet she didn't care – this man had been a legend to her, the one person in all the world who made her own talents at gathering information seem charlatan by comparison.  The Witness just knew things – though no one had ever known before exactly how he knew things.  She realized she could very realistically be the first person who had ever learned how it was all done.  In the back of her mind, the worth of this information was quickly gaining a value – and it was high enough that she envisioned herself being able to live off the rewards of this one score for perhaps a hundred years or more.
    “ But now there are two 'paths'?  Two different possibilities, even in the present?”  Dart scooted to the edge of her seat in anticipation.
    “ Yes.  Now instead of seeing one firm present, I see two paths for each person I see – One the world I imagine everyone else sees and another as a phantom image of people moving around where I perceive they should be, where all their paths lead to.”
    “ And it all started in this town?”  Dart sat back and looked around.  “Speaking of which, what town are we in?”
    “ It is called Scollhaven.”
    Dart shrugged.  “Never heard of it.  Must be real backwater.”  Dart returned her attention to the Witness.  “Nevermind that.  You say it all started here?  What is so special about this place, then?”
    “For once, I am limited only in what I have heard since arriving.  It seems a new God has appeared--”
    “ One of the New Order came here?  Why here?”
    “ No, not the New Order, nor it seems, one of the Old Gods, either.  Someone else new entirely.”
    “ Well, the Old Gods makes sense, their being dead and all--”
    “ The Old Gods are not dead.”  The Witness spared Dart another of his rare smiles.  “I would know if they had died.  I still sense them moving around