Read Online The Last Druid by Colleen Montague - Free Book Online Page A

her.
    “How could this have happened?” she asked herself.
    Over the noise of the crackling fires she heard a small whimper.  She stared wildly around, trying to figure out where it was.  Her eyes came to rest on one building in particular: an entire section of wall and part of the roof were missing, like something large had been hurled with tremendous through it.  The sound seemed to be coming from there.  She ran over and peered around what was left of the wall.
    Crouched among the rubble was a young child.
    He couldn’t have been older than ten years old.  His skin was slightly tanned, making his white hair seem even brighter.  His clothes were torn, he had several bleeding cuts, and he was covered with dust and soot.  He had heard her coming, and was in the process of backing away deeper into the wreckage when she rounded the corner.  As soon as he saw her though, the fearful expression on his face gave way to one of relief mixed with joy.  He ran towards her, throwing his arms around her neck when she knelt down to hold him.  They embraced each other for several moments until she pushed him back, leaving her hands on his shoulders.
    “Did they hurt you?” she asked.
    The boy shook his head.  “They did see me,” he said.  “But I was able to get away and hide here.  Is it over, entha ?”
    She was about to reassure him when her scalp prickled, and a shiver repeatedly went up and down her spine.  She turned back to look at the street—the air had become uneasily still, but the scent of death and decay seemed to seek her out over the flying ash and smoke.
    Her heart immediately raced as fear took hold of her.  She knew that scent, and it could mean only one thing—He was here.
    The boy was holding her hand and looking at her with questioning eyes.  “Entha?”
    She snatched up her sword from where she had dropped it, then took his face in her other hand.  “Dearest, not yet,” she said.
    “Why?  What happens now?”
    She tried to keep her nerves steady and her fear at bay as she spoke.  “There is one more fight to be had, one that you cannot be near.  I need you to give me one favor: I need you to run, as far away as you can, as fast as you can. I will join you after.”
    Tears were sliding down the sides of the boy’s face.  “No,” he said.  “I do not want to leave, entha! I do not want to lose you!”
    She pulled him to her in a tighter embrace, feeling how warm he was, smelling the earthy scent that always seemed to cling to him.  “Hiran, my child, you will not.”  She tried to keep her voice from cracking.  “This will be the last fight, and after that we will be able to find some other place to call our home.  But I need you to do this for me first.  Do you understand me?”
    She felt the boy’s head nod up and down against her chest.  “But I—“
    “No ‘buts.’”  She pushed him away and stood up.  “Now go.”
    “Entha—“
    “Just go Hiran!”  She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes.  “Now, before it is too late.”  She turned to face the road.  For some time she heard nothing, until at last she heard the boy’s feet against the pavement as he ran away from where she stood.
    She turned to look back at him once more.  He had stopped at the far end of the alley between buildings, looking back at her.  There was no fooling him—he knew this was the end.
    “Go,” she whispered.
    Whether he heard her or not, he didn’t acknowledge it.  He turned and fled.
    —How touching.—
    She felt her blood suddenly turn to ice as a cold dread crept through her mind.  This sense of fear at so strong a level could only be generated by one being.  She turned back to the street and brought her sword up in front of her.
    Bralon had joined the fray.
    Everything about him screamed death—his shadowy form, his ash-colored flesh, his black eyes that never reflected the light.  Everywhere he went he spread death and despair to everyone he