Read Online Rise of the Red Harbinger by Khalid Uddin - Free Book Online

“Keep going!” Bo’az ordered the rest of his company. “They’re brave enough to come in to a certain point. We have to ride deep enough into the woods that we can no longer see the clearing,” Bo’az and Gibreel turned to check on their pursuers. Only a few left. Most of them had stopped once they realized that Bo’az and the others weren’t bluffing about going deeper into the forest. Bo’az noticed about twenty other men on horses pacing back and forth beyond the trees in the fields.
    Content that the men would not continue on, Bo’az and Gibreel rode on without looking back. The other three were already thirty or forty paces ahead. Bo’az allowed Gibreel to pass him and slowed his mare to a trot. He took a deep breath, his first chance to let his guard down in what seemed like ages, though even here, he knew he wouldn’t be able to completely relax. Joining these three strangers now felt strangely dangerous, although if it hadn’t been for them, that mob of men surely would have killed him. And Yasaman. And it wasn’t even him they were after. Still, some of their comments left him wondering how much they really wanted to help him…or actually Baltaszar. And that made it even more complicated.
    They want Tasz because of the thing on his face. They don’t even seem to know that Baltaszar has a brother. If I change my mind and turn back now, they’ll know that something is off.
    Before going into hiding with his brother, Bo’az had never been this deep into the forest before. He joked that he didn’t believe in any of the stories about The Never being haunted, but he’d never actually made it a point to find out for himself. When they were young children he, Baltaszar, and some of the other boys would compete to see who could stay in the woods the longest. Baltaszar was always the one crazy and brave enough to stay the longest. He held the record among their friends for having gone the deepest and staying the longest out of all their friends. Bo’az hoped Yasaman didn’t know about that. The lies are just going to pile up.
    Bo’az commanded Iridian to speed up so he could catch the others. He could hear the horses’ hooves clopping against the hard ground, though they echoed all around him. As he turned to look behind him, something violently crashed into Bo’az from the right, knocking him to the ground. He bounced and skidded off dirt, roots, and stone. He felt the blood pouring from the side of his head and ear, the burn already spreading through his head and face. His left arm snapped more than once under the weight of his body, knives of pain shooting back and forth between his hand and shoulder.
    “How dare you try to steal my daughter you coward!” Her father. Isaan Adin .
    Bo’az was too light-headed and dizzy to respond. Sharp knuckles pounded against the back of his head, repeatedly driving his face into the ground. Darkness invaded. He blinked his eyes. Each blunt smash from Isaan’s fist made the world fly around even more.
    “I’ll kill you! How can you call yourself a man and try to steal someone’s child?” Numbness invaded Bo’az’s arm and crept through his body. Isaan, now hovering over him, hadn’t even bothered to turn him over. He punched Bo’az in the head again and again and broke Bo’az’s nose against the ground. Finally, Bo’az felt his body being rolled onto his back. His eyes glazed over and rolled about, but he unquestionably saw the surprise in Isaan’s eyes when he looked upon Bo’az’s face.
    That’s…right. Fool. No. Black. Line.
    The only thought Bo’az could process was the hope that Isaan wouldn’t speak his real name aloud for the others to hear. But his hopes dissipated instantly. “You are not…”
    A gleam of silver sliced through Isaan’s neck in a flash. Blood sprayed across Bo’az’s face, mixing with his own. Isaan’s head slid from his body and smashed Bo’az’s chin. Even if Bo'az had been able to move on his own,