Read Online The War for Mare (The Fall of Man Book 3) by Jacqueline Druga - Free Book Online Page B

took four steps and the hallway, decorated
with golden paper, turned dark and cold. I spun around and no
longer was I in Iry’s house, I was somewhere else.
    I was in a cavern of sorts, with dark, wet
walls, it was damp and smelled foul. Where was I? How did I get
there?
    Had I fallen asleep? Wake up, I told
myself. Wake up !
    I reached down to pinch my arm and as I
grabbed hold of the flesh between my two fingers I saw the Savage.
He growled hungrily at me. I backed up.
    “Mare,” a deep voice called.
    I turned slowly to my right and in the
distance was Anubis. He lifted his staff. “Welcome to our world.”
With a slam of his staff to the ground, he cried out, “Attack!”
    From behind him a wave of Savages raced my
way. A herd of hundreds ran after me. The one Savage that was near
me reached for my arm, scratching it with his claws.
    If this was a dream or transport, surely I
wasn’t waking up.
    Doing the only thing I could, I spun and ran
in the opposite direction. The passageway was long and dark, and
from what I saw, was nothing more than a dead end. I was trapped.
For some reason I was faster than the Savages, and when I arrived
at the wall, I pounded my fists against it.
    They drew closer and closer, surely I was
facing the end of my time. Not wanting to see it coming, I turned
and faced the wall and in desperation, I threw my hands against it.
The wall crumbled and I tumbled forward into Iry’s personal
chambers.
    He was seated at a desk and stood in alarm.
“Vala?”
    I scurried to my feet, looking behind me to
see only a door.
    “What’s wrong?” He reached down and helped
me to my feet.
    “Iry,” I said breathlessly, “they pulled me
through again.”
     
    <><><><>
     
    When we arrived at the king’s palace, I
expected him to emerge with a ‘what does she want now?’ attitude,
instead, he appeared scared, shaken.
    “So this wasn’t a vision?” Iry asked.
    “I’m afraid not,” the king replied. “I hoped
it was, but after hearing this, I fear they have locked in on
her.”
    “Vala, pack up, grab Sophie, we are leaving
Ancient City.”
    “It doesn’t matter,” the king said. “They
found her. They have her. Next time she may not be so lucky. This
was a warning, their arrogance to let us know the power they
have.”
    “Is there nothing we can do?” Iry asked.
“Surely, your spirit guards can—”
    “They are no match for Anubis, he is a God.”
The king stood from his throne.
    “What do they want?” I asked.
    “Your blood. Your soul.”
    “What about the things that Susan said? That
they want to attack We need to find this out. The Savages are
mighty, I can defeat many, but the numbers I saw…”
    “That has to be a delusion,” the king said.
“Anubis is using them to get to you.”
    “Then can I project?” I asked. “Can I travel
to them? See what is real and what is not?”
    “If they see your essence they will
apprehend you.”
    “So we’re at a loss,” Iry said. “She isn’t
even safe while awake?”
    “They can pull her in and we will lose her,”
said the king.
    “Why now?” Iry asked. “Why did they wait
until now?”
    “Because she married you. Marriage means an
offspring. They can’t have that. A child of a Mare and purebred
Ancient would be more powerful than Anubis.”
    “Where’s the fight?” Iry snapped. “There has
to be a way to protect her.”
    After a moment of silence, the king dropped
down to his throne, and peered up at us from the tops of his eyes.
“There is.”
    “What?” Iry asked. “Anything. We need to
protect her.”
    “They can take her, overpower her at any
time, unless….” He paused. “Unless she is with child, and the child
of an Ancient. The power of the child will protect her and make her
too strong for them to control.”
    “Will I be able to safely see what they are
up to then?” I asked.
    “Yes,” the king answered.
    “I see.” I nodded and thanked the king. My
gut swirled with feelings of trouble. I had