Read White Devil Mountain for Free Online

There are tales of beasts and demons of the Nobility’s crafting, various strange phenomena, and mountain folk who live up there and feed on the monsters. You talk about searching for your father, but I don’t think a child could accomplish that on his own.”
    His tiny face turned toward the floor.
    “Did you think that if I climbed with you, I’d help you as well? Don’t underestimate the mountain.”
    His callous words were like an ice pick through the boy’s heart. The boy gazed down at his feet for a long time. Then, looking up, he quietly made his apologies. Just before he turned his back to the Hunter, he said, “I’ll see myself out.”
    The door was opened and closed again behind him, at which point the hoarse voice commented with admiration, “That’s one focused little brat. I thought he was gonna squirt a few tears for us, but he left here with a composed face. I hope that’s the end of it, though.” The voice seemed to be gauging D’s reaction.
    “There’s only one choice he can make,” D replied. That interest was rare for him. You might even call it miraculous.
    “To give up? I knew a gorgeous little brat once who’d never give up. Made me sick and impressed the hell out of me at the same time. Kinda reminds me a lot of that kid—”
    “Tomorrow morning, we set off,” D said, cutting the hoarse voice short.
    The mountain could be seen through the window. It looked for all the world like an ordinary, snow-covered peak.

    III

    His departure early the next morning was forestalled by a knock at the door.
    “What the hell do you want?” a hoarse voice of peerless unsociability called through the door, causing the person on the other side to fall silent. Finally, he said, “It’s the bellhop. Actually, we’ve got a number of dangerous-looking visitors downstairs—and they want to know your room number, sir.”
    “Oh, thanks for the heads-up. Guess you earned that tip. Okay. Better go down and see ’em.”
    “Beg pardon?”
    “How many are there?”
    “Ten.”
    “That’ll be a nice little warm-up before breakfast, then.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “How do they look?”
    “Like drifters, warriors, or bounty hunters—villains, plain and simple.”
    “Pretty much what I figured. I’ll be headed right down. Tell ’em to wash behind their ears and be waiting in their Sunday best.”
    “As you wish.”
    Once the informant had left, the hoarse voice asked, “Who are they?”
    “As the man just told you, people who heard rumors of me being here,” said D. His tone was just the same during the day as it was at night. When exactly did the young man sleep?
    “Hoping to join you on the trip—or I suppose not, eh? Probably hoping to take your place.”
    The voice gave a gloomy yet amused chuckle. But it broke off and muttered, “What’s all this?” It seemed to be listening rather intently. “A brawl’s breaking out down there! They’re turning on each other, jockeying for position, I suppose. Let’s go watch!”
    There was no reply. D remained lying on the bed.
    His left hand jittered. “Oh, man, we’re talking about complete strangers mixing it up! What could be more fun to watch than that? I wanna see it. I wanna hear ’em. The wilder it gets, the more fun it is. If someone gets killed, that’d be the best! C’mon! Let’s hurry up and get down there.”
    D opened his eyes.
    “Finally!”
    “He said there were ten of them, didn’t he?”
    “Yeah. No, wait a sec. Now that you mention it . . . We’ve got some late arrivals . . . Two of ’em. Probably more bounty hunters.”
    Here the hoarse voice fell silent for a while, perhaps listening through the thick wooden door and floor for sounds from below.
    “Oh, someone’s getting thanked. And the one doing the thanking . . . seems to be the hotel’s owner or something. And someone else says they’re welcome . . . A woman. That lady doctor from last night. Well, let’s go see ’em.”
    Still, D didn’t move. This young