Shield Of The Sky
Chapter One
Forbidden.
It was a word Rhenna had heard seldom in her childhood. Until she was six, she had gazed at the
snow-capped peaks of the Shield of the Sky and known the great mountains only as protectors,
home of devas, guardians of the lands of the Free People that stood in their shadow.
But when she reached the age of first testing and the Earth-speakers found that she bore no
special gifts to belie her common parentage, she was taken to the foot of the Shield by her
mother's sister and told what she must never do.
"The Shield is forbidden to you," said the blacksmith, whose arms were broad as oak branches.
"Only the Chosen climb the hills, at the appointed time, to meet with the Ailuri."
Many years passed before Rhenna knew what her aunt had meant by her cautious words, the
small warning gestures and averted gaze. Pantaris was afraid of nothing, not longtooth cats nor
brutal steppe storms nor barbarian raiders.
Yet her aunt's warning burned deep, scarring her with curiosity, and Rhenna could not remember
a day since when she had not looked up at th ... read full excerpt from Shield of the Sky ebook
