Flight of Life (Essence Series #1) by E. L. Todd Read Free Book Online

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Calloway. “Show it to me.”
    Calloway opened his backpack and pulled
out the dusty book, which was still covered in a thin layer of
dust. Who knows how long it had been hidden in that room. Years?
Centuries? Easton stared at the cover of the book for a long
moment, admiring the texture of the surface with her hand. There
was a webbing of cloth on the front of the book which was dull and
gray, a different color than it had been when it was created.
Calloway felt his skin prickle as he watched her appraise the book.
He was certain the volume was genuine but watching her study it in
such detail confirmed his thought. It was one of the Kirin
Books.
    “ It’s beautiful,” she
whispered.
    Breccan opened his mouth to speak but
he closed his mouth abruptly, knowing he wasn’t supposed to argue
with Easton. Calloway knew what his cousin was thinking; how could
something that detailed the Hara-Kirs be beautiful? It was such an
odd thing to say.
    Easton opened the book and read the
first page, which had two ancient symbols written on the old
parchment paper. The thinness of the pages revealed the age of the
book. The simple touch of an oily finger was enough to destroy the
integrity of the paper, dissolving it into grains of sand. “The
Tale of Life,” she said.
    Calloway looked at her.
“What?”
    “ That’s what the book is
called. The Kiri Book: The Tale of Life.”
    “ And what does that mean?”
Breccan asked.
    “ I suppose it details the
essence and the void, as well as the history of the Hara-Kirs and
their purpose.”
    “ Who wrote it?” Calloway
asked.
    She shrugged. “I suppose we’ll never
know,” she said as she turned the page. “This is the real thing—I
know it is.”
    Calloway nodded. “I’m glad I risked my
life for something worthwhile.”
    “ Do you know anything
about the Hara-Kirs?” she asked both of them.
    “ I know to stay away from
them,” Breccan said.
    “ That they seek to destroy
the world—all of us—everything,” Calloway answered.
    “ Well, that’s incorrect,”
she said. “But how did you come across them? How do you even know
what they are?”
    Calloway and Breccan were both quiet
for a moment. Calloway thought about the message his father left
for him, stowed inside his trunk in the study. The chest was locked
at all times but he inherited the key when his father died. Inside
was a letter that warned him of the Hara-Kirs. He thought his
father had gone mad. “I was informed by someone else,” Calloway
said quietly. He hated discussing his late father in any context.
Even though he’d been dead for ten years his absence was still
painful.
    She stared at him for a moment. “You
trust me enough to bring me this book but not to tell me how we got
to this point?” she asked. “That is most interesting. We’re going
to need to confide in each other if we wish to accomplish
anything.”
    “ And what are we trying to
accomplish?” Breccan asked. “I thought we were just trying to
survive.”
    “ But how long can we do
that for?” Easton said.
    Calloway nodded. “My father left me a
note that explained the existence of the Hara-Kirs. He didn’t give
me many details, other than the location of the book and a few
gifts, but that was it. And most of his notes didn’t make any
sense. It wasn’t until after I confided in my cousin that we
discovered the truth.”
    “ What gifts did he leave
you?”
    Calloway and Breccan shared a look
before Calloway decided to reveal his possessions. He dug in his
pocket until he retrieved the glowing orb and the picking knife and
placed them on the table. Easton stared at the objects without
touching them. They looked like ordinary tools.
    “ Is that it?” she
asked.
    Calloway nodded.
    “ May I?” she asked as she
reached out her hand.
    “ Yes.”
    Easton grabbed the glowing orb from the
table and held it in her hand. She rotated the object in her
fingers and appraised the ball. The surface of the orb was
translucent and