Everville: The Rise of Mallory by Roy Huff Read Free Book Online

Krinjmar asked.
    “He’s going help me find a way to defeat the dragon and take away the element in it,” Owen replied with confidence.
    Krinjmar saw what great concentrations of power did to his predecessor and the armies that followed him. Hoping to prevent the same fate, he took a few moments to confer with his men and then he responded.
    “Don’t consider this an alliance. If we find you useful in the future we may consider it, but I will tell you what I do know about Varstock.”
    “Thank you. I greatly appreciate your assistance,” Owen replied.
    “The last time I heard the whispers about The Keeper you speak of was on the mountains beyond the concave valley walls. Good luck finding him,” Krinjmar said sarcastically.
    “We’ll do our best,” Owen replied.
    Asher looked up above them and noticed that the Fwaylan had left. The Mountain Dwellers receded into their camps, and Owen signaled for the ascent into the mountains.
    Asher and Felix got the climbing equipment from their bags. Asher fastened the harness around each of them in the event that one of them should fall.
    “We better get started before darkness sets in the valley,” Owen said with a sense of urgency.
    Owen led the way, being the largest and heaviest of the four. Grenmar was larger than the Ubaloo but was much lighter, so he trailed in the back behind Felix.
    Owen was nearing the top of the concave wall, but the light was fading fast. Grenmar had already fallen twice, but Owen hadn’t even noticed. Each time Felix easily pulled Grenmar back into position with no injury.
    A few more moments passed and then they reached the top of the wall. Felix made a big sigh of relief, and Grenmar started jumping up and down. They sat there and rested, taking the time to drink some water and eat a small amount of food before forging ahead.
    “How do you think we’re going to find him?” Asher asked.
    “Quite simple,” Owen said. “I’ll just take a dose of the elixir every couple hundred feet once we get a little farther. I should then be able to see thoughts that lead me to the mind of Varstock once we get close enough to his position.”
    “That is a reasonable plan. Let’s just hope you don’t run out of the elixir before we find him,” Asher responded.
    Owen lifted up the small jar to see how much elixir remained. The jar wasn’t that large, less than half a cup in size, but since he only needed to take two drops for each dose, it should last quite a while. The only real question was how frequently he would need to take it. He didn’t want to miss Varstock, but he also didn’t want whatever creatures were in the vicinity to see into his mind if he accidently overlapped the doses.
    Owen pushed ahead. They had finally reached the summit of the first mountain pass, and he took his first dose.
    Owen trembled, and his knees buckled. Felix and Asher provided support, preventing him from collapsing. He hadn’t realized so many creatures were in the area. There were so many of them, but they were all hidden. Most of them were within the mountain itself. There were numerous caves, some natural and some not. More importantly, some of the tunnels that were constructed beneath the mountain went deep. They were too far down for Owen to sense the thoughts of everyone that resided in them. He would have to hope that the creatures closest to him would have sufficient knowledge of those deeper in the tunnels
    Owen regained his footing and his mind quickly conditioned itself to the numerous minds in the area.
    “We may have a problem. From the creatures nearby, I can sense that some of the tunnels and caves go very deep. We may miss Varstock if he’s at a distance too far down within the tunnels,” Owen said with some concern.
    “Well, Owen, I guess we are just going to have to hope that wherever he is, there will be someone close by that you can sense who knows his whereabouts,” Asher replied.
    Grenmar look worried, and so did Felix.
    Owen took a