Chasing Evil by Adam Blade Read Free Book Online Page B

Nera to urge her on. The Cat Beast surged toward Tanner and Firepos. Nera roared, her cry high and angry. Castor leveled his sword and bellowed.
    â€œNow, Firepos!” Tanner told his Beast, leaning low over her neck.
    Firepos swooped forward so suddenly that the wind knocked Tanner backward; he caught his balance and aimed his sword. The Beasts rushed closer — Nera roaring like thunder, Firepos screaming a terrible flame bird cry — and the boys braced their blades.
    Tanner saw the glint in Nera’s eye and the vicious curve of her fangs. Firepos suddenly broke left, and Nera darted to the right. Tanner ducked as Castor leaned out dangerously far and slashed his blade through the air. The people watching cried out in alarm.
    â€œToo late!” Tanner called back. He heard Castor yelling impatiently at his Beast. “Come on, Nera! Now!”
    His Beast darted at Firepos. Tanner held his sword with both hands, gripping Firepos’s body with his thighs. As he rushed closer to Castor, Firepos flying low to the ground, he tensed. Their blades clashed in a shower of sparks and the impact almost wrenched his shoulder out of joint. Castor’s sword sailed through the air, clattering into the square.
    â€œYou’ve lost!” shouted Tanner.
    For the first time since Tanner had met him, Castor looked uncertain, but his face set in a grim smile. “I’ve still got Nera!” he called back.
    He urged the Beast around, and Firepos and Nera came at each other a third time. Firepos was flying so quickly that the air rush sucked Tanner dangerously over Firepos’s neck — he slipped, almost fell, and caught himself at the last moment.
    A terrible howl cut through the air, and Gulkien flew into view. Gwen rushed to her Beast, her face full of understanding.
    â€œHelp!” she called, twisting around to look at Tanner and Castor. “The village is being attacked.”

G ulkien calls us. A warning cry.
    Nera and I break off from the attack, and her rider cries out in anger. Creatures are already swarming the market square — varkules and riders. A cry rings out from the soldiers: “Death has come, death has come….” The people scatter, but are chased down. The riders pursue them with lassos, bringing the townsfolk down like cattle, slinging them over their saddles.
    I call to Nera. It is time to forget our battle. To still our hearts. Our anger should be directed toward our true enemies, not one another. She bows her golden head in understanding.
    The villagers were screaming.
    â€œRound up the women and children!” shouted one of the riders. “Any who can work. And keep your eyes peeled for those Beasts and their friends.”
    Tanner saw an elderly woman squirming on the ground, her ankles bound with rope. Three varkules had pressed a clutch of Castor’s people against a wall, snapping with drooling jaws. Tanner could smell their awful scent from where he was. The foul, snarling animals didn’t see Gulkien until his shadow was directly overhead. The wolf collapsed his wings and dropped. Gwen’s Beast snarled and fought, tearing men apart with his claws and throwing bodies to the ground. Blood welled up from an open wound in a soldier’s chest. With a mixture of ragged growls and human shouts of terror, the varkules and their riders were no more. Gwen was watching Gulkien from a distance, her face white. Then she pulled her rapier from its hiding place in her cloak’s lining, ready to fight.
    Tanner steered Firepos over the crowd. With two slashes of his sword, two enemy riders fell dead beside their steeds. The varkules, panicked from the aerial attack, ranged up onto their hind legs, nearly throwing their riders. They snarled at the Beasts above them, pawing the air, the hair on their spines bristling. But the Beasts were far out of reach. One by one, they retreated, galloping away. One of them dragged a lifeless armored corpse behind,