Once Upon a Haunted Moon (The Keeper Saga) by K.R. Thompson Read Free Book Online Page B

still worthy of the gift he had given them. One of the last generations had not been worthy, feeding off the fear of those weaker than himself. The Wolf had nearly taken his gift back and turned his back on the human race as a whole. So much had been done to Mother Nature. She would never truly heal. The never-ending spiral of wrong that had been done to her only worsened every day. Her children had no respect for what had been given to them, and one in particular had no respect of the gift The Wolf personally had bestowed upon them.
    He had been on the brink of changing the Keeper not worthy of his wolf, he had been so very close — and then he saw the man’s son. He was a boy with brilliant blue eyes and dark, shaggy hair and a kind heart. The boy made the Wolf wonder if there might not be hope after all.
    He decided to let them keep their wolves, but he kept close vigil should they ever stray again.
    He watched the last boy, the one with a cream-colored wolf. He was a tall boy with a face made of strange angles, highly intelligent, courageous, with a loyalty to his brothers that had never been shaken. The boy stepped near the water, and the water hissed, popping and bubbling angrily until he took a cautious step back. Twice more he approached, and twice more the Beings in the Water would not let him cross.
    The Wolf watched this boy curiously, wondering what they had found in him that they did not like. He knew the Water Beings were gentle and shy, yet fierce when something threatened their creek. They were of the purest magic, and had not been tainted with evil for centuries. They were one of the reasons he loved the creek. He came here for the simple, pure magic they offered, and for the memories of the brave white-haired creature he met so long ago.
    He hoped the boys that he saw before him now still had courage and goodness in them. Though he kept his hope for them alive, he still kept careful watch on the boy who couldn’t cross the creek.
    ***
    “Ed! What’s up, man? Are you coming or not?” Erik, finished with his history lesson, finally crossed and noticed that Ed hadn’t even started his trek to the other side. If anything, he had actually backed away from the water’s edge.
    “I’m going to stay over here and keep watch. It may be easier for you guys to search over there if I stay out of that Deadland. It didn’t like me very well last time,” Ed said, flexing his hand again. He noticed Adam had turned to watch him on the other side of the creek, “Is it all right if I stay over here and wait?”
    A weird moment passed as Adam stared at Ed as if he were looking into his soul. I made a mental note to myself that I hoped Adam never looked at me that way. He had a strange way of making you think he knew exactly what went on inside you — that he knew what you thought before you even knew it yourself. It had something to do with his eyes. Yeah, he was a dude, and I wouldn’t say he had pretty eyes. Well, I guessed he actually did, if you were into weird golden eyes, but what I was trying to say is it was just the way he looked at you. My grandma always talked of people who had “old eyes,” the ones who had ancient knowledge or wisdom beyond years in their spirit and that spirit was what you saw in their gaze.
    Adam had those eyes, and right then he used them on Ed, searching his soul to find what his friend had not said in words.
    Ed’s face started to flush, and his jaw clenched. He didn’t realize it, but he was working his hand again, fingers splaying wide, then back into a fist.
    “Ok,” Adam nodded slightly, finally blinking, “We’ll be back soon, wait for us.”
    Ed nodded and never looked up.
    The five of us left the creek and walked single-file through an opening beside some trees. At first, the branches moved for us. But the farther we went, twigs and limbs started smacking back into place before we had a chance to get through. I ducked one branch only to get slapped in the shoulder