Read Online The Angel of Elydria (The Dawn Mirror Chronicles Book 1) by A. R. Meyering - Free Book Online Page B

King that we are to assemble―”
    “Baron Deimos!” interrupted a voice from the crowd, and the man stopped speaking and turned toward the voice.
    “Yes?” the man called Deimos replied in a silken tone.
    “Please! Has there been any news about―about the wraiths?” the man yelped and a hush went through the crowd. Penny looked around, intrigued as she observed the disturbed looks on the faces around her. The team of men that comprised Deimos’s guard muttered amongst each other and eyed the crowd. Penny looked his entourage over, and her heart skipped a beat.
    Something was wrong with the man standing closest to Deimos. He wore a tattered hat with a green silk band over his messy mop of black hair, and his face was whiter than milk. One of his eyes was missing and in its stead was a deep, concave indent coated by metal and streamed with electric blue lines. This depression was covered by a thin sheath of glass fused into his skin. His remaining eye stood motionless, his face devoid of all life, and his right arm had been replaced with a steel, claw-like contraption. Penny felt a rather ominous throb in her chest that made her want to find Hector.
    Deimos sighed and lowered his head. “I...do not wish to cause further alarm, but it seems we cannot keep this from the public any longer.” He looked out at the crowd with the utmost seriousness. “The rumors are all true,” he said, and a torrent of dread stirred itself into the mutterings and whispers.
    “The number of wraith sightings has become more numerous than we could have ever anticipated. The claims can no longer be dismissed as rumors. We have begun to look into the incidents, though we can offer no definitive proof of a cause at this time. Please exercise the utmost caution when traveling in the hinterlands or close to any burial grounds. If you encounter a wraith, alert any town official immediately and we will call in the province’s High Priestess to have it taken care of,” Deimos instructed. “We are in constant communication with the capital on finding the source of the problem, so please be patient. In the meantime, please remember to keep all records of your Hidden Names well concealed and contained.” Deimos broke off and his expression hardened; he looked as if he were having trouble speaking. “And I must assure you that my brother is still properly detained and is in no way associated with the appearance of these wraiths.”
    “Of course not,” a portly man near Penny breathed in a sarcastic sneer to a woman beside him. They exchanged dark looks.
    “You really think it’s his fault, don’t you?” she asked in a hushed tone.
    “How could it not be? The man’s been convicted of using forbidden forms of Nomamancy before, hasn’t he? He was the one who made a wraith out of the last baron some years back, remember? His own father, can you imagine ? I heard he completely lost his mind because of it, too. They haven’t got him in jail, no...He’s locked up tight someplace very different. Or at least he was …”
    “You can’t think that he’s escaped?” she whispered.
    Penny was shaken from her eavesdropping with a start when a cold, wet nose pressed to her ear and sniffed. She yelped as she batted the nose away and turned around, finding herself face-to-face with a bizarre, yet charming, creature.
    It had a dog-like snout, soulful brown eyes, a long, slender neck, and stubby horns that somewhat resembled a giraffe’s. Its whole body was strong and muscular and covered in sleek, ebony fur that was silky to the touch. A saddle was hitched on its back. Penny marveled at it, and it stared right back, sniffing.
    “Things are going to be very difficult if you keep running off like this,” said a familiar voice. Penny saw Hector standing next to the tall beast, holding its reins.
    “What is that thing?” asked Penny as the creature whined, pushed its nose to the side of her face and tickled her into laughing