Read Online Mrythdom: Game of Time by Jasper T. Scott - Free Book Online Page B

dangerous and not quite as human as one might hope.”
    Aurelius shivered. “Okay, I guess I can see why people hate sorcerers then.”
    “Fortunately for Malgore, they hate wolves even more, so they will let a sorcerer join the hunt for the chance that he can protect them on this full moon.”
    The crowd of hunters came to the palisades and there they stopped. Aurelius could barely see above the tops of the giant hunters’ heads, but he heard the heavy wooden gates open with a groan, and then the crowd jerked into motion with a roar, running out through the doors with a clanking of steel and crunching of snow.
    Aurelius and Gabrian matched their pace and joined the hunters outside the walls. The men flowed into orderly groups, having obviously drilled together often. They quickly formed three tight square formations, and after a moment’s deliberation, Gabrian moved to join the rearmost group. They took up positions behind the square, catching a few smirks and scowls from the soldiers in that rank, as if they were saying, You don’t belong here, strangers. You will die here.
    Aurelius felt a chill wind cut through his coat and he gave a violent shiver. He tucked his head into his scarf and looked around to avoid catching any more such glances.
    Outside Dagheim’s walls, the snow stretched on for miles, and apart from a broad track that was worn straight through to the brown grass underneath, the snow rose and fell with a pristine regularity, its icy crust glistening blue in the moonlight.
    Without a word and scarcely a sound, the three formations started forward, falling into line one behind the other. Despite their numbers, even their footsteps seemed to blend into the casually whistling wind and the distant groaning of the mile high forest.
    Aurelius found that he could see nothing past the giants in front of him, so he began to trail slightly behind his formation and a little bit to one side. There he watched their progress and saw where they were headed. Despite the darkness, the air was clear and the moon provided enough illumination to see all the way out to the horizon, yet what Aurelius saw was a wall of shadows reaching all the way up to the dark, starry sky.
    Trees, Aurelius thought, remembering the impossibly tall forest he’d flown over. We’re going into the forest. . . . He found that that thought unsettled him. It was probably all the talk of wolves, but there was something else as well. Aurelius was beginning to wonder what manner of prey could require an army to hunt it. No hunters he’d ever heard of went out in full battle armor or in such force. It seemed unwise to send out hundreds of clanking spearmen to find and kill a beast, or even a whole herd of beasts. Surely they would scare off the animals they intended to hunt?
    Gabrian’s voice interrupted his thoughts, echoing strangely inside his head in a way that sent shivers down his spine. “I wouldn’t linger so far from the phalanx, elder. You’ll be the first to be eaten if you stay back there.”
    Aurelius turned to look at the old man and found Gabrian looking back at him.
    “I can protect you, but you must stay close to me.”
    Aurelius blinked. He could have sworn that Gabrian’s lips hadn’t moved, and yet he’d heard the old man anyway.
    “Is that you?” he thought.
    The old man smiled and tapped his head. Your thoughts are my thoughts now, elder.
    “Get out of my head, Wrinkles,” Aurelius whispered fiercely as he fell back into line behind the phalanx.
    “Too late for that.”
    Aurelius’s hand found the butt of his pistol.
    “I wouldn’t do that.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because I can kill you before you even draw your weapon, and because even if that weren’t the case, we still need each other, Elder.”
    Aurelius gritted his teeth. “ Stay out of my head!” With that, he released his weapon and let his ire pass in a few deep breaths of the icy air.
    After about ten minutes of marching, they reached the edge of