The Unrepentant (Skharr DeathEater #6) - Michael Anderle Page 0,7

considered an equal instead of an outsider among his kin."

"How long do you think he'll last before they send him away?"

"I'll give them two years, I think," Throk admitted with a subtle grin. "We are a longsuffering folk but there are limits to their reserves of patience. That is about as long as he's lasted here."

"Will they send him back here?"

"I doubt it. There is more than sufficient trouble to engage him between Verenvan and the mountains the dwarves call home. You will become more acquainted with the dangers yourself, given that you will likely travel through them. Across the Sea of Dragon Kites, in particular, seems to be the most danger you will face along the way."

"I have no fear of deep water or sea dragons."

"You're a fool, then."

"Possibly. But sea dragons are far less defensive and violent than their land-living cousins. A few even helped to guide my ship through treacherous waters and asked only for a few pieces of silver in exchange."

"Silver?"

"They preferred how silver shimmered under the water to gold."

"So the sea dragons can speak?"

"Not in words but they are capable of communicating. Not all of them, however."

"You'll have to tell me about how you know so much about sea dragons sometime."

Skharr smirked but looked up when Brahgen approached the table with a couple of guards, neither of whom were those who had escorted him. He had a feeling that the woman had decided to engage in the revelry the other dwarves were enjoying, although it appeared that her charge was not happy to be dragged across the Warrens like some kind of prisoner.

His glare was a little difficult to miss. The barbarian wasn't sure how he hadn't caught it before. Then again, he had worn a hood that covered his face but it was plain to see as he now studied the visitor with all the rage that came with youth. It was odd how similar human and dwarf younglings were.

"You killed them!" the young dwarf shouted suddenly. He jerked forward like he meant to attack him but was stopped barely an inch into his assault. "You killed them all. Some of them were my friends."

Skharr shrugged and pushed from his seat. "Then you had friends who put your life at risk for no reason. My cutting your time with them short saved your life, even if I didn't kill them all myself."

"No?" Throk asked.

"There were dozens of them. I am deadly but even I cannot fight a small army. Those who were with me did, however, kill them all." He returned his attention to Brahgen, who looked like he was still being restrained by the two armed dwarves. "Consider this your first lesson—never find yourself supporting actions intended to harm a DeathEater. Harm generally comes to those who intend it."

The master smith smirked. "I doubt he'll learn that lesson until he sees what a DeathEater is capable of with his own eyes."

"Have you seen such a thing yourself?" Skharr asked.

"Aye. It’s not the kind of thing you forget. I watched as a group of your clan, at the request of the AnvilForged, attacked a caravan coming away from the mountains. The group had stolen something precious from us and The Clan overtook them on one of the icy roads. Howls split the air and arrows were loosed from every possible angle before the warriors descended and killed them all without mercy. It isn’t the kind of thing a young dwarf would ever forget."

The barbarian smiled and looked at Brahgen, who avoided his gaze and stared at the stone beneath his feet instead.

"We can only hope such a demonstration does not prove necessary."

Chapter Three

He would not be able to find his way through the passages on his own if he had a month in which to attempt it. Dwarves had an instinct for navigating their tunnels, while the barbarian was far more comfortable walking through the open spaces, be it in the fields or the mountains.

Skharr liked to think it had something to do with his size that made him dislike enclosed spaces, but if that were the case, he had no idea why he had spent so much time underground. He would need to think on that another time, however.

"All you need do is knock again and you'll be let through," the dwarf who guided him said. "We'll show you."

With little else to do but agree, he nodded. He was, however, mostly sure they hadn’t followed the same route along which he'd arrived. As