Read Online The Children of Urdis (Grimwold and Lethos Book 2) by Jerry Autieri - Free Book Online

which was still wrapped in silence with a sea of stars overhead. His escorts huddled together with their spears readied. Grimwold was laid out in a cart and piled with gray wolf pelts against the cold. Lethos tossed four leather bags into the cart, and one of Grimwold's former men brought war gear to load along with it, a sword, shield, and helmet.
    "No pony to pull it?" Lethos asked. His voice was small in the quiet of the night. Only crickets chirped. The warriors looked at each other, then shook their heads.
    Taking up the cart as if he were a common pack animal, he began rolling it toward the edge of the village. Halfway across he wondered if having him pull the cart was a pun on his bull form, but when he turned back his guards had vanished. It was just him, the cold night, and a frightened village pretending to sleep.
    "None of you are smart enough for that," he mumbled. "Come on, Grimwold, let's take our toys and go home."
    Grimwold had nothing to say, and apparently would say nothing ever again. Lethos now wished to hear Grimwold's rough, blustery voice. Certainly he tended to brag more than was seemly and his stories were usually some dull barbarian tale of burning down a village and taking all the young women. Yet leadership came naturally to him, and he knew what to do when few others did. Yes, Lethos could make some predictions about his immediate future, but he did not know strategy. He had been in training to become a spy, not a good one either, if he remembered his lessons correctly. He was never going to make decisions, just gather information. He never wanted to make decisions. Those were for someone else to handle.
    Right now his only decision was where to point the cart, and he could handle that much. He wanted to shout back to the village, "You know this is an island, right? I can't go far." However, he kept his mouth pressed in a thin line and trudged north until he was far enough away to build a small fire and settle in for a night of fitful sleep. He rested on his side, letting his face bathe in the warmth. He had backed up the cart to let Grimwold's feet at least face the fire. No telling what he felt in his current state or if he needed to be kept warm at all. Lethos began to drift off, hating his loneliness and wishing Kafara and Turo would return. As he fell asleep, he had a gnawing feeling they were not coming back soon.
    He awoke with the first stains of dawn, still in the same position, but the campfire burned down to embers. He yawned and rubbed his eyes, then remembered Grimwold and leapt to his feet. He had not changed, nor had he stirred all night. He remained with his eyes closed, a waxen figure of his former self. Lethos shared the dull ache in his chest that marked the spot of Grimwold's wound. He pulled back the furs, feeling the body heat escape, and examined the wound. But for some crusted blood left over, the flesh was unmarred. The area seemed a bit discolored, but he could not be sure what it was like originally. Lethos pressed the hard muscle as if expecting to find the stone just below the surface, but he knew it had gone back to its original position. He could feel it deep in his own chest. Flipping the skins back over Grimwold, he reached out with his mind to find the same blankness from the day before.
    Lethos's stomach growled, and he went to a sack of provisions and extracted a wedge of cheese. He had been given salted meats and fish along with some grains and a small cooking pot. The people of Greenvik had not wanted him to die of starvation, but just wanted him to be gone. He could not blame them, after likely killing so many of their sons in a pointless battle. If the damn raiders hadn't attacked.
    "Well, there's a thought," he said, biting into the cheese. It was salty and dry, but he was hungry enough to ignore it. He leaned against the cart and talked out his plan with Grimwold.
    "A fair number of the raiders were killed, and they must have been in a panic seeing me