Dimwater's Dragon by Sam Ferguson Read Free Book Online

same spot where the shadow had been next to the large oak tree. Why would Fletcher be on the north side of the manor? The kitchen, and all the storerooms, were on the east side of the manor. The barns and pastures were even farther out to the east. There was nothing on the north side of the manner, except for forest land.
    Kyra tied off her robe, walked to the window and threw it open. She cast a spell that she had practiced since she was three years old. She waved her left index finger before her face and then muttered a single word. In response, an egg shaped ball of light appeared in the air. She then pointed to the oak tree and the egg flew down with blinding speed. Just before the light reached the area where the shadows still stood she caught a glimpse of a man’s face. The skin was gray and the face was long and narrow with a starkly defined jawline under a pointy nose. Shoulderlength black hair hung loosely around the man’s face. He was dressed in dark garb, but that was all the more detail she could catch before he turned and vanished into the forest.
    It was not Fletcher, nor was it anyone else in her father’s employ.
    She shut the window and locked it, then she threw the drapes closed. She ran quickly, yet quietly on the balls of her bare feet over the wooden floor to her door. She pulled the door open, preparing to run to her mother’s room.
    A large shadow stood in her doorway. Kyra’s heart skipped and her breath caught in her throat as she slammed her door shut and went to lock it. She felt the handle turn against her hand. She slid her foot against the bottom of the door to keep it from being pressed open again. Quickly, as her mother had taught her to do when she suffered from nightmares in her early childhood, Kyra cast a ward on the door and used a magical spell to help close it.
    A man groaned on the other side of the door and then there was a strange sound like water turning into steam and blowing away on a heavy wind.
    She spun around and quickly put a ward on her window as well, lest whatever the intruder was gained entry that way into her room. She waited for several minutes before gathering the courage to look under her door. Her eyes could only see partly through the space between the door and the floor, but she did not see any shadows or feet. She stood again, slowly reaching for the knob and taking in a deep breath. She prepared a fire spell in her right hand. She was not quite as skilled as her mother of course, but she had practiced lighting torches with her magic, and she was certain that even a small flame would dissuade an intruder from attacking her.
    Kyra ripped the door open and pointed her spell hand out the doorway. The figure was gone.
    Satisfied that no one was there, she ran out into the hall and turned left for her mother’s room. She couldn’t see anything, nor hear anything, but she was certain that something, or someone, was following her. She ran as fast as she could, her bare feet slapping against the cold wooden floor and echoing through the hallway. Her mother’s chamber was another thirty yards down the hall. Something she could not see lightly swiped at Kyra’s shoulder. The young woman ran faster, slinging her right hand back and letting her flame spell jump from her palm and hoping that it would hit and slow whatever it was that was following her.
    Something behind her hissed and screeched, making a sound like one might expect to hear after stepping upon a large rat. An invisible hand wrapped around Kyra’s right foot and pulled her to the ground. She slammed hard on the wooden floor, scraping her knees and bumping her head. She turned over, preparing to fight whatever it was was seizing her, but she saw nothing there.
    Then she saw the shadow at the end of the hall once more. She lifted her head to get a better look at it, but something pushed down upon her chest, holding her to the floor. She swung out with both of her fists, but caught only air. She started to