Aster Wood and the Blackburn Son by J B Cantwell Read Free Book Online

again the plight of Rhainn and Cait, who so urgently needed our help.  
    But against the power of the spell that hung over Stonemore, I could barely move. My mind and body felt jammed as I tried to fight it. The false colors that painted the city were so tempting. It would be so easy to fall back into it, the comfort that came from forgetting what was going on beyond Stonemore’s walls. Now, fear bloomed through my whole body at the thought of getting lost again, of being caged within the city like a sedated animal. I fought the urge to run.  
    “How long?” was all I could manage to ask.
    His face was pained as he tried to think clearly. “Months,” he blurted, his effort intense. “There’s no time.” From beneath his shirt he pulled a long charm necklace. Only they weren’t charms. They were links. “Hold on.”
    He raised one and pointed it, giving the command as he did so. I tightened my hold on his arms, praying that we would make it out before succumbing again to the treacherous haze.
    We hit the ground hard, landing in a heap in a small patch of trees. Somewhere close by a stream filled the wood with innocent song.
    The last bits of the enchantment drained out of me like a trickle of water sliding off my skin.
    “What’s going on?” I gasped, untangling myself from him. But seeing his face, knowing both of us were free, relief flooded through me. I smiled tentatively at him. “I’m so glad I found you.”
    He didn’t smile back. Instead, he lay panting on the ground, hugging it as if he feared gravity could betray him at any moment.
    “We’re in big trouble,” he said. “Eight of our number are still trapped in that stinkhole.” He rolled over onto his back and stared at the branches above. “Only Owyn’s been spared. He left months ago. To find you.”  
    “What? Why?” I asked, my other questions forgotten.
    “We heard of the confrontation in the cave, about you and your friend…what was her name? And Cadoc.” At the mention of the name, a slight smirk emerged on his face and his eyes shifted to me. “You did good there, boy. But after you fled Stonemore, we fought for three days with The Shield. Those men, Owyn’s men, are tough as steel.”  
    He groaned, rolling over and propping himself up.  
    “Two hundred years of imprisonment did nothin’ to their abilities but make ‘em fight harder. But when Cadoc returned to the city after his pursuit of you that day, he took out his loss on all of us. We held for a time, but in the end he crushed us. We spent a fair number of days in the dungeons. It’s no place for any man.” He shook his head in disgust.
    “But you’re not in the dungeons now. How did you escape?” I asked.
    “Didn’t need to. When you killed Cadoc, everyone in Stonemore was released from his grip. It was like we’d all been in the middle of a wild, black hurricane, and then suddenly one day, it left us.” He wiped the sweat from his forehead with one wrinkled, shaking hand. “After that, it was chaos, but the evil of the place had been released.”  
    He rolled onto all fours and slowly climbed to standing, another long, low groan escaping him. He turned and walked in the direction of the water. I jumped up after him.
    “Then, months back,” he went on, “Owyn caught wind of trouble at the Fire Mountains. He left us to see if it was true. If the mountain had been compromised, then our hope to defeat the Corentin was lost. We feared you lost, too. But not long after he left the haze descended on the city.” He grimaced. “Only at the last moment, when I found myself painting Chapman’s place a disgusting pink, did I realize a curse had overtaken us. But by then it was too late.” He knelt by the stream, cupping water into his hands and drinking deeply.
    “What happened to Owyn then?” I asked.
    “Dunno,” he said, leaning back. “He never came back. Or if he did, he must’ve gotten out before the mist took him.” He stood back up and peered