Everflame by Dylan Peters Read Free Book Online Page A

swung both of his arms up at Irontooth, sinking both sets of claws into the King’s throat. He brought his hind legs up under Irontooth and pushed him off, rolling him over. Eveneye kept his claws in Irontooth’s throat, rolling with him and ending up on top of him. Then, Eveneye bent his head down to Irontooth’s ear.
    “Tell whatever it is that waits on the other side of death that my life has only just begun.”
    And with those words, Eveneye tore Irontooth’s throat out, defeating him and claiming the Kingdom. He stood and unleashed a primal roar as his Kingdom chanted his name.
     
     
    Chapter 4: Rumors
     
    Eveneye had never forgotten those words.
    Why have you done this to yourself, Eveneye?
    Those words haunted him, Irontooth’s image haunted him, and the sculpture of Irontooth, standing right outside of his courtroom, haunted him. It had been fifteen years since he had killed Irontooth, but those words stayed as fresh as if they had just been spoken.
    Why had he done it? Back then , he had been so sure of his convictions; so sure that his motives were just. But from time to time, he doubted himself and his decisions. He had taken another bear’s life. It had not been in self-defense. Yes, it had been legal, but was it necessary, was it just? He had disagreed with Irontooth and had been backed into a corner. It was Irontooth or the boy. But was it?
    Even the bears of the K ingdom had these questions. No one brought them to Eveneye, now that he was King, but Eveneye was no fool and he had heard the rumors. No one was displeased with how Eveneye ruled over the Kingdom, but some questioned his motives. Many more questioned his plan for the boy. An ambassador of peace, was it madness? Was he forcing a horrible fate onto the boy? Was he forcing a horrible fate onto his kingdom?
    The bears had accepted the boy, or at least the majority had, a nd as King, Eveneye was able to provide him with everything a child could need. But the boy was grown now, and his fate was almost upon him. A fate Eveneye had sentenced him to when he had killed Irontooth. Eveneye felt that the boy was still too young, but the questions had already begun. When? His advisors had asked him on different occasions. When would Eveneye’s plan for peace begin? When would the boy be ready? The truth was that Eveneye didn’t know, and he was afraid that the Kingdom might force his decision before he had made up his own mind.
    Eveneye thought back to those first few years after the ritual. They had been some of the happiest in his life. He and Goldenheart , playing with the boy and enjoying the leisure of being royalty. It had all seemed like such a dream. Lately, however, it seemed like sand falling through an hourglass. He could even pinpoint the exact event that had shattered his perfect little dream world, because it had broken his heart.
    Papa, why am I different?
    Even now, when he remembered it, his chest would tighten. What had he done? What horrible fate had he damned this boy to? That boy’s entire world was the bears. Yet, if he stayed in the Kingdom, he would grow to be an incomplete man, never knowing the love of a woman or the miracle of seeing his own children. He would never completely fit. Yet, if he left the Kingdom for the world of man, he would be a man with no past and no one to help him. Would he even fit in man’s society, having been raised by bears? His only hope rested on Eveneye’s plan for peace. Eveneye had put this boy’s only hope in a society that was both bear and man, and it scared him to pieces.
    Eveneye sat next to Evercloud in the castle tower , looking out over the kingdom with the Everflame burning directly behind them. Both father and son would come up to the top of the tower to meditate or speak to each other, if they should please. It was something they had been doing together for a while now. Evening was upon them and the sky was shades of pink and violet, its hues becoming cooler as time passed. Eveneye