Read Online Mist & Whispers by C.M. Lucas - Free Book Online Page A

dreams.
     
    HER EYES WERE still shut when Anya heard men shouting in the distance. A faint gallop of hooves quickly became a resounding, repetitive thump , thundering towards her like an old steam engine.
    Her eyes burst open to see the others already scrambling to their feet. The cries grew louder as they approached. They couldn’t have been more than a few feet away when Anya snatched up her bag and followed Michael’s order: ‘RUN!’
    She had no idea which direction to go, and the sharp, jutting branches and fallen trees within the fog, made a quick getaway impossible. Looking back as she ran, she could see flickering orange and yellow lights, bouncing through the night in time with the sounds of the racing steeds, all of which were still headed in her direction.
    A man’s voice cried out of the darkness, ‘There! Arrows ready!’
    There was a low hiss then a thud, and all at once something fell through the mist and collided with Anya. They rolled across the forest floor, coming to a stop in a stone cold puddle of sludge.
    Blinking back into focus, she found herself staring into the strangest green eyes she had ever seen – mostly human, but with a vertical slit where a round pupil should have been. The edges glowed with a golden halo.
    She could see pain inside them, and soon realised the person on top of her had taken an arrow to the wing – HANG ON, WHAT?
    ‘Help... me,’ he whimpered and his head fell toward her shoulder.
    With a second look, she saw that the guy on top of her wasn’t quite human. He had a patch of dark green scales across one side of his forehead, down his cheek and crossing his left eye. The hood of his grey cloak had slipped back to reveal two small horns protruding from black, ruffled hair, and stretched out to his right; a full dragon wing.
    The arrow had pierced his left wing right by his shoulder, and Anya watched, stunned, as two-toned teal and red blood dripped from the wound and onto her top. As it sunk through to her skin, a roaring hot flash ignited in her chest, and she felt like she was burning from the inside. She gasped for air, trying to cool herself down but nothing helped. Nothing, that was, until the Dragon-Boy managed to lift his head again and lock eyes with her once more.
    Her brain was telling her she should be scared of this strange, half-breed mythical creature... but she wasn’t.
    The men burst through the trees on white winged horses and gathered round Anya and the Dragon-Boy.
    ‘Get the chains,’ one ordered, as three others lifted him off Anya, shackling his hands and blood-soaked wings.
    ‘Hey, be careful, he’s hurt!’ she cried in protest, still clutching her burning chest. The cold air was only a brief release between breaths.
    The sound of her voice seemed to stun the soldiers, as they all turned and stared at her. It was as if they were looking at a ghost.
    The biggest soldier approached her slowly and looked down at her, his eyes wild with suspicion and his hand lingering over the sword that hung at his waist. He was wearing what appeared to be armour over his bare chest, but it wasn’t the sort she’d ever seen on TV or in history books. The obscurity of it made her wonder whether this was just another of her strange dreams.
    ‘We have orders from the King. The escaped prisoner is to be brought back at once.’ He leaned in close to her, taking her face in his large hand and examining her meticulously. ‘Being careful,’ he continued, low and sinister, ‘was not in those orders.’ He snorted at her through his brutish nostrils, and she pulled away, disgusted. ‘Tell me, girl, what are you doing out here in the forest, and alone?’
    ‘Nothing! I’m just... looking for something, that’s all.’
    The man raised a huge, black eyebrow. ‘Chain this one too, Barlem!’
    ‘Hey, I haven’t done anything! You shot him down at me, you should be apologising to me!’ She readied her fists to fight them off, but when they each drew a sword, she