Read Online The Reluctant Warrior by Pete B Jenkins - Free Book Online

relieved to see the fellow spin suddenly around and crash heavily to the ground. By the time the three friends had got to their feet and made their way down to the river to the native the female had joined him.
    “It’s all right,” Jed said softly, approaching the pair slowly. “We won’t harm you.”
    “They’re not likely to speak English,” Rex warned. “So keep your eye on them, they may be armed.”
    The male looked them up and down, and Jed could tell he was intrigued by their thermal clothing. “Friends,” Jed said, “we are friends.”
    The male was tall. Jed estimated him to be around 6 foot 7, and his female companion would have been all of 6 foot 2. Jed himself at 6 foot 4 had always been considered tall, but he had the feeling that in this world where everything was big he would be lucky to be average height.
    “Are you Sky-Gods too?” the male asked.
    Jed hadn’t expected to hear himself addressed in his native tongue and so was momentarily lost for words. “No, we’re not,” he said, when he had recovered enough to find his voice.
    “You are not Noragin, nor Yakros. You must be Sky-Gods.” He hesitated. “And yet,” he cast his eyes over the bodies of his captors, “you kill the Sky-Gods.”
    “We are not Sky-Gods,” Jed repeated.
    “Then where do you come from?”
    Jed thought quickly. How could he explain to this primitive where he came from? “I…we… come from another world, a world beyond the ice.”
    “That is where our people came from,” he answered excitedly. “Have you come to take us home?”
    “No,” Jed said quickly. “We came here by accident.”
    The fellows face dropped. “So you cannot return to the place of your ancestors either.”
    “No, we can’t,” Jed confessed. “We are looking for somewhere to live where we’ll be safe from the Sky-Gods.”
    “Ah,” he nodded his head solemnly. “They are everywhere, and so are their Yakros pigs.” He had spat the name out between clenched teeth, so Jed guessed the Yakros must be in cahoots with Montrose. “You come with us, we will keep you safe.”
    Rex stepped forward. “We must bury them first.”
    The big man looked at him with disgust. “Sky-Gods don’t deserve to be buried. They are filth.”
    “We don’t want Montrose to know we’re here,” Rex explained. “So we need to hide the bodies.”
    Jed noticed the man’s eyes narrow at the mention of Montrose. He looked briefly at the body lying at his feet before nodding. “There is a dry well not far from here. We can throw the bodies down there. Montrose will not find them then.”
    The woman whispered something into his ear. “My sister reminds me of my manners,” he said. “We must thank you for saving our lives. We are now in your debt.”
    Jed held out his hand. “I am Jed.” The man took his hand. “This is Rex, and Jonathon.”
    “I am Erik, and this is Amora.”
    For the first time Jed turned his attention to the female and was immediately struck by her beauty. Piercing blue eyes peeped out at him from beneath a luxurious mane of golden hair, and when she smiled shyly at him she revealed the most perfect set of white teeth he had ever seen. He took her hand in his. “Hello, Amora.”
    She blushed deeply. “I am happy to meet you, Jed.”
    He reluctantly tore his eyes away from the elegant creature. “Show us where this well is, Erik.”
     
    An hour later as they were all crammed into Erik’s canoe and heading swiftly downriver, Jed noticed that Amora could handle the paddle just as effectively as her brother. He watched her shapely body as she worked the paddle expertly from left to right and back again, and for the first time since being here his thoughts drifted back to Cassie. He even fancied he missed her a little. But as pretty as Cassie was, she was no match for this girl. She was all a man could possibly desire, and then some.
    He was still struggling to get his head around the fact that all this was taking place inside