Kethril by John H. Carroll Read Free Book Online Page B

pace and then moved in front to protect her from
whatever the danger would be. His purple lights traveled above them
to cast light on their path. “It’s definitely Sir Danth. I can see
him through trees,” he told her as they ran. “He’s swinging his
sword at the air. I can’t go dragon with all these trees though,
there’s no room.”
    Liselle wished for Vevin’s ability to see
through things sometimes. As it was, she followed him through the
underbrush as fast as possible. It took them a couple of minutes to
reach the knight who was still screaming in panic. They ran in his
direction, but he shifted farther away. Then he shifted to the
left, then to another spot.
    Then he was in front of them, the shrill
metallic sound coming from somewhere inside his armor. Vevin hit
Liselle hard, slamming her to the ground as the knight’s sword
swung over them. If he hadn’t moved so fast, she would have been
decapitated. Sir Danth shifted again, this time behind them.
    Vevin jumped up and roared, using the full
force of his dragon voice. Liselle felt her hair stand on end. Even
though he shielded her from the effect of dragon fear, she could
sense the power in the sound. Sir Danth continued to scream and
shift, swinging his greatsword. “Well that’s inconvenient,” Vevin
said, crossing his arms. “His armor protects him from dragon
fear.”
    Liselle gained her composure and stood. She
cast a holding spell at the knight, but just as she released it,
Sir Danth shifted. “Oh!” Liselle exclaimed crossly. The knight
screamed to the right of them and she cast another holding spell.
She was fast enough, but it had no effect. Liselle could feel the
armor soak the magical energy and use it to power its own magic.
“Really?!”
    Sir Danth shifted just a short distance to
the left of them. Vevin took the opportunity to leap on the
knight’s shoulders. He didn’t even slow Sir Danth down before the
knight shifted again and Vevin fell on his butt. The look of shock
on Vevin’s face caused Liselle to laugh in spite of the
circumstances.
    “Beware,” a voice in her mind said. It was
the flower in her hair. It had only spoken to her a few times in
her life, each when she was in mortal danger. Liselle gathered as
much magic as she could. Then Sir Danth was in front of her. He
swung his sword, but Liselle expelled the magic before it could hit
her. She didn’t have time to focus it into a specific spell of any
type so she just hit Sir Danth with the energy. The force of the
magic was so powerful that he flew into a tree a few yards away.
The trunk of that tree shattered as the knight blasted through it
and hit the tree behind.
    The first tree came down fast and hard at
Liselle. Vevin had reached her by that time and propelled her to
the side, slamming her to the ground yet again. She felt bones in
her right arm and wrist break as she reached out to catch herself.
Liselle cried out in pain just before the impact knocked the breath
out of her.
    The trunk of the second tree that Sir Danth
slammed into also shattered. He didn’t go all the way through,
instead falling to the ground in a sitting position. That tree fell
onto the knight’s head, driving him into the ground.
    “Get off me!” Liselle wailed at Vevin who
was laying on top her while staring at Sir Danth.
    “I’m so sorry! Are you alright, darling?”
Vevin scurried to help her up.
    She took the proffered hand and whimpered as
she got to her feet, holding her broken arm in distress. Liselle
could handle a lot of pain, but she didn’t like it. It took a
moment to focus her mind and Vevin stroking her back distracted
her. He stopped and took a step back when he realized what she was
doing. Liselle pulled energy to her and began to heal the breaks in
her arm. There was one in her wrist and two in the forearm. It took
a minute of intense concentration, but she managed.
    Vevin cast a barrier between them and Sir
Danth. It wouldn’t stop him permanently, but should at