Read Online ZYGRADON by Michelle L. Levigne - Free Book Online

dark stairway to the stable cavern.

Chapter Eight
    "How is he?" Graddon murmured as he joined Breylon and Le'esha by the fire,
on the evening of their fifth day on the road to the coast.
    "Dirty and exhausted from riding all day, working past dark and getting up
before dawn." Le'esha shook her head and smiled at her two companions. "He's having
the adventure of his life."
    "Let's hope it's the first of many," Breylon growled.
    Le'esha sighed. The High Scholar didn't see the humor in the situation they
faced. Mrillis had managed to infiltrate the ranks of the horse and errand boys without
anyone questioning his presence. He had managed to stay hidden at the back of the
procession for two whole days. She was proud of him for his skill, endurance and
cleverness, even as she nearly wept in fear for him. Seeing the humor in what the boy
had done was the only way to keep from giving in to anger and worry.
    "He's here for the enchanter's boy," Graddon said. "I've touched his dreams since
we realized he was here. Every night, a red-haired boy wanders at the edges of his
dreams. The black net is never there. I don't know if it means the Nameless One isn't
trying to find and snare him--"
    "Or if he's using his boy to lure our boy in where he can pluck him like a ripe
fig," Breylon said. "You agree with me now? The Nameless One has been weaving his
magic to capture our boy and warp him. And destroy him if he can't do that."
    "Yes, we are agreed." Le'esha stared into the fire. "Ten more days until we reach
the coast, and half a day of sailing to reach Flintan... and I can feel the poison of his
blood magic. It makes the ground tremble and fills the air with scorching. It makes the
very Threads buzz with discord. I had hoped Afron's spies were exaggerating, when they
reported the rivers of blood being spilled in Flintan."
    "The Nameless One turned to blood magic in an attempt to control star-metal
and protect the World, and look what evil he has fallen to," Graddon rumbled. He
stared into the fire as if it held the answers to all the mysteries of life. "What is he trying
to control now, with so much blood and death?"
    "Us. The future. The World." Breylon snorted. "Who can know, when a mind is
so soaked with evil and death, so separated from the Threads, we can no longer find
him?"
    * * * *
    The black net appeared that night in Mrillis' dreams. He felt it wrap around
his throat, covering his eyes and blinding him. Gasping, blood thundering in his ears, he
struggled to yank the burning, sticky, thorny cords from around his throat, but they
wouldn't budge.
    "Cut it," a boy called from the mud-thick darkness behind him. "You can cut
it."
    Somehow, Mrillis found his knife. It felt cold in his hand and heavy. The
blade glimmered, catching a light he couldn't see. It was the only light anywhere, perhaps
the only light anymore. He raised his arm, pushing against air thicker than frozen honey,
heavier than stones tied to his limbs and pulling him down to the bottom of the stormy
Northern Sea.
    For every finger's length of progress as he struggled to raise his arm and put
the knife to the cords at his neck, it grew a little easier. Mrillis gasped, unable to even cry
out against the pain. It felt as if the cords had cut halfway through his throat.
    Finally, he had the knife to his neck. He turned the blade with numb
fingers, pressed the tip against the bottom cord and tried to slide it up.
    His dream exploded into light and shouts and hands shaking him and other
hands slapping him and heat that burst through the cold and scorched his skin.
    Mrillis opened his eyes to find two boys sitting on his chest and legs, another
boy sitting on his left arm and a fourth boy stomping on his right hand, which still
clutched the knife from his belt. He gasped. The air rushing into his lungs was sweet with
wood smoke, the scent of horses, mud and sweat.
    Breylon and Lyon, the Warhawk's brother appeared among the crowd
gathering around him. Mrillis went limp and