Read Online Return of the Sorceress by Tim Waggoner - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Tim Waggoner
Ads: Link
foolishness of staying where they were, but more likely because they were too overwhelmed with dragonfear to resist her.
As she pulled her mother and Jirah away, Nearra called back to her father.
“Run!”
But Eric just stood there, axe held high, looking up at the rapidly approaching dragon. Perhaps he stayed because he was paralyzed with fear, or perhaps out of determination to strike back at the monster that had destroyed his home and now threatened his family. Perhaps a bit of both.
At first, it appeared that the blue dragon intended to crash into Eric, but at the last instant before it reached the ground, the dragon spread its wings and halted its dive. For a moment, Nearra hoped that the dragon had decided for some reason to spare her father, but then the beast opened its mouth and once again a bolt of lightning blasted forth. But this time the blue-white energy arced downward to strike Eric.
The flash of light was so intense that Nearra had to avert her eyes. When she opened them, she saw a glowing purple afterimage of her father holding aloft his axe. But that image was no longer a reality. Her father—or what remained of him—was a steaming, blackened husk lying on the ground.
Lanni wailed and Jirah began to weep.
“No!” Nearra screamed. She had only just found her father again … now to lose him in such a horrible fashion … “Maddoc!” she shouted to the heavens. “This is your doing! It has to be!” She clutched her hands into fists and felt a warm tingling sensation of power begin to build within them.
She let go of Jirah and Lanni and stepped forward to confront the blue dragon. Tendrils of lightning shot back and forth between its sharp teeth, making them glow an eerie blue-white.
She willed the power of the dark sorceress within her to come forth, to take her over completely if that was what she had to do to destroy the monster that killed her father. She looked intothe blue dragon’s eyes. They were two pits of darkness, cold and absolute, just like the storm clouds that now covered the sky from horizon to horizon.
Though Nearra’s hands felt as if they were on fire and she ached to release the power she’d summoned, she hesitated, though she wasn’t sure why. There was something bothering her, a thought that seemed to drift upward from somewhere deep in her mind. Maddoc’s greatest desire was to obtain the secrets of Asvoria’s ancient magic … He
wanted
Nearra to wield the sorceress’ power,
wanted
Asvoria’s spirit to take her over. And she couldn’t allow that, no matter what.
Nearra took a deep breath, then concentrated on allowing the warm tingling in her hands to diminish. It did so, slowly fading until her hands felt perfectly normal once more.
The dragon looked at her with its awful black eyes.
“You’ll regret that, girl,” the beast growled in Maddoc’s voice, and then it yawned wide and a burst of lightning came for her so swiftly that she didn’t have time to even think about screaming, let alone begin to do so.
T hey’ve gone,” Shiriki said.
“My cousin, you have an absolute genius for stating the obvious,” Kuruk replied.
Kuruk and Shiriki had picked up the trail of the companions after the beasts had finished with Bolthor and dispersed. The two elves had followed the trail to the bank of a small pond. Between them were the blackened remains of a fire, along with a pile of fish bones.
Ignoring her cousin’s sarcasm, Shiriki knelt down and touched her fingers to the soot. She rubbed a bit of black between her thumb and forefinger then held it up to her nose and sniffed.
Kuruk crouched low and picked up a fish bone. He touched it to the tip of his tongue and considered.
“They left an hour ago,” he said.
“Closer to one and a half.” Shiriki wiped her fingers clean on the grass then stood. She knew Kuruk’s analysis was the more accurate of the two, but she didn’t like to acknowledge that his senses were superior to
As she pulled her mother and Jirah away, Nearra called back to her father.
“Run!”
But Eric just stood there, axe held high, looking up at the rapidly approaching dragon. Perhaps he stayed because he was paralyzed with fear, or perhaps out of determination to strike back at the monster that had destroyed his home and now threatened his family. Perhaps a bit of both.
At first, it appeared that the blue dragon intended to crash into Eric, but at the last instant before it reached the ground, the dragon spread its wings and halted its dive. For a moment, Nearra hoped that the dragon had decided for some reason to spare her father, but then the beast opened its mouth and once again a bolt of lightning blasted forth. But this time the blue-white energy arced downward to strike Eric.
The flash of light was so intense that Nearra had to avert her eyes. When she opened them, she saw a glowing purple afterimage of her father holding aloft his axe. But that image was no longer a reality. Her father—or what remained of him—was a steaming, blackened husk lying on the ground.
Lanni wailed and Jirah began to weep.
“No!” Nearra screamed. She had only just found her father again … now to lose him in such a horrible fashion … “Maddoc!” she shouted to the heavens. “This is your doing! It has to be!” She clutched her hands into fists and felt a warm tingling sensation of power begin to build within them.
She let go of Jirah and Lanni and stepped forward to confront the blue dragon. Tendrils of lightning shot back and forth between its sharp teeth, making them glow an eerie blue-white.
She willed the power of the dark sorceress within her to come forth, to take her over completely if that was what she had to do to destroy the monster that killed her father. She looked intothe blue dragon’s eyes. They were two pits of darkness, cold and absolute, just like the storm clouds that now covered the sky from horizon to horizon.
Though Nearra’s hands felt as if they were on fire and she ached to release the power she’d summoned, she hesitated, though she wasn’t sure why. There was something bothering her, a thought that seemed to drift upward from somewhere deep in her mind. Maddoc’s greatest desire was to obtain the secrets of Asvoria’s ancient magic … He
wanted
Nearra to wield the sorceress’ power,
wanted
Asvoria’s spirit to take her over. And she couldn’t allow that, no matter what.
Nearra took a deep breath, then concentrated on allowing the warm tingling in her hands to diminish. It did so, slowly fading until her hands felt perfectly normal once more.
The dragon looked at her with its awful black eyes.
“You’ll regret that, girl,” the beast growled in Maddoc’s voice, and then it yawned wide and a burst of lightning came for her so swiftly that she didn’t have time to even think about screaming, let alone begin to do so.
T hey’ve gone,” Shiriki said.
“My cousin, you have an absolute genius for stating the obvious,” Kuruk replied.
Kuruk and Shiriki had picked up the trail of the companions after the beasts had finished with Bolthor and dispersed. The two elves had followed the trail to the bank of a small pond. Between them were the blackened remains of a fire, along with a pile of fish bones.
Ignoring her cousin’s sarcasm, Shiriki knelt down and touched her fingers to the soot. She rubbed a bit of black between her thumb and forefinger then held it up to her nose and sniffed.
Kuruk crouched low and picked up a fish bone. He touched it to the tip of his tongue and considered.
“They left an hour ago,” he said.
“Closer to one and a half.” Shiriki wiped her fingers clean on the grass then stood. She knew Kuruk’s analysis was the more accurate of the two, but she didn’t like to acknowledge that his senses were superior to
Similar Books
