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    Gruff Tolls
    Gruff Tolls
    Gruff Tolls
    Ebook81 pages1 hour

    Gruff Tolls

    By Kevin L. O'Brien

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    About this ebook

    The Plateau of Leng in the Northern Lands of the Dreamworld is a most dangerous place. Few people dare to travel its interior except as part of large, well-armed caravans, but one exception is Medb hErenn. As such, people will hire her to escort them across the Plateau, or to act in their stead on some mission of personal importance.

    Mephitis the Apothecary of Ulthar needs ingredients for her concoctions that can only be obtained from the Plateau and the surrounding mountains. She hired Medb to act as bodyguard and guide, and their mutual friend, Morgiana the Master Thief, to help her gather what she needs. In return, she will pay them a large remuneration, and they can raid the abandoned tombs and forgotten ruins to their hearts' content.

    Their expedition has been successful, but a migration of the gargantuan Leng Spiders has cut off the usual routes out of the Plateau. In desperation, they make for a rumored pass bisected by a deep chasm, over which a Spider has spun a bridge. Supposedly, it allows travelers to use it, but they must pay a toll, and the gossip claims that it will eat whoever cannot.

    They have no other choice, but the question is, can they pay its price? And if not, can they avoid the rumored fate?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherKevin L. O'Brien
    Release dateOct 13, 2013
    ISBN9781301910984
    Gruff Tolls
    Author

    Kevin L. O'Brien

    Kevin L. O'Brien was born with a pen in his hand.Well, not quite, but he has been writing for as long as he can remember, at least since First Grade. Writing has always been his first, true love, but it hasn't always been his career. He worked for 15 years as a biomedical researcher, then for 3 years as a web designer. However, after 30 years of trying to be published in print with little success, he has decided to try his hand at self-publishing.He writes primarily speculative fiction -- fantasy, science fiction, horror, and their sub-genres -- but he also likes to try his hand at thrillers, suspense, mystery, and even westerns. However, his stories tend to have a fantasy element, no matter how subtle.Most of his stories involve the following three main characters:Medb hErenn (http://www.medbherenn.com/) -- One-time queen of Ireland, she is over 3500 years old. A warrior and a sorceress, she cannot be harmed by any weapon made by the hand of man.Eile and Sunny, Team Girl (http://www.teamgirlforever.com/) -- They are two adorable, vivacious, fun-loving young women whose motto is ONWARD TO ADVENTURE!!! Yet trouble follows them like a love-sick puppy wherever they go.Sir Differel Van Helsing (http://www.sir-differel.com/) -- The descendent of Abraham Van Helsing and King Arthur, she heads the Caerleon Order, the premier monster-hunting organization of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. She commands Dracula, the most powerful vampire extant, and the greatsword Caliburn, better known as Excalibur.He also writes a series of sword & sorcery stories set in an alternative universe known as the Lands of the Dreams of Men.Kevin lives in Denver with his family and 4 cats.For more information, see his website: http://www.kevinlobrien.com/

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      Book preview

      Gruff Tolls - Kevin L. O'Brien

      Gruff Tolls

      Kevin L. O'Brien

      Smashwords Edition

      +++

      Text Copyright 2013 by Kevin L. O'Brien

      Cover design and typography copyright 2013 by Kevin L. O'Brien

      Halloween Spider font distributed under a free use license by Melle Derieppe Claude [http://clofont.free.fr/]

      +++

      License Notes

      Thank you for downloading this ebook. It is licensed for your personal enjoyment and remains the copyrighted property of the author. This ebook may not be sold, reproduced, or copied, whether for commercial or non-commercial purposes, but it may be given away if no changes are made. If you enjoyed this book and would like to share it, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from Smashwords or their favorite online retailer, where they can also discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support, and for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Please consider writing a review for this book on the retailer's website.

      If you see any misspellings or typographical errors, please notify Kevin L. O'Brien using one of his online social networks. Thank you.

      +++

      This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents, including those based on the real world, are either products of the imagination of Kevin L. O'Brien or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

      Because some ebook platforms do not support special characters, certain words may appear misspelled, but this was done deliberately to avoid the problem of the platforms deleting the characters. Also, the LRF platform used by older models of the Sony Reader does not permit the use of links to external URLs, whereas the PDB platform used by Palm reading devices does not support any form of linking whatsoever.

      +++

      Table of Contents

      Preface

      Gruff Tolls

      About the Author

      Other Books by Kevin L. O'Brien

      Connect with Kevin L. O'Brien

      Sample Excerpts

      +++

      Preface

      Her troubleshooting duties sometimes take Medb hErenn on adventures into the more remote and exotic regions of the Dreamlands. One such is the Plateau of Leng in the Northern Lands. It has an evil reputation, being inhabited by the satyroid and brutish Leng Men, the sadistic Moon Beasts, numerous monsters fell and fay, and giant spiders as large as elephants. Few outsiders will travel across it except as part of large, well-armed groups, but Medb can explore its interior with impunity. As such, people are willing to pay her well to undertake missions there on their behalf, or to accompany them as a bodyguard.

      The giant Leng Spiders are one of four creatures from the Waking World that are able to Dream; that is, to journey to the Dreamworld while asleep. (The other three are Dolphins, Cats, and Humans.) They were the first to find the Dreamlands, and the first to understand that Dreaming drives the development of intelligence. In the Waking World they are orb weavers of an unknown species, with a body almost an inch in length and rather long legs for their size. No one knows why they grow to monstrous size in the Dreamlands, except that it is generally believed they will it so. Being intelligent, they do not spin ordinary webs, but instead use their silk creatively, to construct whatever structures they need, and they often make use of their terrain or environment to better capture prey. Most Leng Spiders pursue lives that are little different from those of their brethren in the Waking World, but especially clever individuals will try to fit in with the world beyond the Plateau in some fashion, so as to have a better chance to survive.

      Back to TOC

      +++

      The three women paused as they topped the crest of the ridge. The other side of the pass ran down-slope to a narrow but deep cleft between the two mountain ranges. The sides of the ravine were sheer vertical rock walls some thirty feet apart, and even from where they stood they could hear the muted roar of the cataract deep inside the fissure.

      Medb hErenn watched as Morgiana crouched and examined the vista with her experienced thief's eye.

      You were right, she remarked in a casual tone. She addressed the Zoog Conaed, called Runt, who sat on one of the three pack yaks behind her. He was only about half the size of his race, but he had darker verdigris-tinged bronze fur and bolder tarnished silver facial stripes.

      He declined to answer, but the former queen replied, You should know by now he is very seldom wrong.

      Morgiana gave the massive woman a look that mixed amusement and exasperation on her lovely Arabic face, then turned her attention back to the ravine while Medb followed her gaze. As Conaed had predicted, a footbridge spanned the gulf, suspended from two pairs of rough-hewn stone spires, one on either side. The planks of the deck appeared to be made from ordinary wood, but the ropes that supported them did not look like hemp or metal wire or any other recognizable material. They almost seemed to resemble cobwebs.

      Mephitis walked up to stand between them. Medb spared the apothecary a sidelong glance and saw her eye the bridge in a dubious manner. Are you sure this is the only way through?

      The Quarry of the Giants should be just a few miles west of here, Medb said. From there the trail to Urg is clearly marked, with Inganok a day's march beyond.

      Morgiana stood and gave her arms a languid stretch over her head. We certainly cannot go back the way we came. The valleys are literally crawling with spiders. I wasn't aware they had penetrated this far.

      The spiders of Leng migrate out of their valleys every quarter-century, Conaed said. "The last such was a mere lustrum ago. In time they will starve

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