Read Online Clutch Of The Cleric (Book 4) by Craig Halloran - Free Book Online Page B

I’ve never done it before. But it just might, so I’ll not chance it. Ever! Humph. Luck. Elves have lots of it. Even the big bellied ones.”
    “Let’s go,” I said. “It’s getting dark.”
    “So?” Brenwar said. “Monsters die in the night as easy as in the day.”
    We followed the hoo f prints.
    I couldn’t get the image of the dead Ettin out of my mind. It was now a lifeless clump of hard bone and muscle. Soon to be sweet soil for the world. But it ate at me.
    Shum was good. Very good. And he ’d killed it.
    Why couldn’t I do that ? If it came down to me and an Ettin, what was I supposed to do, knock it out? It wasn’t possible.
    “Outsmart it,” Brenwar said.
    “What?” I said. “What’re you talking about?”
    “I can see the look in your eyes, Dragon,” he said. “You want to know why Shum can kill an Ettin and you can’t. How you fight evil without killing .”
    “I wasn’t thinking that .”
    “Yes you were.”
    I hated it when Brenwar was right. Crusty old Dwarf.
    “No I wasn’t!”
    “If you say so,” he said, “but I can answer you this. You can outsmart an Ettin. That’s how you beat it. But can you outwit Evil? That’s the question.”
    “Put a sword through it,” I said, riding off up ahead.
    Dwarves don’t know everything anyway. They just think they do.
    But the question gnawed at me.
    Outwit evil. My father had said that. Many times. In hours-long form. And it had never sunk in until now. How do you outwit something that kills and destroys? Shows no mercy or compassion?
    We navigated into the forest. It was dark, but my eyes didn’t have a problem with that. The horses had little trouble navigating either. They were well trained. Accustomed to hard travel and treacherous terrain.
    “Whoa,” I said.
    “What is it?”
    I motioned up ahead. Something was moving. And it wasn’t a small creature that scurried, but something much bigger.
    “Wait here.”
    Brenwar started to object but I was already gone. A shadow slipping through the foliage. Not bad for a Dragon. My ears caught more rustling. I hunched down. Something was coming right at me.
    Clop. Clop. Clop.
    Shum’s horse emerged. It stopped, dark eyes looking right at me. I made my way over. Grabbed the reins. Felt the saddle.
    “Where’s Shum ?” I said.
    The horse pulled away as if saying , “Follow me.”
    A rustle caught my ears. I whirled around. It was Brenwar fighting through the pine branches.
    “Stay with the horses,” I said.
    “The horses can stay with themselves,” he said, “besides, I smell something as well.” He snorted. “Ettins and something else.”
    “Just come on,” I said.
    Shum’s horse led. I followed, Brenwar huffing right behind. I wasn’t sure what Brenwar smelled, but there was something in the air. It didn’t blend with the smells of the forest.
    The horse stopped. Nickered a little.
    “What have we here?” I said. It was a crater. Strange to see. Like a gargantuan spoon dug it all out. The rising moonlight lit up the trees of the thick forest down below. “What do you make of it, Brenwar?”
    He peered over the side, glancing back and forth, squinting his eyes. He shrugged.
    “Let’s go.”
    “That’s pretty steep, Brenwar,” I said.
    “It’s just a hole in the ground,” he said, shuffling over the edge. “It’s not a cli— ulp !”
    “Brenwar!” I jumped out, reaching for him.
    He disappeared over the rim. I heard him tumble and complain. I followed his dark sharp rolling. Heard his grumbling. Then nothing. My keen eyes searched for a sign. Anything. He was gone. This crater was deeper than I thought. I started after him.
    “Should have tied a rope to him,” I said , climbing.
    “Dragon!”
    I heard a voice. It was faint, but it was Brenwar.
    “What!” I yelled back down.
    “Watch out for—”
    There was a rustle. Then nothing.
    Brenwar!

 
    CHAPTER 16
     
     
    Elven steel sang. Goblins died. One. Then two. Shum, hobbled, a bolt in his leg, was