Read Online Storm of Prophecy: Book 1, Dark Awakening by Michael Von Werner, Felix Diroma - Free Book Online Page A

too.”
    Karl then asked the next question that Vincent dreaded answering. “Exactly what happened down there?”
    Deciding to answer only the relevant part, Vincent slowly looked up and eyed each in turn. “I was on the ground and I only managed to barely gash him across one of his legs before he kicked me in the face and stepped right down on my sword arm. That’s when I pulled out my knife and stabbed him in the other leg.”
    “Hah!” Rick exploded. “Brilliant!” Vincent didn’t think it was so brilliant. If he could have from his present position, Vincent was sure that Rick would have slapped him on the back. “Karl didn’t think you had it in you,” he teased. “He thought you were too much of a softy, but I always knew you could do it.” Karl just shook his head and let out a sigh of a breath through his partially closed lips, making the blowing sound one sometimes did when finding a joke silly or immature.
    “It wasn’t pleasant,” Vincent admonished.
    “I know,” Rick conceded, “my encounter wasn’t either. I finished mine off quicker just so I wouldn’t have to hear him scream anymore while he burned alive. We were both just doing our jobs, Vincent. Whenever you feel any sympathy, just remember what those people had to do to become invisible like that in the first place. They were sick and they deserved it.”
    “True enough,” Vincent admitted, looking down at his blankets once more. Somehow, Rick’s words still didn’t make him feel any better.
    “You also know that they couldn’t have been down there for anything good, right? Who knows what they stole from us. Or what they plan to do with it. We better be extra careful from now on.”
    That part made Vincent feel even worse. When he said nothing, his cousin Karl stepped in. “I’m sure the masters have already figured out what it was and will give us the proper instructions when the time comes.” Then he observed something that Vincent really wished he hadn’t. Karl shook his head. “To suddenly be attacked from thin air...”
    “I wasn’t. I managed to attack them first.”
    Silence.
    Vincent wished he hadn’t been so honest and had kept his mouth shut. Now they were only going to pry more. Karl was already putting pieces together. “Then how did you get hurt so badly, and why were you on the ground? From what I remember, wizards and sorceresses who use the Seal of Cheated Light are left vulnerable. Even carrying a knife would have been a drain on the limited time and energy of the spell. If you figured out they were there, you should have had the drop on them.”
    Vincent raised his head with a sad look on his face. “I’d rather not talk about it right now.”
    “We’ll you’re going to have to when you give your report to the masters,” he reminded. “They’re going to want to know everything that happened.”
    “What I’d be more interested to know,” Rick interjected into the exchange while loosing none of his excitement, “is how he noticed them in the first place?”
    “It’s normally very quiet on the bottom floor outside the vault,” Vincent answered simply. “They just weren’t being nearly quiet enough with their footsteps.”
    “Hot damn!” Rick exclaimed. “Just like that! You caught them!”
    “Yeah, I caught them alright,” Vincent replied, feeling unenthused. He saw one of the healer women returning with a cup and a pitcher of water, and decided to seize upon the opportunity. “If you two don’t mind, I think I would like to get some more rest now.”
    She heard what he said and shared a look with the two of them. Karl concluded his remarks. “I know this must all be hard on you, but you can’t let it stop you from living.” He didn’t know the half of it, Vincent thought. “Get well soon.”
    “And quit feeling so bad,” Rick put in as they both started leaving, “you did your part and we’ll be back to see you again later.”
    Vincent nodded. “Thanks, I appreciate