Descent Into Darkness (Book 2) by James R. Vernon Read Free Book Online

had mentioned was barely noticeable and seemed rarely used. Clearly the man had not felt the need to leave too often. The land on this side of the forest consisted of grassy mounds, so the three often found themselves trudging uphill or stumbling downhill. By the time they crested the fifth hill, the farm was gone from view.
    It took them the rest of the day to climb up and down the hills, but as the sun started its decent, they had found the main road the older man had mentioned.
    Ean had been expecting to find a road cut into the dirt by wagon wheels and the passage of time, just like what he was used to back in Rensen, but instead he found square slabs of white stone. A single slab was larger than a wagon rig. The spaces between them were filled with yellow sand. As his eyes watched the road stretch into the horizon, it looked more fitting for a giant then the average human.
    After he got over his initial amazement of the construction of the road, Ean decided it was a good point in the day to stop and set up camp for the night. The sun was still between the halfway point in the sky and the mountains to the west, but they had kept up a fast pace as they traveled, not taking a single break, and Ean was fairly tired. And hungry too, certainly hungry. They picked a flat spot a bit off the road and settled in.
    For a while, they sat in silence, simply letting their bodies rest from the long journey. Ean had gotten out a few pieces of jerky and offered them to his companions. Zin had taken one with a grin, wasting no time in biting off a large piece easily with his sharp teeth. Azalea declined, but did smile slightly at the offer. It was a small smile, but it was something. Maybe Ean could figure her out yet. He chose a particularly large piece of jerky that fit the size of his hunger and sat back chewing slowly, occasionally taking a swig from one of their water skins to relieve his thirst.
    Ean found the entire experience to be quite peaceful. His companions seemed to be lost in their own thoughts, which was fine with him since it meant they weren't shooting daggers at each other with their eyes. The day had been warm, but a slight breeze moved through the hills, strong enough to keep Ean cool. He watched the grass around him constantly change direction with the wind. All around him, besides the road, was green as far as the eye could see. It was all a pleasant change from the dampness of his home and the darkness of the forest.
    It wasn't until the sun was just beginning to touch the peaks of the mountains to the west and the wind began to have a bit of a bite to it, that Azalea broke the silence.
    "We really should come up with a plan of what we're going to do once we reach the city. I'm sure it's going to be difficult to find any kind of record of Zin's former master, and even more so about the location of where he called home."
    "What?" Ean was sure he hadn't heard correctly. "The reason that we're going to the city is to find a way to kill the creature that has made its home in the mines of my village. What does Zin's former master have anything to do with that?"
    He directed the question at both the imp and Yulari, but his eyes were on Zin. The imp looked at the ground, flicking at a pebble with one clawed finger. Azalea of course grinned at the imp's discomfort before continuing to speak.
    "Oh, the imp didn't tell you, my mistake. I thought he had. Zin seems to think that it would be a smart idea to travel to his former master's lair."
    "What? How could that be a good idea?"
    "Well...the way I see it, if you were to gain even a fraction of the powers my former master had, you would have no trouble killing that creature in Rottwealth."
    "You mean the same powers that made him into a power hungry tyrant? The ones that led him to try to enslave the entire world?"
    "Yes, those powers, but only enough so that you could better control the creatures you summon."
    "I certainly like the sound of enslaving the world," Azalea cut