Teeth of akoum pdf download

What was she leaving anyway? A cold room in the home tree with a slug oil lantern and the distrustful stares of the Tajuru. Nissa looked around the longhouse. Most of the Tajuru were filing out of the hall. She walked toward the door with Hiba following close behind. The other Tajuru edged away from her as she passed. That was as it should be, she figured. Hiba was different. He appreciated her Joraga ways of disciplined magic and combat. Nothing about the Joraga was particularly pleasant, unless your idea of pleasant involved training all day, leading raiding parties all night, and sleeping on the hard ground in between.

Except for their distrust of scholarship, Nissa liked the Joraga lifestyle. And so she was leading a scouting party to defend the land of elves who distrusted her. The leader lived far away in the Tumbled Palace—an ancient structure crumbling to pieces on the cliffs of Sunder Bay. It sat clutched in the boughs of an ancient jurworrel tree which was slowly walking its way to the edge.

Rumor had it that the Speaker partnered with the Moon Kraken once a month when that creature made its disastrous rise from the depths of sea.

She turned. Tajuru in rustling silks and dyed leathers walked quietly around them. That ear was his best asset in many ways, and it alone made him useful to have around. He could hear an owl preening from three tall timbers away, and that was impressive even for an elf. She could tell what creature lurked by how his lip curled and where his eyelids sat on his eyes. But the expression he showed just then, standing on the boardwalk outside the longhouse, was new to her. A moment later the warning horns began to moan through the undergrowth.

The Tajuru on the boardwalk stopped walking and stared down at the forest floor. Nissa fell to a crouch, and her hand went to grasp the staff strapped to her back. Before she could get to it, however, Hiba grabbed her wrist and pulled her off the edge of the branch. The ground rushed up as Hiba snatched a hook off his belt and threw it away, catching the crevice of an old tree.

The rope jerked hard when it caught, and Nissa felt her teeth snap shut, but then they swung in a long arc away from the tree. Somewhere far off an eeka bird cried. A brace of giant hedron stones floated in the tree canopy above their heads, knocking unceremoniously together. It was a sight so common she barely took notice, but today their movements seemed more patterned than normal.

They listened for the sounds of battle but heard nothing; neither horn, nor the sizzle of magic coursing through the air; not even the clash of steel. For a moment Nissa thought she heard a far-off scream, but when she asked Hiba, who was listening hard, he shook his head.

A moment passed, and then another, until suddenly Hiba jerked his head. He seized the short sword clipped onto his belt, and Nissa held her staff firmly in both hands. She heard a low whistle and moved her staff at the last moment to deflect the dart, or some such thing, away into the greenery. And then, whatever it was in the trees was jetting toward them, chirping as it flew. Loved each and every part of this book. I will definitely recommend this book to horror, fiction lovers. Your Rating:.

Your Comment:. For a time, the surface of Akoum will burst into beautiful and often-times bizarre flora. The elvish pilgrims that tend these regions refer to the event as a "Life Bloom," but don't tell that to anyone who gets trapped within the volcanic event, or who gets eaten by one of the carnivorous plants that often take root in its aftermath.

These regions provide intense links to green mana, but these Blooms tend to survive only a year or two at the most. At the center of the sprawling region is a massive supervolcano—not precisely dormant, but in the last millennial cycle, there have been few major eruptions. Instead, because of Zendikar's dynamic force known as the Roil, the whole region is plagued by a constant low-level instability.

Whereas the Roil on the continent of Tazeem seems to affect the land from above, the Roil seems to affect Akoum from below. Magma flows constantly flood and clear tunnels, gases from deep within the earth are thrust to the surface, and seismic activity can bring down a rain of crystal shards, more deadly than any volley of arrows.

In short, Akoum is not ideal real estate for a sentient being looking to make a home. The mineral lava is liquid at extreme temperatures, but as it cools, it quickly crystallizes. Cooling Akoum lava will produce large jagged outcroppings of crystalline rock, the crystal lattices visibly emerging from the glowing-hot liquid stone.

Despite the barrenness of much of the Akoum landscape, life does tend to find a way to thrive in the cracks. Aggressive silver and blue grasses take root in volcanic stone and spread rapidly, providing meager fare for the larger fauna of the region.

Creatures that can survive the jagged land tend to be as tough and dangerous as their home—no mammals, other than the ubiquitous rodents, have managed much of a foothold. Instead, most creatures are either insectile outright, or have some insect-like features; carapace or shells are essentially required survival traits, as the jagged volcanic crystal has weeded out species that lacked such defenses. The coasts of Akoum are a deathtrap to travelers. Seismic activity and spires of volcanic glass make landing a ship onto the mainland a near impossibility.

The eastern shores are safest, but never safe. After braving a journey filled with krakens and storms, it is not uncommon for a ship to meet its end within sight of the Akoum shores, the hull torn apart on jagged underwater crystals, essentially invisible to a lookout's eye.

There are no permanent ports. The coastline changes significantly every year to volcanic eruptions, above and below water, and seismic activity that sends coastal shelves into the ocean itself. Still, upon hearing that a ship has been sighted, people from nearby settlements will do all they can to help bring a ship in—that ship that might carry valuable supplies impossible to glean on the continental mainland. The northern reaches of Akoum become more mountainous.

The Teeth of Akoum are a series of mountain ranges that are essentially impassable without some means of flight or a very experienced and clever guide. Nissa tried not to shiver as she passed by the handrail. Only vampires are more disgusting than snakes. Hiba noticed her grimace. The young elf smiled as they walked.

He was teasing her she knew, but she did not mind too much. Hiba was as near to a friend as she had in this place among the weaker elves. They were very near the tree—she could tell by the smell of fires.

But the tree was so well camouflaged that the forest seemed to extend in unbroken stillness until they were virtually at its trunk. Only the continuous creaking of the turntimber trees filled the close silence. Silence was yet another odd aspect of the tribe that had adopted her. She did not understand their need for quiet. Her old home in Bala Ged had been a noisy place. But she certainly could not go back to the Joraga elves there.

It was something all great leaders of the Joraga did; to live abroad with another tribe for a time. But Nissa had done so much more. But none of those planes were her place, and no plane had more mana or beauty than Zendikar, so she soon felt drawn back. Nissa snapped out of her thoughts.

Hiba had stopped walking and was standing stock still in the middle of the bridge, a long ear cocked upward. Above, the green tangle of corkscrew branches held strangely still. Then she heard it: a rhythmic scraping somewhere ahead and up. She knew better than to make any noise as she very carefully freed her staff from the strap slung over her shoulder. It could be many things.