Read Online Summoned to Tourney by Mercedes Lackey; Ellen Guon - Free Book Online Page A

Eric, a half-glimpsed shadow. Another, a touch of darkness, flitting past them.
    He could see them now, the shadows in the fog. Nightflyers. Hundreds of them, moving down the silent street. They moved past him as though they couldn’t see him, circling around the other Eric, Beth still cradled in his arms. His double yelled in pain as one of the creatures brushed against him, and swung at it, not connecting with the lithe shadow. Another slipped by, with a delicate touch to his back, his exposed face. Others gathered at the edge of sight, drifting with the fog.
    I can’t move—can’t do anything —He tried to call a warding, something that would protect himself and the other, but the magic eluded him, just out of reach. Dammit, Beth always told me to practice doing magic without using the flute, and I never did, and now we—and I—are going to die for it!
    The night brightened with a burst of light as the other Eric summoned a Ward, his Bard magic blossoming before him. The creatures recoiled for a moment, silhouetted by the bright light, then closed in. The light flickered once, then vanished. The shadow monsters flitted aside; for a brief moment, he could see his own dead face, blankly staring. Then the Nightflyers turned to face him, radiating malevolence, their shadow-claws reaching…
    “Eric! Wake up! Eric, please, wake up!”
    He blinked, looking up into a pair of concerned green eyes. Kory moved back so Eric could sit up, and he realized that Beth was watching him, too. “Guys, I’m okay, it was just a bad dream.”
    There was a frightened look in Beth’s eyes, something Eric rarely ever saw. “It’s the same bad dream, right?” she asked. “The same nightmare you’ve been having once a week for the past month.” She glanced at Kory, then back at him. “Want to talk about it, Eric?”
    Houses collapsing down the street, Beth’s blood on his hands, the nightmare creatures closing in around him— ”No, I don’t want to talk about it. C’mon, it’s not a big deal. Just a nightmare.” He managed a laugh. “I should probably stop eating lunch at that burrito place near the Park. Their food would give anybody nightmares.”
    “This isn’t funny, Eric!” He recognized that look in her eyes now…it had nothing to do with fear, it was that tough-as-nails Beth Kentraine that he knew and loved. “I’ll call a doctor tomorrow. Somebody has to figure what’s going on inside your head, love.”
    “Of what value is a human physician?” Kory asked. “Eric is a Bard, not a normal person. There should be nothing wrong with him that he cannot cure himself.”
    “We’re talking about something wrong up here, Kory—” Beth tapped the side of her head. “Humans have special doctors for that kind of thing. Psychiatrists. And even magic isn’t good for that kind of stuff… remember Perenor? He was crazy-psycho, a real nut case. His magic didn’t help him there.”
    Kory’s eyes widened in horror. “Eric isn’t like Perenor! He could never be like Perenor!”
    “I didn’t mean he was like Perenor, just that it’s the same kind of thing.”
    “I don’t want to talk to a shrink,” Eric protested. “Beth, it’s just a bad dream!”
    “A bad dream that you’ve had for over a month!”
    “Look, I’ve talked to enough shrinks in my life, okay? I don’t want to see another one, ever.”
    “Eric, I love you. I don’t want you to have to go to a psych. But something’s wrong, and you have to do something about it.”
    “No shrinks,” Eric repeated stubbornly.
    “We’ll talk about this in the morning,” Beth said, matching his stubbornness.
    “Beth…” Kory began hesitantly. “You say this is a human thing, but could this have something to do with Eric’s magic? Some Bards have the ability to look into the future, or to call to others from the past…“
    His own eyes, staring and lifeless— ”Kory. It’s only a dream. Maybe Beth’s got the right idea, maybe I’m nutso, but