From Light to Dark by Irene L. Pynn Read Free Book Online Page B

as a statue in the sun. His eyes looked different. His clear pupils no longer gave off a twinkle. He just looked at them with a glazed, angry stare. Didn’t Dewcres recognize them?
    “Dewcres.” Balor struggled free of Eref. “Happy birthday. How’d the ceremony go?” He walked up to his friend, confused by the unfamiliar look in his eye.
    “Shouldn’t you children be at the Learning?”
    This had to be a joke. Dewcres was just playing with them.
    “Shut up. You know we’re on break this afternoon. Aren’t you going to tell us how it went?”
    “If you aren’t at the Learning, then you should go to the Light to worship. That is what children are supposed to do.”
    Definitely a joke. Balor laughed and looked at Eref for support. Eref stood, straight-faced.
    But Balor wasn’t falling for it. “We never go there unless it’s a field trip at the Learning, Dewcres. Nobody goes there for fun. Come on. Let’s race!”
    Dewcres didn’t dash in front of Balor to get a head start. He didn’t even move. It was creepy, how completely still his arms and legs remained. “Children should not have fun. Get to the Light before I report you to the police.”
    “Come on, Dewcres,” Balor said, but Eref grabbed his hand.
    “Let’s go, Balor. We’ve got to go to the Light. Happy birthday, Dewcres.”
    They didn’t go to the Light. Eref tugged Balor along until they found their stone that cast a shade, half a mile away, hidden from Dewcres’ view. Balor fell down on his stomach and cried like an infant.
    Eref didn’t speak while Balor sobbed into the sand. He just picked up the stone and played with the shadow in his palm, running his fingers through the darkness. Balor looked up and watched Eref through his tears.
    “What are you thinking?”
    “I never believed it before,” Eref said.
    “Believed what?”
    “The Eighteener Entrance. Dewcres’s the first person I’ve really known who went to it. I mean, the first person I’ve really cared about.”
    Balor’s throat constricted. He coughed and wiped his eyes. “Eref,” he said in a whimper.
    “What?” Eref didn’t look at Balor. He didn’t give him a reassuring smile. He just stared at the shade on his hand.
    “I’m older than you.”
    “Just by two months.”
    “Someday I’m going to turn eighteen.”
    “So what?”
    Tears poured out of Balor’s eyes again. He couldn’t help it. “Eref, I’ll go away and I won’t know who you are anymore! What if I come back and try to turn you in to the police for playing? What if I don’t recognize you at all? I won’t know anyone. And Ellb. I won’t know her, either. I’ll be dead, just like Dewcres.”
    Eref looked up. He put the stone back down and hid the shade. “Balor,” he said, his voice earnest. “Stop crying.”
    “I can’t. Eref, I’m going to die. I’m going to try to hurt you.”
    “Stop crying. I’m about to make you a promise.”
    “I don’t want to hurt you,” Balor wept, and Eref grabbed his shoulders.
    “This is a solemn promise. A best friend promise. You have to stop crying so I can swear.”
    Balor held his breath for several seconds until the tears stopped. He wiped his eyes and bit his lip.
    “A best friend promise is forever, you understand? We both have to concentrate really hard so that it’s official. Are you ready?”
    “I guess….”
    Eref picked up the stone again and looked down at the shade. “Give me your hand.”
    Balor reached out, still shaking, and let Eref join hands with him in the tiny shadow.
    Eref squeezed Balor’s hand tight and said, “By the magic of this sacred shade, I swear I will never let the Governors take you to the Eighteener Entrance. ”

Chapter Six

    The Pyre

    Eref, Caer, and Vul approached the Pyre, and a familiar stench of burned flesh met Eref’s nostrils. Thinking back on it, he realized he hadn’t paid much attention to the negative things in Dark World when he had first landed. As far as he had known, it was a magical