Read Online Rise of the Valiant by Morgan Rice - Free Book Online Page A

not a
sense of peace, but one of evil.
    They proceeded
at a quick walk, as fast as they could amidst these trees, snow and ice
crunching beneath their beasts. There slowly arose the sounds of odd creatures,
hidden in the branches. She turned and scanned them searching for the source,
but could find none. She felt they were being watched.
    They proceeded
deeper and deeper into the wood, Kyra trying to head west and north, as her
father had told her, until she found the sea. As they went, Leo and Andor
snarled at hidden creatures Kyra could not see, while she dodged the branches
scratching her. Kyra pondered the long road ahead of her. She was excited at
the idea of her quest, yet she longed to be with her people, to be fighting at
their side in the war she had started. She already felt an urgency to return.
    As hour followed
hour, Kyra peered into the wood, wondering how much further until they reached
the sea. She knew it was risky to ride in such darkness—yet she knew it was
also risky to camp out here alone—especially as she heard another startling
noise.
    “Where is the
sea?” Kyra finally asked Dierdre, mainly to break the silence.
    She could tell
from Dierdre’s expression that she had stirred her from her thoughts; she could
only imagine what nightmares she was lost in.
    Dierdre shook
her head.
    “I wish I knew,”
she replied, her voice parched.
    Kyra was
confused.
    “Didn’t you come
this way when they took you?” she asked.
    Dierdre
shrugged.
    “I was locked in
a cage in the back of the wagon,” she replied, “and unconscious most of the
trip. They could have taken me any direction. I don’t know this wood.”
    She sighed,
peering out into the blackness.
    “But as we near
Whitewood, I should recognize more.”
    They continued
on, falling into a comfortable silence, and Kyra could not help but wonder
about Deidre and her past. She could feel her strength, yet also her profound
sadness. Kyra found herself getting consumed by dark thoughts of the journey
ahead, of their lack of food, of the biting cold and the savage creatures
awaiting them, and she turned to Dierdre, wanting to distract herself.
    “Tell me of the
Tower of Ur,” Kyra said. “What’s it like?”
    Dierdre looked
back, black circles beneath her eyes, and shrugged.
    “I’ve never been
to the tower,” Dierdre replied. “I am from the city of Ur—and that is a good
day’s ride south.”
    “Then tell me of
your city,” Kyra said, wanting to think of anything but here.
    Dierdre’s eyes
lit up.
    “Ur is a
beautiful place,” she said, longing in her voice. “The city by the sea.”
    “We have a city
south of us that is near the sea,” Kyra said. “Esephus. It is a day’s ride from
Volis. I used to go there, with my father, when I was young.”
    Dierdre shook
her head.
    “That is not a
sea,” she replied.
    Kyra was
confused.
    “What do you
mean?”
    “That is the Sea
of Tears,” Dierdre replied. “Ur is on the Sea of Sorrow. Our is a much more
expansive sea. On your eastern shore, there are small tides; on our western
coast, the Sorrow has waves twenty feet high that crash into our shores, and a
tide that can pull out ships in a glance, much less men, when the moon is high.
Ours is the only city in all of Escalon where the cliffs lower enough to allow
ships to touch to shore. Our has the only beach in all of Escalon. It is why
Andros was built but a day’s ride east of us.”
    Kyra pondered
her words, glad to be distracted. She recalled all of this from some lesson in
her youth, but she had never pondered it all in detail.
    “And your
people?” Kyra asked. “What are they like?”
    Dierdre sighed.
    “A proud
people,” she replied, “like any other in Escalon. But different, too. They say
those of Ur have one eye on Escalon and one on the sea. We look to the horizon.
We are less provincial than the others—perhaps because so many foreigners touch
down on our shores. The men of Ur were once famed warriors, my father