Critical Role: Vox Machina--Kith & Kin | Nijkamp, Marieke; Critical Role

Lange Beschreibung
NATIONAL BESTSELLER Explore the past of Critical Role s daring half-elf twins, Vex ahlia and Vax ildan, in this original prequel novel to their adventures with Vox Machina.
 
Vex and Vax have always been outsiders. A harsh childhood in the elite elven city of Syngorn quickly taught them not to rely on others. Now, freed from the expectations of their exacting father and the scornful eyes of Syngorn s elves, the cunning hunter and the conning thief have made their own way in the world of Exandria. 
 
The twins have traveled far and experienced great hardship. But with the help of Vex s quick wit and Vax s quicker dagger, they ve always kept ahead of trouble. Now, unknown perils await them in the bustling city of Westruun, where the twins become entangled in a web spun by the thieves guild known to many as the Clasp. Trapped by a hasty deal, Vex and Vax (along with Vex s faithful bear companion, Trinket) set out into the wilds to fulfill their debt to the infamous crime syndicate. 
 
As the situation grows more complicated than they ever could have imagined, for the first time Vex and Vax find themselves on opposite sides of a conflict that threatens the home they have carried with each other for years.
 
Written by #1 New York Times bestselling author Marieke Nijkamp, Critical Role: Vox Machina Kith & Kin follows a brand-new adventure that delves into the twins unexplored history, and returns to some of the iconic moments that forged Vox Machina s most unbreakable bond.

Buchausschnitt
Chapter 1

The spider crashed into the undergrowth with a dagger buried into one of its eyes, its claws still twitching and its jaw clicking. A large brown bear immediately leaped on top of it, his paws crushing the spider s legs, like branches that snapped underneath his weight.

Vex ahlia Vessar shuddered at the crunching sound. Ugh, gross. How about a cleaner kill next time, brother?

At least I brought one of them down, her brother Vax ildan shot back, his eyes on the two other spiders that were still circling them. Besides, who led us straight into their nest in the first place?

Trinket brought one of them down. Her bow fully drawn, Vex tracked one of the spiders with her arrow. Half-­elf twins, they d stumbled upon a nest, hidden away in the thicket, as they d crossed into Bramblewood Forest on their way to Westruun. The trail they d followed from the river to the city got swallowed up by the trees. Three spiders, concealed by the greens and browns around them, had scurried out of their burrow ­and attacked before they d been able to back away and change course. And you wanted to take a shortcut.

I m f***ing tired of trees, Vax said, like that was a better reason to walk into a spider s nest. He took a new dagger from his belt. And Trinket only helped.

That spider was still moving.

Twitching. It would have died eventually.

Because Trinket killed it.

Still on top of the spider, Trinket growled and looked around the narrow clearing in the woods for the other arachnids, ready to jump on another one if the need arose.

Vex breathed out and focused on her target. One of the spiders scuttled up a large tree ­dashing around the thorns that covered the bark, lending the forest its name ­and circled the trunk. Like the first, it was the size of a large dog or a wolf, its hairy legs at sharp angles and its eyes focused on the twins. The four smallest eyes tracked their every movement, while the larger eyes on top reflected the speckled sunlight, giving them an eerie glow. It rounded the tree and when it reappeared, it darted across an overhanging branch and made to leap at Vex.

As soon as the spider jumped, Vex let her arrow fly. The bowstring reverberated next to her ear, and the wooden shaft of the arrow curved through the air. For the briefest of moments, no more than a heartbeat, both the spider and the arrow sped toward each other ­then the arrow hit, with a satisfying thud, directly underneath the creature s jaw. Its leap interrupted, the spider crashed to the ground like the first one had.

Unlike the first one, this one fell and remained motionless, its legs broken and askew.

Vex raised an eyebrow at her brother. That s how you kill a spider.

Luck, he smirked. She elbowed him.

Skill, thank you very much. She grabbed a new arrow from her quiver and placed it against the string, keeping an eye on the trees around them for the last spider and the largest of the three.

To anyone who might observe the half-­elves and give them no more than a cursory glance, the two looked exactly the same. Dark-­brown hair ­messy from their time in the woods ­slender physique, practical clothes, and deadly weapons. All angles and raw edges. To full-­blooded elves, they might appear too young to be this weathered and wary, but to any perceptive observer, it was clear they came by their caution honestly, and they moved with a grace brought on by years of traveling around together.

Vax held blades in both his hands, and kept his back toward his sister as the remaining spider circled them. Back-­to-­