Read Online Warden by Kevin Hardman - Free Book Online Page B

light from his wand fell over an ugly, misshapen section of wall.  Lying on the floor next to it was an object he recognized. It had spots of blood on it, but without a doubt he knew what it was: Tom’s pack.  He raced over and picked it up. He was so excited that he almost opened it then and there, except something else caught his attention: the wall moved.
    It was only a slight up-and-down motion, but it was enough to send Errol stumbling backwards. Looking carefully now, he saw that what he had mistaken for a part of the wall was actually some monstrosity. It was lying on its side, apparently asleep, facing the true wall of the cellar; the movement Errol had witnessed was actually the expansion of its chest and diaphragm as it breathed.
    It was shaped like a man, but extraordinarily huge.  Errol estimated it to be at least ten feet tall. He could only see one of its arms, but it ended in a hand accentuated by terrible-looking claws, as did its feet. The massive, round head was completely hairless, and - now that he noticed it - the chill in the basement seemed to emanate from this monster.
    Without making a sound, Errol slowly headed towards the stairs, heedless of the fact that he was stepping in blood along the way. When he reached the stairs, he turned to look at the creature one last time - and saw that its head had turned away from the wall and it was staring at him with sickly yellow eyes.
    With the need for stealth gone, Errol raced up the stairs. Once outside, he pivoted and immediately swung the cellar doors shut. One of the doors, ill-fit for its frame, bounced back up, reverberating. Errol raised his foot and stomped on the door, hard, forcing it closed and leaving his own bloody boot print superimposed on his brother’s.
    He raced around to the front of the house, screaming for Gale to go. Already seated on her own horse with the little man behind her, Gale took off.  Almost without breaking stride, Errol leaped into the saddle of his own horse and raced behind her.

 
    Chapter 12
     
    They rode at top speed for the next hour, with Errol continually ignoring Gale’s questions, until she insisted that they come to a stop. Her horse, burdened with two people, was exhausted and needed a rest. Errol’s own mount wasn’t in much better shape.
    The place where they chose to stop was fortuitously located near a stream. There, they insisted that the little man take some time to bathe himself and wash the charnel stink out of his clothes. The man, however, whose name was finally revealed to be Digby, was terrified of being alone. He insisted that they stay within eyeshot of him while he took the requisite bath. (Thankfully, he only meant that he wanted to be able to see them at all times, not that they needed to see him .)
    Errol took the opportunity to go through Tom’s pack while Gale broke out lunch. There were, of course, the usual items, such as a nesting kit for meals and medical supplies. There was also Tom’s log, which he had taken with him the last time Errol saw him.  Finally, there was a weird book that Errol had never seen before.
    The book was bound in some strange, leathery material he wasn’t familiar with, and had unusual runes drawn on the outside of it. However, he only needed to flip through a couple of pages before he recognized it for what it was - a book of magic!
    Of course, the Wardens had their own books, in which were recorded certain types of magic, such as the wards that they used. This book, however, was something entirely different. He had no idea how Tom had come across it, but he quickly put it away.
    Errol then turned his attention to Tom’s log. As he had hoped, Tom had jotted down other entries since the last time they were together, and Errol eagerly read them, hoping to find out his brother’s fate.
    What he read chilled him to the bone. He now knew why Tom hadn’t come home, knew why he hadn’t been able to get word to Errol. Moreover, he knew that even someone as