Read Online NexLord: Dark Prophecies by Philip Blood - Free Book Online Page B

and down the cobblestone street for either of the other
boys.
    There was the soft sound of two feet hitting
the ground behind them and the boys spun around to find Lor
standing with his arms crossed, with Dono a pace
behind.  "Think we weren’t gonna show, Ladies?" Lor asked
with a grin.
    Darel laughed.  "I knew you'd be
here, you're not the kind of person that runs from a
challenge."
    "Not much of a challenge; I already have a
lead," Lor said proudly.
    The other boys instinctively moved in
closer.
    At Lor’s pause, Darel raised his right eyebrow and spoke in a
quieter voice, "Well?"
    "Perhaps I'll share it, let me ponder," he
said with a sly glint in his eye.
    Darel scowled at him but guessed correctly that prodding the other boy
would only delay things.
    Aerin thought he had better defuse things
quickly.  "I saw you juggling!"
    Lor gave him an overly done innocent look,
"Who, me?  I couldn't juggle a single rock," but he
smiled, "of course, it might depend on the size!"  As he
said this he was suddenly juggling five colorful balls. Where they
had come from none of the other boys had any idea.  The
balls circulated in an intricate pattern, fooling the eyes of those
watching, and then almost as suddenly as they had appeared they
were gone.
    "Thank you, thank you, and no applause
necessary!" Lor laughed.
    Aerin grinned, "You're really good at that,
you must have taken in quite a haul yesterday! I saw you empty out
that cup in your pocket."
    Lor suddenly looked a little nervous but hid it quickly.  "I made a
couple pennies, but nothing to speak of, you must have been
mistaken.  I sometimes put a few coins in so that the
spectators think it's proper to throw more, it is part of the
game."
    Aerin didn't believe him completely, he had
heard the number of coins hitting the cup, but Aerin let it go.
    Lor suddenly turned and headed for an alley;
over his shoulder he called unnecessarily, "If you want to see
what I learned about our friend from the sewers yesterday, follow
me!"
    Within minutes, Lor had them onto the rooftops again and they
quickly fell back into their order of the prior day: Lor, followed
by Aerin, then Dono and finally Darel.
    They traveled the High Road for a good
half-hour, running along the roof edges, parapets, ledges and rain
gutters.  Aerin's heart still tended to enter his mouth
at times, but he had to admit he was getting used to the
heights.   Eventually, Lor held up his hand and the four boys approached a short wall at
the edge of a flat roof.  Lor crouched down so as not to
be seen and the others followed suit.
    All four of them peeked over the edge and
looked down on the wide street below.  To either side, there were nondescript gray
stone structures built up to the typical four stories of Strakhelm
buildings.  Across the street from them, there was one of the numerous churches,
with four tall pointed spires on each of its corners rising high
into the sky, and in the center was an ornate peaked roof of the
central worship hall.  Parishioners were entering the
open doors below in small numbers.
    They looked for a moment, and finally, Darel broke the
silence.  "So... it's a CHURCH!  There are
countless churches in Strakhelm."
    Lor held up his hand.  "Wait... and
watch."
    There was a small group of ten parishioners
standing on the top landing before the open doors of the church, a
moment later the person they were waiting for arrived and the whole
group moved into the church.
    Darel spoke up again as he started to stand
upright from the uncomfortable crouch.  "Look, I don't
see..."
    "Then look closer!" Lor whispered intently
and pointed down.
    Darel immediately crouched back down when he
saw what Lor was pointing out.
    The group of people below had moved,
revealing the inlaid stonework they had been covering on the
landing of the church.  It was a large red triangle with
a dot in the very center, the very symbol they had last seen drawn
in blood by the dying