Merek's Ascendance by Andrew Lashway Read Free Book Online

And, as chance would have it, nature was going to make him regret them too.
                  The rain started to fall harder. It wasn’t a torrent, not yet, but soon it would be.
                  “I’d best make for the cave,” Merek told his legs, and he started running in what he sincerely hoped was the right direction. He was pretty sure, but this forest was new to him and there really was no telling exactly where he was going. All he could do was put his head down and run.
                  Then he heard it.
                  A pained growl, a cry of help, sounded from the forest. Merek could almost trace the sound, but the wind was starting to howl and it threw him off. At the same moment, a strike of lightning sounded nearby, followed by a tumultuous crash.
                  “I’m outside in a lightning storm. Again. Why did I leave home again?”
                  On one side, there were the bears, he was sure of it. But they were in the exact opposite direction of shelter.
                  Merek stood there, torn such as he had never been before. His desire to live battled with his desire to protect those innocent bears.
                  The former never really stood a chance.
                  He ran, trying to hear through the wind and see through the rain to figure out where his impromptu friends were. They were still howling, but it was distorted.
    I don’t suppose you could growl a little clearer, could you?
    In answer, the growls stopped completely.
    Merek stopped running, holding the stitch in his side that was breathing fire into his abdomen. There was no sign of the bears, no sign of shelter, and the rain was only getting worse. He lifted both hands and put them on his head, so very lost. More lost than he had ever been in in his life.
    What was he doing out there in the rain? What was he doing alone and so very far away from home?
    Then he remembered what ‘home’ was, and his head dropped. Maybe it would just be better if he let the storm swallow him. The rain beat against his back, but he couldn’t feel it anymore.
    He couldn’t feel very much anymore.
    Then a loud, clear roar split the night, and Merek grabbed on to the sound like a lifeline. He ran towards it, pushing everything else aside. If he could just save the bears, if he could just do this one thing right…
    Maybe everything that came before wouldn’t be so bad.
    He ran for only a few more yards before stopping at the source of the sound. His jaw dropped so far his mouth started filling with rain.
    The bears were caught in a trap.
    “How did this happen?” Merek said as he examined it. They were somehow trapped in a net that was suspended by the trees above, keeping the bears in their place through the storm.
    “It’s okay, it’s okay! I’ll get you out of there!”
    Merek rushed forward, fighting off the wind and the rain to get to his impromptu friends. His first instinct was to grab the rope and cut it loose, but he shelved that impulse once he realized that the fall would do serious damage to the bears, not to mention getting up to where the rope was ties would be tricky at best. That meant he only had one option available.
    He went to the ropes and started cutting them. The ropes were thick and his stone was far from a knife, but it was working through.
    Then, naturally, everything went sour.
    A lightning bolt struck a tree nearby, Merek could see the flash. He heard the power as it smashed into the tree.
    He still never knew what hit him.
    He saw the world flash around him, as if he was flying. He saw it spin in circles, belatedly realizing he was rolling down a hill. When he finally came to rest, nothing but his breathing was obeying his commands.
    It was the only thing still working when Merek faded from consciousness.
     
     
    At least it wasn’t raining when he woke up. The overcast sky still threatened more, he couldn’t