After the Fire (After the Fire: Book the First) by J.L. Murray Read Free Book Online Page B

You just want what you want.”
    “I
just don't think your mother is in that village,” said Fin. He
glanced back at the raven, which was now watching them with a keen
interest. “I think it's wonderful that you have such hope, but
I wouldn't want to be around if you found out otherwise. I have a
friend that wants to meet you. Someone that knew your mother.”
    “Who?”
said Eleni, studying him. He pursed his lips.
    “You
won't believe me,” he said finally.
    “I
may.”
    “She
is something of a relation to you. Some call her the Crone.”
    Eleni
narrowed her eyes. “Why has my mother never spoken of this
crone?”
    Fin
breathed out heavily through his nose. “She asked me not to
say. You won't believe it anyway. You think your mother is a mortal.”
    “The
crone asked you not to say,” said Eleni. “The old woman
that is a secret relation to me. Immortals who cannot die. Do you
think me stupid?”
    “She
is...ow!” Fin exclaimed as the white raven alighted and nipped
at his ear before flying back to the ground again and surveying them.
Fin touched his hand to his ear and looked at the drops of blood on
his fingers. He scowled at the bird who squawked at him loudly.
    Eleni
stared at him. He shrugged, as if he didn't know what else to say.
Eleni snorted. “My mother was right. Men will say anything.”
    She
had hunted all she could carry by the time the moon was directly
above her. It was full and hung round and heavy in the sky. She
thought about going back and trying to talk to Fin again, but she was
still angry. She didn't really understand the argument that they had
had, but she knew that he had tried to tell her absurd things. He
thought her a fool. Perhaps he was a Reiver
after all. Luring her away so his friends could attack the village.
As she walked across the field toward the village, the wolf growled
at her.
    She
turned back to look at her friend. “I am sorry,” she
said. “I am very tired.” When she got to the gate she
threw the large bundle of polecats and ermines on the ground.
    “Is
that all?” said a high male voice from above. She looked up to
see Rastin.
    “Make
sure my mother gets as much as she can eat,” said Eleni. She
walked to her box and, surprising even to her, she pulled the door
closed. She just wanted sleep. The door still hung open a finger's
width across. It would only lock from the outside, so she couldn't
lock herself in, but she wanted to. She didn't understand it, but she
wanted seclusion tonight, even from the wolf.

    Eleni
was startled from sleep by a sound grating on her ears. Metal against
metal. She blinked, sitting up. It was midmorning, she could tell by
the feel of the air around her. But something was wrong. She rubbed
her eyes, trying to make out what it was. She was groggy from sleep
and her head ached. She hadn't eaten the night before and she was
lightheaded.
    The
birds weren't singing .
    Eleni's
eyes opened wide as the thought burst forward in her mind. The birds
were always singing. Something was always making a racket in the
forest. She listened for a long moment. Nothing. No sound at all. But
then she did hear something. The crunch of a footstep. A muted growl.
And then she smelled it. The scent of almost-wolf, almost-man. A
mixture of wildness and the stink of sweat and the smell of meat.
Reivers.
The same scent she had smelled last full moon when she had come back
late from a hunt. They had taken the sheep and Cosmin had blamed her.
    She
sprang out of bed and pushed at the door. It wouldn't move. The sound
that had woken her must have been someone pulling the iron bar
against the hatch.
    “No!”
Eleni cried, pushing harder on the door.
    She
heard the first scream, then the soft thunking of arrows being
unleashed. A second scream. The smell of blood.
    Eleni
clenched her fists, feeling the power build inside of her arms. She
placed her palms on the metal and let the fire go. The metal grew
hot, smoking as it turned red. Another scream, then the