Bonded: Book One of the ShadowLight Saga, an Epic Fantasy Adventure by Mande Matthews Read Free Book Online

loosening his grip on his brother’s shoulders. "You’ll wrinkle
the material."
    The night sky lit up
their camp, casting a glow on the surrounding trees. Embers burned in the
banked campfire. Puffs of the young men's breath drifted in the air. Across
from the ebbing fire, Hallad and the young woman slept in goose-down bedrolls. Hallad
had offered his own roll to the brothers, but Erik refused. Though Rolf pouted,
he had followed his brother’s lead and had wrapped himself in his mantle,
settling close to the warming flames.
    "Brother,"
Rolf pleaded, reaching around to pry Erik’s hands from his tunic, "it’s
the only shirt I own."
    Erik let go and sprang
up. He tore around the fire to find the young woman burrowed in her bedroll.
    "Erik, what are you
doing?" Rolf skittered over to his brother’s side. "Come brother,
we’ve had a long couple of days. Let them sleep."
    "She’s
not sleeping."
    Barely
visible in the dim light, the young woman’s eyes popped open. She scrambled to
her booted feet, facing Erik. Her hair strung around her shoulders, looking
even whiter in the moonlight, and Erik recalled the pale coloring of man from
his dream.
    "What
did you mean by another way?"
    Rolf
cut in. "Brother, she hasn’t spoken since we met her."
    Erik
waved his arm, flashing a warning glance at Rolf, and repeated, "What did
you mean?"
    The young woman stared
back with iron hard eyes.
    Hallad rolled to his
side, wiping his broad hands over his face. His chiseled bones deepened in the
firelight as if carved of stone. A tired groan reverberated in his chest as he
tossed the bedroll aside and stood, exposing his bare feet to the crisp night
air. The downy hair across his well-muscled chest and arms refused to rise and
Erik wondered how he withstood the frigid temperature. By far he was the
tallest of the group—aside from the young woman, who stood nearly as tall as he—and
his shadow cast a long darkness over them, as if they stood beside a mighty
tree.
    Hallad sought the woman.
Their eyes met simultaneously, locking for a brief moment, seeming to speak
secretly before disengaging. Erik tensed, the muscles twitching under his skin.
How much influence did this woman hold over his friend?
    "Come, blood
brother." Hallad’s low voice contained a commanding quality. Erik wasn’t
sure Hallad was even aware of the tone, which had persuaded him, time after
time, on timbre alone. "We need to get some rest. We still have many days
of travel before we reach Birka."
    "She knows,"
said Erik.
    "Knows what?" Hallad
and Rolf asked in unison.
    Hallad’s forehead
creased and worry plagued his face. The woman turned away, walking into the
night. Erik tried to grab her arm but ended up with a fist full of air.
    "Tell me!" Erik
yelled after her. "Tell me where Emma is!"
    Hallad stepped in front
of him, blocking Erik’s line of sight to the woman.
    "Erik, you are
tired. You need to rest."
    "Nei!"
    Both Hallad and Rolf
wore concern etched into their features.
    "She knows! She
told me I . . . "
    Hallad’s worry changed
to condescending, halting Erik’s speech. Rolf appeared frightened that his
elder brother danced with the Shadow of Loki. Erik turned, kicking the ground
with his foot, sending dirt into the fire pit.
    "She hasn’t spoken
since we met her," said Hallad, as if speaking to an upset child. "How
could she tell you anything?"
    "And why doesn’t
she speak? She knows, for Odin’s wisdom, she knows and she won’t tell me!"
    He bent, picking up
pebbles to toss in the fire, throwing them one after the other with a flick of
his wrist, causing the charred wood to crack and crumble.
    Rolf and Hallad
exchanged a worried glance.
    "They say when you
have seen too much, the gods take away your speech," Rolf offered.
    "Forget it. You
wouldn’t understand."
    Erik chucked his last
stone into the embers. The pebble clinked against burnt wood, sparks flying. He
stalked across the distance, thumped to the ground and rolled himself in his
cloak,