Read Online Winterwood by JG Faherty - Free Book Online Page A

time, the tunnel itself played tricks with the senses. The dirt and wood deadened sounds and twisted them around so that the breathing and occasional frightened gasps of Paul and Anna behind him seemed to come from close by at one moment and then far away the next, so much so that every few yards Anders glanced back to make sure they hadn’t fallen behind.
    A chorus of angry shouts reached them and Ulaf cursed. “Faster,” he urged. “They’ve discovered your escape.”
    â€œWill they follow us?” Anders asked.
    â€œâ€™Tis likely they’ll search outside first, as any sane man would make for the forest. But best we not wait around to see.”
    The elf put on more speed, his smaller stature making it easier for him to navigate the narrow space. Anders did his best to follow, but more than once Ulaf turned and motioned at him with an exasperated expression.
    Anders’s knees soon began to ache worse than his back and it became harder to breathe. A nervous tingle ran through him at the thought that there might be something wrong with the air. Then he noticed the upward slant of the tunnel and the cause of his discomfort became apparent.
    We’re climbing uphill.
    The darkness, together with the twists and turns and obstacles to climb over, made it impossible to determine how far they’d gone, but the increasing pain in his legs told him they were moving up through the tree at a fairly steady rate.
    â€œHow much farther?” he asked, his words coming out between panting breaths.
    â€œTwo more levels to the kitchen,” Ulaf said. “But now the danger grows worse.” The elf turned sharply to his left and disappeared. Anders hurried around the corner and almost walked right into the smaller man, who’d come to a stop. Anna and Paul pressed in behind them a moment later.
    With their bodies squeezed against each other in the confined space, Anders experienced true claustrophobia for the first time in his life.
    If someone discovers us now, we’ll be sitting ducks, flapping our wings and quacking while we get taken one by one.
    Anna’s hand found his and squeezed. He felt her arm trembling, and her fear served to calm his anxiety. He needed to be strong for her. For the boys. He squeezed back, hoping his gesture returned some comfort.
    Ulaf put a finger to his lips.
    â€œHush now. Through this door is the castle proper, and we must make haste to avoid being seen or scented.”
    â€œGryla?” Anders asked.
    Ulaf nodded. “Aye, but not just her. Her cat roams these halls, and soon the King will be back. He’s a nose for human blood, and it won’t be long before he catches a whiff of tasty morsels such as yourselves.”
    With his warning hanging in the air, Ulaf opened a normal-sized door Anders hadn’t been aware of. Light flooded the tunnel, momentarily blinding them. When Anders’s vision cleared, he saw no sign of the elf.
    Where did he go? Once more, unwelcome thoughts of abandonment and betrayal surged through Anders’s head, and he hurried forward through the opening, half expecting to find a line of guards waiting for them.
    Instead, he found an empty corridor illuminated by dozens of blazing torches set along both walls. Unlike the root- and slime-infested warren they’d just traversed or the clammy, putrid dungeon far below, the new hallway was easily twenty feet wide and ten feet high, its wooden floor and walls polished to a gleaming sheen. Intricately carved doorways, none of them marked, were irregularly spaced on both sides. Warmer air, scented heavily with burning pine, produced an almost holiday atmosphere, to the point where Anders felt he could close his eyes and wake up back in his parents’ family room, his brothers and sisters gathered around him on the floor while they listened to Oma tell tales of the Black Forest and the dangerous mystical creatures it held.
    â€œNie in den Wald zu gehen,