Read Online Playing With Fire by Jordan Mendez - Free Book Online Page A

few months
older than me, but the gap between our wisdom was like an ocean. Al could
pretty much talk his way out of anything.
    “Well
said Al,” Seth admitted, ruffling Al’s hair affecionately. He had always been
proud of Al. In a way he was just as smart as Seth. “So, Vaze, where are we
going? You can tell us what happened while we travel.” Vaze nodded and bit his
lip. I could tell he was racking his brain for safe places and routes.
    “There’s
a camp of rebels where all the survivors from Moraj live. My father is the
leader there, since he was the king of Moraj. All those able are trained
warriors, so we should be safe there, but it’s far from here since we’ll be on
foot. The odds are we’ll run into bandits or worse.”
    I
rolled my eyes. “Do we look like we’re the kind of people that would have
anything valuable?” I paused for a second, looking around at my home.
    “Taking
valuables away aren’t the worst things bandits can do to you,” Vaze said, his
statement plainly directed at me. “There are creatures out there that won’t
care if you have money or not. Most of them would just as soon feast on your
flesh as take your money.”
    While
that cheery thought settled in my head, Vaze turned to Jake. “It’s your
choice,” he said to my eldest brother. For a second, Jake looked unsure.
    “I
don’t think we have any other choices,” Jake said soberly. “We can’t stay here,
or else they’ll find us.”
    Vaze
nodded. “Follow me then.” And with that, he bolted out the door, leaving behind
five confused souls. Jake shrugged and bolted out after him followed by Seth
and Al, leaving Darren and I alone.
    “He’s
a real piece a work, isn’t he?” Darren said with a sly smile on his face. I
laughed. Darren laid his hand on my head and ruffled my hair. “Let’s see who
catches up first… Midget.” He always called me that and I absolutely hated it.
He bolted out the door before I could sock him in the arm and I bolted out
right after him.
    Vaze
hovered in the air, waiting for us, the stragglers to catch up. We dashed
through the trees straight towards him. The ground was slick and wet, making it
difficult to run without falling.
    We
ran deeper into the forest with our only way of direction was when we’d see
Vaze through an occasional break in the trees. The sky was lightening up a little
bit as the rain subsided from an endless shower to a slight drizzle. It didn’t
take long to catch up, within minutes we arrived at the same clearing where I
had fought the Shadows for the first time. The ashes of the Shadows from the
night before had become murky black puddles slowly mixing in with the earth.      
     When
Vaze saw that we had arrived, he landed silently on the muddy ground as we
joined the rest of my family. For the first time, I had noticed an absence.
    “Where’s
Bookworm?” I asked searching around. My brothers exchanged grave looks.
    “He
went after you and Vaze. He told us that if he didn’t come back with you to
leave as soon as possible,” Jake said. “Didn’t you see him?”
    A
fleeting thought of the talking bear flashed into my head and I looked at Vaze,
confused. He shook his head slightly and held a finger to his lips in a silent
shhhh. I got the message and shook my head to my oldest brother. Jake nodded
sadly and a tear formed by his eye, but he held it back. Out of all of us, he
was closest to the Bookworm, even more so than Seth.
    “I
don’t like to admit it, but we’re going to have to go on without him,” Jake
said slowly. He turned to Vaze. “Which way do we go?”
    “We
should start by going north,” he started. “We need to get to Ilam mountain
pass, and then it’s a straight shot to being home free.”
    “Really,
it’s that easy?” I said in disbelief. The way he explained it made it sound
extremely simple.
    Vaze
sighed.“Not exactly,” he said and paused. “For one thing we have no food, no
map, and the most time Enzio being