Read Online Valkeryn 2: The Dark Lands by Greig Beck - Free Book Online

shifted beside him. ‘It would matter not – an inconvenience, and nothing more. In fact, it would probably be better for us, for if they decided to make a thorough search of my archives, then they may find our hidden door.’ He reached out, and grasped Balthazaar’s forearm. ‘We are many longs underground, and no flames can reach us. For the time being we are safe, my friend.’
    Balthazaar’s head was still raised towards the ceiling, but he closed his eyes, and breathed out slowly. ‘The fighting is over. The Wolfen are no more.’
    Vidarr’s grip on his arm intensified. ‘The Wolfen will never be gone. As long as Canite blood runs through the veins of a single being, then the Wolfen will rise again. The sáál is eternal, and can never truly die. Remember the words of the first of us all, the mighty Fenrir; as long as a single Wolfen stands, there will be a kingdom for us all.’ He paused, and his hand fell away. ‘The Man-Kind will keep the son of Grimvaldr safe.’
    Balthazaar turned quickly. ‘How do you know of…’?
    Vidarr laughed softly in the darkness. ‘There are no secrets for someone as old as the stone of the Valkeryn’s walls themselves. Here...’ He pressed something bread-like into the counselor’s hand.
    Balthazaar lifted it and sniffed. ‘Fungus?’
    ‘Hm-hmm, tastes like meat. You’ll get used to it. You have to – you may be eating it for a long time.’ He laughed again.
    Balthazaar sighed miserably, and closed his eyes. Behind him, a tiny movement turned into a rustle, and then something that could have been a giggle floated up to them from far away in the darkness.
    Vidarr’s hand alighted on his arm again. ‘Just the wind playing in the lower passages, my friend. Nothing down here, but you, me, and a thousand old ghosts.’
    Balthazaar nodded, even though he knew his friend couldn’t see it. He bit off a piece of the tough fungus, and started to chew without enjoyment. His ears remained firmly pointed to the rear of the cave.

    *

    Arn was frozen to the spot. He held Grimson to him with one arm, the youth still unconscious. He watched the water, or more specifically the two yellow eyes just below the surface, gliding towards the bank. They seemed to glow and were focused on Arn. There were no pupils, just two golf ball-sized blobs of yellow, spaced about two feet apart.
    He gulped, and the act of swallowing gave his muscles some movement. He looked around. The jungle cover was a few dozen feet back, and he was still at the waterline. There were a few broken branches littering the bank, but there was no shelter or anything to hide behind.
    He took a careful step backwards, conscious that any movement he made might trigger the attack that was surely coming. The darkness wasn’t quite complete, as a few silver edges of moon had snuck around some high cloud, and now, a momentary break threw down a curtain of silver light. Arn felt the enormous surge in his confidence and with it the familiar swell of energy rippled through him. But the light also revealed the creature as it came to the shallows.
    He had been expecting some sort of alligator, but he was only been partially right – a long body, thick around as a horse, extended far out into the river. It was a giant snake, sliding beneath the water. As Arn watched, he saw it begin to fold in on itself just below the surface – he knew what to expect… as soon as it had enough power wound in its coils it would launch itself at them. Arn grimaced; the size of the head meant its jaws would probable easily expand to accommodate both he and Grimson.
    The curtain of light disappeared, and like the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland, just the two yellow orbs remained, their baleful stare fixed on Arn.
    Time, sound, his breathing, even the air around him, stopped dead. Arn waited, but not for long. The head exploded from under the water, the two-foot wide triangular head catapulting towards them like a scaled cannon shell.
    The