Read Online Summer's Cauldron by G. L. Breedon - Free Book Online Page B

it.
    He looked back at his friends. Rafael was quizzing Kendra on the finer points of shape changing while Ben was admiring Elaeda’s bow almost as much as he was admiring Eleada. Clark and Daphne were engaged in some kind of conversation together. They seemed to do that a lot lately. Stick their heads together and laugh about things. Alex could only guess at what. Nina was excitedly explaining the relationship between the Guild and the Mad Mages to Elaeda, who laughed. Alex heard Eleada mention Nathan to Victoria as he caught another glimpse of the shadowed figure behind a wagon.
    It took Alex only a second to decide he would rather be chasing after some shadow-shrouded pursuer than listen to more about Nathan. He would only chase the person in black for a little bit. Just to prove someone was there. The others wouldn’t miss him. He stepped backward around the edge of a wagon in the direction he’d last seen the shadowed figure. He’d only be gone a moment.
     

 
     
     
     
    Chapter 6: Chasing Shadows
     
    The shadowed figure was elusive, always slipping around a corner, always at the edge of sight, fading into the darkness between tents and wagons and carnival booths. Alex, however, had plenty of experience tracking the elusive. That experience led him to an inescapable conclusion. Whomever he was chasing wasn’t trying to lose him. The path through the carnival grounds might have seemed random to someone else, but Alex could tell he was being led somewhere. But where? And for what purpose?
    He considered briefly going back and getting the others, but he knew that wasn’t really an option. The shadowed figure was interested in him . It was leading him somewhere. It might not reveal itself at all if the others were with him. Alex weighed the risks, the danger inherent in following a shadowed figure alone through the ever-darkening carnival grounds, and decided curiosity might be his greatest weakness.
    Alex stepped around the corner of a wagon and into a row of small tents, each set up to display a particular sideshow act. As he did so, a warm wash of light suddenly illuminated the row of tents. Alex looked around to see magic glow-globes hanging from the edges of the tents, each one casting a pleasant yellow radiance. Alex stopped and stood in the middle of the lane between the tents. The light from the glow-globes eliminated most of the shadows, but also seemed to deepen the darkness in those places where no glow-globes were present.
    As Alex looked around, searching for the familiar flash of black cloth signaling the cloaked figure’s presence, he noticed the whole of the carnival grounds were now lit up. The setting of the sun must have triggered the magic glow-globes to activate all over the carnival. He sighed. The addition of the lights diminished his chances of following his mysterious prey.
    “Looking for something?” a sandpapery voice said. “Maybe someone. Maybe some young girl?”
    Alex turned to see an old woman with long gray hair pulled up in a bun setting up a small folding table and chairs within one of the sideshow tents. The painted cloth banner hanging over the edge of the tent read: “ Fortunes Told, Futures Revealed, Fate Uncovered — Madam Fortuna .”
    “Maybe you’re looking to have your fortune told,” the wrinkled woman who Alex took to be Madam Fortuna said.
    “No,” Alex said with a weary smile as he looked into Madam Fortuna’s kind, blue eyes. “I’ve already seen my destiny.”
    Madam Fortuna cocked her head in puzzlement a moment and then chuckled to herself quietly. “Yes, I believe you have.” She smiled and placed a deck of cards on the small wooden table. “But maybe there are other questions that plague you. Romantic questions, maybe? I could read your cards. Wouldn’t take long. I’ll give you the first reading for free.”
    “No thanks,” Alex said. Although he was tempted by the possibility of the old soothsayer reading the cards to see what the future