B006T5JMRC EBOK by Aya Knight Read Free Book Online Page A

traveling in the darkness aside from them. Even if there had been a thief making his way to raid another nearby town, Kale assumed that he being naked, and Thomas having only a tacky robe, a silly pointed hat, and slippers would hardly be something of desire to steal.
    As Kale’s story progressed he told Thomas about discovering the ravaged wooden caravan. He revealed that upon approaching the rundown transport he could see that someone—or something—had gotten away with many provisions. To make matters even grimmer, whoever had attacked, completely slaughtered the three travelers who occupied the caravan. One of the men was hardly distinguishable and his limbs appeared ripped from his torso. The petrified look upon his face could only suggest this had been done while the man was still alive. The other male traveler was much larger and must have proven to be more difficult to kill. His arms had chunks of meat missing which oozed darkened blood. Bone fragments protruded from his forearm, revealing he had gone down fighting for his life. The third human had been a woman whose body remained halfway inside the caravan where she must have been riding. She was completely lifeless, though her body appeared to be unharmed.
    Kale, unaffected by the death of humans, began to explain how, after visually inspecting the area, he laid Thomas on a nearby section of tall grass while searching for any leftover food or clothing. After rummaging through the leftover materials, most of which were useless to them, he came across three ripe apples and half a loaf of bread. Both were without mold and the bread felt soft, which told Kale that what happened to the caravan was most likely within the past day.
    “Pardon my interruption, but you still haven’t enlightened me on how you’ve obtained clothing. Was it found inside of the caravan as well?” Thomas raised his right eyebrow, glancing at Kale’s oversized ivory shirt and brown pants held up with twine and splattered in various areas with blood.
    Kale smiled proudly as if he had accomplished something grand of which Thomas would be pleased. He pointed toward a section behind the caravan where the grass grew tall.
    As Thomas squinted through the darkness, he could faintly make out the light peach skin of a hand. It stuck out from the tall green blades, lying limp and motionless. He instantly knew it was the dead body of the larger man Kale described. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Kale had stripped the deceased man’s clothing from his bloody body.
    Thomas scrunched his face as though he had swallowed something incredibly sour. “Kale, that’s disgusting! Have you no morals?” He looked away, revolted by Kale’s actions.
    “Well,” Kale replied without remorse, “it’s not like he is going to miss them. At least the clothes are getting some usage.”
    Thomas shook his head in disapproval. As Kale returned to a sitting position near the fire, Thomas’ mind began to wander. Although grateful for the enduring walk Kale had gone through to carry him, he couldn’t help feeling apprehensive about where they intended to camp for the night. He pondered the dangers they might soon face. Something had attacked the three dead travelers—something emotionless to human life—something that would tear them apart given the opportunity. No humane person, or average thief, would have gone to such lengths to kill the travelers. Whatever had done this most likely did not venture too far. Thomas could tell from the many empty baskets inside, there had been far too much to carry for a single person planning to travel away from the area. Unless it was a large group who ransacked the caravan, they would have no way to cover much ground while carrying such an abundance of rations.
    Tempted to relocate, Thomas realized he was still too exhausted to travel at such a late hour. They would have to wish for the best and start their journey toward the new town first thing in the morning.